Storyboard the commercial,
from script to approved spot.

After the thinking, not before it. The strongest order is the brief and the insight, the idea in one line, then the key frames or full storyboard, how the idea runs across channels, and the decision needed, since a client who sees frames first judges drawings. In Storyflow the brief and boards share one canvas, the Presentation PDF turns them into a deck, one idea per page, and the client opens the board from a view-only link.

Board one frame per shot from the approved script, each with the action, voiceover or dialogue, supers or legal lines, shot size, camera move and duration. Give the end frame its own panel with the pack shot, logo, line and call to action. Check the durations add up to the spot's length, mark which frames carry the cutdowns, then test the timing with an animatic. Storyflow's AI builds the panels from the script in the script's order.

Each frame needs the picture, the action, the voiceover or dialogue, any supers or legal copy, the shot size or camera move, and a duration. The board needs a title with the brand, spot name and length, the end frame, a note of which frames make each cutdown, and music cues where they drive the edit. In Storyflow each panel holds the frame and a note with those details.

One per shot, plus the end frame, so the count follows the pace of the edit. A calm 30 needs few frames; a fast montage needs many more. Check the durations add up to 30 seconds with the end frame included, and cut frames rather than squeezing durations when it runs long. A 15 usually keeps the opening idea, the product moment and the end frame. In Storyflow each panel can carry its duration.

Board the 30 first, with a duration on every frame and the end frame given its own time. Voiceover reads at roughly two to three words a second, so count the script's words against the frames before approval. Design the cutdowns: mark the frames that carry the 15 (the idea, the product moment and the end frame) and add what the 60 has room for. In Storyflow each cutdown can sit in its own folder beside the 30.

An animatic is the storyboard frames cut to a scratch voiceover and music at their real durations, so the agency and client can judge timing before the shoot. Storyflow does not play frames back as a timed video. It holds what the animatic is built from: the frames in order, each duration, and the voiceover and supers per frame. Build the animatic in Premiere Pro or Boords, and keep the approved storyboard on the Storyflow board.

Yes. Storyflow's Storyboard template lays out frames, each with an image area, an action caption and notes for camera, audio and timing. For a commercial, give each note the action, voiceover, supers and duration, and make the last frame the end frame. Or skip the template and ask the AI to storyboard your script, which builds a panel per scene or shot in the script's order. Save the finished board as your own template for the next spot.

A good one gives every frame its action, voiceover, supers and duration, like this 30 second oat milk spot. Frame 1, three seconds: a kitchen at dawn, a kettle clicks off. Frame 2, four seconds: oat milk swirling into coffee, VO 'Mornings start slower here.' Frame 3, five seconds: a family at the table, super 'Made with whole oats'. Frames 4 to 7 build the product moment. Frame 8, four seconds: pack shot, logo, line and call to action.

Present the concept before the frames, name one approver on the client side, and ask for one consolidated round of notes by a date, because approvals stall when notes arrive from several people through different channels. In Storyflow the client and brand team open the board from a view-only link with no account, and a reviewer signs in to comment on a specific frame. Revise on the same board and keep the approved board as the production reference.

The shot list built from it: each frame's setups with shot size, angle, movement and lens, grouped by location and lighting, plus the coverage the edit needs beyond the frame. One frame can need a wide and a close-up, and two frames can share a setup. In Storyflow the AI reads the storyboard and writes that shot list beside it, as cards with frames or a table, for the director to correct before the shoot.

Not yet. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. Clients open view-only links in a browser with no account. AI image generation for frames is on Pro and Max; on Plus, frames come from your sketches, photos or references the AI finds.