> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ozu.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Generating Frames

> How the Storyboard Node turns approved beats into rendered frames, organized by scene, shot, and beat.

The **Storyboard Node** is where your script becomes images. It takes the Scene/Shot/Beat breakdown from the Script Node, pulls in your approved Actors, Props, and Sets from the [Director Review Board](/user/assets/director-review-board/), and generates one **Frame** per beat.

One Storyboard Node binds to one Scene. A project with six scenes has six Storyboard Nodes — each one handling its scene's full shot list and producing a strip of frames that flow into the Timeline.

## Before you run it

The Storyboard Node only runs when two conditions are met:

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="The Script Node has analyzed your script">
    Scenes, Shots, and Beats exist. Each Beat has a description and a `Scene.Shot.Beat` tag like `1.2.3`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The DRB has approved the assets">
    Every Actor, Prop, and Set wired to this scene is in the approved state. Pending or rejected assets block generation.
  </Card>
</Columns>

If either is missing, the node tells you what's still needed and waits.

## Run the Storyboard Node

1. **Open the Storyboard Node for the scene.** Each scene has its own — find the one labeled for the scene you want to generate (e.g. `SC01 — Kitchen`).

2. **Review the shot list.** Shots are grouped with their cinematography: framing, lens, angle, movement. Each shot holds one or more beats. Adjust shot metadata or reorder beats if you need to before generating.

3. **Generate.** Trigger generation for the whole scene, a single shot, or one beat at a time. Progress appears per frame as each one renders.

4. **Review the results.** Frames appear in the scene/shot/beat grid as they complete. Approve, reframe, regenerate, or bin any frame from here.

## How the grid is organized

Frames are laid out in a comic-strip grid grouped by shot. Each shot row shows its cinematography at the top (lens, angle, movement) and the beats beneath it as thumbnails in order.

```
SHOT 1 — Wide establishing, dolly forward, 35mm
  [ 1.1.1 ]  [ 1.1.2 ]  [ 1.1.3 ]

SHOT 2 — Over-the-shoulder, static, 50mm
  [ 1.2.1 ]  [ 1.2.2 ]

SHOT 3 — Insert, static, 85mm
  [ 1.3.1 ]
```

Every frame is tagged with its `Scene.Shot.Beat` number. The tag is the frame's canonical address throughout the app — you'll see it in the Storyboard grid, on Timeline clips, and in the Asset Library.

## How generation works

When you generate a frame, the Storyboard Node assembles its prompt from every piece of context the beat has:

* **The beat's description** — what happens in that instant.
* **The shot's cinematography** — framing, lens, angle, movement, blocking.
* **The scene context** — location, time of day, mood.
* **The approved assets** — Actors, Props, and Sets wired to this scene are used as visual references, which is what keeps characters and locations consistent across frames.

Frames render in parallel — Ozu doesn't wait for beat 1 to finish before starting beat 2. A ten-beat scene usually takes about as long as a three-beat one, give or take.

<Tip>
  **Progress is shown per-frame**

  Each beat has its own status indicator while the scene is generating. If one frame fails, the others keep going — only the failed one needs attention.
</Tip>

## After generation

Once frames exist, you have three kinds of moves:

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Reframe">
    Crop the frame with the marquee tool to re-compose it. Spawns a [Camera View](/user/assets/camera-view/) and regenerates the beat. [How to reframe →](/user/storyboard/reframing-beats/)
  </Card>

  <Card title="Regenerate">
    Re-roll a frame with the same inputs, or batch-regenerate a whole scene. [How to regenerate →](/user/storyboard/regenerating-frames/)
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bin">
    Move a frame out of the active sequence without deleting it. Binned frames stay in the scene's history and can be restored later.
  </Card>
</Columns>

Frames in the active sequence flow forward to the Timeline in beat order. Binned frames stay in the project's asset bin so you can drag them back if you change your mind.

<Warning>
  **Reshot an asset if the problem is the character or set**

  If you're regenerating the same beat over and over because a character looks wrong, the problem isn't the frame — it's the asset. Reshot the Actor (or Prop, or Set), then regenerate. The frame will inherit the fixed asset automatically. See [Actors and Wardrobe](/user/assets/actors-and-wardrobe/).
</Warning>

## Credits and failures

Generating a frame holds credits when the job starts and **settles** them (debits your balance) on success. If generation **fails** for any reason — a provider timeout, a safety block, a transient error — the held credits are **released** and you are not charged.

This means you can run a scene without worrying that a failed frame costs you anything. Retry the failed beat when you're ready.

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Reframing Beats" href="/user/storyboard/reframing-beats">
    The crop marquee tool and how Camera View regenerates a beat with new framing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Regenerating Frames" href="/user/storyboard/regenerating-frames">
    Single-frame retry vs. batch regeneration — when to use each.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Director Review Board" href="/user/assets/director-review-board">
    The approval gate that must pass before the Storyboard Node can run.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Scene, Shot, Beat" href="/user/concepts/scene-shot-beat">
    The hierarchy the Storyboard Node operates on.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## FAQ

**Why do I have one Storyboard Node per scene instead of one for the whole project?**
Each scene has its own shot list, assets, and tone. Binding one Storyboard Node to one scene keeps the grid manageable and lets you regenerate scenes independently. All the scenes' frames still flow into a single Timeline.

**Do frames all generate at once?**
They're parallelized across beats, so a scene with many beats doesn't take proportionally longer than one with a few. There are practical rate limits, so very large scenes stagger slightly — but you don't wait sequentially.

**What if a frame fails to generate?**
The beat is marked failed, the others keep going, and you aren't charged for the failure. Retry the beat from the Storyboard Node. If it keeps failing, check the beat description for anything that might trigger a [safety block](/user/troubleshooting/safety-blocks/).

**Can I edit a beat's description after the storyboard is generated?**
Yes. Edit the description in the Storyboard Node (or back in the Script Node's analysis view) and regenerate the frame. The new image replaces the old one.

**Will editing a shot's cinematography re-render its frames automatically?**
No. Cinematography edits apply to the next generation. To apply them to existing frames, regenerate those frames — either one at a time or as a batch.

**Can I manually add a beat that wasn't in the script?**
Yes. Add a new beat inside a shot, write its description, and generate. The new beat gets its own `Scene.Shot.Beat` tag and slots into the sequence.