---
title: Cut a game trailer with score and sound
display: 'Cut a game *trailer* with score and sound'
nav_title: Game trailer with sound
summary:
- "A 21-second teaser that opens on its action shot, built from three approved stills, a generated score and title cards set in code."
- "Generate the score first, measure where it hits, and cut the picture to those seconds; run the shoot-out on the action shot only."
- "For a full soundtrack on a locked cut: a score that follows the picture, timed foley, one hero sound effect placed by frame, and a mix measured to a target loudness."
description: Plan a 21-second teaser as a shot list, animate approved key frames, score it first and cut to the hits with title cards set in code; then give a locked trailer cut a full soundtrack of score, timed foley and a hero effect, mixed to a target loudness.
section: playbooks
order: 25
type: playbook
topic: Games
level: Scale
roles: [marketer, artist, creator]
time: { read: 20, do: 95, wait: 17 }
needs: ["Any plan with credits", "Approved key frames: key art, a character scene, a world still", "Your title logo or a font", "ffmpeg or any video editor", "For Part 2: a locked silent cut"]
last_verified: 2026-10-16
models_checked: ["MiniMax H3", "Seedance 2.5", "Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash", "GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst", "Google Lyria 3.5", "ElevenLabs Music v2.5", "ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2", "Mirelo SFX 2.0", "Sonilo V1.1 - Video to Music", "Sonilo V1.1 Video to SFX"]
hero: playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/teaser-contact-sheet-1fps-voltaris.webp
related: [key-art-and-store-assets, character-reference-sheet, animate-a-still, mobile-ua-video-ads, sound-effects-and-foley, generate-music]
pdf: true
run_in: [model_minimax-h3, model_bytedance-seedance-2-5, model_google-omni-1-1-flash, model_openai-gpt-image-2-5-sunburst, model_sonilo-v1-1-video-to-music, model_sonilo-v1-1-video-to-sound-effects, model_elevenlabs-sound-effects-v2]
# the use case made, on scenario.com/explorations, and the platform workflows that run it
made_with:
- { slug: game-to-trailer, title: "Game to Trailer" }
thumb: playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/thumb.webp
video: tutorials/game-trailer-cinematic.mp4
chapters:
- { at: 0, title: "The game trailer to make", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-01-the-game-trailer-to-make.webp" }
- { at: 36, title: "A shot list in seconds", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-02-a-shot-list-in-seconds.webp" }
- { at: 51, title: "Score it before any video, then measure where it hits", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-03-score-it-before-any-video-then-measure-where-it.webp" }
- { at: 78, title: "The key art is the first frame", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-04-the-key-art-is-the-first-frame.webp" }
- { at: 119, title: "Cards in code, cut to the seconds", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-05-cards-in-code-cut-to-the-seconds.webp" }
- { at: 132, title: "Lock the picture, then a score that watches the cut", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-06-lock-the-picture-then-a-score-that-watches-the-c.webp" }
- { at: 156, title: "Foley, one segment per cut, and one hero sound", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-07-foley-one-segment-per-cut-and-one-hero-sound.webp" }
- { at: 177, title: "Place it by frame", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-08-place-it-by-frame.webp" }
- { at: 190.5, title: "Measure the mix", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-09-measure-the-mix.webp" }
- { at: 221, title: "Recap", image: "/media/images/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic/ch-10-recap.webp" }
steps:
- title: "A shot list in seconds"
text: "Start with a shot list timed in seconds: the action, the world, a quiet moment with the hero, a line and the title. The cast is Zuri and Marlow, from the character film."
- title: "Score it before any video"
text: "Create › Audio › Google Lyria 3.5. Write a cue sheet with timestamps (a punchy open, a drop, a build, one big hit); the same sheet went to two music models."
- title: "Measure where it hits"
text: "Neither model followed the timeline, so measure where the kept score really hits: a drive to 11.4 s, near silence by 14.8 s, the impact at 15.55 s. The picture is cut to those points."
- title: "The key art is the first frame"
text: "Create › Videos › Minimax H3, the key art master as First Frame, Resolution 768P. Write the action as beats, give the camera one move and name what must hold: in the shoot-out Omni turned her braids into a ponytail, Seedance tinted Marlow green, and Minimax only moved once the beats and keep-list were in."
prompt: |-
Fast action. She pushes off and grinds down the rusted iron rail straight toward the camera on her roller blades, sparks spraying from her glowing cyan wheels, then fires both white blasters ahead in short cyan pulses. Behind her, the older sniper in the wide hat fires his long rifle once, a bright cyan beam streaking off to the right. The camera dollies backward fast and low to stay ahead of her. Keep both characters exactly as in the first frame: her face, her long black box braids with glowing cyan tips, silver hoop earrings, cropped magenta jacket with the white chevron, white knee guards; his wide hat, goggles, grey beard and long sand coat. Stylized 3D game art. No text, no cuts.
- title: "Cards in code, cut to the seconds"
text: "Set the line and the title in code, never generated. The whoosh peaks on the cut into the world shot, and the impact lands under the title at 15.55 s."
- title: "Lock the picture"
text: "Part two starts from a locked, silent 25-second cut. Sound comes after picture lock, because a changed cut means redone sound."
- title: "A score that watches the cut"
text: "Create › Audio › Sonilo V1.1 - Video to Music, with the silent picture lock attached. Write the emotional map in seconds: intimate in the workshop, a held breath at the rope slip, strings building as the lantern drifts."
prompt: |-
Orchestral trailer score for a painterly animated feature, no vocals, with a strict timeline. 0 to 8 seconds: quiet and intimate, a lone celesta and harp motif over soft sustained strings as the lantern is lit and polished in the workshop. 8 to 9 seconds: the music stops almost completely, a held breath of near silence as the rope slips free. 9 to 21 seconds: strings return with a gentle pulse and grow steadily as the lantern drifts down the canal and the girl chases it, building to a soaring strings and french horn theme. 21 to 25 seconds: a soft, warm resolution under the dusk title card, ending on a quiet sustained chord.
- title: "Foley, one segment per cut"
text: "Sonilo V1.1 Video to SFX on the same cut: Add Segments once per cut, each with its Start, End and Prompt (start and end in seconds below). You decide what each shot sounds like; the model times it to the motion."
prompt: |-
0-3 quiet glass workshop at night, a small flame catching on a wick with a soft whoosh, gentle crackle of a candle flame
3-5.5 cozy workshop interior, low roar of a brick furnace, soft cloth polishing glass, faint clink of hanging glass lanterns
5.5-9 close water lapping against a wooden boat, a wet rope creaking and sliding on wood and iron
9-12.5 calm canal at night, gentle water lapping on stone, a glass lantern bobbing softly on the water
12.5-15.5 small wooden boat creaking, water lapping against the hull, light breeze
15.5-18.5 a wooden pole plunging into water and lifted out with drips, a punt gliding, water rushing along the hull
18.5-21 calm canal water under a stone bridge, soft ripples, light echo
21-25 quiet evening canal, gentle lapping water, soft breeze, calm
- title: "One hero sound, checked on its waveform"
text: "Choose a Model › Audio › SFX › ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2, Duration 2 s, Guidance 0.6, the prompt in Sound Description. Its waveform shows rasp, clank and splash in order; Mirelo returned a single thud."
prompt: |-
A wet rope slipping free from an iron mooring ring on a wooden boat: a short rasp of rope sliding over metal, a soft clank as the ring drops against the wood, then the loose end slapping into canal water with a small splash. Close, intimate, quiet night, no music.
- title: "Place it by frame"
text: "The rope is through the ring at 8.20 s and gone at 8.30 s. So the effect starts at 7.45 s, and its rasp ends on the slip."
- title: "Measure the mix"
text: "Both score runs swelled at the slip, so the hush was cut in by hand: 26 dB down for one second. Then mix, normalize and measure: -13.4 LUFS with peaks at -1.6 dB, on a -14 LUFS target."
agent_steps:
- title: "Connect the Scenario MCP"
text: "Connect your agent and sign in once at [mcp.scenario.com](https://mcp.scenario.com). Then tell it which Scenario team and project to use, so every file lands there."
- title: "Give the agent the files"
text: "For the teaser: the approved key art master (Zuri and Marlow on the rail), the world still and the rooftop character scene, plus your title logo or font. For the soundtrack: the locked, silent 25-second cut. The agent uploads them with upload_asset (the run's 25-second cut went up in two parts). A local agent cuts and mixes with ffmpeg."
- title: "Brief the agent: score first"
text: "The shot list is timed in seconds, and the picture is cut to where the score really hits, so the music comes before any video."
prompt: |-
Run the same cue sheet on two music models, started with wait: false and collected with one jobs_wait: Google Lyria 3.5 (model_lyria-3-5), and ElevenLabs Music v2.5 (model_elevenlabs-music-v2-5) with durationSeconds 20 and forceInstrumental true. Quote the cost with a dry run first and wait for my go.
Cue sheet, word for word:
Instrumental hybrid orchestral and synth trailer cue for a stylized hero-shooter game teaser, 20 seconds long, 120 BPM, minor key turning hopeful. [0:00 - 0:03.5] opens instantly on a punchy drum hit with driving staccato strings and a pulsing synth bass, high energy. [0:03.5 - 0:09] drops suddenly to wide airy pads and soft sustained strings, scale and wonder. [0:09 - 0:11] a gentle warm solo piano motif over the pads. [0:11 - 0:13] a rising riser and snare build. [0:13 - 0:20] one huge cinematic impact hit with low brass at 0:13, then a long sustained chord that rings out and fades to silence. Instrumental only: no vocals, no choir, no spoken words.
Then plot the loudness of each result every 10 ms and tell me where it really drives, drops and hits, in seconds. Neither model may follow the timeline: I will cut the picture to the kept score's seconds.
- title: "Brief the agent: the shots"
text: "In the shoot-out Omni turned her braids into a ponytail, Seedance tinted Marlow green, and MiniMax H3 only moved once the beats and keep-list were in."
prompt: |-
Animate each still with MiniMax H3 (model_minimax-h3): firstFrameImage set to the still, duration 5, resolution "768P". Start them with wait: false and collect them with one jobs_wait. Quote first and wait for my go.
Action shot, from the key art, word for word:
Fast action. She pushes off and grinds down the rusted iron rail straight toward the camera on her roller blades, sparks spraying from her glowing cyan wheels, then fires both white blasters ahead in short cyan pulses. Behind her, the older sniper in the wide hat fires his long rifle once, a bright cyan beam streaking off to the right. The camera dollies backward fast and low to stay ahead of her. Keep both characters exactly as in the first frame: her face, her long black box braids with glowing cyan tips, silver hoop earrings, cropped magenta jacket with the white chevron, white knee guards; his wide hat, goggles, grey beard and long sand coat. Stylized 3D game art. No text, no cuts.
World shot, from the world still, word for word:
Slow cinematic establishing shot. The camera glides forward and slightly right over the sea of golden sunset clouds toward the floating salvage islands. Waterfalls pour steadily off the island edges, two small salvage airships drift slowly between the islands, the clouds roll gently below, warm window lights flicker on the central island. Keep the islands, towers, cranes, radio mast and colors exactly as in the first frame. Stylized 3D game art. No people, no text, no cuts.
For the rooftop shot, use the same settings: a very slow push-in as she sits on the ledge at night, swings one foot, looks up and smiles, with her face, braids, magenta jacket, knee guards and skates kept exactly as in the first frame.
- title: "Check the shots and cut the teaser"
text: "Accept when the first frame is the hook, faces, hair and outfits match the first frames throughout, hands stay whole on the weapons and the camera move matches the shot list. Reject a drifting face or braid, a color shift on one character, a broken limb or generated text."
prompt: |-
Check each take frame by frame against its first frame and tell me which to redo. Then cut the teaser at 1280 x 720, 24 fps, to the kept score's seconds: action 0 to 4.5 s, world 4.5 to 8.5 s, rooftop 8.5 to 13.0 s. Set the line "Salvage the sky." and the VOLTARIS title with "Coming soon to PC and console" in code, never generated, with the title on the measured impact.
- title: "Brief the agent: a soundtrack on a locked cut"
text: "Sound comes after picture lock, because a changed cut means redone sound. You decide what each shot sounds like; the model times it to the motion."
prompt: |-
Upload the silent locked cut with upload_asset. Then run, started together with wait: false and collected with one jobs_wait:
1. Sonilo V1.1 - Video to Music (model_sonilo-v1-1-video-to-music) with video set to the cut. Prompt, word for word:
Orchestral trailer score for a painterly animated feature, no vocals, with a strict timeline. 0 to 8 seconds: quiet and intimate, a lone celesta and harp motif over soft sustained strings as the lantern is lit and polished in the workshop. 8 to 9 seconds: the music stops almost completely, a held breath of near silence as the rope slips free. 9 to 21 seconds: strings return with a gentle pulse and grow steadily as the lantern drifts down the canal and the girl chases it, building to a soaring strings and french horn theme. 21 to 25 seconds: a soft, warm resolution under the dusk title card, ending on a quiet sustained chord.
2. Sonilo V1.1 Video to SFX (model_sonilo-v1-1-video-to-sound-effects) with video set to the cut and a segments array: one segment per line below, its start and end in seconds and its prompt word for word:
0-3 quiet glass workshop at night, a small flame catching on a wick with a soft whoosh, gentle crackle of a candle flame
3-5.5 cozy workshop interior, low roar of a brick furnace, soft cloth polishing glass, faint clink of hanging glass lanterns
5.5-9 close water lapping against a wooden boat, a wet rope creaking and sliding on wood and iron
9-12.5 calm canal at night, gentle water lapping on stone, a glass lantern bobbing softly on the water
12.5-15.5 small wooden boat creaking, water lapping against the hull, light breeze
15.5-18.5 a wooden pole plunging into water and lifted out with drips, a punt gliding, water rushing along the hull
18.5-21 calm canal water under a stone bridge, soft ripples, light echo
21-25 quiet evening canal, gentle lapping water, soft breeze, calm
3. ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2 (model_elevenlabs-sound-effects-v2) with durationSeconds 2 and promptInfluence 0.6. Text, word for word:
A wet rope slipping free from an iron mooring ring on a wooden boat: a short rasp of rope sliding over metal, a soft clank as the ring drops against the wood, then the loose end slapping into canal water with a small splash. Close, intimate, quiet night, no music.
Quote all three with a dry run first and wait for my go.
- title: "Place, mix, measure, file and report"
text: "Accept when the score drops at the slip and rises over the drift, each shot sounds like what it shows, the rasp ends as the rope leaves the ring, and loudness is within 1 LU of target with true peak below -1 dB. In the run both score takes swelled at the slip, so the hush was cut in by hand."
prompt: |-
Check the rope effect's waveform for rasp, clank and splash in that order, and start it at 7.45 s so the rasp ends on the slip (the rope is through the ring at 8.20 s and gone at 8.30 s). If the score swells at the slip, duck it by 26 dB for one second. Mix, normalize to -14 LUFS and measure integrated loudness and true peak. Then create a collection for the trailer with the score, the shots and the sound files, and report the models, every asset ID, the loudness figures and the total cost spent.
updated: 2026-10-16
canonical: https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic
---
Last updated: 2026-10-16
# Cut a game trailer with score and sound
> Plan a 21-second teaser as a shot list, animate approved key frames, score it first and cut to the hits with title cards set in code; then give a locked trailer cut a full soundtrack of score, timed foley and a hero effect, mixed to a target loudness.
In short:
- A 21-second teaser that opens on its action shot, built from three approved stills, a generated score and title cards set in code.
- Generate the score first, measure where it hits, and cut the picture to those seconds; run the shoot-out on the action shot only.
- For a full soundtrack on a locked cut: a score that follows the picture, timed foley, one hero sound effect placed by frame, and a mix measured to a target loudness.
A 21-second teaser for VOLTARIS, a stylized hero shooter set on floating salvage islands. It opens on the action shot, then shows the world, a quiet moment with the hero, a line and the title. Every shot starts from an approved still, the score is generated first, and the picture is cut to the seconds where the music hits. Part 2 then takes a locked 25-second trailer cut and builds its full soundtrack: a score that follows the cut, timed foley and one hero sound effect on the exact frame, mixed to streaming loudness.
:::note As of October 2026
The models, settings and screens in this article are the ones Scenario offered in October 2026. New models and updates arrive often, so check the app for newer options before you choose.
:::
:::video https://ufgc0c9mhl4ueq76.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/academy/9cd3abfad1fda160bd7f8688bb45641f1035d7780fd117283647656a6df52be6.mp4
The kept cut: action, world, rooftop, line card, title on the impact at 15.55 s.
:::
## The brief
| Field | Brief |
|---|---|
| Goal | A 21-second announcement teaser, 16:9 |
| Shots | 1 action (hero and companion, the hook), 2 world, 3 hero (quiet moment), then a line and the title |
| Format | 1280x720, 24 fps, stereo, peaks below 0 dB |
| Fixed | Zuri's braids with glowing cyan tips, her magenta jacket, Marlow's hat and long coat, the sunset palette |
| Rule | No generated text; the line and the title are set in code |
| Accept when | The first frame is the hook; every shot keeps identity and style; the cut lands on the music |
Every key frame comes from an earlier playbook or a single new still:
- **Action shot:** the key art master in [Key art and store assets](https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/key-art-and-store-assets.md), Zuri and Marlow on the rail.
- **Quiet shot:** Zuri on the rooftop in [Character reference sheet](https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/character-reference-sheet.md).
- **World shot:** one new establishing still made with the key art as a style reference.
The whoosh is reused in [Mobile UA video ads](https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/mobile-ua-video-ads.md).
Part 2 has its own brief, for the full soundtrack of a locked cut:
| Field | Brief |
|---|---|
| Goal | A complete soundtrack for a 25-second trailer |
| Picture | 8 cuts, 2.5 to 4 s each, locked; opens on the lantern catching light; title card from 21.7 s |
| Score | Warm orchestral; intimate celesta and harp in the workshop, a sudden hush when the rope slips (about 8.3 s), strings building as the lantern drifts and Isa follows, soft resolve on the title |
| Foley | What each shot shows: a flame catching, the furnace, wet rope on wood, canal water, a punt creaking, a pole in the water, calm evening water |
| Hero SFX | The rope slipping free of the ring, exactly on the slip |
| Format | Stereo, about -14 LUFS for online video, peaks below -1 dB |
| Accept when | The score's changes land on the cuts that motivate them; the hero sound lands within a frame or two of the slip; no sound contradicts the picture; the mix measures on target |
The Part 2 picture, "Little Light", is cut from shots made in the film playbooks (previs to picture, [Animate a still](https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/animate-a-still.md), a music video built layer by layer), so that run generated sound only.
## Approach
Part 1 scores first and cuts the picture to the music it got. Part 2 starts from a locked cut and makes every sound layer to the picture.
:::flow
Shot list | Roles, first frames, one move each | text
Score first | Two music models, same cue sheet | audio
Measure the hits | Loudness curve and spectrogram |
Action shoot-out | Three video models, same first frame | video
World and quiet shots | MiniMax H3, 768P, 5 s | video
Cards and cut | Typeset cards, cut to the measured seconds | video
:::
- **Open on the hook.** A teaser loses viewers in its first seconds, so the action shot comes first and its first frame is the key art itself.
- **Score first, then cut to what you measure.** Ask for a structure in seconds, then measure where the cue really builds and hits. Music models do not always follow the timeline, so the edit follows the music you got, not the one you asked for.
- **Animate stills you trust** ([Approve the still first](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). The approved image is the first frame, so identity and style are fixed before any motion.
- **Spend the shoot-out on the action shot.** The calm shots rarely fail. Two characters, weapons and a fast move fail the most, so that is where three models get the same first frame.
:::flow
Picture lock | Silent cut, 25 s | video
Score | Sonilo V1.1 - Video to Music, timed map | audio
Foley | Sonilo V1.1 Video to SFX, one segment per cut | audio
Hero effect | ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2, placed by frame | audio
Mix and measure | ffmpeg, -14 LUFS, peaks below -1 dB | video
:::
When the cut is locked, make sound after picture lock: a changed cut means redone sound. Then build three layers, each with the tool suited to it:
- **Score from the picture.** A video-to-music model watches the cut and follows its pacing; the prompt adds the emotional map with timings ("8 to 9 seconds: the music stops almost completely").
- **Foley from the picture, in segments.** A video-to-SFX model with one prompt per time range, matched to the cuts. You decide what each shot should sound like; the model times the sounds to the motion.
- **One hero sound from text.** The moment the story turns on gets its own designed effect, placed by hand on the exact frame.
- **Mix with numbers.** Levels and edits by measurement, then loudness normalization and a peak check. Never trust one playback device.
Models, as of October 2026. `recommend` with quality priority put Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash and MiniMax H3 at the top for animating a still, with Seedance 2.5 close behind; the action shoot-out kept MiniMax H3, Seedance 2.5 was runner-up. For music it put ElevenLabs Music v2.5 first and Google Lyria 3.5 second; Lyria won here because it followed the cue sheet. For effects it put Mirelo SFX 2.0 (new) first and ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2 second; ElevenLabs was kept in both parts. For Part 2:
- **Score:** Sonilo V1.1 - Video to Music. For a score from text alone: **ElevenLabs Music v2.5** ([Generate music](https://learn.scenario.com/audio/generate-music.md)).
- **Foley:** Sonilo V1.1 Video to SFX, the top pick for video to sound in the October 2026 recommendations. Alternative: **Kling Video to Audio**.
- **Hero effect:** ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2, chosen here over **Mirelo SFX 2.0 Text to Audio** (the top pick for sound effects from text in the October 2026 recommendations) on the same prompt; see step 12.
## Steps
### Part 1: the teaser, scored first
:::steps
1. **Write the shot list.**
```text
0.0-4.5 Shot 1 action key art: Zuri grinds the rail and fires, Marlow fires behind her
4.5-8.5 Shot 2 world slow glide over the clouds toward the salvage islands
8.5-13.0 Shot 3 hero rooftop at night, she looks up and smiles
13.0-15.5 Card line "Salvage the sky."
15.5-21.0 End title VOLTARIS, "Coming soon to PC and console"
```
2. **Score it first** ([Write a cue sheet for sound](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). Open **Create**, choose **Audio**, and run the same cue sheet on two music models. On **ElevenLabs Music v2.5**, set the duration to 20 seconds and turn on the instrumental switch; on **Google Lyria 3.5**, write the timestamps into the prompt:
```text
Instrumental hybrid orchestral and synth trailer cue for a stylized
hero-shooter game teaser, 20 seconds long, 120 BPM, minor key turning
hopeful. [0:00 - 0:03.5] opens instantly on a punchy drum hit with driving
staccato strings and a pulsing synth bass, high energy. [0:03.5 - 0:09]
drops suddenly to wide airy pads and soft sustained strings, scale and
wonder. [0:09 - 0:11] a gentle warm solo piano motif over the pads.
[0:11 - 0:13] a rising riser and snare build. [0:13 - 0:20] one huge
cinematic impact hit with low brass at 0:13, then a long sustained chord
that rings out and fades to silence. Instrumental only: no vocals, no
choir, no spoken words.
```
3. **Measure where the music hits, and pick the cue.** Plot loudness every 10 ms and look at a spectrogram (`ffmpeg -lavfi showspectrumpic`). Neither cue followed the timeline:
- **ElevenLabs Music v2.5:** exactly 20.04 s, but a steady drive from 0 to 12 s with no drop at 3.5 s and no piano, one hit at 12.0 s, then a ring-out. Runner-up.
- **Google Lyria 3.5:** returned 65 s for a 20-second request. Drive from 0 to 11.4 s, a decay to near silence by 14.8 s, then an impact at 15.55 s and a soft tail. Kept: the quiet gap fits the rooftop shot and the impact fits the title.
The shot list above is already the version cut to Lyria's seconds; the title lands on 15.55 s.
4. **Run the action shoot-out** ([Animate from a first frame](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). Open **Create**, choose **Videos**, put the key art master under **First Frame**, and run the same prompt at low resolution on **Minimax H3** (768P), **Seedance 2.5** (draft) and **Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash** (360p). Round 1 showed two failures: Omni turned Zuri's braids into a straight ponytail, and MiniMax H3 held the key-art pose with almost no move. Round 2 added beats and a keep-list:
```text
Fast action. She pushes off and grinds down the rusted iron rail straight
toward the camera on her roller blades, sparks spraying from her glowing
cyan wheels, then fires both white blasters ahead in short cyan pulses.
Behind her, the older sniper in the wide hat fires his long rifle once, a
bright cyan beam streaking off to the right. The camera dollies backward
fast and low to stay ahead of her. Keep both characters exactly as in the
first frame: her face, her long black box braids with glowing cyan tips,
silver hoop earrings, cropped magenta jacket with the white chevron, white
knee guards; his wide hat, goggles, grey beard and long sand coat.
Stylized 3D game art. No text, no cuts.
```
MiniMax H3 take 2 was kept: she pushes toward the lens and fires both blasters, the braid tips keep their glow and her hands hold the grips. Seedance 2.5 take 2 had the bigger camera move but tinted Marlow green; it is the runner-up.
5. **Make the world still and animate the calm shots.** The world still came from **GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst** with the key art under **Reference Images** and "The reference image is the world and the art style only... do not copy its characters, logo or composition". Then **Minimax H3**, **Duration** 5 seconds, **Resolution** 768P:
```text
Slow cinematic establishing shot. The camera glides forward and slightly
right over the sea of golden sunset clouds toward the floating salvage
islands. Waterfalls pour steadily off the island edges, two small salvage
airships drift slowly between the islands, the clouds roll gently below,
warm window lights flicker on the central island. Keep the islands,
towers, cranes, radio mast and colors exactly as in the first frame.
Stylized 3D game art. No people, no text, no cuts.
```
The rooftop shot used the same settings: "She sits on the rooftop ledge at night and swings one roller-blade foot slowly. She looks up at the sky... then smiles to herself. The glowing cyan tips of her braids sway gently in the wind. Very slow push-in. Keep her face, braids, magenta jacket, knee guards and skates exactly as in the first frame."
6. **Generate two effects and check them.** A whoosh for the cut into the world shot and an impact for the title, each on **ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2** and Mirelo SFX 2.0 with the same text ("Fast airy whoosh as a camera swoops past, rising then fading, with a soft metallic rattle, cinematic"; "Heavy metallic slam of a riveted steel hatch, deep cinematic boom with a long low tail"). The ElevenLabs pair was kept: its whoosh rises and falls cleanly, while Mirelo's carries a heavy low rumble.
7. **Check every sound for words.** Run speech-to-text on each cue alone (this run used whisper medium). Both scores returned only "Music". The short effects returned stock phrases such as "Thanks for watching!" at low confidence (average log probability about -0.9), the usual output of a transcriber on non-speech; Mirelo's impact scored the weakest no-speech value (0.52), one more reason to keep the ElevenLabs pair.
8. **Set the cards in code and cut** ([Typeset text, never generate it](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). The line card is white text on black; the title card is the wordmark, a cyan underline and the availability line over a blurred, darkened copy of the world still. Trim each shot, put the whoosh at 3.8 s so it peaks on the cut at 4.5 s, the impact at 15.55 s, fade the music out from 19 s, and limit peaks below 0 dB.
:::
**With the Scenario MCP:** run `model_minimax-h3` (`firstFrameImage`, `duration: 5`, `resolution: "768P"`), `model_bytedance-seedance-2-5` (`image`, `draft: true`, `generateAudio: false`) and `model_google-omni-1-1-flash` (`image`, `resolution: "360p"`) with `wait: false`, plus `model_lyria-3-5`, `model_elevenlabs-music-v2-5` (`durationSeconds: 20`, `forceInstrumental: true`), `model_elevenlabs-sound-effects-v2` and `model_mirelo-sfx-2-0-text-to-audio`; then one `jobs_wait` for all. A Seedance draft can be finished at 1080p within 7 days with `model_bytedance-seedance-2-5-draft-complete`.
Quote the video jobs with `dry_run: true` first (see [Quote before you run](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)).
### Part 2: a full soundtrack on a locked cut
:::video https://ufgc0c9mhl4ueq76.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/academy/fdef0a54106fed99f45d76bbf75ebc9bcc968caaede274f25bcef2f66caba45a.mp4
"Little Light", 25 seconds, with the score, foley and hero sound made in Part 2.
:::
:::steps
9. **Lock the picture.** Export the silent cut at its final length: here 8 cuts of 3, 2.5, 3.5, 3.5, 3, 3, 2.5 and 4 seconds (25 seconds), opening on the hook, the lantern flame catching. The title card is set in code from 21.7 seconds. Strip any audio the video clips came with; it would fight the new layers. Upload the cut to your library.
10. **Generate the score** ([Write a cue sheet for sound](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). **Create** > **Audio**, **Choose a Model**, search for Sonilo V1.1 - Video to Music. Attach the cut and write the map with times:
```prompt
Orchestral trailer score for a painterly animated feature, no vocals,
with a strict timeline. 0 to 8 seconds: quiet and intimate, a lone
celesta and harp motif over soft sustained strings as the lantern is lit
and polished in the workshop. 8 to 9 seconds: the music stops almost
completely, a held breath of near silence as the rope slips free. 9 to 21
seconds: strings return with a gentle pulse and grow steadily as the
lantern drifts down the canal and the girl chases it, building to a
soaring strings and french horn theme. 21 to 25 seconds: a soft, warm
resolution under the dusk title card, ending on a quiet sustained chord.
```
The run asked for 2 samples and received one 25-second track after about 27 seconds. A first run with the hush described loosely ("a sudden hush at the knot slipping free around 8 seconds") also returned one track. Both swelled at the slip instead of going quiet; step 13 fixes it in the mix.
11. **Generate the foley in segments.** **Sonilo V1.1 Video to SFX** on the same cut, one segment per cut:
```text
0-3 quiet glass workshop at night, a small flame catching on a wick
with a soft whoosh, gentle crackle of a candle flame
3-5.5 cozy workshop interior, low roar of a brick furnace, soft cloth
polishing glass, faint clink of hanging glass lanterns
5.5-9 close water lapping against a wooden boat, a wet rope creaking
and sliding on wood and iron
9-12.5 calm canal at night, gentle water lapping on stone, a glass
lantern bobbing softly on the water
12.5-15.5 small wooden boat creaking, water lapping against the hull,
light breeze
15.5-18.5 a wooden pole plunging into water and lifted out with drips, a
punt gliding, water rushing along the hull
18.5-21 calm canal water under a stone bridge, soft ripples, light echo
21-25 quiet evening canal, gentle lapping water, soft breeze, calm
```
About 1 minute 45 seconds, WAV as requested. The loudest moments landed on the picture: the rope at 8.0 to 8.5 seconds and the pole at 15.5 to 17 seconds.
12. **Design the hero effect.** **Choose a Model** > **Audio** > **SFX**, **ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2**, duration 2 seconds, prompt influence 0.6:
```prompt
A wet rope slipping free from an iron mooring ring on a wooden boat: a
short rasp of rope sliding over metal, a soft clank as the ring drops
against the wood, then the loose end slapping into canal water with a
small splash. Close, intimate, quiet night, no music.
```
4 seconds. The same prompt on Mirelo SFX 2.0 Text to Audio (2 outputs, 8 seconds) returned a single thud in each output. ElevenLabs returned the three parts in the order asked: about 0.8 seconds of rasp, a clank at 1.15 seconds, a splash at 1.5 seconds. Check the shape of an effect on its waveform or spectrogram, not only by ear.
13. **Find the frame and cut the hush.** Extract frames around the slip and look: the rope is through the ring at 8.20 seconds and gone at 8.30, and the ring swings by 8.45. The rasp should end on the slip, so the effect starts at 7.45 seconds and its clank falls on the swinging ring.
Then make the hush the score did not: drop the score by 26 dB from 7.95 to 9.0 seconds with short fades, so the rope and the water carry that second alone.
14. **Mix.** Score at -3 dB with the hush, foley at +13 dB (Sonilo foley came back quiet relative to the score), the hero effect at -2 dB from 7.45 seconds, then loudness normalization and a limiter. Set the same levels in your editor, or use a command along these lines:
```bash
ffmpeg -i picture.mp4 -i score.m4a -i foley.wav -i rope.mp3 -filter_complex \
"[1:a]volume='if(between(t,7.95,9.0),0.05,1)':eval=frame,volume=-3dB[m]; \
[2:a]volume=13dB[f];[3:a]adelay=7450:all=1,volume=-2dB[s]; \
[m][f][s]amix=inputs=3:normalize=0,loudnorm=I=-14:TP=-2,alimiter=limit=0.85[a]" \
-map 0:v -map "[a]" -c:v copy -c:a aac -b:a 160k trailer.mp4
```
15. **Measure** ([Check by measurement](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). Run `ffmpeg -i trailer.mp4 -af ebur128=peak=true -f null -` and read the integrated loudness and true peak. This mix measured -13.4 LUFS with peaks at -1.6 dB. Transcribe the score alone too: whisper found no voice in it.
:::
**With the Scenario MCP:** upload the cut with `upload_asset` (this 25-second cut went up in two parts). Then call `model_run` on:
- `model_sonilo-v1-1-video-to-music` with `video` and `prompt`;
- `model_sonilo-v1-1-video-to-sound-effects` with `video` and a `segments` array of `start`, `end` and `prompt`;
- `model_elevenlabs-sound-effects-v2` with `text`, `durationSeconds: 2` and `promptInfluence: 0.6`.
Quote all three with `dry_run: true` (see [Quote before you run](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)).
## Check the result
:::check
**Accept when:** the first frame is the hook; faces, hair and outfits match the first frames throughout; hands stay whole on the weapons; the camera move matches the shot list; the music has no words; the title lands on a measured hit; on a locked cut, the score's changes land where the picture motivates them (a drop at the slip, a rise over the drift); each shot sounds like what it shows; the rasp ends as the rope leaves the ring; nothing in the foley contradicts the picture (no indoor sound on the canal, no oar on a still shot); integrated loudness is within 1 LU of target and true peak stays below -1 dB.
**Reject when:** a character's face or hair drifts mid-shot, a color shifts on one character, a limb breaks or bends wrong, generated text appears, or the score contains vocals or spoken words; the score ignores the cut (a build where the picture asks for silence) and nothing in the mix fixes it; foley is late or early by more than a few frames; the hero effect sounds like a different object; the mix clips or pumps.
:::
### What the teaser run showed
- **Action shot:** 5 runs across three models, 1 kept (MiniMax H3, take 2). Rejected: Omni's ponytail, MiniMax take 1's frozen pose, Seedance take 1's dull braid tips; Seedance take 2 is the runner-up.
- **World shot:** kept on the first run. The glide is slow and steady and the airships drift between the islands.
- **Quiet shot:** kept on the first run. Face, braids and skates hold and the braid tips glow; the airship named in the prompt never crosses the frame, a small miss that the cut does not need.
- **Sound:** MiniMax H3 clips come with their own audio; all of it was replaced by the score and the two effects.
### What the soundtrack run showed
Score, foley and the hero effect, as generated (the score before the hush was cut in):
The Mirelo SFX 2.0 take, for comparison:
To check timing, compare the foley waveform with the cut list: the rope and the pole should sit where the picture shows them. The silent picture lock, for comparison:
:::video https://ufgc0c9mhl4ueq76.public.blob.vercel-storage.com/academy/953d53faa6e481c85f7357374bc8c61266ce12f7fd456355de809a38869d9b60.mp4
The silent picture lock the sound was made for.
:::
:::quiz Check yourself
? Speech-to-text on your 20-second music cue returns two clear sentences taken from your prompt. What do you do?
- [ ] Keep it: the whoosh and the impact will cover the words
- [x] Reject it: turn on instrumental only, add "No vocals, no choir, no spoken words", regenerate and check again
- [ ] Lower the music under the cut so the words are hard to hear
> A score with vocals or spoken words fails the brief. Music models sometimes sing or speak parts of the prompt, so check every cue. Stock phrases at low confidence on a short sound effect are a different case: a transcriber filling silence.
? Two takes of the action shot from the same first frame, each shown at 2 and 4.5 seconds. The brief fixes Zuri's braids with glowing cyan tips. Which take goes into the cut?
- [ ] Take A: the camera move is wider, and hair can be fixed in the grade
- [x] Take B: her braids and their glowing tips hold from the first frame to the last
- [ ] Either one: both start from the same approved first frame
> Identity drift rejects a take, however good the motion. Take A came from Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash, which turned the braids into a ponytail; Take B is MiniMax H3 with a keep-list naming the braids.
? The rope is through the ring at 8.20 seconds and gone at 8.30. The hero effect is 0.8 seconds of rasp, then a clank, then a splash. Where does the effect start?
- [ ] At 8.30 seconds, once the rope has left the ring
- [x] At about 7.45 seconds, so the rasp ends on the slip
- [ ] At 8.20 seconds, the last frame where the rope is visible
> The brief asks for the slip within a frame or two. Line up the part of the effect that matches the event (the end of the rasp) with the frame where it happens, then let the rest follow.
? Two runs of the score both swell at the slip, where the brief asks for a hush. What do you do?
- [ ] Keep the swell: the score model reads the picture better than the brief
- [ ] Rerun the score until a take goes quiet on its own
- [x] Keep the best run and cut the hush in the mix, a volume drop of a second
> Two runs failed the same way, so change the approach. A volume change in the mix is free and exact to the frame; the rest of the score still follows the cut.
:::
## Make it repeatable
- **Keep the shot list as data** ([Keep sources as data](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). Store each shot as first frame, model, prompt, trim in and out. A new teaser for an update swaps first frames and lines.
- **Keep a sound kit per project:** the score prompt structure (instrumentation plus a timed map), the foley segment list tied to the cut list, the hero effect prompts, and the mix command with its levels and edits.
- **One assembly script.** The ffmpeg command that trims, places cards and mixes the audio at the measured seconds turns the shot list into a video in one run; this run wrote it in Python.
- **Build the sound as a workflow** ([Package it as a workflow or skill](https://learn.scenario.com/browse)). In the **Node Editor**: a **Video** node for the locked cut, two **Audio Generator** nodes (video to music, video to sound effects) fed by the same video, and a third for the hero effect from a **Text** node.
- **Approval per shot and for the score.** Route each generated shot through an **Approval** node checking identity, hands and motion direction before it enters the cut, and approve the score the same way: it is the layer most worth a second take. Do the timing, the hush and the mix in code or in your editor. See [Approval and review steps](https://learn.scenario.com/workflows/approval-and-review-steps.md).
- **Re-cut means re-score.** If a locked edit changes, rerun the score and the foley on the new cut; the hero effects can stay, only their timing moves.
- **Platform Apps to compare.** Under **Workflows**, **Apps**: **Idea → Storyboard → Animated Video** turns a story concept into a storyboard and video, **Storyboard to Scenes** turns a storyboard into cinematic shots, and **Character Sheet to Cinematic Video** animates a character sheet into a scene.
## Runs and time
Part 1, the teaser:
| Step | Model | Runs | Kept | Wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World still, 2048x1152 | GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst | 1 | 1 | about 39 s |
| Action shot, round 1 | MiniMax H3 768P, Seedance 2.5 draft, Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash 360p | 3 | 0 | about 197 s, 100 s and 36 s |
| Action shot, round 2 | MiniMax H3 768P, Seedance 2.5 draft | 2 | 1 (MiniMax H3) | about 196 s and 95 s |
| World shot, 5 s, 768P | MiniMax H3 | 1 | 1 | about 214 s |
| Rooftop shot, 5 s, 768P | MiniMax H3 | 1 | 1 | about 170 s |
| Score, 20 s requested | Google Lyria 3.5, ElevenLabs Music v2.5 | 2 | 1 (Lyria) | about 37 s and 9 s |
| Whoosh and impact | ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2, Mirelo SFX 2.0 | 4 | 2 (ElevenLabs) | about 7 s each |
| Cards, cut and mix | Pillow and ffmpeg | 0 | n/a | seconds |
Fourteen runs, about 10 minutes of wait with the runs in parallel. The five action runs are most of the cost; test them at low resolution and finish only the take that survives.
Part 2, the soundtrack:
| Step | Runs | Wait |
|---|---|---|
| Score, 25 s (2 runs; 2 samples requested each, 1 received) | 2 | about 27 s each |
| Foley, 8 timed segments | 1 | about 1 min 45 s |
| Hero effect, 2 s, ElevenLabs Sound Effects 2 | 1 | 4 s |
| Hero effect, 2 s, Mirelo SFX 2.0 (2 outputs) | 1 | 8 s |
| Frame check, mix, measurement (ffmpeg) | 0 | minutes |
About 5 minutes of waiting, less with the runs in parallel. The two score runs are most of the cost, the foley and the hero effects the rest; the mix is free.
The price shows on the **Generate** button before you run; with the Scenario MCP, ask for a dry-run quote.
## Variations
- **Longer trailers:** add shots in groups of three (action, world, hero); for continuity across many shots see [Long video from guided frames](https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/long-video-from-guided-frames.md).
- **A painted world shot:** start the establishing shot from an environment concept instead.
- **Gameplay trailer:** replace the action shot with captured gameplay and keep the generated world and hero shots as bookends.
- **Hero effects for every hit:** score from the cut, with hero effects for each hit or ability shown on screen.
- **Vertical teaser:** reframe each first frame to 9:16 before animating; see [Mobile UA video ads](https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/mobile-ua-video-ads.md). A 9:16 re-cut changes the pacing, so it needs its own score run.
- **Animation and film pitches:** the same structure works as a proof-of-concept reel for a series.
- **Product video:** foley for the product's own sounds (a cap click, a pour) and a light score; keep the hero effect for the moment the product does its job.
- **Learning:** a quiet bed and a few UI sounds for a screen recording, mixed lower (about -16 LUFS) so a voice can sit on top.
## If it breaks
- **A face or hairstyle drifts during the shot.** Add a keep-list that names the details ("long black box braids with glowing cyan tips"), shorten the action, or switch model for that shot.
- **The shot barely moves.** Write the action as beats ("pushes off, grinds, then fires") and give the camera one move ("dollies backward fast and low").
- **One character changes color.** Reject the take; a color shift on a character does not grade out cleanly.
- **The music ignores the cue sheet or a moment.** Measure where it does hit and cut to those seconds, or try the second music model with timestamps in the prompt. On a locked cut, name the moment and its time in the prompt and make sure the picture shows a clear change there; if it still ignores it, cut the change in the mix.
- **The music has words.** Turn on instrumental only, add "No vocals, no choir, no spoken words", and re-check with speech-to-text.
- **Fewer outputs than requested.** Check what came back before planning a comparison; budget for a second run if you need two takes.
- **Foley is too quiet or too loud** against the score. Balance with gain before normalizing; normalization sets the overall level, not the balance.
- **Wrong format returned.** Check every file with `ffprobe` and convert before the mix.
- **The hero effect lands late.** Place it a frame or two before the visual event; sound that arrives with or slightly before the image reads as in sync.
Source: https://learn.scenario.com/playbooks/game-trailer-cinematic