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About this tool
Sequence shots, plan scene durations with running SMPTE timecode, check dialogue length, and export a production sheet or CSV.
A storyboard builder turns an ordered list of shots — each with a size, an action line, dialogue and a duration — into a timed production sheet with running SMPTE ST 12-1 non-drop-frame timecode. It adds up total runtime in seconds and frames at your chosen frame rate, estimates how long each line of dialogue takes at a words-per-minute pace (150 wpm is the broadcast voice-over default), and flags any shot too short to hold its own dialogue. It is for directors, editors and video marketers planning a cut before anything is shot.
Open Storyboard Builder on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Set the top panel: Storyboard title, Frame rate (23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 48, 50 or 60 fps), Target runtime (seconds), and Speaking pace (words per minute), which has to sit between 80 and 260 or the sheet refuses to build.
Build the list under Shots. Each card takes Scene, Shot size (EWS, WS, MLS, MS, MCU, CU, ECU, OTS, POV, TWO or INS), Slug line (optional), Action, Dialogue or narration and Duration (seconds); Add shot appends a card and Remove shot deletes one. Nothing needs submitting — Total runtime and the Shot list retime on every keystroke, giving each shot an In point in SMPTE non-drop-frame HH:MM:SS:FF.
Check Average shot length, Dialogue, Dialogue density, Against target and Warnings, then press Copy sheet for the markdown production sheet or Copy CSV for the shot list, whose header row is index,scene,shot_type,start_timecode,end_timecode,duration_seconds,slug,action,dialogue. Each button reads Copied! for 1.5 seconds, and Reset restores the default title and the three starting shots.
Every shot gets an in-point in HH:MM:SS:FF at 23.976 through 60 fps.
Word count divided by your speaking pace, plus half a second of handle at each end.
A markdown production sheet for the treatment and a CSV for scheduling tools.
Long enough for the eye to read it: roughly 4-5 seconds for an establishing wide, 3 seconds for a medium, 2-2.5 seconds for a close-up and about 1.5 seconds for an insert. Those are the starting durations this tool suggests; dialogue overrides them, since a shot must hold its own line plus about half a second of handle at each end.
Divide the word count by the speaking pace in words per minute, then multiply by 60. At the broadcast default of 150 words per minute, 10 words take 4 seconds; conversational dialogue runs 130-160 wpm and fast promo reads reach 180. The tool adds 0.5 seconds of handle at each end so a line never starts on the cut.
SMPTE timecode labels each frame as HH:MM:SS:FF. Use 24 fps for cinema, 25 for PAL broadcast and most of Europe and India, 30 for NTSC-region video, and 23.976 or 29.97 when delivering to broadcast in NTSC regions. This tool uses non-drop-frame counting, so at 29.97 and 23.976 the timecode drifts slightly from wall-clock time by design.
There is no rule, but the figure is worth watching: if speech fills more than about 70% of runtime the piece is closer to a radio spot with pictures, and if it fills under 20% the visuals have to carry the story on their own. The tool reports the percentage so you can make that a decision rather than an accident.