Write the short before you generate anything. Include the premise, the shot ideas, the characters, and the actual dialogue you want spoken. The clearer the script is, the easier it is to judge every image, video, and edit decision later.
Do not rely on AI to write the final script. It can help you organize ideas, but it is not reliably creative enough yet for a quality short film. Take the time to write a specific, original idea yourself. The jokes, timing, point of view, and taste are what make the film work.
Create a new project in Sequencer. If you want to keep the work separate from your other edits, create a new workspace first. Paste a starter prompt with the character descriptions, model choices, visual style, and dialogue.
Create a vertical 9:16 high-end 3D animated short called "Road to New Jersey."
Visual style:
High-end stylized 3D animation, expressive caricature faces, detailed cloth texture, believable skin shading, soft cinematic lighting, shallow depth of field, wet asphalt, rain, headlights, volumetric streetlight glow, scratched red truck paint, realistic dust and mud, high-quality animated feature look.
Characters:
@Ronaldo is tall, intense, and overly serious. He wears a deep red Portugal-inspired kit.
@Tiny_Messi is
...
In Sequencer, Snappy will create the first scene layout, shot cards, and starting image prompts for you. Review that work carefully. Make sure the shots are in the right order, the timing feels right, and each prompt matches the script.
A shot card represents one shot and all the media that composes it. It keeps the starting images, generated videos, prompts, audio, and selected final version organized in one place.
Start Frame
Stores the image versions and prompts for that shot.
Video
Stores generated clip versions so you can compare takes and switch back to older versions whenever you want.
Plus button
Adds more media to the shot, including an audio file when the selected video model supports audio input.
If you have voice actors, record the script and add each audio file to the matching shot card with the plus button. Choose the audio file as an input before generating the video. This only works with video models that accept audio input, such as Seedance 2.0 and P-Video.
If you do not have voice recordings, put the dialogue for each shot directly in that shot's video prompt, inside quotation marks, so the video model knows what to generate.
For generated dialogue, use models that handle speech well, such as Seedance 2.0, Veo 3.1, Pruna P-Video, Kling v3, or Happy Horse.
Snappy will generate the first start frames from your characters, scene images, and shot prompts. Spend real time here. About half of the work should be refining the starting images before you animate anything.
Make sure the images tell the story, feel continuous from shot to shot, and look high quality. Check staging, faces, hands, lighting, and character consistency. Fix the still first. Video generation will not save a weak image.
Generate multiple versions of each shot. Use the prompt to describe the acting, camera movement, and physical action. If the shot has an audio input, let the audio handle the words.
If you are generating dialogue inside the video model, put the line in quotes in the video prompt. For recognizable faces, use unrestricted models such as Pruna P-Video or Kling 3.0.
Pick your favorite version for the edit, but keep the others. You can switch back to older versions at any time if a later take is worse or the edit changes direction.
Click the Edit tab when you are ready to move shots around, trim clips, tweak timing, and polish the cut. Keep reactions tight, cut on action, and make exposition visual.
Your generated clips are already part of the same film. Story mode and the Edit tab are two views of that edit, so changes you make in Story mode will also appear in the Edit tab.
Add foley by hand after the picture works. For this kind of short, that means engine, gravel, rain, cloth, seat creaks, map rustle, gas pump clicks, crowd noise, cash flutter, footsteps, and room tone.
The timeline during polish: generated clips on the video track, short foley hits on Audio 1, and the longer sound bed below.
Export after the edit and sound design are locked. Use the best export settings for your target platform. Upscale or enhance only if the source clips actually benefit from it.
Optional finish
Topaz upscale or enhancement pass