An AI video pipeline is the order of decisions that turns a brief into a finished film. In our From Sketch to AI Shot test, the decisions came before generation: location, cast with locked references, vehicles and a rough frame for every shot. Each drawing anchored its prompt, timing and action were defined in advance, and the edit followed the planned boards.
An AI video pipeline is the order of decisions that turns a brief into a finished film. This post breaks down one published AI25 production test, starting from its documented case and adding practical production guidance.
What the test set out to measure
From Sketch to AI Shot is a Seedance 2.0 production test. It was built to measure how much control is possible when an AI film begins with conventional pre-production. The film runs 00:37 and was published in May 2026. Watch the film.
Stage 1: choose the world before you prompt it
The location, the characters and the vehicles were selected first. These are the decisions a director makes on any shoot; making them before generation means the model is asked to render choices rather than invent them.
Stage 2: lock the references
Characters were cast with locked references. Those references give the team a consistent target for appearance; generated shots still need review across the edit. More on this in character consistency in AI video.
Stage 3: draw a rough frame for every shot
Each shot got a rough drawing. The drawing became the visual anchor for its prompt: composition, screen direction and what is in frame. Timing and action were defined in advance, so the shot had a job before it was generated. See also storyboard and previsualisation.
Stage 4: authored prompts
Each drawing anchored the prompt for its shot. The case page lists shot sketches, locked references, authored prompts, Seedance 2.0 and editing as the production pipeline.
Stage 5: generation and edit
The final edit uses Seedance outputs directly. It follows the planned boards with consistent characters, locations and screen direction.
What the breakdown shows
The published test shows how pre-production decisions carried into generation and editing. Its scope covers workflow design, previsualisation, character references, generation and edit. A client film needs its own review and finishing plan. For the general process, read our guide to the AI video production workflow.
Plan your film shot by shot
Quick answers
Process, timelines, pricing & deliverables.
What is an AI video pipeline?
The ordered set of decisions and checks from brief to master: references, frames, prompts, generation, edit and finishing.
Is this film labelled as AI?
Yes. The case page discloses it as made with AI.
Does a sketch really change the output?
In this test each drawing was the visual anchor for its prompt, and the edit follows the planned boards.
