The Pipeline and "Needs your attention"
Know what to do when part of an episode fails, and see what made what.
58 s of video No sound · captions on every video
ShowMaker makes an episode in pieces: the story, the clip plan, a picture of each character, place and prop, the words and picture for each clip, each clip, and the final cut. Each piece is kept once it is made. When one piece fails, the pieces that need it wait, and everything else is kept: you fix the one thing and carry on.
When something fails
Follow along
Video, about 55 seconds, no sound. The steps below say the same.
- Step 1: The step that could not finish shows failed on its tab, and a red box, Needs your attention, at the top of the step.
- Step 2: Each row in the box names what failed and why, for example Clip 5's prose — The model refused it. The face beside it says whose work it was: Penny for the story, Slate for the clips.
- Step 3: The buttons in the row say what you can do. Depending on what failed, they include Try again (when another try may go through), Try once more · ~N credits (for a clip whose pictures were refused as a real person), Check again (for a clip still running at the video provider), Redraw · ~N credits (it shows its price), Go to clip 5 (opens the clip so you can change its words), Edit Nell's description for a character or place, or Rewrite with a note….
- Step 4: What the provider said shows the exact message from the model, for example that the request was refused by its content policy.
- Step 5: A line under the rows says what was kept, for example Slate: the other 5 clips are planned, written and kept.
- Step 6: Fix the cause (here, change the clip's words so the model accepts them), then approve the step again. Only what failed, and what depends on it, is made again.
Common reasons, and what to do
| What it says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The model refused it. | The picture or video model would not make this, often because of its content rules. The same request is likely to be refused again. | Change the words of the clip, or the description of the character or place, then approve again. |
| The provider returned nothing, or timed out. | A passing problem at the provider's end. | Press Try again. |
| The pictures were refused as a real person. Another try may go through. | Seedance checks every picture sent with a Seedance clip for real people, and refused one as a real person. It is a score, not a rule, so the same pictures can pass on another try. | Press Try once more · ~N credits. No credits are taken for a refused try. If it keeps refusing, change the character's look or model sheet. |
| Still running at fal (or OpenRouter, named for the clip's provider) | The video provider (fal or OpenRouter) was still making this clip when the app stopped waiting for it. The clip is not lost. | Press Check again. It is free while the provider still has the clip; if it has lost it, the clip is shot again at its price, which the button's note says. |
The Pipeline: what made what
- Step 1: On any episode, press Pipeline (to the right of the step tabs). The bar at the top counts the pieces, for example 27 of 32 done, and says how many failed.
- Step 2: The Graph reads top to bottom: the Screenwriter (the story) and the Director (the clip plan); then each character's look for this episode, each place and each prop; then each clip; then the Final cut at the bottom. The lines show what each piece was made from.
- Step 3: Each piece says its state: cached (made before and reused, at no cost), failed, or stuck (waiting for a piece that failed).
- Step 4: Press a piece to light up the lines into it, so you can see everything it was made from. Use +, − and the frame button at the bottom left to zoom.
- Step 5: The List tab shows the same pieces as a list, grouped (Episode, Locations, and so on), each with its state and what it cost.
Tips
- Nothing is lost when a piece fails. Pieces that are done stay done, and are reused (cached) when you run again.
- A clip marked Still running at fal (or OpenRouter) is not a failure: press Check again before you re-shoot it.
- Logs (next to Pipeline) lists every step the episode took, with times, if you need to tell support what happened.
About the recording: rehearsal mode was made to refuse clip 5's words on purpose, and the provider's message shown is the wording of a real refusal.