# Making a film

Updated 2026-09-28. Web page: https://kitcut.ai/docs/making-a-film

A film on kitcut.ai starts in the idea box on the home page. The person types an idea and can add pictures and voice notes. They pick a look and a length, and press **Make the film**. The film's own page then opens and shows it being made.

![The idea box on kitcut.ai with six numbered red circles: 1 the idea text, 2 the + button for pictures, 3 the microphone for voice notes, 4 the look, 5 the length slider, 6 the Make the film button.](https://kitcut.ai/docs/img/composer.webp "① the idea, ② pictures, ③ voice notes, ④ the look, ⑤ the length and ⑥ Make the film.")

## The idea

- **Length:** 3 to 12,000 characters.
  - A counter appears near the limit.
  - A longer idea is refused, not cut.
  - With a picture or a voice note attached, the text may be empty.
- **What to put in it:** what the film is about, who is in it, the tone, anything it must say or show, and how to use the pictures.
- **The idea is the film's public title.** It is shown on the film's page and in the gallery.
- **Language:** the narration is in the language the idea is written in, or in the one it asks for. The narrator's voice (Gemini) speaks many languages, Ukrainian among them. On-screen words are limited to Latin and Cyrillic alphabets ([Looks](https://kitcut.ai/docs/looks.md)).
- **What the idea can't set:** the voice, the music or the style inside a look can't be picked from controls, because Claude chooses them. The idea can still ask for them in words, e.g. "a calm female voice, solo piano, clean line art". See [Looks](https://kitcut.ai/docs/looks.md).

## Pictures

![The idea box with two pictures and a voice note attached, shown as small tiles, with a red circle around the tiles.](https://kitcut.ai/docs/img/composer-attachments.webp "Attachments appear as tiles under the idea; ✕ removes one.")

- **How many:** up to 6 per film.
- **Three ways to add them:** the **+** button (on a phone it offers the photo library or the camera), dragging them onto the box, or pasting a screenshot.
- **Formats:** JPEG, PNG or WebP arrive as they are. The browser converts other pictures it can open (such as HEIC on an iPhone) before upload.
- **Shrinking:** the browser shrinks every picture to 2048 pixels on its long side before upload, and removes location data. One upload may be up to 4.4 MB.
- **What Claude does with them:** Claude looks at every picture and decides what it is. The film's making log states in one sentence what Claude took each picture to be.
  - **Material to show:** a logo, a product, a person or a place, shown as a picture in the film.
  - **A reference to match:** a look, a character design, a layout.
  - **The brief itself:** a screenshot of a written brief, a handwritten note, a sketch.
- **Saying how:** to decide it yourself, say so in the idea, e.g. "put my logo on the last frame".
- **Privacy:** pictures are never shown on the film's page. Only what Claude puts into the film is shown. A picture the film doesn't use is left out of the final render.

## Voice notes

![The recording bar that replaces the toolbar while recording: a cancel button, sound level bars, the timer and the attach button, with a red circle around the timer.](https://kitcut.ai/docs/img/recording.webp "While recording: ✕ throws the recording away, ✓ attaches it. The timer runs to 3:00.")

- **Recording:** press the microphone and speak. ✓ attaches the note; ✕ (or Esc) throws it away.
  - Up to 3 notes per film, each up to 3:00.
  - A warning shows 15 seconds before the end; at the end the note stops and attaches itself.
  - Recordings under 1 second are not kept.
- **Turned into text:** every note is written out as text, in the language spoken. Hovering over a note's tile shows the words.
  - A note in which nothing is said stops the film being made; remove it or record again.
  - Claude gets the text of the note, not the recording. The recording is never used in the film's sound.
- **The microphone:** the browser asks for permission the first time. Some in-app browsers can't record; there the microphone button does not appear.
- **Privacy:** voice notes are never shown or played on the film's page.

## Look and length

- **Look:** Hand-drawn or Painted (AI scenes). See [Looks](https://kitcut.ai/docs/looks.md).
- **Length:** from 5 seconds, in steps of 5 seconds, up to the plan's longest film. The slider starts at 30 seconds, since a film uses at least 30 credits however short it is.
  - The slider's track runs to 8:00; the part past the plan's longest film is shown locked.
  - Under the slider: the credits the film will use, the balance, and the renewal date.
  - A film uses at least 30 credits, however short it is.
  - If the balance is too low, the button says "Not enough credits".

## Signing in

![The sign-in dialog that opens when a signed-out visitor presses Make the film: Continue with Google, or an email address for a one-time link.](https://kitcut.ai/docs/img/signin.webp "Signed out, Make the film opens this dialog. The idea, pictures and voice notes are kept in the browser meanwhile.")

- **Anyone can type, attach and record without an account.**
- **Pressing Make the film while signed out** opens the sign-in dialog: Google, or a one-time link by email.
- **The idea, look, length, pictures and voice notes are kept in the browser.** They come back after signing in, even when the email link opens in a new tab.
- **The film starts only when Make the film is pressed again.**

## After "Make the film"

![A film being made: its page shows the idea, the status line and the making log headed "What Claude is doing", with a red circle around the log.](https://kitcut.ai/docs/img/making.webp "The film's page while it is made: the status line and the making log.")

1. **The credits are held.** The film's length (at least 30) is taken from the balance. They are charged only if the film is finished. See [Plans and credits](https://kitcut.ai/docs/plans-and-credits.md).
2. **The film's page opens at `kitcut.ai/film/<id>`.** Its address works at once and can be shared.
3. **The page shows the film being made:**
   - a status line, including its place in the queue;
   - the making log, "What Claude is doing": each step and Claude's own notes;
   - the latest review sheet, the stills Claude checks, where the video will be.
4. **When the film is finished, the page plays it.** How long that takes: [How a film is made](https://kitcut.ai/docs/how-films-are-made.md#how-long-it-takes).
5. **Stop:** the person who asked for the film can stop it from the browser they started it in. Its credits come back. A stopped film can't be resumed.

## Limits on making films

- **One film being made at a time per account.** A second one is refused until the first is finished.
- **5 films per account per day.** Every film asked for counts, including failed ones.
- **When too many films are already waiting,** a new film is refused with "the queue is full"; try again later.
- **When the service has made all the films it can in a day,** new films are refused until the next day. No credits are taken.
- **While the film-making service is offline,** new films can't start, and the home page says so.

## Not possible here

- Uploading a video clip to use as footage. Pictures are the only visual material a film takes.
- Choosing a voice, a piece of music or a drawing style from a list. Ask for them in words instead.
- Changing a film after it is made. Make a new one; its characters can come back ([Characters and projects](https://kitcut.ai/docs/characters-and-projects.md)).