The Generator

The Shot Director panel (also called the Unified Generator) is fixed at the bottom of the Create workspace. It's where you turn prompts into images and videos inside the current folder.

Part of: Asset Library (Create)

See the full workspace overview for how the generator sits below the gallery.

When the generator appears

The generator shows when:

• You're inside a project folder (gallery view)
• Generate mode is On or Mini (not Off)
• You have edit access (viewers on shared projects cannot generate)

New generations land in the active folder — the folder you have open in the sidebar.

Generator visibility: Off / On / Mini

Control how much screen space the generator uses:

Where to change it:

1. Tools sidebar → Generate section → Off / On / Min
2. AI TOOLS dock (bottom left) → sparkles button toggles Off ↔ On
3. Clicking the minimized pill toggles On ↔ Mini

Your preference is remembered per browser.

Opening an inline AI tool from the Tools sidebar also hides the generator temporarily.

Image vs Video mode

Two tabs at the bottom of the generator:

The active tab controls which models appear in the model picker.

Writing prompts

• Main prompt field — describe subject, action, camera, lighting, style
• Some models support negative prompt (what to avoid)
• Shot Director / creative intent controls add camera, lens, framing, and motion language without writing everything manually

Tips: Writing Effective Prompts · Video Generation Best Practices · Seedance 2.5: Create, Edit & Extend

Reference images

Most video models and many image models accept references:

Attach references by:

• Dragging from the Uploads lane or gallery
• Dragging from the preview panel
• Asking Ani to set generator references from your selection

Some models require a reference image — the Generate button shows Model requires a reference image until you attach one.

Seedance 2.5 adds a Task row (Create, Edit video, Extend video) and supports many more reference slots than earlier Seedance models. See the Seedance 2.5 guide for edit, extend, and reference limits.

Generator settings menu

Chevron menus above the control bar expose model-specific options:

• Resolution / aspect ratio
• Quality tier
• Duration (video)
• Generate audio toggle (supported video models)
• Seed and concurrency (batch count)
• Camera movements (video)
• Folder target (locked to active folder in project context)

Generate button

Click Generate (sparkles icon) to queue the job. While running:

• A placeholder card appears in the gallery with progress status
• Credits are reserved according to your credit source
• Completed assets appear in the current folder automatically

Blocked states show helpful titles: Seedance setup required, Model coming soon, etc.

Edit mode

Some workflows open the generator in edit mode (restyle-like operations). The primary button becomes Apply plus the mode name instead of Generate.

Production component references

When production components are enabled, you can attach component references from approved character sheets, locations, and style guides. Ani can set these via set production component references.

Ani and the generator

From Ask ANI, Ani can:

1. Apply generator settings — prompt, model, resolution, duration
2. Set generator references — from selected assets
3. Set shot director settings — camera and creative intent
4. Run image generation / Run video generation — after credit preflight and your confirmation

Ani sees the same capability manifest as the UI — it won't propose models your folder policy blocks.

Minimized generator pill

In Mini mode, a compact Generator chip shows Image/Video icons at the bottom. Hover to peek; click to expand to full On mode.

Next in this series

• Models & Credits
• Seedance 2.5: Create, Edit & Extend
• AI Tools & Notes
• Asset Library (Create)