1. Script
The Script Node reads your screenplay, optionally runs the Eden consult, and extracts Scenes, Shots, Beats, and every Actor / Prop / Set the story needs.
How It Works
PrePrompt turns a script into a playable animatic by running it through a sequence of stages. Each stage has a single job, produces structured output, and hands off cleanly to the next. This page walks through the full flow without getting technical — what happens, why, and what you see along the way.
The five stages
Section titled “The five stages”The pipeline is Script → Assets → Storyboard → Timeline → Export. Each stage is one or more Nodes on the Flow canvas.
2. Assets
Actor, Prop, and Set nodes auto-spawn from the script. Each generates a hero look — the canonical image of that character, object, or location — plus wardrobe variants as needed. The DRB Node approves everything before storyboarding begins.
3. Storyboard
The Storyboard Node reads the approved assets and generates one frame per beat. Frames are laid out in a scene/shot/beat grid. Reframe, reshot, or reshuffle any of them.
4. Timeline
The Timeline Node assembles frames into a playable animatic. Audio and Song nodes feed voiceover and music into it. Color, transitions, and keyframes all live here.
5. Export
The Export Node packages the final deliverable — a PDF Storyboard, a ZIP of frame images, or an MP4 Animatic. All standard file formats, editable in the tools you already use.
How data flows
Section titled “How data flows”The pipeline’s underlying principle is simple: every stage produces structured output. Every downstream stage reads from that output.
That has one useful consequence: you can inspect and edit everything. Open the Script Node and you can see every scene, shot, and beat it extracted. Open a Storyboard frame and you can see which Actor and Set it referenced. Open the Timeline and you can see the sequence clip-by-clip.
No black boxes. If something came out wrong, you find the stage where it went wrong and fix it there.
Assets are reusable
Section titled “Assets are reusable”When an Actor is generated, their hero look is saved to the project. Every storyboard frame that features that Actor references the same underlying image. Update the Actor and every frame that used them rebuilds with the new look — automatically.
The same holds for Props and Sets. Build once; use everywhere.
Partial re-runs are cheap
Section titled “Partial re-runs are cheap”Changing a single Actor doesn’t re-render the whole storyboard. Only the frames that use that Actor rebuild. Changing a single frame doesn’t touch any of the others. The pipeline is designed so your creative changes have small, predictable costs.
What each stage actually does
Section titled “What each stage actually does”Script
Section titled “Script”The Script Node takes your input — Fountain, FDX, plain text, or a paragraph of prose — and runs it through analysis. Out comes a structured breakdown: scenes, shots inside each scene, beats inside each shot. Every named character, object, and location gets a node.
If you run the Eden consult first, the analysis is sharpened by your answers to its clarifying questions.
Assets
Section titled “Assets”The Actor, Prop, and Set nodes each generate a hero look plus optional variants. You review, reshot, or approve each one.
The DRB Node — Director Review Board — is the gate that separates assets from storyboarding. An Actor has to be approved before the storyboard can use them. This prevents a weak design from propagating through fifty frames.
Storyboard
Section titled “Storyboard”The Storyboard Node reads the DRB’s approved assets, plus the scene-shot-beat structure from the script, and generates one frame per beat. Frames are organized in a grid — scenes across the top, shots within each scene, beats within each shot.
You can reshot any single frame, reframe it by cropping (which spawns a Camera View node), or batch-regenerate an entire shot.
Timeline
Section titled “Timeline”The Timeline Node is the editor. Drag frames into the right order. Adjust durations. Add voiceover (Audio Node) and music (Song Node). Color-grade per beat. Add transitions and keyframes.
Hit play — with J/K/L for reverse/pause/play — and you’re watching your scene for the first time.
Export
Section titled “Export”The Export Node packages the final deliverable. Three formats:
- PDF Storyboard — every frame laid out as a printable booklet.
- ZIP Frames — each frame as a separate image file.
- MP4 Animatic — the full video, H.264, with audio and color baked in.
All three are standard file formats. Open them in whatever tool you prefer — Premiere, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, or any PDF reader.
You can always go back
Section titled “You can always go back”A key property of the pipeline: nothing is final until you export. Change the script mid-project and the pipeline rebuilds what it needs to. Reshot an Actor and downstream frames update. Reorder scenes in the script and the Timeline picks up the new order on the next play.
The pipeline is a living structure. You shape it as you go.
Related
Section titled “Related” Philosophy The creative thesis behind the pipeline.
Pipeline and Nodes A user-focused mental model for the Flow canvas.
Scene, Shot, Beat The structural hierarchy that runs through every stage.
Getting Started Walk through the whole pipeline with your own first project.
Do I have to go through all five stages? No. A minimal project is Script → Storyboard → Timeline → Export. Audio and Song nodes are optional. Small tests can skip the DRB if you’re just exploring.
What if I want to jump straight to the storyboard? You can. Connect the Script Node to the Storyboard Node with no asset nodes in between, and the Storyboard will generate using whatever visual inference it can manage. It won’t be as consistent as a full asset-driven run, but it’s fast.
Does editing one stage break the stages after it? No. Downstream stages re-read their inputs on the next run and rebuild only what changed. A reshot Actor doesn’t invalidate the storyboard — it updates the frames that used that Actor.
Can I save and come back later? Yes. Every node persists its state. Close the tab, reopen the project a week later, and your pipeline is exactly where you left it.
What happens if a generation fails partway through? Credits for the failed generation are released — you’re not charged. The node shows an error state; you retry when you’re ready. Other work in the pipeline is unaffected.
Can I run the pipeline on a long script? Yes. Longer scripts take longer to analyze and cost more credits, but the pipeline scales. Some creators start with a single scene to test their settings, then run the full script once they’re happy.