Questions, answered

ScreenWeaver is an online AI filmmaking app that takes one project from screenplay to finished shots. The header holds three tabs in production order, "Script", "Storyboard" and "Production", and each one feeds the next: the storyboard reads your script, and the production canvas is built from your storyboard. The "AI" button on the right opens the "AI Center", home of the assistant and of every generation. Take the full tour of ScreenWeaver.

Signing up is free, and the welcome screen says it plainly: "Free to start. No credit card required." The Screenwriter plan costs $0 forever and covers the script editor, the outline, beats, story elements and export. AI generation (reference sheets, storyboard panels, images, video) uses credits, which come with the Auteur and Studio plans, as explained in Credits and plans and on the pricing page.

Open the project menu at the top left and click "+ New Project". Give it a "Title", pick a "Format" ("Feature film" for a single story, "Episodical / TV" for episodes, acts and series structure), then click "Create project". The aspect ratio is not asked here: you choose it the first time you open Storyboard or Production. Step by step in Create your first project.

The format decides which structure levels the script and the outline offer. "Episodical / TV" gives you Episode, Act, Sequence, Story Beat and Outline, so you can build a season episode by episode. In "Feature film" mode, "Act" is hidden and Episode becomes a single "Title page". More in Structure with the outline.

On your first login, after the "Which best describes you?" screen, ScreenWeaver copies an example project into your account ("Initializing the example project…"). It is the safest place to click every button and see a finished chain from script to shots before you start your own film. You reach it, like any project, from "Switch project" in the project menu.

Yes, in "Project settings", field "Aspect ratio". The change "Applies to newly created shots and image-generation nodes only.", and existing images keep their current ratio. That is why the "Choose project aspect ratio" window opens on your first visit to Storyboard or Production: pick 16:9 Widescreen, 9:16 Vertical, 2.39:1 Cinematic, 4:3 Retro & Classic or 3:4 Portrait before you generate anything. See the aspect ratio picker.

The Script tour opens automatically the first time you use the app, and the Storyboard tour on your first Storyboard visit. To replay it, click the Help icon in the header, then "Tutorial". There is no tour for the Production tab, which is exactly what the production canvas tour module covers.

Click the Help icon on the right of the header and choose "Chat with us" to open a chat with the team. For questions about a button, the interface reference explains every numbered control screen by screen.

Yes, the app is available in English and French. Change it in "Account settings", tab "Account Info", field "Language", or with the language selector on the login screen. The Account icon sits at the right of the header.

Click "AI" in the header to open the "AI Center", attach the file with the paperclip in the assistant chat (or drag it in), and ask "Import this script". The assistant reads "PDF screenplays", "Final Draft (.fdx)", "WriterDuet JSON" and "Plain text / any text-based format", and the file picker also accepts .fountain files, up to 15 MB. It rebuilds the scenes and the structure, then creates characters from the cues and places from the scene headings. Walkthrough in Import, export and version history.

The "Import" tab of "Import / Export" only explains the process, because importing always goes through the AI assistant. Attach your file in the chat and ask "Import this script", then read the first pages to check that dialogue and transitions landed in the right elements. See the import conversation.

Two keys do the work. Enter creates the next logical element (after a Scene heading comes Action, after a Character comes Dialogue, after Dialogue comes a Character), and Tab or Shift + Tab cycles the current block through Scene, Action, Character, Dialogue, Parenthetical, Transition and Shot. The floating toolbar at the bottom of the page does the same with the mouse. Practice it in Write in the script editor.

Yes. In a scene heading it suggests the prefix (INT., EXT., INT./EXT., EXT./INT., I/E.), your existing places and the time of day (DAY, NIGHT, DAWN, CONTINUOUS, MOMENTS LATER and more). On a character line it suggests your characters, and after you type "(" it offers extensions such as V.O., O.S. and CONT'D, confirmed with Tab. A new name comes with a Create option that adds it to your story elements as you write, as shown in Write in the script editor.

Click "Outline view" in the sidebar: the structure appears as cards on tracks (Episode or Title page, Act, Sequence, Story Beat, Scene), each with a title and a summary. Add structure blocks from the floating toolbar (EP, ACT, SEQ, BEAT, OUT) and tag story beats with labels; 13 come by default, from "Opening / Setup" and "Inciting Incident" to "Climax" and "Resolution". Full method in Structure with the outline.

Yes. The eye toggle on the floating toolbar switches between "Hide outline blocks in the script (page breaks ignore them)" and "Show outline blocks in the script". Hide them when you want to read the screenplay as a reader will, and show them when you restructure. See the floating toolbar.

Yes, on the outline cards. The paperclip ("Add attachment") offers "Note", "Link", "Image" and "Audio", so a mood reference, a research link or a temp music idea sits next to the beat it belongs to. More in Structure with the outline.

In "Feature film" format, "Act" is hidden and the Episode level becomes "Title page", and a project allows only one ("Title page already present"). If you need episodes and acts, open "Project settings" from the project menu and choose "Episodical / TV". See Project settings.

Cmd/Ctrl + S saves, Cmd/Ctrl + Z undoes, Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z or Cmd/Ctrl + Y redoes, and Cmd/Ctrl + . toggles the sidebar. Backspace at the start of a block merges it with the previous one, and the arrow keys, Enter and Escape drive the autocomplete list. All of them are listed in Write in the script editor.

It can read and change your script and storyboard: read the outline, a scene or the story elements, search the script, edit the script, create or update shots, import a file and change the aspect ratio. Each action shows in the chat as a line such as "Edited the script" or "Created shots", so you always see what it touched. Ask it to restructure scenes, rewrite a passage or turn pasted notes into a shot list, as shown in The AI Center and assistant.

The Send button shows the most a message can cost, with the note "You only pay for what the reply uses." A single message is capped at 50 credits, and you are charged only for what the reply actually uses. More in Credits and plans.

The paperclip ("Attach a script (Final Draft, Fountain, WriterDuet), notes, a PDF or an image.") accepts PDF, JSON, FDX, Fountain, TXT and image files, up to 15 MB. Attach a screenplay to import it, or notes and references you want the assistant to work from. See the AI Center.

Every AI edit creates a restore point. Open "Version history" in the sidebar, find the entry "Created after AI edit" and click "Restore"; the restore itself is saved as "Created before restore", so you can change your mind again. Restoring affects the screenplay only, as explained in Import, export and version history.

Not today. Its actions cover reading the project, editing the script, creating and updating shots, importing and changing the aspect ratio. To remove a shot, use "Delete shot" in the storyboard sequencer, and create projects from "+ New Project" in the project menu; see Compose a shot.

Use "New conversation" for a clean thread, "Switch conversation" to reopen an earlier one, and "Delete" to remove it. Starting a fresh thread when you change task, for example from importing to rewriting a scene, keeps the assistant focused. See the AI Center.

The assistant runs on Mistral Large 4. When your request can go several ways, it can ask you a question with choices, plus "Something else" if none of them fits. More in The AI Center and assistant.

It is the left column of the "AI Center": every generation from every tab, with its status ("Running", "Done", "Failed", "Error" or "Canceled"). From each item you can "Cancel generation", "Retry generation", "Download", "Preview generated media", "Go to node" or "Remove from list", and the preview shows the "Model", "Prompt", "Parameters" and "Credits". See the Generations list.

Yes. Generations run in the background: the "AI" button shows a spinner and a count while they run, and the automatic storyboard dialog says it plainly: "You can close this dialog; jobs continue in Generations." Open the AI Center at any time to follow them, as described in The AI Center and assistant.

In the Script tab, click "Story elements" in the sidebar to open their canvas. The same elements appear in the left panel of the Storyboard tab ("Characters", "Places", "Objects") and in the Characters, Places and Objects sections of the Production canvas. Tour in Characters, places and objects.

Right-click a name in the script and choose the New character, New place or New object line; use the Create option of the autocomplete while you type a cue or a scene heading; or click "Add character", "Add place" or "Add object" on the Story elements toolbar. Importing a script also creates characters and places, but never objects, so add the props that matter by hand. See the right-click menu.

Write what a camera can film: age, build, hair, the clothes worn in the film, one distinctive detail. "Woman, 35. Chestnut hair tied back. Beige wool coat, burgundy scarf." draws the same woman every time, while "melancholic and secretive" draws nothing and lets the model invent a face. The pinned "Description" in the Moodboard stage drives the reference sheets, which is why Reference sheets for consistent characters calls it the most important step.

Yes, one element at a time, with the control on the Description node: "Auto-fill description from the script (AI). Overwrites current text." It replaces what is already written and costs credits like every AI button. Reread the result and strip out any personality trait before you generate a sheet; see the description node.

Every element is a group with three stages. "Moodboard" holds the pinned Description plus anything you drop in (images, text, audio); "Storyboard" holds the "Storyboard reference", a clean previz sheet used by every storyboard panel; "Production" holds the "Production reference", the same element in your film's final style, driven by the Artistic direction. See the Story elements canvas.

Type @ in an Action field or a prompt and pick the element from the list. The mention attaches that element's reference sheet to the generation, so you never describe the character again in words. Mention an element whenever it is visible in the shot, as taught in Compose a shot.

Deleting is blocked while the element is still used in the script, with a message such as "Cannot delete character. They have N lines of dialogue in the script…". Change or remove those uses in the script first, then use "Delete entity". More in Characters, places and objects.

"Add voice" on the Story element node attaches an audio reference to the character. It does not generate speech: ScreenWeaver has no text-to-speech, so voices are recorded or generated in other tools. See the Story element node.

Yes. Drop it on the element's Moodboard, next to the Description, and pick an image where the person or the set is easy to read. Keep the description accurate too, because it is what drives the sheet; see Reference sheets for consistent characters.

In the Storyboard tab, click "Auto-generate". The "Automatic storyboard generation" window offers "Run missing entity sheets", "Run empty-scene shots" (the shot breakdown), "Run shot images" and "Run all" to chain them, each with a credit estimate shown before you run it. The sheets come first because every shot image references them; see Auto-generate a storyboard.

Yes: "You can close this dialog; jobs continue in Generations." Each step shows "Idle", "Running", "Done" or "Blocked", jobs run in parallel (up to three at a time), and you can follow every one of them in the AI Center. See the automatic generation window.

An empty scene shows "No shots" in the sequencer with an "Auto" button ("Generate shots from scene script"). It opens the "Auto-generate shots" window with an optional field: describe your shooting plan, or leave it empty for default coverage. More in Auto-generate a storyboard.

Select the shot in the sequencer, then set "Shot value" (10 sizes, from Extreme close-up (ECU) to Insert) and "Camera movement" (17 moves, from Static to Zoom out) in the shot composer. Click "Regenerate" to redraw that panel alone; the rest of the board does not move. Full list in Compose a shot.

"Continues from" links a shot to a previous one: the continuation inherits its Shot value and Camera movement, and gets a label such as S1A after S1. To change those inherited settings, edit the head shot, as the composer reminds you. See the shot composer.

Duration is set on the sequencer, not in the composer: drag the right edge of a shot block, since its width is its duration. Drag a block to reorder it within its scene, use "Add shot" or "Insert shot after" to add one, and "Delete shot" to remove it; "Reset storyboard" offers "Clear unscheduled shots" or "Clear entire storyboard" to start over. See the storyboard tab.

Press Play, or Space, in the sequencer: each panel holds for its duration and the script viewer follows the playhead. The animatic has no audio, and the storyboard cannot be exported as a video or a PDF; it stays live in your project and feeds the Production tab. More in Tour of the storyboard tab.

That is deliberate. Each panel is a 3D blocking pass, like studio previz, made to lock framing, staging, light and timing cheaply; the final look comes later from the "Artistic direction" in the Production tab. Judge a panel on what it decides, not on its faces, as explained in Tour of the storyboard tab.

Yes. Click "Edit with AI" on the panel: you can paint the area to change with a Red, Green, Blue, Yellow or Magenta brush and write an "Edit prompt", reframe with "Crop" (Free, Source, 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 2.39:1 or Project), or move the viewpoint with "Camera angle". Each camera angle run is "Saved as a new version of this image.", so the original stays. Step by step in Fix and edit images.

It is a node canvas built from your storyboard, already wired. From top to bottom: "Artistic direction", then "Characters", "Places" and "Objects" with their Production references, then "Shot production", where each scene holds shot groups ("Shot S1" and so on) with a Shot node, a "Storyboard panel" and a "Shot production" image node. Tour in The production canvas.

In the "Artistic direction" section, write the look in the "Art Style" text node and set the "Art Style Image". They are the single source of style: change them and every shot follows. Describe filmable properties (film stock, grain, light, palette, depth of field) rather than words like "beautiful"; see Artistic direction.

Scroll pans, pinch or Cmd/Ctrl + scroll zooms, and holding Space while you drag pans too. Shift, Cmd or Ctrl + click selects several nodes, dragging on empty space draws a selection box, and Cmd/Ctrl + C, X and V copy, cut and paste nodes. On a large canvas, "Find" in the toolbar takes you to a group; more in The production canvas.

Click a tile in the bottom toolbar (Text, Image, Audio, Video, LLM, Bundle, "Image tools", "Video tools" or Pipeline), then click inside a group to place it. Press Escape to cancel the placement. See the canvas toolbar.

The Image node offers "GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst" (the default), "Nano Banana 2.1", "Seedream 5.0 Pro", "GPT Image 2.5 Flare" and "Grok Imagine Image". You also set "Quality" (Low, Medium, High, Extra high or Max) and "Images per generation" (1, 4 or 8). Generate one image until the prompt works before you ask for 4 or 8; see the image node.

Click "Show what the model receives" on an LLM, Image or Video node to see the final prompt and which reference image is which, then "Back to editable prompt" to return to your text. Check it before a long or expensive generation: if a character's sheet is missing from the list, the model will invent that character. See the video node.

Every Image and Video node keeps its takes, and a Video node shows them in its "Generation history" strip. A new generation never erases the earlier ones, so you can compare them side by side and download the one you keep. More in Finish and deliver.

A pipeline builds a chain that shoots several shots of a scene as one clip, through a "Prompt director" LLM node and a "Scene video" node. "Reference to video" works from each shot's action and the production sheets and lets the model choose the framing; "Storyboard panels to video" first assembles up to 14 panels into a "Storyboard grid", so the clip follows your board's order and composition. Compare both in Scene pipelines.

In the scene's production group, click "Add pipeline", go through "Choose a pipeline" and "Choose shots", then confirm with "Add pipeline". The selected duration adds up the shots you tick, and a Seedance 2.5 clip runs from 4 to 30 seconds, so split a long scene into several pipelines of consecutive shots. See the Add pipeline window.

The Video node offers Seedance 2.5 (the default), Veo 3.1, Seedance 2.0, MiniMax H3, Kling v3.0 (i2v, t2v and Motion Control) and Grok Imagine Video 1.5. You switch model in the node itself, so you can compare models on the same inputs without rebuilding anything. Details in Generate images and videos.

Seedance 2.5 and Seedance 2.0 show 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15 seconds first, and Seedance 2.5 goes up to 30 seconds under "All options". Veo 3.1 offers 4, 6 or 8 seconds, Kling v3.0 5 or 10, MiniMax H3 5 to 15, and Grok Imagine Video 1.5 4, 6, 8 or 10 seconds. See the video model settings.

Most models show 720p and 1080p first, and MiniMax H3 renders at 2k; Veo 3.1 in 1080p is limited to 8 seconds. For 4k, run the finished clip through the "Upscale" video tool with "Topaz Starlight Precise 2.6" or "Topaz Starlight Fast 2", which target 1080p and 4k. More in Finish and deliver.

On Seedance 2.5, the 480p "Draft" is a "Low-resolution draft for a quick, cheaper preview.": use it to test the motion before you pay for 720p or 1080p. When a draft is the take you want, finish it within 7 days with "Finish seedance draft", or with the "Seedance 2.5 Draft finish" model of the Upscale tool. More in Generate images and videos.

Yes, the Video node has an "Audio on" / "Audio off" switch. MiniMax H3 and Grok Imagine Video 1.5 always generate audio, and Kling v3.0 Motion Control generates none. ScreenWeaver does not generate voice-over or music, so you add those in your editor; see Generate images and videos.

Wire the image into the "Start frame" input of a Video node: there is no mode switch, the mode follows the wiring. A prompt alone gives text to video, a start frame gives image to video, a start and an "End frame" move between two frames, and reference images give reference to video. Note that "Reference images are ignored while a start frame is connected."; see the four ways to drive a video.

Veo 3.1 supports 16:9 and 9:16 only, and its reference-to-video mode runs 8 seconds only. Each card of the aspect ratio picker shows how many AI models support that ratio, which is worth checking before you commit to Cinematic or Portrait. See the aspect ratio picker.

"Kling v3.0 i2v" is image to video and needs a start frame; use "Kling v3.0 t2v" when you only have text. Both run 5 or 10 seconds with a Mode set to Standard or Pro, and "Kling v3.0 Motion Control" has no audio and may be blocked without video references. More in Generate images and videos.

Start with Seedance 2.5, the default, which covers clips from 4 to 30 seconds. Test the motion in the 480p Draft, then switch to another model only when a specific shot calls for it, on the same inputs. For whole scenes in one clip, read Scene pipelines.

Screenwriter is $0 forever (script editor, outline, beats, story elements, export). Auteur is $39.99 a month with 6,000 credits a month, and Studio is $149.99 a month with 25,000 credits a month, real-time collaboration and unlimited seats. Full details on the pricing page and in Credits and plans.

The Screenwriter plan is free forever: write and format your screenplay, structure it in the outline with beats, create your story elements and export. Every AI button (reference sheets, storyboard panels, images, video, assistant messages) uses credits, which come with Auteur and Studio. See Credits and plans.

One credit is worth $0.005, so 200 credits make one dollar. Every AI button shows its cost in credits in its tooltip, sometimes as a starting price ("from N credits"). More in Credits and plans.

Hover the button: its tooltip shows the cost in credits. The automatic storyboard window shows a credit estimate for each step, and the assistant's Send button shows the maximum for that message. See Credits and plans.

No, extra credits from credit packs never expire. The billing window shows them as "Extra credits", separately from your "Plan credits", under "Your balance". See the billing window.

No. "Credit packs" require Auteur or Studio, and on the free plan the billing window says "Subscribe to Auteur or Studio to buy packs." Compare the plans on the pricing page or in the billing window.

The credit chip in the header shows your total at all times; click it ("View billing & credits") to open "Billing & usage", with "Your balance", "Plans", "Credit packs" and "Usage history". You can also open it from the account menu, under "Billing & credits". See the billing window.

AI buttons stop with "Not enough credits", while writing, structuring and exporting your script stay free. To continue generating, buy a credit pack (Auteur or Studio) or move to a bigger plan from the billing window. More in Credits and plans.

No, failed generations are refunded, and the Generations list shows it. You can launch the same job again with "Retry generation"; see the Generations list.

Open the project menu and click "Team & Sharing"; there is no share button in the header. The sharing window, titled with the name of your project, is where you add people and set their role. Real-time collaboration needs the Studio plan, and without it you see "Studio plan required" with "Upgrade to Studio"; see Work as a team.

There are four roles: Owner, Editor, Viewer and Guest, and a guest is set to "Can edit" or "Can view". Editors write and change the project, viewers read without changing anything, which suits a producer following the latest draft. Only owners can delete a project; more in Work as a team.

Yes. Collaborators edit the same project live, with presence avatars in the header showing who is online and named cursors in the script; in the online users list, "Click to jump to cursor" takes you to a teammate. Real-time collaboration comes with the Studio plan and its unlimited seats; see Work as a team.

ScreenWeaver has no comment threads: collaboration works through real-time co-editing with presence and cursors. To leave a note on a scene or a beat, add a "Note" attachment to its outline card. See Structure with the outline.

An organisation groups your projects, members and billing. In the account menu, use "Create organisation" or "Switch organisation", then manage people in "Members" and the rest in "Organisation settings". More in Work as a team.

If you own two or more organisations, open "Project settings" from the project menu and move the project there. This option is reserved for owners of two or more organisations; see Work as a team.

In the project menu, click "Duplicate" on the current project row; the menu shows "Duplicating project…" while it runs. Duplicate before a risky experiment, so the original stays untouched. See the project menu.

Only owners see "Delete" in the project menu, and it asks "Are you sure you want to delete this project?" before anything happens. Export a "ScreenWeaver (Backup)" of the script first if you might need it again; see the project menu.

The credit chip in the header is hidden for guests and for members of a paused organisation. A paused organisation shows a "Paused" badge in the account menu; see Work as a team.

Click "Import / Export" in the sidebar, stay on the Export tab and pick "PDF", "FDX (Final Draft)" or "ScreenWeaver (Backup)". Tick "Include outline" when the structure should travel with the script. See the export window.

Yes, and it is the rule: in "Content to export" you pick the episode, because "Only one episode can be exported at a time." Export each episode in turn for a full season; more in Import, export and version history.

The backup includes the "Full script (all elements and outline)", the "Characters" and the "Story beat labels". The window states it clearly: "Not included: chat history." More in Import, export and version history.

Turn on "Enable auto-backup for this project" in the Export tab, and a backup will be exported every 30 minutes. The setting is stored in your browser, so switch it on again on another computer or browser. See the export window.

Open "Version history" in the sidebar: edits are checkpointed after a few minutes of idle time and after AI and import changes, each entry labelled with its trigger ("Auto-saved", "Created after AI edit", "Created after import"). Click "Restore" to go back; it restores the screenplay only, and the "Reattach shots to matching scenes" option is there for your storyboard shots. See Version history.

Not directly: the Export tab offers "PDF", "FDX (Final Draft)" and "ScreenWeaver (Backup)". Fountain files can be imported, though, by attaching them in the assistant chat. See the export window.

Use "Download image" or "Download video" on a node, "Download" in the Generations list, or "Download reference image" for a sheet in the storyboard entities panel. To gather many takes at once, wire them into a Media bundler (the Bundle tile) and click "Download ZIP". More in Finish and deliver.

No. ScreenWeaver produces your shots and scene clips, but there is no timeline and no film export. Gather your takes with the Bundle node, then cut, add voices, music and the sound mix in your own editing software, as taught in Finish and deliver.

Usually the shot does not reference the character's sheet, or the description is vague. Write a filmable description, generate one reference sheet, and mention the character with @ in every Action where they are visible; in Production, generate each Production reference once and keep it. If you regenerate a sheet mid-film, re-run every shot that uses it; see Reference sheets for consistent characters.

A prop written as plain words carries no sheet into the shot. Make it an object (import never creates objects), describe its size, material, colour and content, and cite it with @ in every action where it appears. On a pipeline, check that it is listed in "Show what the model receives"; more in Characters, places and objects.

It appears when you generate a reference sheet for an element whose Description is empty, so the model has nothing to draw from. Write the description first; "Generate anyway" works, but gives you a guess. See Reference sheets for consistent characters.

An input of that node changed since its last generation, so its output may no longer match. Re-run the flagged nodes in order, upstream first: for a pipeline, the "Storyboard grid", then the "Prompt director", then the "Scene video". More in The production canvas.

The Video node says it: "Reference images are ignored while a start frame is connected." Disconnect the start frame if you want the clip driven by references, or keep it and let the start frame carry the look. See the four ways to drive a video.

"Value provided by upstream input. Disconnect to edit locally." means a wire feeds that field; "Managed prompt: edit shot value, camera movement, or action." means the prompt is built from the Shot node, so change those fields instead. On a continuation shot, Shot value and Camera movement come from the head shot. See the shot group.

Their scene no longer exists in the script, for example after a rewrite or a restore. When you restore a version, the "Reattach shots to matching scenes" option helps, and "Reset storyboard" offers "Clear unscheduled shots" to remove the leftovers. More in Tour of the storyboard tab.

Characters are created from the cues, so one person written two ways (MOM and MOTHER) becomes two characters. Fix the cue in the script so only one spelling remains; the extra element cannot be deleted while it still has lines. See Characters, places and objects.

Big moves in tight sets, like a car interior, force the model to invent space that does not exist. Change one setting at a time and keep moves small; if two tries fail, change the "Shot value" or the Action and regenerate instead. Each run is saved as a new version, so the original stays; see Fix and edit images.