ai-storyboard-to-video

AI Storyboard to Video

Overview

A structured pipeline for converting written storyboards, scripts, or scene descriptions into complete AI video production packages. Each scene becomes a self-contained prompt set — start frame, animation, camera, and editing instructions — ready for any AI video generation tool.

This skill bridges the gap between narrative writing and technical video generation prompts.

When to Use

• Converting a written script or storyboard into AI video prompts
• Planning a multi-scene AI video sequence from a narrative outline
• Building a complete shot list with camera and editing instructions
• Producing an AI short film, ad, or social media video from a concept

The Pipeline

STORYBOARD → SCENE BREAKDOWN → SHOT LIST → PROMPT PACKAGE → EDITING TIMELINE

Stage 1 — Scene Breakdown

Parse the storyboard into discrete scenes. Each scene is one continuous location and time block.

Scene boundary triggers:

• Location change
• Time jump (hours, days, flashback)
• Major mood shift
• Character entrance/exit that resets the visual

SCENE [N]
  Location:   [Where]
  Time:       [When — time of day, weather, season]
  Characters: [Who is present — reference character sheets]
  Emotion:    [Core emotional tone]
  Duration:   [Target clip length in seconds]
  Summary:    [One-sentence description of what happens]

Stage 2 — Shot List

Break each scene into individual shots. Follow the one action per shot rule.

Each shot defines:

Element	Description
Shot #	Sequential number within the scene
Type	Wide / Medium / Close-up / Extreme close-up / Over-the-shoulder
Subject	Who or what is in frame
Action	Single specific action
Camera	Movement type, lens, angle
Duration	Target seconds for this clip

Shot type progression — follow cinematic convention:

1. Establishing wide — orient the viewer in the space
2. Medium action — show the primary event
3. Close-up reaction — emotional beats and details
4. Cutaway/insert — environmental detail or object

Stage 3 — Prompt Package

For each shot, generate the complete prompt set:

## Shot [N] — [Brief Label]

### Start Frame Prompt
[Full image generation prompt with lighting, lens, composition, character attributes]

### Animation Prompt
[Specific action and camera movement description]

### Camera Settings
[Movement type, lens, angle, shake level, speed]

### Duration
[Target seconds]

### Editing Notes
[Speed ramps, transition to next shot, audio cues]

Stage 4 — Editing Timeline

After all shots are generated, produce the assembly timeline:

## Editing Timeline

| Shot | Duration | Transition | Speed | Audio |
|------|----------|-----------|-------|-------|
| 1    | 3s       | Cut       | 1x    | Ambient city |
| 2    | 4s       | Cut       | 1x    | Footsteps |
| 3    | 2s       | Speed ramp| 0.5x→1x | Music swell |
| ...  | ...      | ...       | ...   | ... |

Total runtime: [sum]s

Output Format

When converting a storyboard, always return the complete package:

## Production Overview
[Title, genre, target runtime, character sheets referenced]

## Scene Breakdown
[All scenes with location, time, characters, emotion, duration]

## Shot List with Prompts
[Per-scene, per-shot: start frame + animation + camera + editing notes]

## Editing Timeline
[Full assembly table with transitions, speed, and audio]

## Production Notes
[Technical recommendations, generation order, consistency reminders]

Consistency Enforcement

1. Reference character sheets in every prompt — paste locked attributes from ai-character-sheet-generator
2. Lock lighting per scene — all shots within a scene share time-of-day, color temperature, and light direction
3. Lock wardrobe per scene — unless a costume change is scripted, clothing stays identical
4. Match eyelines across shots — if character A looks right in shot 2, character B looks left in shot 3
5. Maintain spatial continuity — if a door is on the left in the wide shot, it stays on the left in close-ups

Scene Duration Guidelines

Content	Recommended Duration
Establishing wide shot	2-4 seconds
Action shot	3-5 seconds
Dialogue reaction	2-3 seconds
Slow-motion detail	2-3 seconds (at 0.5x)
Transition/cutaway	1-2 seconds

Keep individual clips short. AI video tools produce cleaner results in 3-5 second clips than in 10+ second clips.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
No establishing shot	Always open a new scene with a wide shot
Overloading a single shot with multiple actions	One action per shot — edit together in post
Inconsistent lighting across shots in same scene	Lock time-of-day and light direction per scene
Missing character sheet references in prompts	Paste locked attributes into every start frame prompt
No editing timeline	Always produce the assembly table — generation without editing plan wastes effort
Clips too long (8-10+ seconds)	Target 3-5 seconds per clip for best quality

Integration with Other Skills

This skill works as the final stage in a three-skill pipeline:

ai-character-sheet-generator  →  ai-cinematic-video-director  →  ai-storyboard-to-video
       (characters)                    (shot craft)                  (full production)

1. Build character sheets first with ai-character-sheet-generator
2. Apply directorial rules from ai-cinematic-video-director to each shot
3. Use this skill to assemble everything into a production-ready package

Additional Resources

For genre-specific templates, multi-character scene blocking, and parallel action editing, consult references/production-templates.md.