Iterate AI video by conversation — “the same, but vertical”

The first version of a clip is rarely the one you keep. The framing is wrong for where it is going, the action runs long, the engine was only ever a draft. In Ask, the bar at the top of the studio home, you do not retype the request to fix any of that. You answer it: "the same, but vertical". The thread keeps what you already said, changes the one thing you named, and Clap comes back with a new plan, priced and ready to approve (or sets up the tool page again, when that is where you work). New to Ask? Start with one sentence.

A thread, not a form

Your first message turns the studio home into a chat: your message on the right, the reply on the left, written out word by word. From then on, each message is read against the thread — what you said earlier still counts, so you describe the change, not the whole clip.

Under each reply, Clap's plan says what it will render, for example Kling 3.0 · 10 s · 9:16, with its exact credits and an Approve button that renders it right in the chat. Say "open it in Video" and a grey line says what was set up instead, with the prompt quoted under it, and an Open Video → button takes you to the tool page with everything filled in. Nothing renders or opens until you click, so you can keep refining in the chat first.

One change per message

These are the follow-ups the thread is built for. Each one changes one thing and keeps the rest.

• "The same, but vertical." The format moves to 9:16. "Square" gives 1:1; "landscape", "horizontal" or "YouTube" give 16:9; "cinema" or "ultra-wide" give 21:9, on video only.
• "Rather with Kling." The engine changes, the prompt stays. A family name means that family's standard engine — Kling means Kling 3.0, not the Pro, unless you say Pro. An engine your plan does not include never goes into a plan: Clap says which plan unlocks it, and on the page it gets its plan badge and its Unlock button.
• "Make it 5 seconds." The length changes. The plan, or the page, then snaps to what the engine renders and what your plan allows — longer clips unlock with a plan: up to 15 s on Hobby, 20 s on Creator, 30 s on Studio.
• "Now as an image." The same subject becomes a picture: an image plan, or the Image tool when you work there. Images take 1:1, 3:4, 4:3, 9:16 and 16:9.
• "Add @Mina." Mina joins the cast. She appears in renders once she has her look sheet, made under her photos in Characters; without one she is flagged "Needs a look sheet". Places and objects work the same way; styles need no sheet. More in casting by name.

You can change two things at once — "vertical, 5 seconds" sets both. One change per message is a habit, not a rule: when two versions differ by one thing, you know which change made the difference.

A session, message by message

A whole session, from rough draft to final render and a still:

You:        Make a 10 s clip on Seedance 2.0 Mini: a woman in a red coat
            walks along a rainy boulevard at night, neon reflections on
            the wet street, slow tracking shot.
Plan:       Seedance 2.0 Mini · 10 s    [Approve]

You named Seedance 2.0 Mini, the cheapest engine, and the camera move is set to tracking. You approve it, and the clip lands in the chat. The motion is right; the framing is wrong for a phone.

You:        The same, but vertical.
Plan:       Seedance 2.0 Mini · 10 s · 9:16    [Approve]

Same prompt, same ten seconds, new format. You approve again. The walk reads in half the time; the second half is filler.

You:        Make it 5 seconds.
Plan:       Seedance 2.0 Mini · 5 s · 9:16    [Approve]

Still vertical, now five seconds. The timing works — time for the engine you want for the final.

You:        Rather with Kling.
Plan:       Kling 3.0 · 5 s · 9:16    [Approve]

Only the engine changed. Kling 3.0 comes with a Hobby plan or higher; without it, this is where Clap tells you which plan unlocks it.

You:        Now as a vertical image. Open it in Image.
Grey line:  Image · 9:16    [Open Image →]

This time you asked for the tool, so the button opens the Image tool on the same woman and the same boulevard; without "open it in Image", the picture would come back as a plan like the clips. The format is said again on purpose: clips and images do not take the same set of formats, so when you change tools, name the one you want.

What carries over, and what to repeat

Each follow-up starts from the version before it: the subject and its prompt, the engine you named, the seconds, the format. That is why "rather with Kling" arrived vertical and five seconds long without you saying so again.

Two habits keep a long thread honest:

• Read the plan. It lists what will render (engine, seconds, format) and its price before you approve; the grey line does the same before you open a page. If something you asked for is missing, say it again. A follow-up costs nothing on Auto.
• Unsaid means unchanged. Ask only sets what you asked for. Anything you never mentioned stays at the engine's defaults, or as the tool page has it, in the first message as in the fifth.

When to start a New chat

New chat starts a fresh one: the button at the top of the chat list takes you back to the studio home, with the cursor in the bar. Use it when the subject changes: in the same thread, what you said earlier still counts, so a new idea would start from the last clip's engine and format. A fresh chat starts from nothing: only what you say in it is set.

Your chats are listed newest first in a column on the left of the studio home and of every chat (on a phone, behind Chats). After you open a tool from Ask, the browser's back button returns to the chat, Home in the left rail takes you back to that column, and any row in the list picks a chat up where you left it. Home stays lit on every chat, with a small orb while a reply is on its way. Chats are kept in this browser for 30 days, up to 30 of them, and are not synced across devices: the thread on your laptop is not on your phone.

You don't need to walk back to the chat for each follow-up. From the Video page, press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows), type "the same, but vertical" and pick the last row, Ask eroq: “…”. It goes to the chat in progress.

Every version is a plan, not a render

Each follow-up comes back as a new plan with the new settings, and a plan you did not approve is replaced by the newer one. Working in a tool instead, each follow-up sets up the Video tool, or whichever tool you named, again, with the new settings filled in and a button to open it. Nothing renders by itself: Approve on a plan, or Generate on the page, stays your click, with the usual credit check and plan unlock. Asking on Auto is free, so the five messages above cost nothing; the renders are what you pay for, which is why the engine you draft on matters.

What drafting on Mini saves

The session rendered three drafts on Seedance 2.0 Mini, then the final on Kling 3.0. Here it is next to the same four renders on Kling 3.0 from the first message:

Render	Drafts on Mini, final on Kling	All on Kling 3.0
1 · 10 s	150	540
2 · 10 s, vertical	150	540
3 · 5 s, vertical	75	270
4 · final	270	270
Total credits	645	1,620

Same final clip. The three drafts that told you what to change cost 375 credits on Mini instead of 1,350 on Kling. Draft where it is cheap; change engines once the framing and the length are settled. How Ask picks the engine, length and format covers the settings side; batching takes and pricing cover the rest of the arithmetic.

FAQ

Does Ask remember what I said earlier in the chat?

Yes, within a chat. Follow-ups like "the same, but vertical" or "rather with Kling" build on the messages before them. Every chat stays in the chat list for 30 days, so you can pick one up later. New chat starts a fresh one, and chats are kept in this browser, not synced across devices.

Do follow-up messages cost credits?

No. Asking on Auto is free, however many follow-ups you send. Credits are spent only on renders: when you approve a plan, or click Generate on a tool page, after the usual credit check.

How do I switch engines without retyping the prompt?

Name the engine in a follow-up: "rather with Kling", "on Veo 3.1". The prompt, the length and the format stay. A family name picks one engine — Kling means Kling 3.0, Veo means Veo 3.1, Seedance means Seedance 2.0 Mini — and Pro, Fast, Lite or Max pick those variants: "Kling 3.0 Pro" comes with a Creator plan or higher.

Can I turn a video request into an image in the same chat?

Yes. "Now as an image" gives you the same subject as a picture: an image plan to approve, or the Image tool set up when you ask for it. Name the format again when you switch: images take 1:1, 3:4, 4:3, 9:16 and 16:9, and 21:9 is for video only.

Why doesn't my follow-up open the page by itself?

So you stay in the conversation: you can send the next change without leaving the chat, and approve a plan right there. When you work in the tool, click Open Video → when the grey line looks right; the page opens with everything filled in, and a locked engine opens with its Unlock button.

Open the studio, ask for a rough first draft, then tell it what to change.