AniForge
From a Written Story to a Finished Animation
AniForge turns a script and character artwork into a storyboard, dialogue audio, video clips and a finished edit in one workspace.
This guide follows the actual interface and explains what each button does.
Input Script text or a song (MP3), plus character and background images
Output Scene clips, a completed MP4 and a vertical short-form video
Run Double-click start.bat on your PC
What is AniForge?
An animated episode requires several steps: breaking down a script, planning the camera and acting, creating voices, generating video and assembling the final cut. AniForge organizes this workflow into four stages. AI creates a draft, then you review and revise it before moving on.
Nothing advances without human approval. Video generation opens only after the storyboard is confirmed, and lip-sync video is created only after the dialogue audio has been reviewed. Cost-incurring generation always comes after review.
01 Characters & Backgrounds
02 Scene Analysis & Storyboard
03 Render & Edit
04 Short-form Conversion
Create or upload reference sheets for characters and locations. The visual style is fixed here.
Split the script into scenes and review gray 3D previz for camera, blocking and acting.
Create dialogue voices, generate scene clips, revise them and assemble the final video.
Select the key moments from the completed landscape video and create a vertical short.
Getting Started
AniForge runs locally on your PC. You use it in a browser, but your computer acts as the server. Closing the command window stops the application.
Home screen. The 01–04 menu and the four center cards lead to the same production stages. The small text under each card shows the current progress.
Basic workflow
Launch AniForge. Double-click start.bat in the AniForge folder. A command window opens, followed by the browser. Keep the command window open.
Wait on the first launch. When the folder has been copied from another PC, AniForge installs its requirements automatically. This usually takes one to three minutes.
Create a project. Click + New Project and choose a title, project type (script or music video) and resolution. One project represents one episode or production.
Follow the stages. Use Open → on a card or the top menu and proceed from 01 in order. The progress strip shows Characters & Backgrounds → Storyboard → Clips → Render.
Good to know
• backend: live means real AI generation is enabled. mock is a cost-free practice mode.
• If the “Code updated” badge appears, close the command window and run start.bat again.
• Use the folder and save icons beside the project selector to import a project or create a ZIP backup.
01 Characters & Backgrounds
Prepare character and location reference sheets
To keep a character consistent from scene to scene, a predefined reference sheet must be attached to every generation. This screen stores those sheets.
Asset library. The left side contains the project’s character and background sheets. The right side contains creation and upload tools.
Workflow
Create a character sheet with AI. Enter a name and appearance in AI Character Sheet (4 angles), then generate a sheet containing front, side and rear views.
Upload your own art. Enter a name, choose Character Sheet or Background Sheet, and select the file.
Reuse assets from another project. Open the reference library and select sheets from previous episodes.
Check the visual style. Style Applied lets a new project inherit the look of the previous project so episodes stay visually consistent.
Best practices
• Use exactly the same character names as the script. AniForge uses those names to identify who appears in each scene.
• Name background sheets after locations, such as School_Hanbyeol or Rooftop.
• Delete unused sheets with ×. Save alternate costumes as separate assets with different names.
02 Scene Analysis & Storyboard
Split the script into shots and preview the direction
AniForge divides the script into scenes, assigns camera movement, acting and sound effects, and renders gray 3D previews called previz. Use these previews to check camera direction, placement and timing before generating the final artwork.
Script input at the top of the Scene Analysis & Storyboard screen. Paste text and click Analyze Scenes. For music-video projects, upload an MP3 from the adjacent tab.
Workflow
Paste the script and click Analyze Scenes. A director-style script with CUT headings keeps its existing cuts. Regular prose is split automatically into scenes of roughly 4–30 seconds.
Wait for analysis and previz. AniForge fills in the direction and renders each previz. A shot usually takes 30–60 seconds.
Review the previz sheet. Play every shot and edit action, acting, camera and dialogue directly. Leaving a field saves it automatically.
Open a shot with ✎. This launches the detailed previz editor.
Confirm the storyboard. Click Confirm Storyboard when satisfied. This unlocks stage 03.
How to read previz
• Gray mannequins and buildings are placeholders. Judge camera, blocking and timing, not the final art style.
• Shot number, timecode and camera information appear above the preview. Beat descriptions and dialogue subtitles appear below.
• “Direction changed” means the text was edited after the preview was rendered. Open the shot and render it again.
Previz sheet. Click a preview to play it. Chips below show camera movement and framing, followed by the shot’s editable text fields.
Previz Editor — refine a single shot
You can revise a shot in two ways: write a natural-language instruction on the left, or change values in the form on the right. Applying either method renders a new preview while keeping a version you can revert to.
Previz editor. Video and natural-language instructions are on the left; camera, set, character and beat controls are on the right.
Workflow
Edit with instructions. Use quick buttons such as Zoom In, Crane Up, Close-up or Low Angle, or type a sentence describing camera, framing, movement, props and time of day.
Edit with the form. Choose camera movement, speed, start and end framing, angle, duration, targets and easing. Adjust set pieces and character placement.
Apply and re-render. Click Apply Changes & Re-render. Use Undo to revert or Rebuild from Scene to start again.
Use Blender for detailed work. Open the scene in Blender, move or add objects, save with Ctrl+S, then import the Blender changes and re-render.
When an instruction is not applied
• If the history says an instruction was not applied, rewrite it with a clear object and action.
• Phrases such as “close up on the penthouse” are read as an end framing, while “start in close-up” sets the opening framing.
• After editing in Blender, changing camera or character values in the form may discard those edits. AniForge asks for confirmation first.
03 Render & Edit
Add voices, generate clips and assemble the episode
This stage generates the final animation clips for each confirmed storyboard shot. Create and review the dialogue voices first, then generate lip-synced video. Revise individual scenes and assemble the completed MP4.
Render & Edit. Scene cards show statuses such as done and failed. Selecting a card opens video, quality checks and revision tools.
Workflow
Create voices first. Click Dialogue Voicing. Listen in the scene details and revise or regenerate awkward lines. This audio becomes the lip-sync reference.
Generate the video. Select resolution and quality, then click Batch Generate. Each shot usually takes two to four minutes and is generated in sequence.
Review scene details. Check the preview, versions, automated QC and the character/background references actually sent to the video model.
Revise. Edit the action or dialogue, or describe the requested change, then regenerate. Previous versions remain available.
Create the final episode. When all shots are complete, click Final Render and download the MP4. Music-video projects can continue to the sync editor.
Good to know
• Storyboard Direction in stage 03 uses the same data as stage 02. Editing it updates the storyboard.
• Regenerating a shot may affect continuity with the next shot, so regenerating the following shot can produce a smoother result.
• Failed shots keep an error reason in the scene details. Adjust the action or references and try again.
04 Short-form Conversion
Automatically turn landscape video into a vertical short
Upload a completed 16:9 video between 2 and 60 minutes. AniForge transcribes the audio, analyzes scenes and character positions, selects highlights and creates a 9:16 short of 60–120 seconds with captions and a final call to action.
New conversion dialog. The file duration, size and aspect ratio are checked immediately, with upload progress and validation shown in the same window.
Workflow
Create a conversion job. Choose a video file or enter the server path of a stage-03 render. Set target duration, content type, CTA copy, captions and keyword highlighting.
Wait for automated analysis. The pipeline performs validation, proxy creation, transcription, scene analysis, visual analysis, highlight selection and reframing.
Review the edit plan. Enable or disable segments, adjust start and end times, select Dynamic Crop, Fixed Crop, Blurred Background or Fit, and reorder segments.
Preview and render. Create a fast 540p preview, then render the final 1080×1920 video. Passing QC produces the MP4, SRT captions and QC report.
Good to know
• Videos shorter than two minutes or longer than sixty minutes are rejected before upload.
• Portrait videos are not supported because this tool converts landscape video to portrait.
• If the server stops during analysis, Resume Analysis continues from the last checkpoint.
Completed short-form job. QC results and downloadable outputs appear above the segment-by-segment edit plan.
Troubleshooting
Most problems display a reason directly on the screen. Check the status badge and red error message first.
Q. “Unable to connect to the server” appears.
The start.bat command window was closed. Run it again. An in-progress generation may be marked as failed; regenerate only that shot.
Q. The “Code updated — restart required” badge appears.
Close the command window and run start.bat again to load the updated application.
Q. Previz video is not generated.
Previz requires Blender. Without it, AniForge creates a black-and-white storyboard panel instead. Check the failure reason and use Re-render Previz.
Q. Video generation failed.
Open the failure message in scene details. Common causes include an incorrect reference image, dialogue that is too long or a safety filter.
Q. Short-form upload was rejected.
The file may be outside the 2–60 minute range, portrait-oriented or damaged. The dialog displays the exact reason.
Q. How can I use AniForge on another PC?
Copy the entire AniForge folder and run start.bat. On first launch, the program installs and checks its requirements.
Q. Does AI generation cost money?
Images, dialogue voices, video clips and transcription use external AI services and may incur usage charges. Previz, storyboard review and edit planning run locally.
Glossary
Project All materials for one episode or production, including characters, scenes and video.
Asset / Sheet A fixed character or background image used as a visual reference.
Visual Style The art direction preserved across episodes.
Scene / Shot The smallest video unit, normally 4–30 seconds.
Storyboard A shot-by-shot plan containing action, acting, camera, dialogue, sound and music.
Previz A gray 3D preview used to review camera movement and blocking before final generation.
Reference Character/background sheets and the previous clip sent to the video model.
Voicing / Lip Sync Creating dialogue audio and matching the character’s mouth movement to it.
Video Chain A generation method where the end of one clip guides the beginning of the next.
Version One of multiple generated results for the same shot.
QC Automated quality checks for duration, black frames, audio and other issues.
Short-form A vertical 9:16 video, generally 60–120 seconds.
The screenshots in this guide come from the actual AniForge interface. Button names and locations may change as the application is updated.