OpenMontage Studio: frequently asked questions

OpenMontage Studio is an agentic video production studio: the whole film studio in one conversation. You describe what you want, and the same AI agent researches it, writes it, records or generates it, edits it and delivers the finished film, across video, images, audio, animation and 3D.

A video generator makes single clips. Studio makes complete productions: research, script, voice, music, footage, editing, captions and delivery, all in one workspace. It replaces the mix of avatar tool, video generator, editor, motion-graphics tool and screen recorder that people otherwise piece together.

Explainers from documents, product demos from app recordings, Shorts and Reels cut from long recordings, marketing and training videos, 3D product turntables, translated versions of existing videos, and standalone music or narration. See the facts page for the full list of what it can do.

No. Studio is a new desktop product from the team behind OpenMontage, the open-source agentic video project on GitHub. The open-source project is a separate toolkit for developers; Studio needs no developer setup.

Studio is in private alpha. Beta access goes to people on the waitlist first, in small groups.

The private alpha runs on Windows. Other platforms will be announced.

No. Studio is a desktop app. It sets up the tools it needs, with your permission.

Claude Code or Codex, running inside Studio. You sign in with your own Claude or ChatGPT account, or use an API key. You can also connect an agent you already use. See the guides for Claude Code and Codex.

There is no separate plugin or skill to install. You connect your agent from inside Studio:

1. Make sure Studio is up to date: open the Help menu and choose Check for Updates.
2. Open the File menu and choose Use my own agent.
3. Under Which AI do you use?, pick yours: Claude, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT (including Codex), Cursor or Google Antigravity. If yours is not listed, choose None of these.
4. Follow the steps shown. For Claude Code, click Copy command, paste it into your Claude Code chat or a terminal, and follow its instructions. Other agents get a link to open or a message to paste.
5. Once connected, ask your agent: “Set me up with OpenMontage Studio.” It walks you through the rest.

Your agent then plans and makes your videos with Studio on your computer, and your keys stay in Studio. If you hit a problem, let us know.

You need an account or API key that can run Claude Code or Codex. That provider's own plan limits and charges apply to the agent's work; Studio does not resell the agent.

You must be 18 or older. Studio is offered in most countries; the EU, EEA, UK and Turkey are coming later, and sanctioned regions are excluded. The terms list where it is available.

Yes. The agent shows the production plan before expensive generation, and you can direct every scene, line and cut afterwards. Each production has a budget you set, and the agent works within it.

Yes. Studio can start from a video you like as a reference, a link, documents and PDFs, screen recordings, or long recordings you want cut into clips. It can also find clips in your own footage by what is in the picture.

Yes. You can edit by editing the transcript: delete a sentence and the matching video and audio go with it. Studio removes filler words, repeated takes and dead air, supports undo and redo, and never overwrites your original.

Narration in more than 40 languages, including a free offline voice. Captions can be burned in offline, including Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Yes. Studio works with local tools such as an offline voice, local transcription, your own Blender and your own ComfyUI. You can also use your own provider accounts or OpenMontage credits. Which inputs and outputs are available depends on what you connect.

Two things cost money in a production. The agent's thinking and writing uses tokens on your own Claude or ChatGPT account, under that provider's plan limits. Generated media such as images, video clips, voices and music uses OpenMontage credits or your own provider accounts. Free local tools, such as the offline voice, local transcription and your own Blender or ComfyUI, use neither credits nor provider charges.

Most waste comes from the agent guessing and then redoing work. Give it what it needs up front, and fix the direction while changes are still cheap:

1. Put the whole brief in your first message: who the video is for, where it will be posted, how long it should be, the tone, the facts it must include and anything to avoid.
2. Add references: a video you like, images, documents or links. Showing beats describing.
3. Use Standard mode. The agent asks its creative questions first and shows you the storyboard before it makes paid AI video, so you can fix the direction on still pictures. Autopilot does not stop to ask.
4. Ask for small changes, not do-overs. Use Revise shot or Revise scene with a specific note, such as “warmer light and a slower push-in”, instead of asking for the whole film again.
5. Keep working in the same production instead of starting over, so the agent keeps what it already knows and has made.
6. Use free local tools where they are good enough, such as the offline voice for drafts.

Set a budget when you start a production; you can change it at any time. The agent generates freely within it without asking about each item, and it never goes over. When the next step would not fit, it pauses and asks whether to raise the budget, keeping everything already made. Credits for a failed generation with no usable result are returned; regenerations you ask for are charged.

We are currently offering free 90-day access to people who have joined the waitlist. We will publish more details on pricing soon.

Your studio runs locally. You decide what goes to the cloud: material is sent to a provider only when you choose one that needs it.

On your computer. Your projects and finished files stay yours whether or not you have a membership. Keep your own backups.

You do. You own your inputs and outputs, and you can use them commercially. When you use a provider's service, that provider's terms also apply.

Yes, for tracks marked as free to use. You can use and edit them in productions you make with Studio, including commercial ones, but not sell or distribute the tracks on their own. Other tracks are for inspiration only.

Email hello@openmontage.video or info@openmontage.video.