Your first film

A complete walkthrough of one film in steer mode — every stop pod makes, what you'll see on screen, and how one key or one plain sentence moves things forward.

This page walks you through producing one short film from a single idea, gate by gate. In steer mode (the default), pod stops at every important moment, shows you its work, and waits for you. You never need to memorize anything. At every gate the same three moves work:

• Enter approves. Press the Enter (Return) key on an empty line and pod moves on.
• Plain words revise. Type what you want changed, in any words, and pod redoes just that.
• No never costs. Saying no, asking for a change, or stopping entirely spends nothing. Money only leaves your account after you approve the cost gate.

If you haven't installed pod yet, start with the quickstart. Open your Terminal (on a Mac: press Cmd-Space, type Terminal, press Enter), type pod, and you're inside the studio — a bordered box with a ❯ where you just talk.

1. The brief

Tell pod what you want to make. A single line is enough; a full paragraph is better because it saves questions later.

❯ make a 60-second telugu teaser for my thriller — vertical, moody, don't reveal the ending
Got it. Here's the command I'll run:
  produce "thriller teaser — moody, protect the ending" --duration 60 --aspect 9:16 --language telugu --teaser
Enter = run · e = edit · n = never mind

The front desk turns your plain language into the exact command and shows it to you before anything runs. Press Enter.

1½. How do you want to work?

Right after the brief, pod asks one question you'll see on every new film:

how do you want to work? Enter = steer (you approve each step) · q = assisted · a = autopilot
❯ ⏎

Press Enter for steer — it's the mode this walkthrough follows. (The modes page explains all three, and how to switch mid-film.)

2. Upfront questions and the assumptions check

Pod asks for what it still needs — once, upfront: things like dialogue style (spoken on camera, voice-over, or silent) and any feel or camera notes. Only the blanks are asked; you already gave it duration, language, and shape. Then it lists what it would assume for anything left open and waits for an explicit OK — nothing renders until you say go.

Dialogue: spoken on camera / voice-over / silent?
❯ the characters speak in their own voices
I'll assume: 24fps · 1080p delivery · Indian-accent voice cast
OK to proceed on these? (Enter = yes)
❯ ⏎

3. Script review

The head writer delivers the full script with continuity notes. Read it. If it's right, Enter. If not, say the change.

SCRIPT ready — 60s teaser, 4 scenes. Full text above, continuity notes attached.
Enter = approve · o = open the files · plain words = revision · x = stop
❯ add a rain scene before the chase, and make her last line shorter
Rewriting scene 2–3… done. Here's the revised script.
❯ ⏎

That's the whole revision mechanic, and it works identically at every gate: you said it in plain words, it cost nothing, and pod only redid what you asked for.

4. Casting and the price preview

Pod's casting director picks the generation engines that suit this film's style and shows an estimated price. You can change the picks in plain words — "use omni for the hero shots", "kling for the clips" — or just Enter to accept.

5. Characters and locations

The character designer produces canonical design sheets and reference images for every character and location. These become the visual truth for the whole film — every later shot is checked against them. Ask for changes the way you'd talk to a designer:

CHARACTERS ready: Meena, Ravi · LOCATIONS: basti street, the office
Reference images opening in your viewer…
❯ give Meena a red saree, and make the office more cramped
Regenerating 2 references… done. Enter = approve.
❯ ⏎

(If this were episode 2 of a series, returning characters would arrive here with their exact approved faces from episode 1 — reused as-is, nothing spent.)

6. The coverage interview

Before the film is divided into shots, pod goes scene by scene and asks: how do you want this covered? Your words are binding. Speak camera if you like — pod knows the vocabulary (see camera language), and Tab completes every term.

Scene 1 — the rain-soaked street. How do you want this covered?
  (Enter = the script's own staging · "you decide" = hand it to the AI)
❯ open wide, then close-ups on the lead, OTS for the argument
Noted. Scene 2 — the chase. Coverage?
❯ you decide

7. Shot plan review

The storyboard artist turns coverage into a full shot list — 8–15 second shots, cameras, transitions. Per-shot edits are first-class here: name the shot, say one change.

SHOT PLAN — 7 shots across 4 scenes. Full list above.
❯ scene 2 shot 2 should be a top shot
Updated shot-04 → top-down/overhead. Enter = approve.
❯ ⏎

8. The cost gate

This is the one gate about money, and nothing has cost you anything yet. Pod shows the exact credit estimate before any footage renders.

COST GATE — ≈ 3,400 credits for 7 shots at your chosen models and resolution (≈ 1,300 if you answer d for a cheap draft cut first).
y = go · d = drafts only (cheap 480p pass, master later) · N = stop
❯ y

Three honest options: y starts the shoot. d renders a cheap 480p drafts-only cut you can watch first, mastering later with finalize. N stops completely — free, plan saved, and resume picks up exactly here. You can also still recast models at this gate. More on how the money works in money & credits.

9. Keyframes

The first frame of every shot arrives as a still image. Stills are cheap — iterate freely. Note changes per shot ("shot-03: golden hour, 85mm") or Enter to send the shoot rolling.

10. Clips, scene by scene

Pod renders one scene's clips, you review them, then the next scene — never the whole film blind. Clips auto-open in your video player. A continuity supervisor checks every scene and cut boundary and files advisories; in steer mode you make the calls. During the shoot a live line shows clips done, time in, credits spent, and the estimate remaining. If you step away, pod sends a desktop notification when it's waiting for you ("ready for review: scene 2 clips").

11. The final screening

The assembled film plays, alongside a shot map with timecodes. Notes here are edits — recuts from footage you already own, so they're free.

FINAL SCREENING — the assembled teaser + shot map with timecodes.
❯ cut the first 3 seconds, and make the middle pacier
Recutting from existing takes (free)… new cut ready.
❯ ⏎

A re-shoot (new footage) is a separate thing and always asks first, with a price.

12. The wrap

Pod delivers the final MP4 and a report, with optional title-card dressing. Everything lives on your computer, under the episode's folder — the finished film sits in episodes/<name>/07-final/. That's the only copy; pod's makers never store your footage, so back it up (see privacy).