Request changes to a finished video

When an animated video is finished, you can ask for changes in plain words — "add better graphics in the intro and the stats section" — instead of running the whole workflow again. ReelBolt opens the project that made the video, changes only what you asked for, and makes a new version. Your current video is always kept.

Asking for a change to a video

1. Open the finished run's page (from the workflow's list of runs).
2. Under Request changes, write what should change. Be specific about what and where: "make the numbers in the stats section bigger and animate them in one by one" works better than "make it better".
3. Optional: pick the scenes the change is about under Only these scenes. Scenes you don't pick stay exactly as they are.
4. Optional: under Start from, pick an earlier version to change instead of the latest.
5. If your animation is part of a longer edit, choose what happens to the edit (see below).
6. Press Request changes. You are taken to the new run, where you can follow its progress.

The change usually takes a few minutes. The panel shows about how many credits it costs before you press the button.

When your animation is part of a longer edit

Some workflows do more with the animation: they analyse it, cut it together with your photos or footage, add music or narration, and put the finished video together. When you change such an animation, ReelBolt also redoes those later steps, so you get a new finished video, not only a new animation. The panel lists the steps that run again. Steps that come before the animation, or that don't use it, are kept from the earlier run and cost nothing.

You choose what happens to the edit:

• Keep the same cut (the default). The edit you approved stays as it is: the same scenes, in the same order, with the same photos between them. It is reused as long as your change keeps the animation's scenes where they were. If your change adds, removes or re-times scenes, the edit is made again so it fits.
• Re-edit the video too. The edit is made again from the changed animation, so the cut may differ. This can cost a little more.

The panel shows the price for the choice you picked. The video's review is run again once, so the new version has a score; with the cut kept, it does not start another round of editing.

What a change can and cannot do

A change works on the film's existing scenes: it can restyle text, add or improve graphics, adjust animations, fix wording, change colours, or lengthen a scene. It does not re-read your app's code or rewrite the script, so for a different story or new scenes about other features, run the workflow again. The change keeps the film's size, frame rate and the scenes you didn't mention. If part of your request could not be done, the new run says so.

Finding every version of a video

The Versions list under the panel shows the original video and every change made to it, newest first, each with what was asked for. Press play to watch a version — when the animation is part of a longer edit, Play shows the finished video and Animation only shows the animation by itself. Open the run that made a version, or choose Change this version to ask for a change starting from it. A version also says whether the same cut was kept. Requests that are still working or that failed are listed too, and the new finished video appears among your renders as the newest take.

Videos made before changes were saved

Videos made before ReelBolt started saving their projects can still be changed for about a week after the run: ReelBolt picks up the project from where the run left it. After that, or if the project could not be recovered, the panel says so and you need to run the workflow again to get a video you can change.

When requesting a change is not available

• The run is still working. You can request changes once it has finished.
• The run did not make an animated video (for example a derush edit of your own footage). There is nothing to change here; edit the workflow and run it again.
• The change ended with "Nothing in the video was changed". The request did not say what to change in a way ReelBolt could act on, so no new video was made. Describe the change more specifically: which part of the video, and what it should look like.
• The change ended with "The changes were made but the new video could not be rendered". ReelBolt made the changes and tried to produce the new video itself, but that failed. You are not charged for it. Try the request again.
• Too many requests. You can ask for up to ten changes per project per hour.
• Not enough credits. Top up, then try again; a change that fails because of a problem on our side is not charged.

Changing one step

You do not have to redo a whole run to fix one thing. Open a finished run, open the step you want to change (the narration, the video clips, the music or the thumbnail), and press Request changes.

1. Choose what to change: pick the lines, clips or takes, or choose the All option to apply a setting to every one. The thumbnail is one picture, so its form is shown straight away.
2. Fill in only what you want to change. Anything you leave alone stays exactly as it was. At least one change is needed before you can continue.
3. Check the price. It shows about how many credits the change will use, which steps are redone, and which are reused for free. When we can work it out exactly, it also shows "This part: N credits" for just the clips, music or lines you chose to redo.
4. Press Confirm and redo.

What you can change depends on the step:

• Narration. For a line, write new wording, pick another voice, change the speed, or fix a word that is read wrongly: write the word, then the same word with an accent on the syllable to stress (for example Novara and Novàra).
• Video clips. Each clip is listed with its description, whether it worked and how long it is. When a clip was made in several takes, the takes are listed under it. For a clip you can write a new description, or switch on Make a fresh take to get another version of the same description. You can do both at once. With All clips you can ask for a fresh take of every clip.
• Music and sound effects. Each take is listed with its description and length. Write a new description, set a new length in seconds, or both, or switch on Make a new version to get another version of the same music even if nothing else changes. With All takes you can set one new length for every take.
• Script. Each scene of the script is listed with its narration. For a scene you can write new narration, new text on screen (one line per row, up to 6 lines) or a new description of what we see. Or just pick the scene and tell us what you want, for example "make scene 2 calmer", and only that scene is rewritten; every other scene stays word for word. Changing the script is the most expensive option: everything after it (voice, clips, music and the final video) is made again, so check the price first.
• Thumbnail. Change the text on the picture, the moment of the video the picture is taken from (in seconds), where the text sits, its colour and the box behind it.

Only the parts you chose are made again. Everything you did not touch is reused, and the finished video is put together again with the new parts. Your original run is never edited: the change becomes a new run, and both runs show a link to each other under Changes to this run, with how much it cost.

You can ask the assistant instead, in the same words: "make clip 2 a fresh take" or "change the thumbnail text to Launch day". It tells you what will change and what it costs before it starts, unless you have switched on automatic approval.