How Many Panels Does a Storyboard Need? (68 Shots, 14 Panels)

Key Takeaways

• Storyflow keeps a storyboard at the right size: one numbered wall per moment, each with its sketch, its line, its labels and its seconds, on one board the client opens by link and comments on by panel number.
• The count comes from the moments, not the shots. The ad in our example has 68 shots; the board has 14 panels, and the client still sees everything they need to decide on.
• A shot earns its own panel when it carries the idea, costs money or risk, will be argued about, opens or closes the film, or turns the story. Everything else folds into the moment it belongs to.
• Fast montages get one panel per beat, with "Under a second." written into the line. Shots you cannot film for real get one panel with a two-part line: what you film on the day, what is added in the edit.
• Number panels with two digits and a name ("08 · Bedroom floor") and never renumber during a review round; renumber only when you start a fresh round. Insert 08a instead.
• A planning formula you can redo yourself: panels ≈ length in seconds ÷ 4 to 8 seconds per moment, then add a panel for the end card. Our board sits at about 6.4 seconds per panel at the brief's length (90 ÷ 14), or 6.6 on its own 92 seconds (92 ÷ 14).
• Detail goes in the line under each panel, not in more panels. Fourteen clear panels beat sixty vague ones.
• Watch it done: How to Storyboard a Film So Your Client Says Yes shows all 14 panels side by side in 10 minutes, so you can see what 68 shots look like when they are told in 14 moments.

Why the Panel Count Goes Wrong

You open the script, start drawing at shot one, and three days later you have 70 frames, a client who skimmed half of them and a note on "the one with the window" that could mean four different frames. Or the opposite: you rush out six panels, the client approves, and on the shoot day the producer discovers the fire gag nobody boarded needs a safety officer. Both boards had the wrong number of panels for the same reason. They were counted from the wrong unit.

Boarding every shot buries the decision

A shot is a camera setup that runs between two cuts. A client does not decide on shots; they decide on what the film says and how it looks. Give them 68 frames and every frame competes for the same attention, so the three that matter get the same glance as the cutaway of a door handle. The result is a long list of small opinions instead of one decision.

Too few panels hide the risky shot

The other failure is quieter. A board with six panels for a 90-second ad looks tidy, but it has merged the shot that needs a stunt driver into a panel called "montage". Nobody objected because nobody saw it. The shot that costs money or carries risk has to be visible, or the approval means nothing.

The numbers drift between versions

If panel numbers change every time you add a shot, the client's note on "panel eight" from Tuesday points at a different picture on Thursday. Numbering is part of panel count: a board with a stable count and stable numbers is one the whole team can talk about.

The montage problem

Fast sequences break both habits. Board every cut of a 6-second burst and you have twelve thumbnails of a tyre and some smoke. Board none of them and the client is surprised by the energy of the edit. A montage needs its own rule, which we cover below.

Moments, Not Shots: The Rule Behind 68 Shots and 14 Panels

The rule is simple to state: a panel for every moment the client needs to see, not for every shot. A moment is a unit of meaning. It is the smallest piece of the film you could describe in one line and still say why it is there.

Shot, moment and panel are three different things

The Wikipedia entry on the shot defines it as a run of frames between cuts. That is the editor's unit. The storyboard, which the Wikipedia storyboard article traces to Disney's story department in the early 1930s, works in a different unit: the moment, and one moment can hold one shot or a dozen.

The arithmetic of 68 and 14

The real ad has 68 shots. Our board has 14 panels. That is 68 ÷ 14 ≈ 4.9 shots per panel on average, but no single panel holds exactly that: some panels stand for one long held shot, others for a burst of quick cuts. The seconds on the 14 panels add up to 92 against a 90-second brief, which is about 6.6 seconds per panel on average (92 ÷ 14) and 90 ÷ 14 ≈ 6.4 seconds per panel at the brief's length. Those two numbers (about five shots and about six seconds per panel) are the example's pace, not a rule for every film.

Why the client still sees everything

Fourteen panels can carry 68 shots because each panel's line does the work the extra frames would have done. "Top-down. Fire bursts across grey ground. Under a second." tells the client the size, the angle and the speed. Panel 05 stands for that whole flash of the montage; the shot list later breaks it into setups.

The test for a moment

Read the line out loud and ask: if the client said no to this, would the film change? If yes, it is a moment and it gets a panel. If no, it belongs inside a neighbouring moment. This is the same read-aloud test the film's step 1 uses for the line itself, pointed at the count instead of the wording. Our sibling post on how to write a storyboard shot description goes deep on the line.

Tools for Each Step: Counting, Grouping and Numbering Panels

Each step of deciding the count needs something different from a tool: a place to list moments, a way to number them, a way to mark fast and impossible shots, and a way for the client to point at one panel. Storyflow is our own product and sits first; the rest follow by the job each does best.

Storyflow does not number panels for you; you type the number into the wall's name. Boords' pricing page lists "Auto frame numbers" on its paid plans, which matters if your board changes length often.

How to Decide How Many Panels Your Storyboard Needs

This is the method we use, in the order we use it. It is step 5 of the film's eight steps ("the other panels") opened out into its own procedure, and it assumes you already have a script or at least a list of what happens.

Step 1: Write the moments list before you draw anything

Go through the script and write one short line per beat of meaning: "she wakes up the mirror", "she collects pictures", "an image lands". Do not count shots yet. A moments list for a 90-second ad usually fits on one screen. If yours runs past 25 lines for 90 seconds, you are listing shots, not moments: merge any two lines that share one purpose.

Step 2: Mark the moments that must stand alone

Some moments are non-negotiable panels: the first image, the last image, the shot that carries the idea, the shot that costs money or risk, and the shot that turns the story. Put a mark next to each. These are the panels you never merge, whatever the length.

Step 3: Fold the rest into their neighbours

Every unmarked moment either becomes a panel or folds into the one before or after it. Fold when two moments happen in the same place, with the same person, toward the same feeling. Keep them apart when the client could approve one and reject the other. A wide of the bedroom and a close-up of her hands in the same bedroom can be one moment; the bedroom and the grey office cannot.

Step 4: Fold fast montages into beats

A run of very quick cuts is one or more beats, not one panel per cut. Give each beat its own panel only when its picture differs enough to change what the client imagines. Write "Under a second." into each montage line so the speed is on the board.

Step 5: Split what you cannot film for real

A shot that needs effects stays one panel, but its line gets two parts: what you film on the day, and what is added later. This does not raise the count; it raises the detail inside the panel, which is the right place for it.

Step 6: Number the panels and freeze the numbers

Give every panel a two-digit number and a short name. Numbers are frozen during a review round, and you renumber only when you start a fresh round: a new moment between 08 and 09 becomes 08a, and a cut panel leaves its number unused. The film's step 5 chapter shows the panels being added one after another, numbered as they go, and watching it makes the pace of a 14-wall row clearer than any count can.

Step 7: Check the count against the length

Divide the film's length by your panel count. If a 90-second board has 40 panels, each panel stands for about 2 seconds and you have almost certainly boarded shots. If it has 6, each stands for 15 seconds and something risky is probably hiding. Timing each panel properly is its own step; our sibling post on how long each shot should be covers the stopwatch method.

Step 8: Read the board as the client would

Read only the panel names and lines, in order, out loud. If the film makes sense and nothing surprises you, the count is right. If you had to explain a jump, add the moment you skipped. If you got bored, merge.

Worked Example: 68 Shots Grouped Into 14 Panels

Our example is "Your Space to Dream", the 90-second ad Aidan Cullen directed for Cosmos (watch the ad). One thing first: this is not the official storyboard for that film, and Storyflow had nothing to do with making it. It is how we would plan a film like it. The sketches were made from our written lines only, never from the film's shots. The reference frames come from other films, found on Frameset and credited on the board. The camera operator and the client in the comments are made up for the demo.

The counted facts are the only ones we use: the real ad has 68 shots, our board has 14 panels, and the brief is 90 seconds. We do not know how the real film was planned or cut, so we do not map each of the 68 shots to a panel. The point is what the board asks the client to decide on: 14 things.

The whole board in one table

The seconds add up to 92 (9+3+1+4+3+2+2+5+7+13+4+19+14+6), two over the brief. That is a timing problem, not a panel-count problem: the timing step cuts seconds from the longest panels (12 at 19 seconds and 13 at 14) before it cuts any moment. Read the "why" column top to bottom and you have the film's argument in 14 sentences. That is the sign the count is right.

The quiet opening: panels 01 to 03

Panel 01's line is "Medium close-up. She breathes on the mirror and picks at the glass. Slow push in. Voice-over: there's a moment when the world sharpens." It earns its own panel because it is the first image, and the first image sets the tone the client will judge everything else against. Panel 02 (prints on the wall, handheld) and panel 03 (a one-second close-up as she turns to the window light) could have been one panel called "her room". They are two because they do two jobs: 02 shows the habit the product is for; 03 shows the change in her. A client could love one and question the other.

The burst: panels 04 to 07

Four panels in a row carry the "Burst" label and lines that end "Under a second.": the face-shaped puddle, the fire from above, her eyes in the rear-view mirror, the tyre in smoke. Each gets a panel because each is a different picture with a different cost. The fire needs a safety officer on set; the tyre needs a burnout rig and a driver; the puddle needs an overhead rig. A montage panel called "quick cuts" would have hidden three separate budgets from the client.

The calm and the gesture: panels 08 and 09

Panel 08 (a locked-off wide of her on the bedroom floor among her pictures) is the breath after the burst. Panel 09 is the extreme close-up of her hands flicking a red lighter above a rainbow sleeve, the flame lighting her face. That one is a single shot that deserves its own panel because it carries the idea of the whole film in one gesture. If a client sees only one panel, it should be this one.

The turn: panels 10 to 12

Panel 10 shows a small cut on skin repeated into a grid (top-down, locked off, with a VFX label for the grid repeat in post). Panel 11 is an extreme close-up of a cursor clicking a search button on an old computer screen. Panel 12 is a wide of a grey office where a man slumps on his desk holding the same red lighter. Three panels for the turn, so a client who wants to change the tone of the turn can change each of the three on its own.

The payoff: panels 13 and 14

Panel 13 is the shot you cannot film for real, so its line has two parts: "Wide. Her bedroom lifts off and pictures and objects float around her as she looks up. Shoot the room locked off, hang the objects on fishing wire, then paint the wire out in post." One panel, two halves, no extra count. Panel 14 ends top-down on her smile on a flowered bedspread, then the end card. In the film's demo, the client's one comment lands on panel 13 ("Can the fan and her headphones float too?"): one comment, one change, one yes. A note like that only works because "panel 13" means one picture.

Which Shots Deserve Their Own Panel

Most shots fold into a moment. A few must stand alone, and the board is only honest if those few are visible. These are the five tests we use, each with the panel from the example that passes it.

The shot that carries the idea

If the film has a single image that says what it is about, board it alone, even if it lasts two seconds. On our board that is 09, the lighter. A client who approves this panel has approved the concept.

The shot that costs money or adds risk

Fire, stunts, cars, water, heights, children, animals, a location you pay for by the hour: each gets its own panel so the producer and the client see the cost before they say yes. On our board, 05 (fire) and 07 (tyre smoke) pass this test; their to-do lists hold "Fire safety officer on set" and "Burnout rig and driver".

The shot the client will argue about

Product shots, logos, the end card, anything with the client's people in it, anything that touches their brand rules. Give it a panel so the argument happens on the board, not on set. Panel 13 attracted the one client comment in the demo.

The first and the last image

Openings and endings set expectations and leave the impression. They are almost always their own panels: 01 and 14 on our board.

The shot that changes the story

The turn, the reveal, the moment the tone flips. On our board, 10 starts the turn. If you merge the turn into the panel before it, the client approves a film with no turn in it.

How to Board Montages and Under-a-Second Shots

Montage is "a series of short shots" sequenced to condense time, in the Wikipedia definition of montage, and it is where a panel count balloons if every cut gets its own panel. These are the rules we follow.

One panel per beat, not per cut

Split the montage into the beats the audience feels: the spark, the scale jump, the speed-up, the peak. Give each beat a panel. Our burst is four beats (04 to 07), not one panel and not twenty.

Put the speed in the line

A panel cannot show speed, so the line has to. End the line with "Under a second." and add a Burst label. Anyone scanning the labels sees four bursts in a row and knows the edit is fast there, without reading a word.

When a montage needs more than one panel per beat

Split a beat into two panels only when the two pictures are different enough that the client could approve one and reject the other, or when they need different kit. Two angles on the same tyre: one panel. A tyre and a rider: two.

Shots you cannot film for real

Effects shots stay one panel with a two-part line: what is filmed on the day, then what is added in the edit. Panel 13 and panel 10 both carry a VFX label so the effects work is visible in the labels alone. Splitting a VFX shot into a "plate" panel and a "final" panel doubles the count without giving the client a new decision.

The cutaway and the insert

Reaction shots, hands, door handles, establishing views: these almost never get their own panel on a client board. They belong in the shot list, which is the crew's document. If one of them carries meaning (a reaction that is the punchline), it passes the "idea" test and earns a panel.

Numbering Panels So "Change Panel Eight" Means One Thing

The film's step 5 makes a point that sounds small and saves days: number the panels, so "change panel eight" means one thing to everyone. Numbering is part of the count, because a count that changes every version breaks every note attached to it.

Two digits and a name

Write "08 · Bedroom floor", not "8" and not "Bedroom floor". The two digits keep the order clear when panels are sorted or listed; the name lets people talk about a panel without looking up its number. In Storyflow the number and name go into the wall's title, and the 14 walls sit in one row in order.

Freeze numbers once the client has seen them

Never renumber during a review round; renumber only when you start a fresh round. A new panel between 08 and 09 is 08a. A cut panel's number stays unused, with a note on the board that it was cut. The client's Tuesday note on panel 08 still points at the same picture on Thursday.

Panel numbers are not shot numbers

The shot list numbers setups; the board numbers moments. Keep both, and say in each shot list row which panel it belongs to ("Panel 07, setup 3"). Our guide to storyboard vs shot list sets out how the two documents split the work.

Numbering across versions and cutdowns

If you board a 30-second and a 15-second version of the same spot, keep the 30's numbers and mark which panels survive into the 15 ("15s: 01, 04, 09, 13, 14") rather than numbering a second board from 01. A client comparing the two versions then compares panel to panel.

How Many Panels by Format: 6 Seconds to a 10-Minute Short

There is no measured industry count of panels per minute that we could verify, so we will not invent one. What we can give you is a formula with its reasoning shown, and the example to check it against.

The formula

Panels ≈ length in seconds ÷ seconds per moment, plus one for the end card if the film has one. On a client board a moment usually holds somewhere between 4 and 8 seconds of screen time. That is our planning assumption, not a statistic: it comes from the example, where 14 panels share the brief's 90 seconds (90 ÷ 14, about 6.4 seconds each) and individual panels range from 1 second (03) to 19 seconds (12). Fast, cut-heavy films sit near 4; slow, held films sit near 8 or beyond.

The ranges

The formula range is pure arithmetic you can redo. The planning range is our adjustment for each format, with the reason in the last column. If your count falls outside it, that is not wrong; it is a prompt to check whether you have boarded shots (too many) or hidden a risky one (too few).

6-second bumpers

A 6-second spot has room for one image and one brand frame. Board one or two panels plus the end frame. If you have more than three panels for 6 seconds, every panel is under 2 seconds and you have drawn a cut list.

15-second spots

Four panels is a good default: the hook, the idea, the payoff, the end card. A 15 is often a cutdown of a 30, so board it as a subset of the 30's numbered panels rather than a fresh board.

30-second spots

Five to nine panels. A 30 can hold a small turn, so the "turn" test from above usually adds one panel. Our commercial storyboard page shows the layout for spots, and the existing guide on how to storyboard a commercial covers the hero shot and the cutdowns.

60 and 90-second films

This is where the example sits. Expect a full arc and at least one montage. Fourteen panels for 90 seconds held 68 shots without hiding the fire, the car or the effects shot.

Music videos

A 3-minute video by formula would need 23 to 45 panels, but music videos repeat: the performance setup in the first chorus is the same setup in the last. Board each performance setup once and each story moment once, then note on the panel which sections of the song it covers. Our music video storyboard page and the post on how to storyboard a music video go further.

Short films

For a 10-minute short, count by scene, not by second. Most scenes need 3 to 6 moments: where we are, what changes, the reaction, the exit. A script with 10 scenes lands at 30 to 60 panels. Dialogue scenes shot as shot/reverse shot need one panel for the coverage pattern, not one per line. The film storyboard page shows a scene-by-scene layout.

Corporate and interview-led films

A 3-minute brand or corporate film built on interviews has fewer panels than its length suggests, because the interview setups are the same frame for minutes at a time. Board one panel per interview setup and one per piece of B-roll that carries meaning. Twelve to twenty panels covers most of these.

Documentaries

You cannot board what has not happened yet. Board the planned sequences (openings, recreations, set-piece interviews, the closing image) and leave the observational parts as one panel each with a line describing what you hope to catch. Our documentary storyboard page shows that split.

Social and vertical video

Board vertical content like the ad length it matches, with one change: the first panel is the hook in the first second, and it is always its own panel. A 30-second vertical needs the same 5 to 9 panels as a 30-second ad.

How Detailed Should a Storyboard Be

Count and detail trade against each other. The more the line under each panel says, the fewer panels you need; the less it says, the more panels you need to carry the same information. We put detail in the line, not in more panels.

What every panel carries

Every panel answers the same three questions in the same order: what do we see, how does the camera move, what do we hear. Timing is the fourth question. Labels pull the shot size, the camera move and the seconds out of the line so the board can be scanned. Under the line sit a script note, a note on why the shot is there and a to-do list. Our sibling post on what goes in a storyboard panel covers the six parts in order.

How rough the picture can be

The picture can be a rough sketch, an AI sketch from the line, a reference frame from another film, or empty. A rough sketch does the same job as a polished one if the line is clear. If you cannot draw, our guide on how to storyboard when you cannot draw shows the options.

Client board and crew documents

The client board is the 14 panels. The crew also needs the shot list (every setup, in shooting order) and the to-do lists. Adding shot-level detail to the client board makes it longer without making it clearer. Keep the shot-level detail where the crew works: the shot list template and the guide on how to make a shot list.

When more detail means more panels

Add a panel instead of a longer line when the camera does something the line cannot make clear: a move that reveals a second subject, or a single shot that changes size from wide to close-up. That is two moments in one shot, and the client should see both.

Storyflow's AI can sketch each panel from its line when you select it and ask for a pencil sketch (AI image generation is on the Pro and Max plans). End every request with the same style and describe the character the same way each time, and the 14 sketches look like the same film. On Plus, or without AI, draw and upload your own sketch or leave the picture empty and rely on the reference frame.

A Panel-Count Template You Can Copy

Copy this into your board, a document or a spreadsheet and fill one row per moment before drawing anything. It works for any length.

The moments list

How to fill it

• Write the moment column first, for the whole film, before any other column.
• Fill "own-panel test passed" with one of: Idea, Cost or risk, Argument, Bookend, Turn. Leave it blank if none applies.
• Merge any blank-test row into its neighbour if they share a place, a person and a purpose.
• Fill "shots it stands for" in rough numbers ("1", "about 6", "montage, about 8"). This is the bridge to the shot list.
• Fill seconds last, with a stopwatch, and check the total against the brief.
• Number the rows that survive with two digits and freeze the numbers before the client sees them.

The same template in Storyflow

In Storyflow each row becomes a wall: drag a wall from the toolbar, name it "01 · The mirror", and stack the sketch, the reference frame, the line (with labels for shot size, camera move and seconds), the script note, the why note and the to-do list inside it. The 14 walls sit in one row. The storyboard template page shows the starting layout, and the script to storyboard page shows how the AI can build walls from a pasted script.

Panel Count Checklist

Run this before the board goes to anyone outside the crew.

• Every panel answers "what changes if the client says no to this?"
• The first and last images are their own panels.
• The panel that carries the idea is its own panel.
• Every shot that needs a rig, a permit, safety crew or a specialist is visible as its own panel.
• Every montage is split into beats, and every beat's line ends with its speed.
• Every effects shot has a two-part line: on the day, then in the edit.
• No panel is a cutaway or insert unless it carries meaning.
• Length ÷ panel count falls inside the planning range for the format, or you know why it does not.
• Every panel has a two-digit number and a name, and the numbers are frozen.
• Panel seconds add up to the brief, or you have marked the longest panels to trim first.
• Reading only the names and lines aloud tells the whole film without a gap.
• The shot list says which panel each setup belongs to.

Storyboard Tools for Grouping and Numbering Panels

Four tools matter for this job. Storyflow is our own product and comes first; the rest follow by the job each does best, and each keeps the job it wins.

1. Storyflow

Verdict: a board where each panel is one wall, so the count is the number of moments and every panel carries its line, labels, seconds, script, why and to-dos.

Best for: directors, producers and freelance video makers boarding for a client sign-off.

Pricing: Plus $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly); Pro $14 billed annually ($19 monthly) adds AI image generation; Max $39 billed annually ($49 monthly) adds a team workspace with roles and permissions. Storyflow is paid-only during early access; its Free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free now. See pricing.

Storyflow is an AI visual workspace for planning creative projects: an infinite canvas with notes, to-dos, tables, documents, images and walls, plus an AI agent that reads the board and builds plans, storyboards and shot lists onto it. For panel count, the useful part is the wall: one wall per moment keeps the board at the size of the decisions, and the shot list for the crew can sit on the same board. The team checks the panels first, then the client opens the view link with no account; leaving a comment needs a sign-in. Present walks through the board one wall at a time, fullscreen. You can also connect Claude or ChatGPT through the Storyflow MCP connector and have the assistant build the walls.

• One wall per panel, with labels for shot size, camera move and seconds
• Comments on each panel, from the team first and the client second
• Shot list, references and to-dos on the same board as the panels
• AI sketches from the line on Pro and Max
• Present mode steps one wall at a time

Limitations: no automatic panel numbering (you type it into the wall name); no animatic and no MP4 export; no approve button or approval status per panel and no version history; no drawing tools for boards drawn by hand; browser only, with no offline mode.

2. Boords

Verdict: a dedicated storyboard tool with auto frame numbers and an animatic editor, built for boards that change length often.

Best for: agencies and studios whose deliverable is the storyboard or the animatic itself.

Pricing: a free plan with 5 active storyboards; Solo $26 a month billed yearly ($39 monthly); Pro $50 billed yearly ($75 monthly) for up to 5 users; Team $85 billed yearly ($125 monthly) for up to 10 users, per Boords pricing, checked October 11, 2026.

Boords' paid plans list "Auto frame numbers", an animatic editor, client review and comments, and version history. That answers two jobs Storyflow does not do: frames renumber themselves as you add them, and the timed animatic is built in the same tool. Choose Boords over Storyflow when the board will be re-cut many times or the client approves an animatic rather than a board; choose Storyflow when the board needs to live next to the references, to-dos and shot list.

• Auto frame numbers on paid plans
• Animatic editor on paid plans
• Client review, comments and version history

Limitations: the free plan caps active storyboards at 5; references, planning documents and the shoot's to-dos live elsewhere.

3. StudioBinder

Verdict: a production suite where the storyboard sits next to the shot list, script and schedule.

Best for: productions that need the panels, the shot list and the call sheets in one paid suite.

Pricing: not published when checked; see StudioBinder pricing.

StudioBinder's storyboard creator page lists a synced script that generates storyboards for each scene, a Shot Tagger that makes a panel from a selected line, Storyboard Groups by location, shoot day or status, shot numbering options, team comments and view-only share links. For panel count, that means you can group panels the way the shoot is organised. Choose StudioBinder over Storyflow when scheduling and call sheets matter as much as the board; choose Storyflow when the board is for a client decision and needs references and why-notes on every panel.

• Script-synced storyboards per scene
• Storyboard Groups by location, shoot day or status
• Shot numbering options

Limitations: generating a panel per tagged line pushes the board toward one panel per shot, so you have to group deliberately; pricing was not shown when we checked.

4. Storyboarder

Verdict: a free, open-source drawing program for people who sketch every board by hand.

Best for: directors and artists who draw and want timing per board without a subscription.

Pricing: free to download, per the Storyboarder page.

Storyboarder runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, has simple drawing tools, takes timing and shot type per board, and exports a PDF contact sheet and to video editors, per its own page. It is the right choice over Storyflow when you draw every panel yourself, because Storyflow has no drawing tools. Choose Storyflow when the board has to carry references, to-dos and client comments by panel.

• Free and open source
• Drawing tools built in
• Timing and shot type per board, export to editors and PDF

Limitations: sharing is by export, so client notes come back outside the board; no shared to-dos or references next to the panels.

Panel Count by Role

The right count depends on who is asking. These are the roles we plan for and what each needs from the number.

The director

The director needs the board to show every decision about the picture, which usually means the full moments list plus any shot whose framing is unusual. A director's working board can be longer than the client board; the client board is the subset that passes the five tests.

The producer

The producer reads the count for cost. Every panel that passes the cost-or-risk test should have a to-do list with the kit and people it needs. A producer who finds a stunt inside a montage panel will ask for it to be split, and should.

The agency creative or account lead

The agency side needs a board the client can decide on in one sitting. Fewer, clearer panels win. For how to walk the client through it and ask for a decision instead of opinions, see our sibling post on how to present a storyboard to a client and the client review board page.

The solo video maker

Working alone, you can skip the team check, but not the count. Fourteen panels you can finish beat 60 you abandon at panel 22. Keep the shot-level detail in your own shot list and send the client the moments.

The editor

The editor works from shots, not panels, but the panel numbers become the editor's map of the cut. Asking for "panel 07 to be faster" is a clear note for an editor only if panel 07 exists and means one moment.

Common Panel-Count Mistakes (and the Fix)

Each of these makes a board harder to approve. Each has a one-line fix.

Mistake 1: Boarding from the shot list

You number every setup and draw a frame for each. The fix: write the moments list first and board that; let the shot list come from the approved panels.

Mistake 2: Merging the expensive shot into a montage

"Quick cuts, energy" hides a stunt. The fix: run the cost-or-risk test on every montage beat and give the expensive one its own panel.

Mistake 3: One panel per line of dialogue

Dialogue scenes balloon when every line gets a frame. The fix: one panel for the coverage pattern (wide, singles, reverse), plus a panel for any line that changes the scene.

Mistake 4: Renumbering after the client has seen the board

Inserting a panel and shifting every number breaks every note. The fix: never renumber during a review round; 08a for inserts, unused numbers for cuts, and renumber only when you start a fresh round.

Mistake 5: Splitting an effects shot into plate and final

Two panels for one decision. The fix: one panel with a two-part line and a VFX label.

Mistake 6: Adding panels to fix vague lines

If the client cannot picture a panel, the answer is a better line, not three more drawings. The fix: rewrite the line so it answers what we see, how the camera moves and what we hear.

Mistake 7: Counting before you know the length

A 90-second board and a 30-second cutdown need different counts. The fix: confirm the length in the brief first; our storyboard brief checklist lists what to get before you start.

When Storyflow Is Not the Right Choice

Storyflow fits the job of boarding moments for a client decision. These are the parts of the job it does not do, and who does them.

You want panels numbered for you

Storyflow does not renumber walls automatically; you type the number into each wall's name. Boords lists auto frame numbers on its paid plans.

The client approves an animatic, not a board

Storyflow has no animatic (a sequence of storyboard stills timed to sound, in the Wikipedia definition of an animatic) and no MP4 export. Boords has an animatic editor, and Storyboarder can create animatics and export to video editors. The animatic guide covers when one is worth it.

You need tracked sign-off per panel

There is no approve button, approval status per panel or version history in Storyflow. Record the yes in a comment on each panel, or use Boords if the approval trail must be formal.

You draw every panel by hand

There are no drawing tools on the board. Draw in Storyboarder, Procreate or Photoshop and upload the sketches, or use Storyboarder end to end.

You need scheduling and call sheets

There is no stripboard scheduling and no call sheet sending. StudioBinder covers those.

You work offline or want an installed program

There is no offline mode and no native app for desktop or phone; the board runs in the browser. Storyboarder installs on Mac, Windows and Linux.

What It Costs

Prices as published on each vendor's own page when we checked on October 11, 2026, and Storyflow's from its pricing page.

For the full set of Storyflow plans, see pricing.

The Bottom Line

Count moments, not shots. A storyboard is the document a client decides on, so it needs one panel for each thing they are deciding: the opening, the idea, the turn, the payoff, the end, and every shot that costs money or carries risk. The rest folds into those moments and lives in the shot list. Our board for a 90-second ad holds 68 shots in 14 numbered panels, and the client's one note pointed at one of them. Storyflow keeps each of those panels as one wall with its line, labels and seconds; Boords is the pick when you want auto numbering and an animatic. To see the 14-panel row built and approved, watch How to Storyboard a Film So Your Client Says Yes on the Storyflow YouTube channel.