What you get — one portable file
Every idea with scenes can be opened as a storybook and downloaded as a single HTML file. No folders, no assets to upload, no installer:
- Self-contained. Every shot image is embedded directly in the file, along with the chapter timeline, captions, dialogue and the player itself.
- Works offline. Open it from your desktop, email it, drop it on any static host or portfolio — readers need no account. Only the optional chat needs a network connection.
- Same experience everywhere. The viewer you preview inside ScriptFrame and the downloaded file run the same player, so what you see before export is what your readers get.
Build your story first in Story Generation. Credits and chat billing are explained in Startup Credits and Consumption.
Prerequisites
- A completed story — at least one chapter with scenes and shots. Without shots the player has nothing to show.
- For the richest result, generate shot images in the Storyboard tab and pick voices per character in the storybook’s voice panel. Both are optional — a shot without an image still shows its caption and text.
- You must own the idea to export with chat enabled. Readers can always read the file; chat only works if you left it enabled.
Export the single HTML file
Path: Idea page → Manage → Manage Storybook → View Storybook → Download HTML (single file)
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Open the viewer
From your idea, click Manage → Manage Storybook → View Storybook. The viewer groups scenes by chapter, orders dialogue by time, splits each scene’s duration evenly across its shots, and prepares narration timing with a hold of a few seconds per caption.
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Download
In the viewer header click Download HTML (single file). While preparing it shows Preparing…. The app fetches each shot image and inlines it, injects the story data and animation, and triggers a download named your-title-storyboard.html.
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Share anywhere
Host it, attach it to an email, or open it locally — it plays in any modern browser. If the preview popup is blocked, use the direct download button.
Large files are normal: embedding high-resolution shots can make the file tens of megabytes. It may take a moment to open, but the internal player loads shots efficiently.
Inside the file — how it plays
The embedded player is the same one you previewed, just frozen into the file:
- Chapter timeline — jump between chapters; the current chapter title follows each shot.
- Shot stage — centered image, caption and progress bar.
- Narration overlay — scene description shown for a few seconds, optionally spoken.
- Dialogue cues — per-character lines highlighted when their time window is active.
- Voice panel — change the spoken voice for each character and for the narrator without editing the story.
- Chat button — floating at the bottom-right; opens the AI chat drawer.
To change text, shots or voices after export, go back with Back to Story, edit in the Script or Storyboard tabs, reopen the viewer and export again — the file rebuilds from the latest saved data on every load.
AI chat — character voice or narrator
When Enable AI Chat is on, readers can ask questions directly inside the book — and hear the answer spoken.
Who answers
- Ask a character — hear that character. Use @Name to mention a character or ask “What would Elara say about this?”. When the answer is tied to a specific character, it is spoken in that character’s selected voice from the voice panel.
- General questions — narrator responds. If the answer is not character-specific, or no character was mentioned, the narrator voice speaks it.
- Tone setting controls the behavior. Use the chat header’s Voice Mode to keep answers short and in-character or more explanatory as the narrator.
- The chat has your full story context — characters, props, locations — so it knows every named entity and can autocomplete mentions.
- Every message is checked with your story’s secure access key. If you turn chat off, even previously exported files stop chatting immediately — no charge is made.
- Chat is billed per message to the story owner. Each reply is a standard text generation; cost scales with story length plus question and answer. Manage this in Startup Credits.
| Prompt example | Voice heard |
|---|---|
| @Elara why did you trust the signal? | Elara’s selected voice |
| Summarize the arc of chapter 3 | Narrator voice |
| What happened at the derelict station? | Narrator voice |
| @Jin explain your plan in your own words | Jin’s selected voice |
Cost control: Anyone with the file can chat on your credits while chat is enabled. Disable chat in Manage Storybook before sharing publicly if you do not want to pay for others’ questions.
Voices — how they are chosen
Voices use your browser’s speech synthesis, so there is nothing to install:
- Open the Voice panel in the player. Each character and the narrator has its own selector. Pick any available browser voice — defaults come from your story’s saved voice choices when available.
- During playback, narration uses the narrator voice and dialogue uses the owning character’s voice automatically.
- In chat, the same mapping applies — the answer is spoken with the relevant character’s voice, or the narrator’s voice when no character is addressed.
- Change voices at any time; the next spoken line or chat reply uses the new selection. Readers of the exported file can also pick their own preferred voices locally.
Tip: test a line with the play button next to each voice selector to hear how a character sounds before sharing.
Share safely — disable chat & rotate access
Path: Idea page → Manage → Manage Storybook
- Enable AI Chat toggle — master switch. Off stops the viewer and all previously exported files from chatting (checked live on every message). You can re-enable anytime.
- Access key — truncated with a Copy button. It is embedded in the viewer and in every exported file to authorize chat.
- Regenerate Key — creates a fresh key and invalidates every previously shared file’s chat access. The books keep playing; only chat stops. Use this if a file was shared too broadly.
Security note: The access key is a bearer token for your credits. Do not commit an HTML export with chat enabled to a public repository. If it leaks, regenerate the key.
Coming next — background music & premium voices
Future updates: background music and premium voices
We are actively building two upgrades for the storybook player:
- Background music — scene-aware, low-volume music that follows the story’s mood and adapts between chapters. It will be optional per export, with a simple on/off and intensity control, and embedded or streamed so the single-file experience stays effortless.
- Premium voices — more natural, expressive character and narrator voices beyond the browser defaults, with consistent casting per character across playback and chat. Expect selectable voice styles per character and higher fidelity when you enable them for an export.
Both will be opt-in. Your current single-file exports and browser voices will keep working exactly as they do today — the new options will appear in the storybook viewer and export settings when they are ready.
Tips & troubleshooting
Quality tips
- Generate shot images before exporting — the book is far more engaging with visuals. Missing images appear as empty slots with captions only.
- Voice casting matters: assign distinct voices to characters with overlapping dialogue so listeners can follow who is speaking, both in playback and in chat answers.
- Keep chapter count moderate (8–16) for a readable file — 64 chapters with many shots will make a very tall, heavy HTML file.
Common issues
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| No voice or wrong voice in chat | Check the Voice panel mapping. A generic question uses the narrator; an @-mention or “as Elara” prompt uses that character’s voice. Change the selector and ask again. |
| Viewer shows “Preparing” forever | No scenes yet — go back to Script and make sure at least one chapter/scene exists, then reload. |
| Images missing in exported HTML | Shot URL was private/expired or blocked from embedding. Regenerate the shot image in Storyboard and export again. |
| Chat says disabled | Enable AI Chat in Manage Storybook and confirm you are the owner. Non-owners cannot enable chat. |
| Old file still chats after disable | It should not — the server checks the live setting. If it still works, verify the story ID matches the one you disabled; you may have two stories with similar titles. |
What is next after the book?
- Render the same scenes as video in the Video Editor tab — storybook and video share scenes and shots.
- Try asking the chat inside the book to “speak as Elara about your motive” — you will hear Elara’s selected voice; ask “summarize chapter 2” to hear the narrator.