Format, length, tone and hook angle

Everything on the New video page shapes the script the AI writes next. This guide picks each setting for a food history video about fast food logos, and follows it through to the outline, so you can see where each choice ends up.

Before you start

• An AI model in Settings > AI model. It does the research and writes the outline.

• A channel with a channel brief, if you have one. The brief sets the style for the whole script.

• Optional: a saved keyword. This guide starts from one saved in Find your next topic.

1. Start from a saved keyword

1. Open Research > Keywords and click the Saved tab.

2. Click Start a video (the film clapper) on the keyword you want. Here: fast food chains logo history, which scored 85.

The Saved tab. The clapper on the right starts a video.

New video opens with the keyword in the topic box. You can also open it from New project and type a topic. Generate writes the script for you; Paste script and Upload voiceover are for when you already have one.

New video, with the keyword already in the topic box.

2. Format and length

Landscape (16:9) is a regular YouTube video with the full pipeline. Shorts (9:16) is a vertical video of up to 3 minutes for Shorts, TikTok and Reels, with motion graphics off.

The length choices follow the format. Shorts run from Micro (about 30 seconds) to Max (about 3 minutes).

Shorts: Micro, Standard, Long and Max.

Landscape runs from Short to Deep dive. The labels come from scripts we measured, read at a normal narration pace. The final length still depends on the script you approve.

Landscape: Short, Standard, Long and Deep dive.

Length	Landscape label	What we measured (Documentary tone)
Short	~1-2 min	About 150 to 300 words.
Standard	~5-6 min	921 words, about 5.7 minutes read aloud.
Long	~12 min	1,957 words, about 12 minutes.
Deep dive	~20 min	3,233 words, about 20 minutes.

3. Start from a template (optional)

A template sets the length, the tone and a hook angle for a common kind of video, in one click. Your topic stays exactly as you typed it. Clear removes the selection but keeps the values it filled in, so change those by hand if you need to.

Template	Length	Tone	What it's for
List video	Standard	Punchy	A ranked countdown with a payoff.
News breakdown	Standard	Investigative	A recent event, with the context around it.
Deep dive	Deep dive	Documentary	A long documentary treatment.
Explainer	Standard	Explainer	How something actually works.
Tutorial	Standard	Explainer	Step by step, with the result first.
Commentary	Standard	Casual	A clear opinion, argued with facts.

Here we picked Explainer. It set the length to Standard, the tone to Explainer, and filled in a hook angle: open on what most people believe about the topic that turns out to be wrong. You can keep it, edit it, or write your own.

The Explainer template: Standard, Explainer tone and a hook angle.

4. Pick a tone

Each tone comes with its own writing rules, and the writer is reminded of them in every section, so the six read differently. We tried all six on the same section of this video:

Tone	How it writes	In our test on one section
Documentary	Serious, third person.	14 words a sentence, never says "you".
Investigative	Follows the evidence in order and names where a fact comes from.	Lines like "Records show..."
Explainer	Patient, talks to the viewer.	Says "you" 4 times: "You stand at the golden arches..."
Punchy	Short, fast sentences.	9 words a sentence on average.
Cinematic	Vivid scenes, in the present tense.	"The Golden Arches rise above the street in 1962."
Casual	Like talking to a friend.	Says "you" 4 times: "You might think..."

For a history channel we chose Documentary.

Six tones. Documentary is selected.

5. Write the hook angle

The hook angle is one sentence on how the video should open. Leave it blank and the AI chooses.

1. Type it in Hook angle. We wrote: Open on the Golden Arches, then reveal that McDonald's first mascot was a hamburger-headed chef called Speedee.

2. Check the Channel. Its channel brief sets the style for the whole script.

3. Click Generate script.

Our hook angle, ready to generate.

The hook angle shapes the first section only. The facts still come from the research, so keep it to one idea you know is true. If the research doesn't support it, the opening may not follow it closely.

Research and outline

VidNexus researches the topic first, then plans the outline. For this video it read 6 sources and kept 30 facts; research and outline took about 3 minutes on a local AI model.

Research done: 30 facts from 6 sources. Now planning the outline.

When the outline is ready, Written as shows the format, length and tone it was planned with. Below it is the hook angle. To change it, edit it, click Save, then Regenerate outline to apply it to section 1.

The outline. Section 1, The Hamburger Headed Chef, is the hook.

Open the angle of section 1 to see how it uses your hook. The other sections move on to the rest of the story.

Section 1's angle is built on our hook: Speedee and the Golden Arches.

Next: Outline and script review, where you edit this outline and write the full script.

Tips

• Pick the format first. The length choices change with it.

• Use a template as a starting point, then change any setting. Nothing is locked.

• Write the hook angle as an instruction for the opening, not a summary of the video.

• Choose the tone for the channel, not the topic, so your videos sound alike.

Troubleshooting

The opening ignores my hook angle. The research may not support it. Check the Sources line on the outline, edit the hook angle, Save, and Regenerate outline.

The video is shorter or longer than the label. The label is an estimate from measured scripts. The script you approve decides the final length.

Explainer or Casual doesn't talk to the viewer. Check Written as on the outline. If it shows another tone, go back to New video and pick the tone you want before generating.