How can I use Start and End Frames to Sequence Videos and Build Animatics?

Introduction

Start and end frames are images that are placed as the first and last frame in a video clip. Typically combined with a Prompt, they may not provide a seamless transition from one to the other, but they can guide visual continuity. A guide to choosing effective start and end frames can be found here.
Sequencing is the process of combine video clips in a particular order with the aim of achieving continuity - which can be enhanced using start and end frames.
Animatics are a key use case for this workflow - building a rough, animated storyboard used to visualize a sequence or film before full production, in filmmaking and animation.

In short, when creating multiple short video clips, you can guide visual continuity by manually setting the start and end frames. This lets you link clips together with greater fluidity. This is especially useful for early-stage animation planning, or building animatics.

How to Sequence Videos Using Start and End frames

A step-by-step overview:

Generate clip 1, review and select it's end frame.
Use that final frame as the start frame for Clip 2
Repeat for additional clips as needed

Tip: You can also keep a static end frame across multiple clips for consistent transitions.

Why this matters: Building Animatics

Animatics are rough, animated storyboards used to visualize a sequence or film before full production, in filmmaking and animation.

Benefits of using this method
- Achieve visual continuity without needing a full storyboarding tool.
- Rapidly prototype action sequences or narrative flow.
- Reference points are reusable, for more refined outputs later on. This makes it easy to explore narrative flow, test transitions, or sketch out creative ideas before committing to full production.

Tips & Best Practices

Choose meaningful and effective transition frames - see here for tips
Especially if using longer video clips between transitions, watch out for drift, detail loss and other unwanted errors - see here for more examples.
Use descriptive and detailed prompts alongside your chosen start and end frames to reinforce your intent and maximise visual continuity. See here and here for more advice on prompting for video.

Closing Thoughts & an Example

As always we encourage you to experiment with this workflow - it is a powerful tool for creatives. Experiment with different start and end frames - consider using Image Generation and Seeds to help with the process.

Below is a 30 second example made up of four clips, utilising this approach:

Animatics_example.mp4