If you already have a short script, use Pictory to build a first video draft, then use CapCut if the exported file needs tighter cuts or revised captions. For a beginner, the useful division of work is simple: Pictory assembles scenes from text; CapCut gives you another place to edit the resulting video. Neither tool can decide whether a visual makes your point accurately.
Pictory's help articles describe the steps in its editor, while CapCut's help pages distinguish web, desktop and mobile features. Prices on the linked vendor pages were checked in 2026-11. Check the controls and final price in your own account before paying: CapCut says its plans and features can vary by region and platform.
How do you prepare a script for an AI video?
Write for scenes, not for a page
Start with one point the viewer should understand. A workable practice script might explain how to pack a small bag: open with the problem, show the items going in, then end with the packed bag. Write the spoken line for each beat and, beside it, note what the viewer should see. Those visual notes are for your review; do not assume the generator will interpret them exactly as you intend.
Keep the script's claims separate from its visual suggestions. If a line says a product fits inside a particular bag, you need footage that actually shows that fit. A generic clip of someone closing a suitcase would be misleading even if it looks polished. Gather any images or footage you have permission to use before you start, and mark lines that need a specific demonstration rather than a stock image.
Read the script aloud once. Cut explanations that depend on a viewer remembering a long earlier sentence. If a line needs a visual demonstration, give it room in the narration instead of asking the editor to flash an image too quickly. Decide whether the video needs a voice-over at all. Text on screen can carry a brief instruction, but dense paragraphs make a poor substitute for either narration or a clear demonstration.
Choose the viewing format early
Decide where the video will be watched before generating scenes. Pictory's pricing page lists square 1:1 exports across its plans. Pick a format for the first draft. Changing a wide composition into a narrow one later may force you to replace or reframe visuals, particularly when the subject sits near the edge of a shot.
For the practice script, a portrait video might need close shots of each item rather than one wide view of a table. Write that requirement in your visual plan. It gives you a way to judge Pictory's suggestions: can the viewer identify the item at phone size, and does the shot match the line being spoken? If the answer is no, replace the visual instead of trying to rescue it with a transition.
How do you turn text into a first video draft?
Pictory: paste the script and inspect the storyboard
Pictory's Text to video instructions say to choose Text to video on the homepage and paste an existing script into the editor. The same screen offers Start with an idea if you need a generated script, but you can skip that route when your words are already approved. Choose the video format, review the script and select Generate video to reach the storyboard. This is a script-to-scene workflow, not a guarantee that every scene will illustrate its line correctly.
Watch the storyboard in order, with your original script beside it. Check whether a scene starts when its subject is mentioned and whether the image shows the right action. Pictory's export guidance describes a Customize Video option for changing selected images or clips, editing scenes, adding music and adjusting branding. Use it to fix a wrong visual before you move to CapCut. That keeps a mismatch from being baked into the file you export.
Pictory accepts more than scripts, but those inputs serve different jobs. Its user manual describes a URL-to-video route for articles, an editor for existing video, a route for images and short clips, and PowerPoint-to-video. If you already have a finished short script, pasting that script gives you a clearer starting point than asking the tool to extract material from a longer page. Use the other input routes when the source material, rather than the script, is what you need to adapt.
When the storyboard is ready, generate and download the video as an MP4. Pictory's download instructions also describe exporting its text as an SRT subtitle file. Keep a copy of the script and the downloaded video. They let you compare the edit against the intended wording and give you a file to import into CapCut without relying on a share link.
What does Pictory cost for this workflow?
Pictory lists a 14-day free trial with three video projects. Its plan comparison caps script-or-URL videos at five minutes on the trial and lists trial exports at a maximum of 720p. Pictory's watermark article says videos downloaded during the trial carry its branding. That makes the trial useful for checking whether the storyboard approach fits your script, but a trial download is the wrong final file if you need an unbranded video.
Prices checked in 2026-11: Pictory Starter is listed at $25 per month when billed annually, or $29 per month when billed monthly. Its pricing page lists one user, a 30-minute maximum for a video made from a script or URL, and 1080p maximum export on Starter. It lists Professional at $35 per month billed annually or $59 per month billed monthly, and Teams at $119 per month billed annually or $199 per month billed monthly. Starter is the relevant paid comparison for one person making short scripted videos; Teams is worth examining only if several people need the shared workflow. A paid plan still has usage allowances, so check the current credit and minute details before buying.
How do you refine the video in CapCut?
Edit pacing and replace what the first draft missed
Import the downloaded Pictory MP4 into a new CapCut project. CapCut's plan guide describes free basic tools for cutting, trimming, splitting and adding text or audio. Watch the first pass without stopping. Note the moments where a shot outlasts its line, a change of scene comes too early, or a visual contradicts the narration. Then work through those notes in the timeline. A shorter cut is useful only if the viewer still has time to understand the demonstration.
There is a limit to what this handoff can fix. You are importing an exported video, not opening Pictory's storyboard as an editable CapCut project. If the narration or a scene's core image is wrong, the cleaner fix may be to change it in Pictory and export again. Use CapCut for cuts, added footage, text and caption adjustments that make sense on the assembled file. Keep the original export so you can compare the revised version rather than editing over your only copy.
Handle captions on the device you actually use
Pictory's export can provide an SRT file. CapCut's subtitle import instructions, dated January 30, 2026, say its web editor accepts SRT and its Windows and macOS desktop editor accepts SRT or timed TXT. The same article says the mobile app does not directly import those files. If preserving Pictory's timed captions matters, choose web or desktop for this step. After importing, check that the text aligns with the final cut; trimming video can leave a once-correct subtitle at the wrong moment.
You can instead generate captions from the finished audio in CapCut. Its Auto Captions help page, also dated January 30, 2026, describes the control on web, desktop and mobile and says you can edit the resulting text and timing. On web, it directs you to Captions, Auto Captions, then Recognise. On desktop and mobile, it gives a Captions, Auto Captions route. Choose one caption route for the final edit, and check for duplicate text before export.
CapCut's published pages disagree on the free-plan boundary: its auto-caption tool page describes free caption generation, while its Standard versus Pro guide places the auto-caption generator among Pro tools. The help page confirms where the feature appears, but does not settle what your account can use without paying. Test the exact caption action and export in your region before you build a workflow around free access. Names, numbers and words spoken over music still need a manual check.
What does CapCut cost?
Prices checked in 2026-11: CapCut's pricing page shows a $0 per month Free plan with basic editing and free templates, and Pro at a displayed $19.99 per month with access to AI features and premium templates. It lists Teams at a displayed $12.49 per month per seat. Those are reference prices, not a quote for every account: the page says to sign in for final pricing, taxes and offers, and warns that plan features vary by region and platform. Pro lists 1,200 monthly AI credits, but the page does not specify what this particular script-editing workflow would consume.
CapCut Free is the first place to try if you mainly need manual cuts and text. Its drawback is uncertain access to the specific AI caption action you may want, plus restrictions on premium assets. Pro is a candidate if your account puts a needed feature behind a paywall; its drawback is a recurring cost when your task may only require basic edits. Do not buy it on the assumption that every control shown in a vendor tutorial is included on your device. Open the project, try the needed edit and inspect the export screen first.
How do you choose a workflow that fits your budget and device?
If you need a video assembled from a written script and have little footage of your own, start with Pictory's trial and judge the storyboard before paying. It is the wrong pick when every shot must show a specific real object or action that you cannot supply and cannot verify in the suggested visuals. If you already have usable footage, begin in CapCut instead; paying for a separate script-to-scene draft may add little. CapCut is the wrong first choice for this particular two-tool workflow if your main need is for Pictory's script-based storyboard, rather than editing a file you already have.
Device choice matters more than a feature list. Use CapCut web or desktop if you plan to carry an SRT file across from Pictory; its mobile app does not directly import external subtitle files, according to CapCut's platform instructions. Mobile can still be a reasonable place for a short manual edit or captions generated from audio. For a team, compare the actual number of editors and reviewers with the vendor's team-plan terms rather than treating a solo subscription as shared access.
Consider privacy before uploading a script, voice recording or client footage to either service. This article does not establish what happens to sensitive material after upload. If your work contains confidential information, check each vendor's current terms and your own organization's rules before using it. You can still plan shots and revise a script without submitting private material to a generator.
What should you check before sharing the export?
Play the exported CapCut file from its first frame to its last, preferably on the kind of screen where it will be watched. Compare it with the script line by line. Check that each visual supports the spoken claim, that no cut removes a necessary word, and that captions remain readable over bright and dark shots. Listen with headphones for abrupt changes in voice or music level, then watch once without sound to see whether the on-screen text still makes sense.
Check the actual file, not just the editor preview. Confirm its shape suits the destination, its resolution is acceptable, its opening frame is intentional, and any required captions appear in the export. If you used Pictory's trial, look for its watermark; subscribing does not remove branding from the file already downloaded, but Pictory says downloading that video again under a paid plan produces a file without its branding. Keep the final file private until those checks are complete.
Sources
Pictory: official source · listing on Browse AI Tools
CapCut: official source · listing on Browse AI Tools