Opportunities › Previz and preproduction planning for video creators › Proposed app
Shotbench
Block scenes, plan camera moves and send shot plans to AI video models, in your browser
- Score
- 44
- confidence 45
- Evidence
- 3
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 2
- named in sources
- First version
- 45 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 1998
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: Directors and cinematographers block scenes, plan camera moves, and export previs in focused design sessions that need screen real estate and precision. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Scene 12: Warehouse
Draft6 shots
About this appAI proposal
Shotbench is a browser-based previs tool for directors, cinematographers and small studios. Block a scene with simple figures and props, pose characters, draw camera paths and set the cuts between shots. Nothing to install, and no 3D software training needed.
When the plan looks right, export each shot as a frame, a camera path and a written scene brief, ready to feed an AI video model or to hand to a live-action crew. The plan stays the source of truth, so you can change a lens or a move and re-export.
It is built for planning, not full animation. Where desktop previs software asks for a license and a steep learning curve, Shotbench opens from a link, so a director can share a shot list with a producer who has no 3D skills.
- Tagline
- Plan the shot before you shoot or generate it.
- Voice
- PracticalCalmDirect
- Why this name
- A bench is where work is laid out and tried. Shot plus bench says: set up your shots here, then take them to camera or model.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Scene blocking
Place figures, props and set pieces on a stage, snap to a grid and set scale so the blocking reads clearly.
No member yet
Pose library
Pose mannequin characters from presets or by dragging joints. Save poses and reuse them across shots.
No member yet
Camera path editor
Set lens, height and keyframed moves such as push-ins, pans and orbits, and preview them live.
No member yet
Cut sequencer
Line shots up on a timeline, set durations and cut points, and play the whole sequence as an animatic.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#1F2A33Slate Ink · primary#F6F3ECPaper · surface#20262BCharcoal · text#E8672ASignal Orange · accent#2F8F8BLens Teal · data
Typography
Aa
Shotbench
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Plan the shot before you shoot or generate it.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices. These tiers are a starting point to test against the cost of desktop previs tools, which the material calls expensive.
Free
Free
- 1 project
- Up to 5 shots
- Review links
- Watermarked exports
Creator
$19 a month
- Unlimited projects
- AI video exports
- Animatic playback
- Shot list export
Studio
$79 a month
- 5 seats
- Shared asset library
- Comment threads
- Priority support
Would you pay Creator · $19 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Shared outputs. Directors send review links and shot-list PDFs to producers, clients and crew. Each shows the plan and carries a small Shotbench mark, and viewers can comment without an account.
- Do they become customers?
- Reviewers are often producers or other directors who could buy, but many only view. Test how many review-link viewers start their own project, and how many then upgrade.
- First customers
- Independent directors and small commercial or music-video production teams of 2 to 10 people who are already trying AI video generation for parts of their work.
- Where to reach them
- Filmmaker communities: Share short demos of a plan-to-AI-shot workflow in AI filmmaking forums and Discords, and ask for projects.
- GitHub and open-source circles: Reach people following browser previs projects and offer a hosted, supported option.
- Short-form video: Post before-and-after clips: the previs on one side, the generated shot on the other.
- First milestone
- Ten paying Creator users from small production teams, each exporting at least three shots to an AI video model within a month.
Why people already pay for this
- VerifiedGitHub repository gained 771 stars in 75 days
- Public claimCozyClay is open source previs software in the browser that lets creators block scenes, pose characters, author camera moves and cuts, then feed those shots to an AI video model
- Public claimThe tool integrates previs workflow directly with AI video generation, bridging planning and production
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · 3D renderingThree.js with a WebGL scene editorStage, mannequins and camera paths render in the browser with no install.
- This app · Asset storageObject storage with CDNHolds mannequin rigs, props and exported frames and files.
RisksAI inference
- TechnicalBrowser 3D posing and camera editing must feel smooth on modest laptops. A rig that is hard to pose would lose users to simple storyboards.
- AIAI video models may follow camera paths and poses only loosely, so exported plans may not match the previs. Promise a guide, not exact control.
- PlatformThe product depends on third-party model input formats and terms, which can change or limit how plans are submitted.
- CommercialAn open-source browser previs project already exists with public traction. Free alternatives may cap what people will pay.
- Intellectual propertyUsers may upload props, characters or reference frames they do not own. Terms and takedown handling are needed.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.