Scenes
A Scene is the primary storytelling unit within a project. It represents a continuous sequence of action at a specific location and time. When the location changes or significant time passes, a new scene begins. Scenes contain beats and shots, and they link to a physical set or environment.
What a Scene Contains
Each scene in ACT3 AI holds:
- Location — The set or environment where the action takes place
- Time of day — Morning, afternoon, night, etc., which affects lighting
- Characters — The actors present in this scene
- Beats — The key dramatic moments that make up the scene
- Shots — The individual camera angles that will be rendered
Scene Types
| Scene Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard | Full narrative sequence with dialogue and action |
| Montage | Multiple short moments combined into a sequence |
| Cutaway | Brief visual insert that adds context or detail |
| Establishing | Location-setting scene without main character action |
| Transition | A short scene used to move between acts or time periods |
Creating a Scene
- Open your project in the Editor
- Navigate to the Script or Timeline column
- Click Add Scene or let scene headings (INT./EXT.) in your imported script create scenes automatically
- Name the scene and define the location, time of day, and key characters
- Write or import dialogue and action lines
- The scene appears in both the Script view and the Timeline
Editing a Scene
Double-click any scene card in the Timeline or Script panel to open the full scene editor. From there you can:
- Modify dialogue, action lines, and descriptions
- Reorder shots using drag and drop
- Adjust pacing and target duration
- Lock the scene when it is approved to prevent accidental changes
AI Tools for Scenes
AI Scene Expansion — Provides detailed action and dialogue suggestions based on your scene outline. Useful for expanding a rough beat into a full scene.
AI Tone Matching — Adjusts the scene's style and language to match the overall tone set in the AI Wizard.
Automated Shot List — Analyzes your scene description and recommends a set of shots with camera angles, movements, and durations.
Scene Locking and Collaboration
In team projects, scenes can be locked once approved to prevent changes. See Collaboration for full details on team workflows.
- Only owners and admins can unlock a locked scene
- Locked scenes are highlighted in the timeline with a lock icon
- Collaborators can still leave comments on locked scenes
- Version history tracks who locked and unlocked each scene
Scene-Level Rendering
You can generate video previews for an entire scene at once, or render individual shots within a scene. Scene-level rendering sends all shots in sequence to the render queue, producing a continuous clip for review. See How to manage the render queue for tips on scheduling and prioritizing jobs.
Use draft-quality renders for quick creative reviews and reserve high-quality or 4K output for final delivery.
Best Practices
- Keep scene descriptions concise but visually specific — give the AI enough to work with
- Align scenes with act structure so dramatic pacing flows naturally
- Use scene locking early in collaborative projects to avoid conflicts — see Lock Approved Elements
- Break very long scenes into two shorter scenes for better creative control and easier rendering