Start a music video project and choose a format

Every video in SongPilot starts as a project tied to one song. The choice that matters most is how you want to make it, because that decides which tools you see in the studio afterwards.

Open the create panel

1. Open Media, then Videos. The page has three tabs: Projects, Templates and Library.
2. On Projects, choose Create Project. If you have no projects yet, the page shows How do you want to start? with the same four choices listed, and picking one opens the panel with that path selected.
3. In Create video project, pick a path under How do you want to start?
4. Type a Project Name and pick a Song. The song is required, because the storyboard is built from its structure. The button stays disabled until both are filled in, and a note above it says what is missing.
5. Choose Create Project.

Creating a project uses no credits. Spending starts later. Every paid step shows its price, on the button or in a confirmation.

The four paths

Quick social short

A vertical short, made in one step and free of credits. It does not open the studio. A message says it’s being made and you land on the Library tab, where it appears when it’s done, usually within a couple of minutes. Pick how to build it under How to build the short:

• Clip reel joins randomly picked video clips already linked to the song, with a call-to-action card over the cover art. It needs at least one video clip linked to that song. It’s free because it reuses clips you already have. A Clip reel recipe in a campaign is a different thing: it generates new clips and costs credits.
• Artwork + song shows the cover art with the artist and song names over part of the track. It needs both cover art and audio.

If the song can’t make one of these, that option is greyed out and tells you why. The name is optional here; left blank, the short is named after the song. The button reads Create short.

Auto teaser

A short vertical teaser built around your chorus, made by AI from start to finish. When the project opens you see Make this teaser? with one estimate covering the storyboard and all the clips. Choose Make teaser and SongPilot writes the storyboard and generates the clips. Stay on the page until the storyboard is written. If you leave before then, come back and use the “Fill” button on the Generate clips step to start the clips. You are only asked again if the clips come in well over that estimate. Once the clips finish, with the page still open, the render panel opens and you choose Start render.

If you leave during the clips, they keep generating. Come back and assemble when they are done.

Guided phone MV

AI writes the storyboard and direction, you film the scenes on your phone or upload footage, and SongPilot assembles the cut. This is the default, and the only path that lets you record or upload takes. It can also generate AI clips for scenes you don’t film. See recorded takes and lip-sync.

Full AI fill

AI writes the storyboard for the whole song and then offers to generate a clip for every scene. You review the clips and assemble when ready. Expect this to be the most expensive path, since a full song can run to dozens of scenes. The confirmation shows the total before anything is spent. See generating clips and what they cost.

Set the format and shape

For every path except Quick social short, Advanced: deliverable & aspect ratio shows two more choices.

What are you making? offers Social post, Teaser, Lyric visual and Full music video. A format other than Full music video can aim the storyboard at one part of the song when your song’s sections have times.

Aspect Ratio offers 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 and 4:5. Each path has its own default: vertical 9:16 for Auto teaser and Guided phone MV, widescreen 16:9 for Full AI fill. Choosing a format also resets the shape to that format’s default, so pick the format first.

Choose the shape you want now, because the studio has no control for changing it later. If you need the finished video in other shapes, Export pack makes 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9 versions for free.

What you see in the studio

The project opens with a row of steps across the top: Link song, Storyboard, then Record or Generate clips, then Assemble. Finished steps get a check.

Above the steps is a bar with the things every shot draws on:

• The linked song. You can change it here.
• The members chip chooses who appears in AI clips. It reads Add members when empty, and otherwise shows the names or a count. A new project starts with every active member of the workspace. Their likeness photos keep each person looking like themselves.
• Style / face ref is an optional image used for consistency across AI clips.
• Style bible holds the look, world and story for the whole video. See storyboards.

Starting from a saved template works differently: see start from a template.

Manage your projects

Each row on Projects shows the status (Draft, Storyboard, Recording, Editing or Complete) and how many scenes are ready. The menu on a row has Open, Rename and Delete.

Deleting a project can’t be undone. The clips, final cuts and exports it produced stay in your asset library.

When something blocks you

• Could not load songs. Close and reopen this dialog, or check your connection. Use the retry button beside the message.
• No video clips linked to this song yet. Add takes in the studio or library. Clip reel has nothing to pick from. Use Artwork + song, or add clips first.
• This song needs cover art and audio first. See generating artwork and adding a song.
• Failed to create project with no other detail: try again. If it repeats, see fix video problems.

What to do next

With the project open, build the storyboard. Check that the song has lyrics first, since the storyboard works from them. Editing lyrics covers that.