Screens — Background Composition
The Screens feature lets you place video content onto any display surface inside a virtual set — monitors, TVs, phone screens, presentation displays, digital billboards, or any screen-shaped element in the scene. The content on the screen plays in sync with the generated shot.
This is how you create scenes where a character is presenting to a room with slides behind them, watching a news broadcast, reacting to something on their phone, or standing in front of a video wall — all without needing a physical production setup.
What Screens does
- Video-on-screen composition — Attach any video clip or image to a screen surface in a set. When the shot renders, the screen surface shows the video playing in perspective, with correct reflections and ambient lighting.
- Background screen content — Place a presentation, a video loop, or a scrolling feed on screens in the background of a scene without those screens being the shot's primary subject.
- Phone and device screens — Render a close-up of a character holding a phone with a specific app, message, or video visible on the screen.
- News and broadcast inserts — Composite a news segment, countdown timer, or broadcast graphic onto a TV in the set.
- AI-generated screen content — Generate what's on the screen using ACT3 AI's video generation — a second video generated specifically as screen content, then composited into the primary shot.
How to add a screen to a set
- Open the Set Editor for the set you are using in the scene
- Open the Screens panel
- Click + Add Screen
- Define the screen surface: position, size, and orientation in the set (you can place it on any flat surface)
- Select Screen Content:
- Upload video — Upload a clip that will play on the screen
- Upload image — A static image displayed on the screen
- AI Generate — Describe what the screen shows and generate a clip specifically for it
- Live feed placeholder — A colored placeholder for screens that represent live data (dashboards, feeds)
- Set the screen's display properties: brightness, reflection amount, bezel style
- Preview the screen in the set before generating the full shot
B-roll screen content
A powerful use of Screens is generating B-roll content that appears on screen surfaces. For example:
- A news anchor scene where the chyron (lower-third graphic) and background graphics are AI-generated B-roll
- A product demo scene where the interface being demonstrated plays on a monitor in the set
- A video essay or explainer where graphs, diagrams, or animations appear on a screen behind the host
Generate the B-roll clip separately, then attach it to the screen surface. The primary shot shows both the host and the content on the screen simultaneously.
AI-generated screen content workflow
To generate what plays on a screen using ACT3 AI:
- In the Screen settings, select AI Generate
- Enter a prompt describing the screen content — what is being shown, in what visual style
- Set the duration to match the shot length
- Generate — a dedicated clip is produced for the screen surface
- The generated clip is attached to the screen and composited into the shot automatically
Screen content clips are generated at a lower resolution than primary shots (since they appear as a small element within a larger frame) — this makes them significantly less expensive in credits than primary renders.
Composition with screen content
When compositing screen content, the Screens feature handles:
Perspective correction — The screen content is distorted to match the camera angle in the shot. A monitor seen from the side will show the video in the correct perspective, not as a flat rectangle.
Reflections — The screen surface reflects ambient light from the set. If the scene is dark and the screen is bright, the screen glow will be visible on nearby surfaces and on characters' faces.
Ambient contribution — A bright screen in a dark room contributes light to the scene. This is calculated automatically based on screen brightness settings.
Motion blur — If the camera is moving, the screen content observes the same motion blur as the rest of the frame.
Use cases
- Corporate presentation scenes — Executive presenting to a board room, with slides visible on the screen behind them
- Tech demo scenes — Characters interacting with software shown on a monitor
- News segment scenes — Anchor at a desk with broadcast graphics on background screens
- Social media content — Reaction videos where the reactor appears on one side and the content they're watching appears on a screen
- Surveillance / control room — Banks of monitors showing different video feeds
- Retail / advertising — Products on digital signage in a store environment
- Product unboxing / review — Close-up of a phone or tablet screen showing an app
- Explainer videos — Host presenting in front of an animated background screen
Screen types
| Screen type | Best for |
|---|---|
| Monitor (16:9) | Desktop computers, video editing suites, office scenes |
| TV (various sizes) | Living room, bar, hotel, news studio |
| Phone screen (9:16) | Close-up shots showing app content, texts, social media |
| Presentation display | Conference rooms, classrooms, lecture halls |
| Video wall | Broadcast studios, event venues, lobby installations |
| Digital signage | Retail, airports, public spaces |
| Billboard | Exterior urban scenes |
Credit usage
Screen content generation uses credits when you use AI Generate for screen content:
- Screen content clips are billed at approximately 40% of a primary shot at the same duration and quality
- Uploading your own video or image to a screen surface is free
- Adding a screen surface to a set (without content) is free
Related
- B-roll — Supplementary and cutaway footage, including screen-generated B-roll
- Sets — Managing virtual environments
- How to Create a Set — Setting up the set that contains the screen
- AI Video Generation — How generated screen content is produced