Launch videos from your release notes

Most teams I talk to ship faster than they can show what they shipped. The release note goes out, maybe a screenshot, and the feature that took three weeks gets one line in a changelog. I wanted a launch video to be something an agent can produce on the same afternoon the code merges, so this is the first workflow we built Second Studio around.

Here is the walkthrough, using a made up feature: a new CSV export button on a reporting page.

Step 1: record the real feature

A launch video should show the actual product, not a generated imitation of it. So the first call films the live page from a list of plain steps.

POST /v1/recordings
{
  "url": "https://app.example.com/reports",
  "viewport": "desktop",
  "steps": [
    { "type": "hold", "seconds": 2, "mark": "reports" },
    { "type": "click", "selector": "text=Export" },
    { "type": "click", "selector": "text=CSV" },
    { "type": "wait_for", "selector": ".toast" },
    { "type": "hold", "seconds": 3, "mark": "done" }
  ]
}

What comes back is a video with a visible cursor, human speed clicks and smooth scrolling. If the UI changes next week, you change a selector and record again. That costs 3 credits.

Step 2: write the script, then read it

Next I send a short brief and our brand kit and ask for a script only.

POST /v1/scripts
{
  "brandId": "<your brand kit>",
  "brief": "30 second launch video for CSV export on the reports page. Audience: ops leads who copy tables into spreadsheets by hand today. Show the recording as the main scene. End with: available today on all plans.",
  "duration": 30,
  "aspect": "16:9"
}

The script comes back as scenes: a title, the recording as an image or video scene, a short how it works list and a closing call to action. This is where a person or the agent should spend attention. Changing a line in a script is free. Changing it after a render is a new render. The script costs 2 credits.

Step 3: render

POST /v1/explainers
{ "brandId": "<your brand kit>", "script": { "title": "CSV export", "scenes": ["..."] }, "aspect": "16:9", "captions": true }

The render adds narration, captions timed to each spoken word, music and motion, and the file is checked for black frames, frozen picture and silent gaps before it comes back. A video under a minute is 12 credits, narration included.

Step 4: draft the post

POST /v1/posts
{ "assetId": "<the render>", "caption": "CSV export is live on every plan.", "targets": [{ "platform": "linkedin", "accountId": "<account>" }], "scheduledFor": "2026-11-04T10:00:00-05:00" }

Drafts wait for a person with the admin key to approve them. An agent can prepare the post, but it cannot publish on its own. Drafting is 1 credit.

What it costs

On the $10 starter pack of 100 credits, that is about $1.80 per launch video. A vertical cut for short form is another render from the same script.

If you want to try this on your next release, get started and tell us what you are shipping.

launch videos product recordings explainers api