Correction, 2026-10-02: the animatic stage pointed to the Montage node for joining clips without saying that its merged file has no sound. That suits a silent timing pass, but anything with sound, including the final, has to be assembled on the Video Editor timeline or in your own editor. The page now says so.
Correction, 2026-10-01: this page told you to keep every client comment on a shared canvas without saying what client access involves on 8frame. There is no public share link for a board: a client needs an 8frame account and an invite, inviting needs the owner to be on a Creator plan (up to 3 members) or an Agency plan (up to 30), Viewers count toward that limit, and the Viewer role is view-only, so a client who should leave comment boxes needs Editor access. There is also no approval button and no node lock, so the page now says how to record a sign-off (in writing, plus a saved version with a label). The worked example delivered the Veo 3.1 hero in 1:1, which Veo 3.1 on 8frame does not make (16:9 and 9:16 only), and carried the 720p Kling v3 Standard animatic clips into the final; it now delivers 9:16 and re-renders the other beats at the delivery resolution. Prices now name Veo 3.1 Standard (the Veo tool opens on Veo 3.1 Fast) and Kling v3 Standard. A few unmeasured claims (fidelity matching as "the single biggest lever on round count", feedback that "expands to fill" whatever you show, a canvas that "removes most version chaos") are now phrased as advice, and the AI disclosure item no longer generalizes about the law.
One of the quickest ways to lose money on AI creative is to show a client a finished video too early. They tend to react to the wrong layer (a color, a background detail) when the real decision was the concept two stages back, you re-render the whole thing, and the round count balloons. AI generation made producing options cheap, which quietly made this worse: when a new variation can cost less than a dollar, it's tempting to skip the cheap approval stages and just render finals. The fix is a staged approval workflow with clear gates, so the client signs off on the cheap-to-change decisions first and the expensive-to-change ones last.
This guide lays out that workflow: four approval stages from moodboard to final, what to show the client at each one, how to get the client onto the board and record each sign-off on 8frame, why showing the right thing at the right time helps control scope creep, and an approval checklist that includes the AI disclosure conversation. It's written for agencies and freelancers delivering AI creative to clients, but any team with an approver and a maker can run it.
Why staged approval beats "show them the video"
Every creative decision has a cost of change. Concept is cheap to change and gets more expensive the further you go: reworking a concept after the moodboard costs a few image generations at most; reworking it after the final is rendered means throwing away everything downstream. The point of staged approval is to get sign-off on each decision while it's still cheap to change.
The trap AI creates is that finals are so cheap to produce that skipping stages feels efficient. It isn't. If you show a polished animatic before the client has approved the concept, and they don't like the concept, you've spent generation credits and, worse, anchored them on a direction you now have to unwind. Feedback also tends to follow the fidelity you present: show a rough frame and you are more likely to get concept notes; show a finished clip and the notes can drift to grain and kerning. Staged approval matches the fidelity of what you show to the decision you actually need, which helps keep rounds bounded.
Run the whole thing on a shared creative canvas so every stage, every version, and the client's comments sit on one surface. That cuts down version chaos, because there's no exported final_v4 floating in an email. On 8frame it takes a little setup on the client side, covered next.
Getting the client onto the board
There is no public share link for an 8frame board, so settle client access before Stage 1:
- The client needs an account and an invite. The board owner invites people by email, and every invitee needs their own 8frame account. Inviting needs the owner to be on a Creator plan (collaboration up to 3 members) or an Agency plan (up to 30); a Starter plan cannot invite anyone. Viewers count toward that limit too.
- Choose the role on purpose. The Viewer role is view-only: a Viewer can look at the board but cannot leave comment boxes. A client who should comment on the board needs Editor access, which also lets them change the board. Credits are per user: any generation the client runs is charged to their own plan, not to yours.
- Record each sign-off yourself. 8frame has no approval button or status marker, and no node lock, so anyone with Editor access can still change an approved frame. Get each yes in writing (a comment box on the board or an email), and at that moment save a version of the board with a label such as "Stage 2: stills approved". Versions also save automatically, and you can restore an earlier one, so the labelled version is your record of exactly what was signed off.
- If the client won't make an account, send downloaded files instead and name each one by stage. You lose the single surface, so the stage gates matter even more.
The four approval stages
Stage 1: Moodboard (approve the direction)
What you show: references, a color and lighting direction, tone, a written line on the concept. Stills placed on the board, not motion. Cost: a handful of image generations at most (Nano Banana 2 is 11 credits an image at 1K).
What you're getting approved: the creative direction, before you've generated anything expensive. This is the cheapest gate and arguably the most important. If the client wanted "warm and premium" and your board reads "clinical and cool," you find out now, at the cost of a few reference images, not after a hero render.
Get explicit sign-off here: "Does this direction feel right before we start producing?" A yes at Stage 1 is what lets you push back later when a client tries to relitigate the whole look at the final stage.
Stage 2: Stills (approve the look)
What you show: key frames rendered in the approved direction. The hero shot, the product framing, the composition, character look if there's talent. Still images, which cost far less than video: Nano Banana 2 at 11 credits an image at 1K, or Nano Banana Pro at 21 (1K or 2K).
What you're getting approved: the actual visual execution, framing, composition, and product accuracy, while it's still a still image and therefore cheap to regenerate. Nail character consistency and product likeness here, because fixing them after animation costs far more. A client comment like "the label is wrong" should surface at Stage 2, never at final.
Stage 3: Animatic (approve the motion and timing)
What you show: a rough motion pass. The approved stills animated, the sequence, the pacing, where the cuts land. This is an animatic: motion and timing, not final polish. An image-to-video model fits this stage because the approved stills go straight in: Kling v3 Standard animates a start image, costs 57 credits for 5 silent seconds (86 with sound) and returns 720p, which is usually enough for a timing pass. To join the clips into one rough cut on the canvas, the Montage node takes 2 to 10 clips for 10 credits a run. Its merged file has no sound, which is fine for a silent timing pass; cut anything with sound, the final included, on the timeline in 8frame's Video Editor mode or in your own editor.
What you're getting approved: does the thing move and cut the way it should. Structural motion notes ("hold the product shot longer," "cut to the CTA sooner") belong here, where re-rolling a clip is cheap. You're deliberately not asking for final-quality judgment yet; if the client fixates on polish, redirect them: "this is a timing pass, we'll finish the look once the sequence is locked."
Stage 4: Final (approve for delivery)
What you show: the finished, graded deliverable in the target format and aspect ratio. Full quality. This is the only stage where you spend the premium compute: a Veo 3.1 Standard hero is 224 credits for 8 silent seconds, 448 with sound. The Veo tool opens on Veo 3.1 Fast (168 for 8 seconds with sound), so switch to Standard if that's what you priced; with an approved still as the start image, Veo always makes 8 seconds, and Veo 3.1 makes 16:9 and 9:16 only. Video on 8frame tops out at 1080p (2K on Hailuo H3 and Creatify Boreal), Kling v3 Standard returns 720p, and there is no video upscaler, so render every final shot at the resolution you deliver.
What you're getting approved: delivery. Because the concept, look, and timing are already locked from Stages 1-3, the final review should be a formality plus final polish notes, not a re-open of settled decisions. If someone tries to reopen the concept here, you have three prior sign-offs, and three labelled versions, to point to. That's the scope-creep firewall the staged workflow buys you.
How the stages control scope creep
Scope creep in creative is usually a decision reopening after it was made. Staged approval guards against it structurally: each gate has an explicit sign-off, and each sign-off is leverage. When a client at Stage 4 says "actually, can we make it feel more energetic," you can say "we locked the direction at moodboard and the pacing at the animatic; an energy change means reopening those stages, which is a new round." That's a fair, documented conversation, not a fight. Without stages, every note can feel equally valid at every moment, and the round count has no natural limit.
The other half is fidelity matching. By showing exactly enough polish to make each decision and no more, you stop inviting feedback about layers that aren't up for decision yet. It's a lever on round count that you control completely, and it needs no extra generation at all.
The approval checklist
Before you send any stage to a client, run this:
- Right fidelity for the decision. Moodboard = references, Stills = key frames, Animatic = rough motion, Final = finished. Never show more polish than the current decision needs.
- Explicit sign-off requested. Each stage ends with a clear yes/no question, not "let me know your thoughts." Ambiguous asks tend to produce ambiguous approvals.
- Sign-off recorded. When the yes comes in, save a labelled version of the board, so you can point to exactly what was approved.
- Prior approvals referenced. Remind the client what's already locked, so the review stays scoped to the current gate.
- Product and brand accuracy verified. Especially at Stills and Final: correct product, logo, colors, and no warped details. Open the original file at full size (Original in the download menu), not a thumbnail.
- AI disclosure handled. Agree with the client, explicitly, how the creative will be labeled. Don't assume a rule either way: check the current ad policy of each platform you deliver to, and get legal advice where it matters. See do you have to disclose AI-generated ads for an overview.
- Deliverable specs confirmed. Aspect ratio, duration, and platform format match the brief before final render, not after.
Worked example: a 30-second product ad
Here is how the gates play out on a typical project (an illustration priced from the 8frame tool registry, not a client case). An agency delivering a hero ad for a DTC skincare brand:
- Moodboard (day 1): a board of warm, sunlit bathroom references, the product placed on the board, a one-line concept. Client approves the direction; the agency saves a labelled version. Cost: a few image generations.
- Stills (day 2): three key frames, product hero and two lifestyle beats, in Nano Banana Pro. Client flags the jar cap color; the maker re-rolls that frame. Approved. Cost: four Nano Banana Pro images, 84 credits.
- Animatic (day 3): six silent 5-second clips animated from the approved frames in Kling v3 Standard, joined into a rough 30-second cut. Client asks to hold the product shot two beats longer. Re-cut, approved. Cost: 342 credits for the six clips, plus 10 credits per Montage run.
- Final (day 4): the hero beat re-rendered in Veo 3.1 Standard (224 credits for 8 silent seconds, at 1080p), the other beats re-rendered at the delivery resolution (the Kling v3 Standard clips are 720p), everything finished and delivered in 9:16. Client signs off with two small polish notes. Cost: premium compute only on the locked-in cut.
Four rounds, four gates, no reopened decisions, and the expensive compute spent once at the end. Compare that to showing a finished cut on day 2 and discovering the client hated the concept.
FAQ
How many approval stages does AI creative need?
Four gates are a good default for most projects: moodboard, stills, animatic, final. Each has one decision and one explicit sign-off, which is what stops earlier decisions reopening.
What does each stage cost in generation?
On 8frame: stills at 11 credits (Nano Banana 2, 1K) or 21 (Nano Banana Pro), animatic clips at 57 credits for 5 silent seconds on Kling v3 Standard (86 with sound), and the hero on Veo 3.1 Standard at 224 for 8 silent seconds (448 with sound). The premium compute is spent once, after the cut is locked.
Can a client review the work on 8frame without an account?
No. There is no public share link for a board: the client needs an 8frame account and an invite from the board owner, and inviting needs a Creator plan (up to 3 members) or an Agency plan (up to 30). Viewers count toward that limit, and the Viewer role is view-only, so a client who should leave comment boxes needs Editor access.
Does 8frame have an approval button?
No. There is no approval or status marker and no node lock. Record each sign-off in writing and save a version of the board with a label; versions also save automatically, and you can restore an earlier one.
Who pays when a client generates on the board?
The client. Credits are per user: each generation is charged to the person who runs it, on their own plan.
Should the client see the finished version early?
No. Show only the fidelity the current decision needs; polish tends to invite feedback on layers that aren't up for decision yet.
Sources
- 8frame prices: Nano Banana 2 and Nano Banana Pro (image cost function), Kling v3 Standard (calculateKlingV3Cost), Veo 3.1 Standard and Fast (calculateVeo31Cost), Montage / Merge Videos (10 credits per merge run): 8frame tool registry, origin/main, checked 2026-10-01
- Montage output has no audio track (the render worker's ffmpeg call drops audio): 8frame back end, origin/main, checked 2026-10-02
- Kling v3 Standard needs a start image; Veo 3.1 makes 16:9 and 9:16, runs 8 seconds with a start image, and the Veo tool opens on Veo 3.1 Fast; video tops out at 1080p (2K on Hailuo H3 and Creatify Boreal); no video upscaler: 8frame video strategy and front and back tool registries, origin/main, 2026-10-01; Kling v3 Standard output measured at 720p: 8frame production data, read-only, 2026-09-30
- 8frame collaboration roles (Owner, Editor, Viewer "view only"), invites by email (the invitee must already have an account), comment boxes, version history (automatic versions, an optional label when you save one, restore), no approval marker and no node lock: 8frame app strings and code, origin/main, 2026-10-01
- Collaborator limits by plan: 8frame pricing ("Collaboration up to 3 members" on Creator, "up to 30 members" on Agency) and the 8frame backend subscription limits (Starter cannot add collaborators; every collaborator on a board counts, whatever the role), origin/main, checked 2026-10-01
- Credits charged to the user who runs each generation, and board access (owner plus invited collaborators, plus published templates; no public share link): 8frame backend task and workflow code, origin/main, 2026-10-01
- Download menu with an Original option: 8frame app code, origin/main, 2026-09-30
Related reading
To structure the multiplayer side of this, see the collaborative AI canvas for teams. For the conversation that comes before the work, how to pitch an AI campaign to clients covers setting expectations up front, which makes every approval stage smoother.
Run every approval stage on one surface, from moodboard to final. Explore the 8frame canvas and workflow library to build the staged workflow your clients sign off on.
Try it without signing up: the 8frame canvas opens on a real board. The canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.