Practical guide

Write a video brief that a generator cannot decide for you

Last materially reviewed 2026-09-24

Quick answerName the viewer, the action and the evidence before choosing a voice or generating a scene.
What to know

Replace the topic with a decision

A topic such as account setup is too broad to guide a short video. State what the viewer should be able to do afterward and what they already know. For example, a fictional help-center brief could ask a new administrator to recognize which invitation setting applies to a contractor. That narrows the explanation and stops a generator from filling the duration with a generic introduction to teamwork.

What to know

Record what must be shown

List the screen, object or diagram needed to support each important claim. Mark whether that asset already exists, needs permission or must be created. Generated visuals should not quietly replace missing evidence. If the demonstration requires an actual product interface, a real screenshot may be more appropriate than a visually attractive reconstruction. A written brief should make that requirement clear before any automated scene selection begins.

What to know

Set a useful boundary

Choose the intended viewing surface, language, approximate duration and necessary text alternative. Note subjects the video will not cover. These constraints reduce wasted production, but they are not a reason to remove an essential warning or compress a complicated instruction until it becomes misleading. An explanation that needs three separate actions may work better as a small sequence than one rushed clip with dense captions.

What to know

Use a four-line acceptance note

Our original brief asks: Who is this for? What should they understand or do? What source supports the explanation? What would make us reject the output? For the fictional contractor example, rejection could mean the wrong screen setting, an outdated label or a missing exception. Keep the brief beside the final review. It gives the editor a reason to change a beautiful scene and prevents a completed render from becoming the only definition of success.

Continue when useful

Next: Map a script into scenes without losing its meaning

Give each scene one communication job, while keeping exceptions and supporting evidence attached to the claim they qualify.

Open Map a script into scenes without losing its meaning →

Sources used for this page

These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.

  1. Fliki text-to-video workflow — Merchant documentation · fliki.ai · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-24
  2. Pictory script-to-video workflow — Merchant documentation · pictory.ai · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-24