# How do you turn a script into a video with AI?

**Short answer:** Break the script into shots, give every character and location a reference image, storyboard each shot, generate one clip per shot and assemble them in order with the dialogue. Tools that paste a script into a single prompt produce one clip, not a scene.

URL: https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-to-turn-a-script-into-a-video-with-ai
Updated: 2026-10-18

## From script to shots

A script is written in scenes; video models work in shots of a few seconds. The key step is the breakdown: each scene becomes a list of shots, each with framing, who is in frame, the action and the line spoken. A two-page scene is typically ten to twenty shots.

One script line, broken down:

| Shot | Framing | Action | Dialogue |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Wide, night, market square under two moons | The king's guard enters with torches | — |
| 2 | Medium on the herbwoman at her stall | She looks up, stops working | — |
| 3 | Close-up on the captain | He points at her | "That one." |
| 4 | Over-the-shoulder from the herbwoman | The crowd parts | — |

## The workflow

1. Load the script as source text. In Arc, the agent drafts a script plan per episode and you confirm it.
2. Create references for each character, location and prop the script names.
3. Generate a storyboard frame for each shot and fix what is wrong there.
4. Render each approved shot as a clip of 4–15 seconds. Dialogue is generated with the clip on Seedance 2.0 models.
5. Assemble the clips in order, check the audio and captions, and export.

## Writing scripts that generate well

- One action per shot, and a concrete light source.
- Short lines of dialogue, one speaker per shot where possible.
- Describe what the camera sees, not what a character thinks.
- Name colours on the environment and wardrobe, never on skin.
- Keep recurring places to a handful; each is another reference to maintain.

## What it costs

Per shot in Arc: a storyboard frame is 13 credits and a 10-second 720p clip is 94 credits on Seedance 2.0 Mini, 226 on Fast and 751 on Seedance 2.0. A 15-shot scene of 8-second clips on Mini is about 1,335 credits with boards.

## Where Katechon Arc fits

Arc is built around this flow: script plan, references, storyboard, then video per shot, with the plan as a review gate before any video is generated. See script to storyboard on our use-case pages.

If you want a quick narrated slideshow with stock footage from a script, faceless-video tools do that faster; Arc generates every shot and has no stock library.

## People also ask

### What is the best script-to-video AI?

It depends on the output: for faceless explainers, stock-footage tools; for scenes with recurring characters, a production tool that breaks the script into shots and keeps references, such as Arc.

### Can I turn a story into a video for free?

Only a short one. Generating every shot of a story costs per second of video; free allowances cover seconds to a few minutes.

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