> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.seriesmith.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Continuity

> Tutorial 10: shots that carry straight on from the one before, from its last frame (continuous: first) or its held latent (continuous: latent), side by side.

> **[Watch tutorial 10 on YouTube](https://youtu.be/wIXhVCQGUhM)**
>
> Continuity: two shots that carry on as one.

Usually every shot starts fresh: people re-pose, the light shifts, the camera resets. For a
shot that carries straight on from the one before (the same moment, the camera still
running), one line says so:

| Line | What it does |
| - | - |
| `continuous: first` | The shot opens on the last frame of the shot before. The picture carries over; the movement and sound start again |
| `continuous: latent` | The end of the shot before is held at the start of this one, and the model carries on from it: picture, motion and sound (H3 Ref2VA and FastH3 Omni) |

"The shot before" is the one before it **in the cut**: move a shot on the timeline and it
continues from its new neighbour.

## 1. Set up an episode to compare them

This makes *Dean's Lullaby*: the same two moments twice, joined one way in sq01 and the other
in sq02.

**1. A new episode**

**Project folders** → the Dean show's folder → **New episode…** (`ep02`). It gets its own
copy of the series config and shares the show's `refs` folder.

**2. Paste the script**

Open the **Script** window and replace what's there:

```
= ep02  Dean's Lullaby

# sq01  window_seat

## sh010
who: dean
size: medium
dur: 4
Dean sits on the window seat humming a lullaby and slowly lifts the glowing star nightlight up toward the round window.
camera: holds a static shot
sound: a small boy softly humming a lullaby, a quiet night room

## sh020
who: dean
size: medium
dur: 4
continuous: first
Dean keeps humming and holds the star nightlight against the glass, its warm glow spreading across the window.
camera: holds a static shot
sound: a small boy softly humming a lullaby, a quiet night room

# sq02  window_seat

## sh030
who: dean
size: medium
dur: 4
Dean sits on the window seat humming a lullaby and slowly lifts the glowing star nightlight up toward the round window.
camera: holds a static shot
sound: a small boy softly humming a lullaby, a quiet night room

## sh040
who: dean
size: medium
dur: 4
continuous: latent
Dean keeps humming and holds the star nightlight against the glass, its warm glow spreading across the window.
camera: holds a static shot
sound: a small boy softly humming a lullaby, a quiet night room
```

**Save**, then **Build**.

## 2. continuous: first

**1. Generate missing**

Press **Generate missing**. A continuing shot waits for the shot before it: in **Jobs**,
sh020 says it's waiting for sh010, and starts from sh010's new take once it's in.

**2. Where it renders**

sh020 opens on sh010's last frame. FastH3 Omni and H3 Ref2VA don't read a first frame, so
seriesmith renders sh020 on **H3 FL2VA** by itself. (Any model that reads a first frame
can do `first`, hosted ones included.)

**3. Play sq01**

Right-click sh010 → **Play from here**. The picture carries over the cut; the movement
and the humming start again.

## 3. continuous: latent

**1. Its render waits too**

sh040 waits for sh030 the same way.

**2. What it does**

The end of sh030's take (39 frames by default, `overlap:` to change it) is held at the
start of sh040, and the model generates the rest. sh040 keeps its own pictures and
prompt; the held frames are trimmed after.

**3. Play sq02**

The hum and the hand carry straight on across the cut: one movement, one sound.

## 4. Side by side

**Play all**: sq01, joined by its first frame, then sq02, by its latent. Compare each join
with a wipe (**Compare with…**).

> [!NOTE]
>
> Live playback can blink at a join. The assembled episode (**Export**, or the master) is
> seamless.

## In the script

* **On a shot:** `continuous: first` or `continuous: latent`, as above.
* **On a sequence's `#` header:** every shot after the sequence's first continues. It stops at
  the next `#`; `continuous: none` on a shot breaks the chain.
* **Across a sequence boundary:** only the shot itself can say it, on the first shot of the
  new sequence.
* **From the editor:** a take's menu has **Use this frame as the next shot's first frame**
  and **Use previous shot's last frame as first frame**, for a keyframe from a frame you choose.

## Next

> **[11 · Voices and your own dialogue](https://docs.seriesmith.com/tutorials/voices.md)**
>
> Who says the lines, and how they sound.

> **[Continuous shots](https://docs.seriesmith.com/continuous.md)**
>
> The design, in detail.


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