Before laying out panels, split the episode into page beats
If you jump straight into panels, what each page shows starts to wander. First break the episode into units of "what happens on this page, and what do we show last to make the reader turn it". CromStudio calls this the storyboard. You can have AI draft it from the episode synopsis, or write it yourself.
Choose between 4 and 30 pages per episode. Each storyboard row can be locked, and locked rows stay when you regenerate. You can firm up the flow you like bit by bit while regenerating the rest.
Combine templates, AI suggestions and manual adjustments
The panel layout editor on the page editing screen lets you start from templates such as a full-page panel, two tiers, four-way and six-way grids, and diagonal panels. When you create panel layout instructions from a storyboard row, AI suggests a layout that fits that page and loads it into the editor.
Whichever way you start, you can drag panels to move them and grab the bottom-right corner to resize. The number on each panel is its reading order. You can also make diagonal or trapezoid panels and borderless panels. Each page holds up to six panels.
Tips for panel layouts that hold up
The smaller and narrower a panel is, the more likely AI artwork is to distort the characters. The basic rule is to give the moments you want to show plenty of room and group the explanatory ones together.
- Pick the one panel you most want to show on each page and make it the largest
- Put a "what happens next?" image in the last panel of the page (keep the reader turning)
- Alternate close-ups and wide shots (a run of panels at the same distance feels flat)
- Do not put a full-body figure in a very thin panel (use it for hands, props or a close-up of the eyes)
- In long conversations, rather than adding panels, keep it to two speech bubbles per panel and let the art carry the scene
Set each panel's composition with 3D mannequins
Writing "from a low angle" or "over the shoulder" does not always get AI to frame the shot the way you imagined. In CromStudio's 3D previz, you place mannequins in each panel and set the camera direction, height, distance and field of view along with the characters' poses. Shots range from extreme close-ups of the face to wide shots, and you can add set pieces such as desks, walls and background extras.
The saved composition is passed to the AI as the underdrawing when that panel is drawn. Handle the position and shape of panels in the panel layout editor and what happens inside them in previz, and you will not get lost. You can also have AI propose three composition ideas.
Artwork, speech bubbles and translation
Once the panel layout and compositions are set, generate the page image. The approved images of the characters in the scene (or their coordinates, if you chose outfits) are passed as references, so they are drawn as the same people across panels. If generation fails, the coins are refunded automatically.
Choose speech bubble shapes such as oval, burst, thought and electronic, then set vertical or horizontal text, font size, tail direction and the speaking character. Once the dialogue is written, you can translate it into other languages in one go.
What you can do for free
Saving panel layouts, saving 3D previz compositions, creating blank pages, and placing speech bubbles and entering dialogue are free. Generating page images, translating, and having AI create panel layout instructions or storyboards use coins (storyboards and composition ideas are free within the free uses included in a monthly plan). The number of coins needed is shown on screen before you run anything.
