A story and its recorded performance provide the starting point for a film. AI-generated editorial illustration.

A voice can give a story its pace before there is a single picture on screen. A pause makes us wait. A change in delivery tells us that something has gone wrong. When you adapt that recording into a film, those choices give you something to work with.

We are introducing Chapterframe as part of the StepSync Solutions family. Available at chapterframe.ai, it is an AI filmmaking workspace for Mac that helps creators turn stories and recorded performances into a sequence of shots. You can plan a chapter, review the images and return to an individual take when its timing or direction needs attention.

DanceUS helps dancers find events, classes and studios. Chapterframe gives members of that community another creative tool to explore: a workspace for making a film from a story. A dance teacher might record a short introduction to a performance and build pictures around the narration. A studio owner might try a fictional scene inspired by a production's setting. These are projects you can develop from your own script and recording.

Start with the performance

Chapterframe works with chapter text and a matching recording. It uses timed speech recognition to help locate spoken passages and organize the material into takes. Dialogue, narration and silent visual action can then have their own treatment. You can correct take boundaries and edit the direction before generating pictures.

If you begin with a script, you can generate narration and use that audio to build the take plan and character work. Generated delivery can help you try an idea, though an acted recording gives you more control over emotion and timing. An actor can make a choice about a line that changes the whole scene.

The source performance stays central to the finished work. For a narrated sequence, Chapterframe can place the original voice-over over rendered pictures. Sound effects are optional, and the voice and effects layers can be adjusted separately. That makes it possible to hear whether a scene needs more sound or whether the voice already carries it.

Give each take the attention it needs

A chapter becomes easier to work on when you can see its takes together. In Chapterframe, each take has text and visual direction you can review. Change the camera instruction, check who should appear or choose a different keyframe before sending it to a video renderer.

The Chapterframe take workspace brings the source passage, keyframe and shot direction together. Actual application screenshot.

Character sheets provide references for recurring people. Object sheets help keep an important prop recognizable, and style references guide the look of a chapter. These references give the generation models more to work from, although results still need review. If a face changes or a hand lands in the wrong place, you can revise that take and keep earlier versions for comparison.

You decide how far to go. Work chapter by chapter when the overall plan is ready. Spend more time on a scene with a difficult entrance or a close exchange between characters. Within that scene, one take may need several attempts while the next is ready to keep.

Plan the space in Chapterframe Stage

Chapterframe Stage is a companion Mac app for planning scenes in 3D. You can work out where characters stand, how they move through a set and where the camera should be. Those spatial decisions can help successive shots describe the same room and the same action.

Plan character positions and camera views before committing to a render. AI-generated conceptual illustration; not a Chapterframe Stage screenshot.

There are two ways to use that planning. You can create storyboard keyframes from the scene, or prepare a 3D video as a reference for a supported rendering workflow. Start with the storyboard approach where it is enough. When the movement or camera path needs closer direction, the 3D video approach gives you more to specify. The choice depends on the shot.

For anyone used to thinking about entrances, spacing or an audience's point of view, this part of the process may feel familiar. You are making decisions about what can be seen and when. The generated result still needs to be watched and judged against the performance you intended.

Choose how you spend your rendering budget

Chapterframe separates the project workspace from the resources used to generate it. Supported options include fal.ai, rented GPUs through Vast.ai and a compatible ComfyUI server you run yourself. Your setup and chosen workflow determine which models are available.

That gives you a choice about where to spend. A prepared batch can make good use of a rented server; a computer with a suitable GPU may cover some work at home. Provider charges and hardware costs remain separate from the app. Check the results of a short scene before committing a whole chapter to a particular workflow.

Try a scene of your own

Chapterframe for Mac has a seven-day trial, starting when you first open the app. It requires Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later. Sample projects are available if you would like to inspect an existing chapter before importing your own material. Use text and recordings you own or have permission to adapt.

The app costs $199 USD, including the first 365 days of updates and support. A subscription starts with purchase and charges $10 USD per month after that first year unless canceled. Canceling stops future renewals; you can keep using the version covered by your purchase. AI provider, GPU rental and storage charges are separate, including during the trial. The web edition is coming soon.

Visit Chapterframe and try the Mac app for seven days.

Pick a short passage and listen to it. Decide what you want the audience to see during the first pause. That is enough to begin your first take.