Top 10 and countdown channels
Every entry numbered and titled, from a Top 5 to a Top 50.
New in 2.7 · Templates
Tell it what kind of video it is, and the whole edit follows.
A Top 10 is not cut like a mystery, and a news explainer is not cut like a history documentary. Pick a template and Vid Optimus sets up the edit the way that kind of video is cut, then tells the AI Director what it is making. Story marks put chapter titles, time jumps, re-hooks and name tags where the story turns, in words your narration says.
- 6video templates
- 4kinds of story mark
- 1click to set up the edit
- 0words rewritten
What is a template?
A template is the first step of the new-project wizard. It asks what kind of video you are making, and one pick sets up the frame, the cut rhythm, the opening hook styles, chapter titles, time jumps and re-hooks, which graphics and photo treatments the Director may use, the colour look, the map style, the headline type, whether captions step aside for graphics, and the sound on the cuts.
Under the templates, What the Director will choose lists every one of those choices with a switch, so you can see what a template does and turn any part off before the project is made. Which picture sources the Director may use (AI images, stock photos, stock video) is never changed by a template, since that decides what a video costs. Your own settings is still there for setting it all up yourself.
6 templates, built in
DocumentaryHistoryMysteryTop 10Shorts explainerNews explainer
Six templates
The Director knows what kind of video it is making
Each template tells the AI Director what kind of video it is, not only which settings to use. A History video shows the period's clothes, buildings and streets. A Mystery builds tension without giving the answer away. A News explainer keeps to real places and a chart for every figure. With no template picked, a script that clearly reads like one gets that template's guidance anyway.
Six templates
- Documentary, History, Mystery, Top 10, Shorts explainer and News explainer
- Reads your script and suggests the template it reads like
- Reset puts a template's choices back after you change them
- The Review step shows what you changed since
- The wizard remembers your template for the next project
Top 10
Ranked lists of any length, numbered your way
A Top 5, 7, 15 or 50, counting down or up, however the entries are numbered: "Number 10 — Chernobyl", "No. 7: Pompeii", "#3", "At number seven, we have…", "In fifth place…" or "And finally…" for the last one. It works from a recording too, including transcripts that spell the numbers out. Every entry starts a scene of its own, and its own number and name go up big over its first picture.
Top 10
- The entry's own number, never a chapter count
- An entry with no picture to carry its title gets a rank card
- The opening hook counts up to the list's own number
- A heading line gets a pause before the next sentence
Story marks
Headings where the story turns
Story marks are headings the Director puts on a picture where the story turns, in your type and accent, with words the narration says. They play over the shot while the narration carries on, never on two scenes in a row, never on a video or a graphic, and never over your own photo treatments or headings.
Story marks
- Chapter titles: a big number and the chapter's title where each chapter of the Story Bible starts
- Time jumps: a place stamp on "Three days later" or "On October 22, 1962"
- Re-hooks: a strong line brought back about every minute to hold the viewer
- Name tags: the name and role of each person the narration introduces, on the first picture of them
Mystery and History
The answer waits for its moment
In a Mystery, the Director is told where the narration reveals what happened and shows nothing of it before then. Re-hooks bring back the questions the narration asks, only before the answer, and the opening hook never quotes the answer. History videos get a timeline where a line says two or more dates.
Mystery and History
- Nothing of the answer before the reveal
- Re-hooks ask the narration's own questions
- A timeline at most one scene in three
Readable on screen
Text waits for the words
A heading, chapter title, time jump or re-hook only goes on a picture where its words are said within two seconds of it appearing, and only if it can be read before the cut. After planning, the Director balances its own edit: a heading right beside a story mark, or the same photo treatment twice running, is taken off. Only the Director's own picks are changed, never yours.
See text on picture
Readable on screen
- Read at about 200 words a minute before the cut
- A long re-hook is cut to a whole phrase that fits
- A Story marks panel on the Visuals screen to count, edit, re-place or remove them
- Re-plan one chapter without touching the rest
Templates and story marks, step by step
-
1 Paste your script
The Template step reads it and suggests the template it reads like.
-
2 Pick a template
Documentary, History, Mystery, Top 10, Shorts explainer or News explainer.
-
3 Check the switches
What the Director will choose lists every choice the template makes. Turn off anything you don't want.
-
4 Let it plan
The Director plans every shot knowing what kind of video it is, and places the story marks.
Try it free for 7 days
Every feature included. No card needed.
Made for creators like you
History and documentary
Chapter titles, time jumps, timelines and the right period in every picture.
Mystery and true crime
Tension that holds, name tags for the people in the case, and an answer kept for the reveal.
FAQ
Templates and story marks: common questions
Straight answers about how it works and what it costs.
Still have a question?
Send us a message and we'll help you out.
Contact us
Which templates are there?
Six: Documentary, History, Mystery, Top 10, Shorts explainer and News explainer. Your own settings is there too, for setting everything up yourself.
Can I change what a template does?
Yes. What the Director will choose lists every choice a template makes, each with a switch, so you can turn any part off before the project is made. Reset puts the template's choices back.
Does a template change what my video costs?
No. Which picture sources the Director may use, AI images, stock photos or stock video, is never changed by a template, since that decides what a video costs.
Does Top 10 only work for ten entries?
No. It works for ranked lists of any length, counting down or up, however the entries are numbered, and from a recording too.
What are story marks?
Headings the Director puts where the story turns: chapter titles, time jumps, re-hooks and name tags. Each uses words the narration says. Switch them on in the Director settings under Story marks, or let a template do it.
Do templates rewrite my script?
No. A template sets up the edit and guides the pictures. Your narration is read exactly as you wrote it.
More of what's in every plan
Templates and story marks
Try it on your next video.
Free for 7 days with every feature. No card needed. Works on Windows and macOS.