Automatic vs. manual mode

The mode toggle lives right inside the prompt box on the home screen, next to your other new-film settings. Before you create the film, you pick Automatic or Manual — and either way you keep all the same options: orientation, visual style, quality, dialogue settings, target length, and which image, video, and audio models to use.

The only thing that changes between the two is what happens the moment your film opens: Automatic starts writing, Manual opens an empty editor.

In Automatic mode you give runime something to work from — a written idea, story, or brief in the prompt box, or an uploaded PDF script. From that, the AI writes the entire screenplay start to finish, gives your film a title, and then builds it out: scenes, shots, characters, locations, and the rest of the production pipeline.

Because the AI needs a starting point, Automatic mode requires either some text or a script file. If you leave both empty, runime will ask you to add an idea or upload a script before it can begin. This is the fastest path from an idea to a finished animation.

Manual mode opens a blank timeline editor and hands you the controls. Nothing is auto-written — you build the film yourself, shot by shot, adding scenes, characters, locations, and audio at your own pace.

Here the idea text is optional. You can type a short note or a film name to use as a working title, or start completely empty and rename the film later in the editor. Manual is the mode to choose when you already have a clear vision, want precise control over every shot, or want to assemble a film by hand rather than describe it in words.

Choosing Manual doesn't lock you out of the AI. When you open a manual film, the editor shows a bar with a Write with AI button. Click it and runime asks a simple question — what is the film about? — then takes your answer and writes the full screenplay for you, just like Automatic mode would have.

This means you can start building by hand, change your mind, and let the AI take over at any time. It's a one-way handoff into a fully written film, so use it once you're ready to let the AI fill things in.

Pick Automatic if you want the quickest route from a spark of an idea (or an existing script) to a complete animated film, and you're happy to let the AI make the first pass at structure, scenes, and dialogue. You can always refine everything afterward.

Pick Manual if you'd rather drive — you know the shots you want, you're adapting something precisely, or you simply enjoy building a film yourself. And remember: Manual is never a dead end, because Write with AI is always one click away.