Correction, 2026-10-01: We priced Nano Banana Pro at $0.04 to $0.08 per image with about 8 seconds per frame; on 8frame it is 21 credits per image (about $0.21) with a median of 37 seconds. We also said Veo 3.1 gives you 4K and quoted a generation time we had not measured; on 8frame Veo 3.1 outputs 1080p. We have not measured how well Seedance 2.0 holds identity, so that claim is gone. The step 1 and step 3 figures and the cost table now use 8frame's prices. A later pass replaced the remaining unverified figures in the cost table (a "$2" casting line, minute timings and a "$30 to $120" total) with credits from the registry. This page now says that inviting collaborators needs the Creator plan (up to 3 members) or Agency (up to 30); Starter cannot add collaborators.
Correction, 2026-09-30: We credited Seedance 2.5 with native 4K and a 3D pre-visualization feature, from launch claims we could not verify; on 8frame it runs at 480p or 720p. The section now covers what 8frame runs.
AI pre-visualization lets an agency explore locations, casting, and lighting for a commercial before a single crew member is booked, and walk into the pitch with the film already moving. You end up with a director's treatment where every reference is a generated frame or clip built to your script, produced in a day for the price of a few hundred dollars in compute instead of a scout, a test shoot, and a week of turnaround.
What you get and what it costs
Previz is not the finished spot. It is the agency's answer to the question every client and director asks before writing a large production check: what is this actually going to look like? Traditionally that answer comes from mood boards, stock references, location scouts, and sometimes a test shoot. Each of those costs real time and money, and none of them shows the client your specific idea. They show adjacent ideas and ask everyone to imagine the rest.
AI previz replaces the imagining. Instead of a stock photo of "a beach at golden hour," you generate the exact beach, the exact talent silhouette, the exact camera move your director wants, and you put it in the treatment. For a typical spot, a full previz package of a dozen location and lighting options plus three or four moving key shots runs $30 to $120 in model credits and a single working day. A location scout plus a half-day test shoot for the same coverage is a five-figure line item and a week of calendar.
The catch is what previz cannot do, and being honest about that is what keeps agency credibility intact. We cover the handoff to real production below.
The 4-step previz workflow
Step 1: Explore locations and lighting
Start with the environment. Generate the location the script calls for across several times of day and weather states so the director can choose the light before committing to a scout. On 8frame, Nano Banana Pro is 21 credits per image at 1K or 2K (about $0.21 at pack rate), with a median of 37 seconds per image, so twenty options cost 420 credits.
Prompt for a location option:
Empty coastal highway at golden hour, dry desert scrub either side, long
shadows, warm low sun behind camera, cinematic wide, anamorphic feel, 16:9
Generate the same location at dawn, midday, and dusk. Lay all of them on the canvas side by side. The director picks the light, and now the scout has a target instead of an open brief, which shortens the real scout from days to hours.
Step 2: Explore casting and wardrobe direction
Next, the people. Previz casting is not final casting; it is a way to show the client the type, the energy, and the wardrobe direction before a casting call. Generate talent silhouettes and archetypes in the chosen environment so the treatment reads as one coherent world.
A note on rights, because this is where agencies get into trouble. Generate archetypes and types, not recognizable real people, and never a specific celebrity or a real person's likeness without a license. The rules here tightened sharply in 2026. See synthetic talent and celebrity likeness in ads for the current legal landscape before you put any face in a treatment.
Step 3: Block the key shots as moving previz
This is the step that separates a modern treatment from a slide deck. Take the two or three shots that carry the idea and animate them. A moving previz shows the camera language, the pacing, and the emotional beat in a way no still can.
For a beauty spot, the hero previz might be a slow orbit around the talent at golden hour:
[Image: chosen location + talent frame] Slow 180-degree orbit around a
person on the coastal highway, hair moving in wind, golden backlight,
smooth gimbal feel, shallow depth of field
Set the length on the node, not in the prompt. On 8frame, image-to-video on Veo runs 8 seconds: 448 credits with audio on Veo 3.1 ($4.48 at pack rate) or 168 on Veo 3.1 Fast, output at 1080p, with native audio if you want a scratch soundscape in the previz. For product-forward blocking where a real reference has to stay accurate, Seedance 2.0 is the lower-cost option at 108 credits for 5 seconds at 720p; check the reference against every frame of the move. Keep the moves motivated and short. Previz sells intent, not final VFX.
Step 4: Build the treatment and pitch with it
Assemble everything on the canvas into the director's treatment: the chosen location across light states, the casting direction, the moving key shots, and text nodes describing tone, palette, and reference films. Because it all lives on one canvas, you revise it live when the client reacts, and you present the moving shots inline rather than cutting to a separate reel.
This is where 8frame's real-time collaboration earns its place in an agency (it needs the Creator plan, up to 3 members, or Agency, up to 30). The director, the creative team, and the producer work the same board, and the version the client sees is the version everyone touched. When the client says "what if it were night," you generate the night version in the room.
The long-take angle
For a camera move that has to read as one continuous shot, such as a dolly through a set or an orbit around a hero product, generate the previz as a single take rather than stitched clips. On 8frame, Seedance 2.5 and Wan 3.0 both run up to 30 seconds in one pass (Seedance 2.5 at 480p or 720p, 417 credits for 30 seconds at 480p; Wan 3.0 at 142 for 30 seconds at 480p), so the move plays out without a join. More in what is Seedance 2.5.
For simpler blocking, short image-to-video clips are faster and cheaper.
Where real production still takes over
Previz is where you decide. Production is where you deliver. The handoff matters, and overselling previz as the finished spot is how agencies lose trust.
- Fine detail and brand-critical accuracy. Real product textures, exact packaging, legal-approved on-screen claims, and hero food or beauty shots still shoot practically or get finished by a VFX team. Previz gets the idea approved; it does not get the final frame signed off.
- Human performance. A previz can show a type and an energy. It cannot deliver the specific performance a director pulls from real talent, and audiences read synthetic acting quickly. Cast and shoot the people.
- Rights and clearances. Locations, talent, music, and any likeness all need real clearance before broadcast. Previz is internal and pitch-facing; nothing generated in it ships to air without the underlying rights.
- Regulated categories. Automotive, pharma, financial, and any category with claim substantiation rules shoots and clears the real thing.
The clean mental model: previz sells and de-risks the idea, production delivers it. When you present previz, say so. Clients respect an agency that shows a photoreal moving treatment and is straight that the shoot is where the craft lands.
Cost math
The generation side of a previz package for a 30-second spot, in 8frame credits (a credit is about $0.01 at pack rate):
| Item | On 8frame | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Location options, including light states | 12 Nano Banana Pro stills at 21 | 252 |
| Casting direction | 6 Nano Banana Pro stills at 21 | 126 |
| 3 moving key shots | Seedance 2.0, 5 s at 720p (108 each) up to Veo 3.1, 8 s with sound (448 each) | 324 to 1,344 |
| Generation total | 702 to 1,722 (about $7 to $17) |
Retakes add to that, and the human time (direction, review, assembly) is the larger cost. The traditional equivalents (a scout, a casting call, a test shoot) vary too much by market to quote; get local quotes for the comparison.
The point is not that previz is free. It is that the agency can explore ten directions for the cost of previously exploring none, then spend the real production budget on the one direction the client already approved because they saw it move.
FAQ
Is AI previz good enough to show a client, or just for internal planning?
Both, if you frame it honestly. The moving key shots are polished enough to carry a pitch and win the work, which is the whole point of a treatment. The discipline is labeling it as previz and being clear the shoot is where the final craft happens. Clients increasingly expect a moving treatment, and an agency that arrives with one reads as more prepared than one with a stack of stills.
How is previz different from an animatic?
Previz explores the look and the possibilities before the idea is locked: locations, casting, lighting, camera language. An animatic comes after the board is approved and times the whole spot to temp VO and music to test pacing. Previz answers "what could this be," the animatic answers "does this cut work." Many agencies now do both in AI, back to back, in a day.
Does previz lock us into a look we then cannot shoot?
No, if you previz within the bounds of what production can deliver. The risk is generating a camera move or a lighting setup that is physically impossible or wildly over budget, then having to walk the client back. Keep the previz honest to real gear and real locations, use a single long take for shots where geometry matters, and previz becomes a brief the DP can actually execute.
Sources
- Prices (Nano Banana Pro, Seedance 2.0 and 2.5, Wan 3.0, Veo 3.1 and Fast) and the 8-second Veo image-to-video rule: 8frame tool registry and tool configuration, read 2026-10-01
- Generation time (Nano Banana Pro median 37 s): 8frame production data, read-only, 120 days to 2026-09-30
Run your previz on 8frame, where Seedance 2.5, Veo 3.1, and Nano Banana Pro share one canvas, with real-time collaboration on the Creator and Agency plans. Open a previz board at app.8frame.co and build a moving treatment your next client meeting will remember.