Reframing Beats

Sometimes a generated frame is almost right. The actor, the set, and the action are correct — the composition just isn’t. Maybe the framing is too wide; maybe the subject is too centered; maybe you want a tighter angle on the action.

Reframing is the fix. Draw a crop marquee on the frame, and PrePrompt regenerates the beat with your new framing intent. The result is a real, full-resolution frame composed to match what you drew.

When to reframe

The frame is close but not tight enough

The subject reads, but the composition feels loose. Crop in.

The focal point is off-center

The important part of the beat is to one side. Crop to rebalance.

You want a different angle

The current frame is wide; you want a close-up on the same moment. Draw a tight crop.

You want variations of the same beat

Reframe the same beat two or three times to get coverage — wide, medium, tight — all of the same instant.

Reframing is for composition. If the content of the frame is wrong — the actor looks off, the set is wrong — reach for a reshot of the underlying asset, not a reframe.

The crop workflow

1. Select a frame in the Storyboard Node. Click the frame you want to reframe.

2. Drag the crop marquee. Draw a rectangle over the area of the frame you want the new composition to target. The marquee is the new framing intent, not a pixel-level trim.

3. Confirm the crop. PrePrompt captures the crop rect as the framing instruction.

4. A Camera View spawns automatically. It appears on the Flow canvas wired to the beat. The Camera View handles the handoff from “crop rect” to “new image.”

5. The beat regenerates. The image model renders the beat again with the new framing, the original scene context, and the same approved Actors, Props, and Sets. The updated frame replaces the old one in the grid.

6. The new frame propagates. Timeline clips pick up the new image, the Asset Library updates, and downstream exports use the reframed version.

The crop is an intent, not a pixel trim

PrePrompt doesn’t literally cut pixels from the old image. It uses your rectangle to tell the model “re-shoot this beat at this framing” and generates a fresh image. Expect the new frame to look like a recomposed shot — lighting and actor position may shift slightly.

Iterate before the Timeline

The Storyboard is the right place to iterate on framing. Once a frame lands on the Timeline and you’ve set its duration, transitions, and surrounding beats, reframing becomes more disruptive.

Iterate in the Storyboard

Reframe until the grid reads as a coherent shot list. Fast to iterate, cheap in credits relative to re-editing the Timeline.

Commit on the Timeline

Once you’ve arranged and timed the animatic, touch framing only when necessary. Timeline edits get pricier the more work has been stacked on a beat.

Tips for clean reframes

• Draw a generous marquee. A crop that’s too tight forces the model to invent detail it wouldn’t otherwise need to.
• Match the scene’s aspect ratio. Your project aspect ratio (16:9, 9:16, and so on) is the dominant signal. A drastically different marquee shape can produce odd compositions.
• Reframe one beat at a time before settling on a look. Once you like a framing, it’s easy to apply the same intent to adjacent beats.
• Don’t reframe to fix an asset. A reframe won’t rescue a bad Actor design. Reshot the Actor, then reframe if you still want a tighter composition.

Reframes consume credits

Every reframe runs a fresh image generation, so it costs credits the same as a new frame. Iterate with intent. Credits are held at the start and released if generation fails — you’re only charged for successful reframes.

Related

Camera View The node that handles framing and re-framing under the hood.

Regenerating Frames Single-frame retry and batch regeneration when a frame needs another pass.

Generating Frames How the Storyboard Node produces frames in the first place.

Actors and Wardrobe When the problem is the character, not the framing, reshoot the actor.

FAQ

Does the crop actually cut pixels from the existing image? No. The crop rectangle is a framing instruction. PrePrompt regenerates the beat with that instruction, producing a new full-resolution image rather than a cropped version of the old one.

What happens to the old frame after I reframe? It’s replaced by the reframed version in the active sequence. The prior frame is preserved in the node’s history so you can roll back if you want to.

Can I reframe the same beat multiple times? Yes. Each reframe spawns a fresh generation with the new framing. Be intentional — every attempt consumes credits on success.

Why did my reframe produce an image that’s slightly different from the original beyond just framing? The model re-generates from scratch with a new composition in mind, so lighting, pose, and background can shift. If the drift is too much, use a tighter description or a manually placed Camera View with explicit framing instructions.

Can I reframe a binned frame? Restore the frame to the active sequence first, then reframe. Binned frames are preserved but not actively regenerated.

Does reframing affect the beat’s duration on the Timeline? No. Reframing changes the frame’s image, not its timing. Timeline duration, transitions, and order are preserved.