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

# “What if…” simulation

> Write the question that launches a simulation seen from above: a real place and an extraordinary event.

In “Create a video”, the “Simulation” tab follows an event that builds, from the first shot to the last: the disaster grows, seen from the sky, from the street or in first person, with numbers on screen.

## What the app does with it

* **No characters**: no cast, no dialogue. You see an anonymous crowd, vehicles and buildings. If the event is lived by the viewer (“what if you were the only real human?”), the scene is seen through their eyes.
* **Chained moments**: each shot is the continuation of the previous one or a new shot. The image of a continuation is a retouch of the previous one, so the same place changes under the camera.
* **All the shots are animated**, the sound is the ambience of the clips (crowd, wind, sirens). No voice by default.
* **Default length: 45 s, in a single part.** Default style: isometric.
* **Each moment moves the story forward**: the premise, the first sign, what follows, the tipping point, the outcome that answers the question. Never the same proof replayed elsewhere.
* **The numbers quoted** (distances, energy, time) are written to stay plausible and consistent with each other.

## The form that works

```text theme={null}
What if [extraordinary event] [hit / happened to] [real place] [when or under what conditions]?
```

| Part | What it brings |
| - | - |
| The event | A single phenomenon, huge and readable: asteroid, wave, blackout, permanent eclipse. |
| The real place | A spot people recognize: the AI can draw landmarks from it (pier, towers, bridge). |
| The condition | The moment, the scale, the size: “a summer afternoon”, “300 ft high”. |

```text theme={null}
What if a 300 ft wave hit Manhattan at rush hour?
What if every red light in Los Angeles turned green at the same time?
What if the Moon were twice as close to Earth for one night?
```

## The “Setting” field

In “References”, the “Setting” field fixes the place seen from above, from start to finish: the camera doesn't move. Describe the geography, not the action.

```text theme={null}
Miami Beach on a summer afternoon: the beach, the pier, the seafront towers
```

## Before / after

> [tab] Weak
>
> ```text theme={null}
> A disaster in a city, with a lot of destruction, disaster movie style.
> ```
>
> No place, no precise event, no scale: the AI improvises everything, and the shots repeat.

> [tab] Improved
>
> ```text theme={null}
> What if the dinosaur asteroid hit Florida today? A summer afternoon, a full beach, impact 25 miles offshore.
> ```
>
> A known event, a real place, a moment and a distance: the build cuts itself (sky, shock wave, coast, city).

## Common mistakes

* **Naming heroes**: the simulation has no characters. Write the event, not a family suffering it.
* **Several events**: one phenomenon per video. Two disasters steal each other's spotlight.
* **An invented or vague place**: “a big city” gives a generic setting. Pick a real place.
* **Writing text to display**: the sentences and numbers on screen come from the app, not from your prompt. For counters, see [overlays](https://docs.rewatch.studio/video/overlays.md).
* **Asking for a voice**: the format is silent by default, carried by the sound effects.

## Settings that go with it

* **Length**: 45 s by default, a single part. Test short before lengthening.
* **On-screen sentence on each moment**: a short sentence in the middle of the image explains each moment, with the episode's question as the title at the start.
* **Music**: off by default, volume set to come through over the sound effects if you turn it on.
* **Subtitles**: off by default.
* **Series**: a “What if…” series hosts its episodes in this tool. See [creating a series](https://docs.rewatch.studio/series/create.md).

## Before launching

> [!TIP]
>
> Test short: a short length and a single part are enough to judge the build, the place and the pacing. Then lengthen. The first seconds decide everything: the event must be visible from the first shot. See [the rules of a good prompt](https://docs.rewatch.studio/rules.md).

For a disaster told by a named hero, use [story formats](https://docs.rewatch.studio/formats/stories.md) instead.


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