DocsCreating videos
Scripts & prompting
How to get great scripts — prompting, writing styles, custom scripts, and video references.
The script drives everything: footage matching, pacing, overlays, and chapter structure. This page covers how to shape it.
Writing a good prompt
Be specific about the subject, the angle, and the format:
- Weak: "a video about space"
- Strong: "Top 10 most expensive space missions in history, ranked by inflation-adjusted cost, with a dramatic documentary tone"
Include the things you care about — the era, the people, the argument, what to skip. The full prompt travels through the entire pipeline, so details you mention influence scenes, not just the script text.
Not a text-to-video generator
VidNext doesn't render a shot you describe the way Veo, Sora or Runway do — a prompt like "static cinematic shot of a cabin in the rain, photorealistic, NO camera movement" has nothing to research or narrate. VidNext makes a narrated video about a topic, from real footage and images matched to the script. If your prompt reads like a shot description, a Prompt check explains this before generation and offers three topic prompts on the same theme plus the quick-start formats — pick one, edit your prompt, or Create anyway Show me in the app ↗ with your text as it is. A hint also appears under the prompt field as you type. It never blocks generation. In Music video and Upload my narration modes the same check reads your prompt as a visual brief and looks for footage that would have to be generated rather than found (see Music video mode).
Content type and style
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Content type Show me in the app ↗: Auto Detect analyzes your prompt and picks the best approach; Trending produces news-style coverage of current events; Evergreen suits documentaries, top-10s, and educational videos.
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Visual style Show me in the app ↗: Auto by default, or pick one explicitly — documentary, breaking news, tech news, video essay, true crime, sports, educational explainer, top-10 ranking, biography, nature documentary, business and finance, and more.
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Writing style Show me in the app ↗: the default is a professional, neutral, documentary-grade narrator — or pick a tone like Storyteller, True Crime / Mystery, Sports Commentator, or Sarcastic / Dry Wit, or describe your own in free text (up to 5,000 characters).
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Script model Show me in the app ↗: Research-grounded (default) prioritizes factual accuracy; Creative writing prioritizes storytelling flair.
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Enhanced Fact-Check Show me in the app ↗: an optional toggle that verifies names, dates, and claims with web search. It adds two pipeline steps and a small credit surcharge, reflected in the estimate before you generate.
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CTA placements Show me in the app ↗: describe where and how calls-to-action ("subscribe", product mentions) should appear — tied to emotional beats works best. Leave it empty for a single CTA at the 25–35% mark.
Attachments: script, images, reference
The + menu Show me in the app ↗ on the create page attaches extra material to the generation:
Copying a style with a video reference
Paste a public YouTube URL Show me in the app ↗ and VidNext analyzes up to 20 minutes of its narration, then writes your script in that writing style — sentence rhythm, vocabulary, energy. It never copies the reference's topic, names, or quotes. Analysis costs roughly 1 credit for short clips up to about 12 for a full hour.
A video reference overrides the writing-style setting; detach it Show me in the app ↗ if you want to pick a style manually again.
Bringing your own script
Attach a custom script Show me in the app ↗ and VidNext reads it verbatim — no rewriting. The limit is 50,000 characters, with a live word count and estimated duration. A built-in Proofread action Show me in the app ↗ cleans up typos before generation.
You can also attach story images Show me in the app ↗ — up to 10 of your own pictures that become anchor points the script is written to flow through:
If your pasted text doesn't look like pure narration (say, it includes stage directions or an article layout), a script check dialog offers three options: use it as a prompt instead Show me in the app ↗, extract just the narrator text, or read every word verbatim anyway.
Supplying a custom script skips script generation entirely, which lowers the credit estimate.
Reviewing before production
Enable "Review script before generating" Show me in the app ↗ on the create page and the project will pause at Awaiting Script Approval after the plan step. You can read the full script, make edits, and approve Show me in the app ↗ — only then does narration and footage work begin, so script changes at this stage cost nothing extra.
Language
Narration, on-screen text, and graphics all use the selected output language Show me in the app ↗ — there are 27 to choose from. If your prompt, custom script, or chosen voice doesn't match the selected language, VidNext asks you to resolve the conflict before generating rather than guessing.