Generate a Video
Add a Video generation card to your canvas, describe the shot, and Gavana makes the video on that same card.
Before you start
- Open a canvas you can edit. People with view-only access don’t see the generation controls.
- Video models run on an OpenRouter API key: your own, or one your workspace shares with you. In the model list, a model marked Add key still needs one. Choosing it, or Manage AI connections at the bottom of the list, opens your AI connections so you can add the key.
- Every Generate video and Regenerate video sends a real request to the video provider, paid for by the OpenRouter key that runs it.
The whole flow
Watch it once from an empty canvas to a finished video, or click a step under the replay to jump to it.
5 stepsFrom an empty card to a finished video
Add a Video generation card
In the toolbar at the bottom of the canvas, click Add (the white + button). Under Add to canvas, choose Generate video. A card titled Video generation appears, with Ready beside the title.
You can also right-click an empty spot on the canvas and choose Generate video there.
Describe the video
The empty card reads Describe what you want to create… Click it and write what should happen in the shot: the subject, how it moves, the camera and the light.
Set the first and last frame
Frames are optional. To start and end the video on pictures that are already on your canvas:
- Hover the first picture until a small dot appears on its right edge, then drag from the dot onto the card. The picture arrives as a reference.
- Drag the second picture onto the card the same way.
- Above the model, click First → last frame.
Start and End fill in the order you connected the pictures. To switch them, click Swap start and end frames (the two arrows between them). End is optional: with one picture, the video starts on it.
Choose the model and options
Click the model name to open the list of video models, then pick one. Under each name, a short line sums up what the model takes: Text if it works from a prompt alone, Refs with the number of reference pictures, Frames, its durations, its highest resolution and Audio.
Next to the model are the options it takes. Click one to open its list.
| Option | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | The shape of the video, such as 16:9 or 9:16 |
| Duration | The length of the clip in seconds |
| Resolution | How detailed the video is, such as 720p or 1080p |
| Audio | The speaker button turns sound on or off |
Each list shows only what the selected model takes, so the options change when you switch models, and an option the model doesn’t take isn’t shown. Each one always shows the value that will be sent.
Generate
Click the round arrow button (Generate video), or press Cmd + Enter (Ctrl + Enter on Windows) in the prompt. Enter on its own starts a new line.
While the video is being made, the title reads Generating and the round button turns into Stop video generation (a square). When it’s done, the video plays on the same node.
More you can do
Use pictures as references
A picture you connect to the card is a reference until you choose First → last frame. With References selected, every connected picture is sent to the model as a reference, and a count beside them shows how many the model takes, such as 2 / 3 refs.
- Connect more than the model takes and the extra pictures are dimmed. Generate video stays off until you remove some or pick another model.
- References and frames never go together. In First → last frame, pictures that aren’t used as frames stay on the card, dimmed, with a note such as 1 picture not used as a frame.
- To take a picture off the card, hover its thumbnail and click the small ×.
Use another video as a reference
A finished video on your canvas can be a reference for a new one, for example to keep the same character, motion or camera move.
- Hover the finished video until a small dot appears on its right edge, then drag from the dot onto the Video generation card. To start a new card from it, drop on an empty spot instead and choose Generate video.
- The video appears at the front of the card’s references, with a play mark and its length, such as 5s. Hover it to see Video reference · 5s.
- Write the prompt and click Generate video.
A video can only be connected to another video card. Dragging it onto a picture, a list or a note shows A video can only be a reference of another video card.
Only some models take a reference video, each with its own limits:
| Model | Reference videos | Length of each | All together |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5 | Up to 10 | 2–30 s | 30 s |
| Seedance 2.0, 2.0 Fast, 2.0 Mini | Up to 3 | 2–15 s | 15 s |
| Wan 3.0, Wan 3.0 Prime | Up to 5 | 1–15 s | 15 s, and 30 s with the new video |
| Hailuo 3, Hailuo 3 Max | Up to 3 | 2–15 s | 15 s |
| Kling O1 | 1, with at most 4 reference pictures beside it | 3–10 s | 10 s |
| Kling 4.0 Omni | Up to 5 | 3–30 s | 30 s |
| Gemini Omni Flash 1.2 | Up to 3 (1 for a video longer than 10 s) | Up to 3 s | 9 s |
- Reference videos run on Gavana credits, and only while the model runs on its own provider. A model Gavana is running through OpenRouter at the moment is marked like the others.
- While a video is connected, every other model in the list is marked No video reference. You can still pick one, but Generate video stays off and the card says why. Remove the video and the mark goes away.
- Reference videos work in References only. In First → last frame the video is dimmed and the card asks you to switch to References or remove the video.
- A clip that is too long, too short, or one too many is named in the note on the card, with the model’s limit.
- The price on Generate video counts the reference videos too: the seconds of the new video plus the seconds of every reference video, added up and rounded up to the next second.
- Gavana reads each clip’s length before the run. If it can’t, the note says Couldn’t read the length of the clip, with Try again.
When a model can’t do something
Not every model takes pictures, references or frames. A choice the model can’t use is greyed out: hover it to see why, such as “doesn’t take reference images”.
When something stops the run, a yellow note on the card says what, and Generate video stays off until it’s fixed. For example:
- First → last frame needs a start picture. Swap the end picture to Start, or connect another picture.
- Loading this model’s limits. Wait a moment: Generate video turns on once they arrive. If they can’t be loaded, click Retry in the note.
Stop a generation
Click Stop video generation (the round button with a square) on the card. Gavana asks Stop generation?
- Stop cancels the run. Jobs still waiting in the queue are removed before they reach the provider.
- Keep generating closes the question and lets the video finish.
StopCancel a video that is still generating
A request that already reached the provider may still finish and count toward your usage, even after you stop it.
Make the next version
Click a finished video to select it. An editor opens under it with the last prompt, the pictures it used and the same options. Change the words or the options, then click Regenerate video (the circular arrows) or press Cmd + Enter. The editor has no model list, so the new version uses the same model.
Next versionRegenerate a finished video with new words
Once a video has been regenerated, the editor also shows Output history (the clock button), which lists its earlier versions.
If a generation fails
The title turns red and reads Failed, and the card shows the provider’s message or Could not generate this video. Try again. The round button becomes Regenerate video: change anything you want, then click it to try again. Retrying is always your choice: a failed run never starts a second paid request on its own.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Cmd / Ctrl + Enter | Video prompt | Generates the video, or regenerates a finished one |
| Enter | Video prompt | Starts a new line |
| Esc | An open option list | Closes the list |