Introduction

Runway Agent is an AI creative partner that works with you to produce complete, multi-shot videos through conversation. You describe what you want to make, develop the outline together, and the agent handles scene planning, shot generation, voiceover, dialogue, music, and assembly. 

A built-in timeline editor lets you cut, reorder, and upload additional assets after generation.

This article walks through the basics of generating your first video with Agent. See the Spec details section for more details on outputs and credit costs.

Step 1 – Accessing Agent

Agent lives in the main left sidebar of your Runway workspace alongside other tools as a creation mode.

1. Sign in to your Runway account
2. In the left sidebar, click Agent

You'll land on the Agent prompt screen, where you'll describe your video and configure its settings.

Step 2 – Prompting for the video

The prompt sets the creative foundation of what Agent generates. 

1. Click into the Describe your video… field at the top of the panel
2. Enter a description of the video you want to create
   • Include the subject, setting, key actions, and any narrative arc you have in mind

Think of your prompt as a simple description of your concept. Agent will break your idea into multiple shots, so context like location, video style, and story progression all help. A single, simple sentence works well in most cases, but you can add more detail as needed.

Step 3 – Configuring the settings

Settings control the technical output of your video. Each can be adjusted from the Settings section, and you can make final adjustments after the outline is complete.

• Aspect ratio — Choose the frame shape (e.g. 16:9) based on where the video will be used.
• Duration — Choose between 15s or 30s durations. Longer durations cost more credits.
• Resolution — Choose a 720p or 1080p output resolution.
• Audio — Choose an audio mode to control how sound is generated.

Credit costs scale with the selected duration, resolution, and other settings or generations created while iterating. Review the Spec details section for more details.

If you're testing a concept and want to save credits, start with a shorter duration and lower quality before committing to higher cost settings.

Step 4 – Creating and reviewing your outline

Once your prompt, assets, tone, and settings are set, Agent will generate an outline — the shot-by-shot plan it uses to build the final video.

1. Click Create my outline in the bottom-right of the panel.
2. Review the generated outline. 

This is your chance to confirm satisfaction with the plan Agent created before producing shots. We recommend reviewing this before starting the generation process.

If changes are needed before starting the generation, you can provide feedback directly through the chat for automated updates or manually update the summary, visual references, story beats, and settings by clicking or interacting with the settings.

Step 5 – Generating and touching up the video

After you approve the outline, Agent generates each shot, edits them together, and adds sound. 

When the video is complete, you can cut, reorganize, and upload additional assets using the timeline editor:

Split

Split separates media files into two. To use Split to separate a single media clip:

1. Click the media you want to split in the timeline editor
2. Move the scrubber to the location to split
3. Click Split

Selecting a media clip (which adds the white outline) will split only that file. To split all tracks at a point, make sure no single media clip is selected.

If larger changes are needed to the overall story or generations, you can revert to Outline mode to further iterate on the story beats and reference images.

Examples

Visual reference	Prompt	Mood	Output
	we follow the kite as it escapes a child's hand and floats across universes	Clean
	claymation style product ad featuring two crabs fighting over a can of fizz. one of the crabs says "don't be so shellfish"	Fun
	both characters wear 1980s dance team attire (sequins, bold colors) and sit in the front row of theatre seats near an empty stage. they talk about his lack of commitment to the dance team.	Dramatic

Next Steps

You now know how to generate a multi-shot video with Agent — from prompt to finished cut. From here, you might want to use:

• The Upscale Video app to upscale to 4K quality

Spec details

This section outlines the available settings, output formats, and includes a table for credit cost estimation.

Setting & output details

Credit details