Serial format: the shape of the deliverable

This column records the shape of the thing that ships: frame, resolution and pacing as the vendor states them. Six entries name vertical 9:16 as the output, two expose the frame as a control, one states three frames with a 4K ceiling, one a widescreen default, and two give a length with no frame. As of 2026-09-22.

Inclusion rule. Only tools whose own pages say something about the frame, the resolution or the pacing of a finished episode. A tool silent on all three keeps its entry elsewhere and is left out here. Order. Alphabetical by tool name.

1The frame is decided before the first shot and rarely written down

A phone-first serial is composed for a tall frame: faces fill it, two-shots barely fit, and a wide establishing shot is wasted. That decision governs blocking, lens choice and how much of a set ever gets built, so it belongs at the top of a production rather than in an export dialog. Thirteen pages state something about the shape, and six of those name the vertical frame outright. The rest leave a buyer to infer the frame from the sample reel.

The inference is not safe. A page can show vertical samples and generate in whatever ratio the underlying model defaults to, and the difference only becomes visible once a season is underway. Recording the statement rather than the sample is the whole reason this field is kept apart from the three production steps.

2Resolution, pacing and the control panel are three separate answers

The cells here are not interchangeable even though they share a column. One names a frame and two resolutions, which is a specification. One names a frame for every export, which is a guarantee about the product rather than about a project. Two hand the aspect ratio to the buyer as a control, which answers the question by declining to. One states a default and an alternative and then says something about pacing, which is a claim about the writing rather than the container. One offers three frames, a ceiling in 4K and a range in seconds, which is the whole question answered in a sentence. Two give a length and no frame, which answers the cheaper half.

Pacing sits in this field rather than in the script column on purpose. Whether an outline is written toward a cliffhanger shapes the object that ships in the same way the frame does: it is a property of the deliverable, visible in the last eight seconds of every episode, and it is settled long before any shot is generated.

3What a stated shape leaves out

No page read for this file states a frame rate, a bitrate or a loudness target, and a serialised app will have opinions about all three. Captions are mentioned twice and their format never. A stated 9:16 export tells a buyer the picture will be the right shape and nothing about whether it will be accepted by the platform it was made for.

Nor does any page say what changing the shape costs once episodes exist. Reframing a finished run for a second platform is either a re-render or a crop, and those differ by an order of magnitude in both money and time. The column records the shape a vendor commits to today, not the price of changing its mind.

4What the vendors say, in their own words

• Serial format
  Vertical 9:16 is described as usually the best format for short drama platformsa recommendationTopview, drama studio page / recorded 2026-09-16
• Serial format
  The stated output is a captioned 9:16 episode at 720P or 1080Pwith stated resolutionsdrama.so, drama generator page / recorded 2026-09-16
• Serial format
  Every episode is stated to export vertical at 9:16stated for every exportAnijam, drama generator page / recorded 2026-09-16
• Serial format
  The generator exposes an episode count, an aspect ratio and a language as inputsas a controlAI Drama Generator, home page / recorded 2026-09-16
• Serial format
  Episodes default to 16:9 with 9:16 available, and outlines are generated with cliffhanger pacingstated as the defaultSceneMixer, generator overview / recorded 2026-09-19
• Serial format
  Delivery is stated natively in 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1, up to 4K, and anywhere from 5 to 120 secondsthree frames with a length rangePexo, micro drama page / recorded 2026-09-22
• Serial format
  Clips are stated to generate in vertical 9:16 by defaultstated as the defaultAI Dramas, home page / recorded 2026-09-22
• Assembling an episode
  The export target is stated as a 9:16 vertical cut with captions and AI voiceoveran export target with a frameTrendShort, home page / recorded 2026-09-22
• Serial format
  Export is stated as 1080p HD on the product page and as 9:16 vertical at the highest resolution the target platform supports on the blogtwo statements in two placesGenra, home page / recorded 2026-09-22
• Serial format
  Aspect ratio, number of outputs, model and generation length are listed as the video preferences selected before generatingexposed as a preferenceGoogle Flow, help centre / recorded 2026-09-22
• Serial format
  Extending video duration and reframing aspect ratios are listed among the operations available on the boardchanged by an operation rather than set onceLuma Agents, product page / recorded 2026-09-22
• Serial format
  Short dramas are stated to range from under a minute to several minutes longa length without a frameNovi AI, drama generator page / recorded 2026-09-22
• Serial format
  Video length is given only as an estimate that rises with the subscription tier, from about one to two minutes to about eighta length tied to a planPopShort AI, home page / recorded 2026-09-22

5Every entry on this column, one at a time

The table above reads across. These read down: one vendor, this column, the sentence and the gap in it.

• AI Drama Generator on the shape — The generator exposes an episode count, an aspect ratio and a language as inputs, which answers the question by handing it to the user.
• AI Dramas on the shape — Clips are stated to generate in vertical 9:16 by default and to run four to fifteen seconds each, which puts a frame and a duration together.
• Anijam on the shape — Every episode is stated to export vertical at 9:16, which is a property of the product rather than a setting a project can change.
• DramaSo on the shape — The output is given as a captioned vertical episode at 720P or 1080P, the one cell here pairing a frame with two named resolutions.
• Genra on the shape — Export is 1080p HD on the product page and vertical at the platform's highest resolution on the blog, which is two answers in two venues.
• Google Flow on the shape — Aspect ratio, output count, model and generation length are listed as preferences chosen before generating, which puts the shape at clip scale.
• Luma Agents on the shape — Extending a video's duration and reframing its aspect ratio are listed among the operations available, which changes the shape rather than setting it.
• Novi AI on the shape — Short dramas are stated to run from under a minute to several minutes, with nothing anywhere on the page about the frame they are delivered in.
• Pexo on the shape — Widescreen, vertical and square are all stated as native deliveries, up to 4K, with a length range from five seconds to two minutes.
• PopShort AI on the shape — Video length is given only as an estimate that rises with the subscription tier, from about one or two minutes to about eight.
• SceneMixer on the shape — Episodes default to widescreen with vertical available, and outlines are stated to be written with cliffhanger pacing, which is a claim about the writing.
• Topview on the shape — Vertical is called the format usually suited to short-drama platforms, which tells a reader what the vendor thinks, not what the software does.
• TrendShort on the shape — The export target is a vertical cut with captions and AI voiceover, which states a shape and bundles two audio and text decisions into it.

6Sources

Every cell traces back to a vendor page named on the register and read 2026-09-16, 2026-09-19 and 2026-09-22; where the line sits between documented, claimed and absent is set out under how read. The other fields: cross-episode cast, script to episodes, assembling an episode. All four are listed on the fields page.