Published 27 September 2026 by Satellite Studios
AI video production is often described as typing a prompt and getting a video back. That is how a video generator works, and it is a long way from how a finished film for a brand gets made.
At Satellite Studios, AI generation takes the place of the shoot. Everything around the shoot still happens: the idea, the treatment, the storyboards, the edit, the grade and the sound. That is where most of the work goes, and it is what makes a set of generated shots read as one film. This guide walks through each stage, using our own films as examples.
The Brief And The Idea
Every film starts with what it has to do. A launch film for a product, a brand film about how a company works and a development film selling apartments to buyers overseas need different ideas, different lengths and different formats. So the first conversation is about the audience, where the film will run, and what someone should think or do after watching it.
From there we write the idea. For The Island of Gems, the idea was to follow a single sapphire through the whole business of Ceylon Jewelry Manufacturers, from the river gravel where it is found to a finished ring, so the film could show that everything happens under one roof.
The Treatment
The treatment sets the look and tone before anything is made. It covers the references, the colour, the light, the pace and the kind of camera movement the film will use. Clients see and approve it at this stage, because changing the direction of a film is easy in a document and slow once shots exist.
Storyboards Made As Stills
Every shot is framed and agreed before it moves. We make the boards as full-quality stills, so what the client approves is very close to the frame that ends up on screen. The Island of Gems was built from thirty-one stills, and Awaken What's Within, our spec commercial for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, started as eleven designed frames.
This is also where products and people are locked in. For Dedicated, a strength equipment brand, we started from three phone photos of the brand's plates and one reference for the gym, then developed seventeen stills with the same athlete and the same plates from wide shot to close up.
Generation
Once the boards are approved, each still is brought to life as a shot. This is the part that replaces the camera. A shot usually takes several attempts before the movement, the timing and the detail are right, and every take is checked against the boards and the product references. For Dedicated, thirteen generated takes made it to the edit.
Anything that drifts, such as a logo that changes shape, a hand that looks wrong or a room that no longer matches the plan, is made again rather than hidden with a cut.
Edit, Grade And Sound
The shots are cut like any commercial: for pace, for story and for the length the film has to run. The whole film is then graded to one finish, so shots made separately look as though they came from the same camera on the same day. Music, sound design and the final mix come last, and they do as much for the feeling of a film as the pictures do.
Finishing And Delivery
The finished film is delivered as a graded master, up to 4K, with the cutdowns a campaign needs: 16:9 for online and broadcast, and 9:16 and 4:5 for social. Titles, end cards and any legal lines are added at this stage, set to the brand's guidelines.
What You Need To Start
A brief, and whatever references you already have. That can be product photos, packaging, renders, floor plans, brand guidelines or films you like. Clear phone photos are often enough, and the more accurate the references are, the more accurate the product and places on screen will be.
Where AI Production Works Best
It suits films about things a camera cannot easily reach: a building that has not been built, a product that has not shipped, a car on a road that would take days to close, or a campaign that needs many versions of one idea. It is less suited to films that depend on a real person speaking to camera in their own words, or on capturing a real event as it happens, and we will say so when a shoot is the better choice. Our guide to AI and traditional video production covers that choice in more detail.