Updated 8/6/2026
Quick answer: AI Director Mode is Visla’s workflow for creating consistent, multi-scene AI videos. Start with a prompt or source material, add any visual references you have, and choose a style. You can then review or create the characters, objects, products, and environments that Visla will use throughout the video. After Visla creates the scenes, review each image and prompt and choose which scenes to generate as AI video clips. Once the clips are ready, use the Scene-Based Editor to revise prompts, regenerate or replace footage, complete the edit, and export the video.
For this guide, we created a short internal training video that teaches new office employees how to load paper into a shared printer.
How AI Director Mode fits into Visla’s workflow
AI Director Mode is designed for projects that need recognizable people, products, objects, or locations across multiple scenes. In Video Setup, you review the visual style and the recurring elements that Visla will use throughout the project. These references help reduce visual drift, such as a character changing clothes or a product looking different from one clip to the next.
You can provide your own reference images or let Visla propose characters, objects, and environments based on your input. You can then edit, replace, remove, or regenerate those elements before Visla creates the scenes.
The workflow has four stages:
- Generate AI Video turns your prompt or source material into a proposed purpose, audience, and content plan.
- Video Setup lets you choose a visual style and review or create the characters, objects, and environments used across the video.
- Scene review and generation lets you check each image and prompt, make corrections, and choose which scenes to generate as AI video clips.
- The Scene-Based Editor lets you revise prompts, regenerate or replace clips, complete the edit, and export the video.
This has the same basic purpose as storyboarding in video production. You plan the visual sequence before producing every shot, which makes it easier to catch problems with the structure, setting, or subject early.
Before you start
You need an idea or source material, a defined audience, and a clear objective. You can begin with a prompt, script, webpage, presentation, document, footage, audio, or images.
You may also prepare reference images for any people, products, logos, props, or locations that must appear in the video. These are optional. If you don’t provide them, Visla can propose visual elements based on your input.
You don’t need to choose a visual style in advance, either. You can review the available styles when you start the project.
Our example was for new office employees. Its learning objective was to show viewers how to load paper without overfilling the tray or misaligning the paper guides.
How to use AI Director Mode in Visla
Step 1: Start the project in Generate AI Video
- From your Visla Workspace, select Generate AI Video.
- Describe the video you want. Include its audience and what viewers should know or be able to do after watching it.
We used this prompt:
“Please create a short, internal how-to guide on how to load paper into a shared office printer. It’s for new office employees. The learning objective is to load paper correctly without overfilling the tray or misaligning the paper guides.” - Choose a visual style and branding option. We selected Photorealistic and didn’t apply branding.
- Select Generate.
- Review the proposed Purpose, Audience, and Content Guide. Correct anything that doesn’t match your intended video, then continue to Video Setup.
Result: Visla turns your request into a proposed video plan and opens Video Setup.
Step 2: Review the visual elements in Video Setup
Video Setup contains the project-wide settings Visla will use to create the scenes. These include the visual style, storyboard image model, characters, objects, environments, narration, music, subtitles, and video format.
- Confirm that Enable AI Director Mode is turned on.
- Review the visual style.We kept Photorealistic because the video demonstrates a real workplace task. Choose the style before refining individual visual elements. If you change it later, you may need to regenerate those elements so they match.For help comparing the available options, read our guide to choosing an AI video style in AI Director Mode.
- Choose a Visual generation model.This setting controls the still images created for Video Setup and the storyboard. It doesn’t control how Visla generates the final motion clips.
We switched from Basic to Advanced. Advanced uses a more capable image-generation model and costs more credits. It typically produces more realistic images and handles visible text more accurately. - Review the proposed characters, objects, products, and environments.Check anything that needs to remain recognizable throughout the video. You can edit, replace, regenerate, remove, or add visual elements before creating the storyboard.
Visla generated the shared printer, paper, environment, and several supporting elements for our project. - Add any missing visual elements.
For the character, we generated a photorealistic employee in business-casual clothing. We asked for a calm pose, an approachable expression, and a clean background. We used Enhance with AI to expand the prompt. Focus on details that should stay stable across scenes. For a character, that may include clothing, appearance, and role. For an environment, that may include lighting, architecture, colors, and the amount of visual clutter. - Review the remaining audio, subtitle, and format settings, then select Generate Video.
Result: Visla creates an editable storyboard with still images, narration, and a proposed direction for each scene. It hasn’t generated the final motion clips yet.
Step 3: Review the scenes and choose what to generate
Check the scenes before generating motion.
- Review each scene’s narration, storyboard image, recurring visual elements, and AI video prompt.
- Correct any image or prompt that doesn’t match the intended action.
A direction such as “The employee loads the paper” leaves several details unresolved. A more useful prompt identifies the person, action, object, and framing: “Emily places a straight stack of white paper flat inside the lower tray of the shared office printer. The paper remains below the maximum fill line. The camera stays close to the tray and her hands.” - Select Generate AI videos.
- Choose which scenes should become AI video clips.You don’t need to animate the entire storyboard. Generate motion when viewers need to see:
- A physical action
- An object moving or changing position
- Two or more elements interacting
- Camera movement that reveals useful information
Keep a storyboard image or use other media when the scene introduces a section, shows a static subject, provides context, or supports narration that doesn’t require movement.
We generated all six scenes because the project was short and nearly every scene demonstrated a physical action. A longer video may only need AI-generated motion for a few important moments. - Choose a generation method for each selected scene:
- Text to Video generates a clip from its written prompt.
- Frame to Video uses one or more storyboard frames to guide the clip.
- Ingredient to Video uses selected characters, objects, environments, or other visual references.
Read our guide to generating AI video clips in AI Director Mode for a more detailed comparison of the methods. - Review the estimated credit total, then select Generate.
Result: Visla generates motion clips for the selected scenes. Scenes you don’t select keep their existing visuals and remain editable.
Step 4: Correct and export the video
After generation, review the complete project in Visla’s Scene-Based Editor. Watch the full sequence before editing individual clips. The editor lets you revise scenes, replace footage, adjust timing, update narration, and make other final changes without rebuilding the project.
Use these rules to correct common problems:
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The clip follows the wrong direction. | Rewrite the prompt, then regenerate the clip. |
| The direction is correct, but the motion looks awkward. | Regenerate with the same prompt and visual references. |
| The first and last frames show inconsistent subjects. | Remove the last frame, switch to Ingredient to Video, and regenerate. |
| Repeated generations still don’t explain the scene clearly. | Replace the clip with a storyboard image, stock clip, recording, or uploaded asset. |
Our first generation pass had a problem with first-frame and last-frame generation. In one scene, the starting frame showed one printer model while the final frame showed another. The generated clip tried to transition between the two machines.
We removed the last frame, switched the scene to Ingredient to Video, kept the relevant employee, printer, paper, and office references, and regenerated it. The new version used the correct visual elements without trying to connect two incompatible frames.
This doesn’t mean first-frame and last-frame generation always fails. It can work when both references show a compatible subject, setting, camera angle, and action. Loading paper requires the model to coordinate hands, flexible paper, a moving tray, and a detailed machine.
A few other clips contained awkward hand or object movement. Their prompts and references were already correct, so we regenerated them without changing the direction. The next attempts fixed the problems.
After reviewing the clips, make any final changes to the scene order, narration, subtitles, music, or timing. Preview the complete video, then export it.
Our finished project was 32 seconds long, and we exported it in 4K.
Result: The generated clips, remaining storyboard images, narration, subtitles, music, and replacement media become one finished video.
How long did the project take?
The project took about one hour from the initial prompt to the final 4K export.
That included generating all six scenes, testing first and last frames, changing the generation method for problem scenes, and regenerating several clips. We did more testing than the final 32-second video required.
Creating the same lesson with a conventional shoot would have required a suitable office and printer, someone to appear on camera, several camera angles, and raw-footage editing. Our AI Director Mode project still required review, but the problems stayed within individual scenes. We corrected them without rebuilding the rest of the video.
FAQ
A storyboard shows how the video will unfold visually, usually through a sequence of images or panels. It helps the director plan composition, action, pacing, and transitions. A shot list turns that visual plan into production instructions, such as the shot number, framing, camera movement, location, props, and dialogue needed for each setup. In practice, the storyboard explains what viewers should see, while the shot list tells the production team what they need to capture or create.
AI can accelerate scripting, storyboarding, and shot planning, but it doesn’t replace a clear brief, audience, objective, and visual sequence. Traditional production guidance recommends preparing a script, storyboard, and shot list because these materials keep the work aligned and reduce missing or unnecessary shots. For AI video, that planning also provides the prompts, reference assets, and scene structure used during generation. A short internal video may need only a simple outline, while a longer campaign or narrative project benefits from a more detailed storyboard and shot list.
No, each scene should use the type of media that communicates its point most clearly. AI-generated footage can provide custom actions, settings, and visual concepts, while recorded footage, screen captures, stock clips, graphics, and still images may handle precise demonstrations or factual details better. Current AI video workflows increasingly support several stages of production, from initial planning and storyboards through generation and editing, rather than replacing every conventional method. A hybrid production still needs a director or editor to decide where generated motion adds value and where another source will produce a clearer result.
May Horiuchi
May is a Content Specialist and AI Expert for Visla. She is an in-house expert on anything Visla and loves testing out different AI tools to figure out which ones are actually helpful and useful for content creators, businesses, and organizations.