# DesignCat Motion - Web App Agent Guide Purpose: concise operating instructions for AI agents using Motion. This is a UI workflow guide, not an API or model-payload reference. Runtime guide URL: /app/motion/llms.txt Motion routes: /app/motion/storyboard, /app/motion/shots, /app/motion/finalize, /app/motion/creations, /app/motion/assets, /app/motion/characters, /app/motion/brand ## Core mental model A Motion project is an ordered sequence of shots. Storyboard is an optional project scene board of still images. Generate or place videos in Shots, arrange audio in Finalize, then export an MP4. Creations is account-wide output history. Assets, Characters, and Brand Kits are reusable libraries; Brand Kits are not automatic Finalize bookends. Persistent work and private libraries require sign-in. Select the correct project in the global header before editing. Generations consume the displayed credits; do not submit paid work without intent. ## End-to-end workflow 1. Select or create a project in the global header. 2. Optionally generate or upload Storyboard images to explore the film's look and reuse as references. 3. Open Shots. Set the project aspect ratio and output resolution. 4. Add/select a shot, choose a compatible model, write a motion prompt, set duration, and supply the source/reference inputs that model exposes. 5. Generate or use Upload shot to place an existing video. An empty slot receives the pending generation; generating from a shot with a video creates a new shot immediately after it and preserves the original. 6. Review and reorder shots. Open Finalize & publish. 7. Preview the cut and add speech, sound effects, or music to Audio Tracks. 8. Export MP4. Export includes currently available active shot videos, so wait for unfinished shots if they must be in the cut. Download the latest or a previous export. ## Storyboard Storyboard is a per-project scene board, independent of Shots and Finalize. It requires sign-in; its scenes do not gate export. - Generate exposes model, aspect, resolution, image references, `#Image` mentions, prompt, and credit estimate. Upload accepts multiple images. - Generated/uploaded scenes stay pending until ready. The composer remains open after submission so another deliberate generation can be started. - Preview images, download them, or send them to image editing where offered. Drag a scene into a supported reference target. - Unlink removes the scene from the board; Delete removes its underlying content everywhere. Confirm the intended action. ## Shots Workspace and project format: - Carousel View shows the selected shot with adjacent previews; arrows, keyboard navigation outside editors, and wheel/trackpad scrolling move between shots. - Grid View shows numbered cards and supports pointer/keyboard reordering. Ready cards play in place; opening another preview pauses the previous one. - Project ratio choices include 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, and 9:16. The ratio applies to every shot. Incompatible models remain visible but disabled. - Project resolution sets the output format. Shot settings can select a supported per-shot resolution; a differing value appears as a composer chip. Output fits each video inside the project canvas without cropping or stretching, leaving black unused space. - Upload shot places a library or uploaded video. Add shot creates an empty slot. - The right Attachments panel can collapse to a narrow rail without losing inputs or the selected shot. Composer and inputs: - The bottom composer contains model, prompt, duration, settings, and the current credit charge. Expand prompt gives the editor more room without losing the draft. - Motion exposes one prompt. Historical multi-prompt recipes are joined into text; timed multi-prompt authoring remains a Studio capability. - Model-specific Source/Reference routes start on Reference for new drafts where offered; saved frames and explicit draft choices reopen their saved route. Models that support prompt-only generation can generate with no source or references. - Source inputs include First Frame and optional Last Frame when supported. Source-role inputs are not `#` mentions. Reference inputs can include Image, Video, Audio, or Elements according to the model. - Elements group one subject's front image and additional angles. Use the selected model's counts and limits instead of assuming all inputs are supported. - Attachment pickers offer Character, Assets, Creations, Uploaded, and Upload file. Character and Assets open kits; active kit files remain in their kit choices. - Shot settings expose model-supported resolution and Sound Design controls. Where supported, Music, SFX, and Dialogue can be selected independently. Use Finalize audio for a continuous soundtrack across shots. Drafts, generation, and recovery: - With Seedance 2.5 selected, DRAFT at the top right toggles draft mode and changes color without generating. Generate submits a paid 480p preview while it is on; turn it off to use the chosen resolution. The credit estimate follows the mode. Draft videos follow the usual shot placement and retry rules. Creations has a Drafts filter. No action to finalize a draft is exposed yet. - Prompt, parameter, and attachment edits are local drafts marked by a yellow boundary. Reset inputs restores the saved recipe. - Generate uses the current slot if it has no video. If it has a video, Generate inserts a new shot immediately after it, preserving the original video and recipe. - Pending and failed shots persist. If an accepted request cannot refresh its state, use Retry refresh rather than starting another paid request. Technical retries retain the original request identity. - Adopt recipe, when available on a placed AI creation, loads its reusable generation inputs. Replacing an existing bound video can provide one-step Revert; a blank-slot generation does not. - Unlink clears only the current shot's video placement. Delete on a video removes the underlying content and that shot with its recipe/draft. Deleting the whole shot separately keeps its video in Creations. Read the confirmation before proceeding. - Ready videos offer fullscreen and download. Playback/export mute determines whether a shot's existing audio is included; it is separate from generated Sound Design. ## Finalize Finalize previews the cut and mixes audio on a shared timeline. - The locked Cut lane follows shot order with duration-proportional thumbnails. Unfinished slots retain planned duration in the editor; available videos are used for export. - Cut, audio, ruler, boundaries, and playhead scroll together. Use the magnifier slider or Ctrl/Command + wheel to zoom. Playback follows the playhead until manual timeline navigation; dragging near an edge scrolls the timeline. - Space toggles playback. Use the stage and timeline to seek and preview the mix. - There is one Audio Track initially, with up to five tracks. Tracks are not restricted to separate music/narration roles. - Add Audio offers Generate, Library, and Upload. Generate opens Speech, Sound FX, and Music tabs with Studio-supported models and voice selection. - Place clips at the desired time. Drag to retime, resize where offered, and use clip controls for volume, mute, replacement, or deletion. Playback and export mix unmuted clips using their saved start times and volumes. - Only an empty final Audio Track can be removed, with confirmation. - Export MP4 is at the top right. It renders the available active shot videos in shot order using the saved project ratio/resolution and audio mix. Unfinished shots do not prevent exporting a partial cut. Brand intro/outro bookends are not included automatically. - A completed export exposes download. Previous exports remain available; changing output format requires a new render rather than reusing an export with a different format. ## Creations, Assets, Characters, and Brand Kits Creations: - Account-wide media history, not the current project's shot list. Filter by source and media type, sort, and adjust grid density. - Preview media, inspect its prompt/recipe and file details, download, or delete. Generated, uploaded, and exported media remains available according to the chosen filter. - A generated file with no active kit membership appears in Creations; a user upload appears in Uploaded. Assets and Characters: - Create/open named image kits, rename them, generate or upload images, and choose a cover with Set as Avatar. - Generation supports model, aspect, resolution, references, prompt mentions, and a displayed credit estimate. Character generation offers Single or Appearance set (x4) for front/left/right/rear views. - Newest images appear first. Pending cards retain their position when ready, and the composer stays open after generation is accepted. - Unlink removes only the selected kit membership. Delete removes the underlying content everywhere. Preview actions also expose download and editing where supported. Brand Kits: - Reusable video kits. New kit and Upload brand video open the file picker; accepted files create named kits. Supported UI formats include MP4, WEBM, and MOV. - Preview, download, or delete kits. Brand Kits are a separate library, not intro/outro controls in the current Finalize workflow. ## Safe operating rules - Confirm the project before mutations. Libraries are account-scoped; storyboard placements, shots, and Finalize state are project-scoped. - Generate starts after required uploads and validation, without a countdown. Repeated deliberate submissions can create separate paid outputs. - Do not Generate or Export merely to inspect the UI. Uploads and exports create durable account content. - Navigation does not cancel accepted generation. Local cancellation where shown only stops work before dispatch; it does not promise provider cancellation. - Distinguish Unlink, whole-shot deletion, and content Delete. Do not confirm destructive actions unless intended. - Check pending or failed shots before export if a complete cut is required. Use current visible controls, disabled reasons, attachment limits, and credit estimates as the runtime contract.