Also Called: Nicknames, Old Names, and How the Storyboard Knows Who Is Who

Quick answer: Every character, scene and prop card can carry a short list of the other names your script uses for the same thing — a nickname, a short form, an address like “Cousin” or “Mom”, or an old name left behind by a rename. In step 2 it shows as the grey line under the card’s name: Also called: Danny, Dan. It is not decoration. It is how the storyboard still knows that “Danny” in your script is Daniel Cole — his card, his sheet, his voice. The list is read-only: it comes from the script read and from renames, and there is nothing to type into.

Still from “The Veil at Dawn”, an AI short drama generated end-to-end by SceneMixer (6 characters, 1 episode) — Sample: “The Veil at Dawn” — Realistic HD, 1 episode, produced end-to-end by SceneMixer from the script · watch the episodes

In step 2, click a character, scene or prop card: the grey line under the name lists the other names your script calls it.

What the list is

Cards are matched by name: the speaker of a line, the in-frame list, the place in a segment header. Scripts rarely say a name the same way every time — halfway through, Daniel Cole is “Danny”, and the Riverside Boardroom is just “the boardroom”. So each card can keep those names: Daniel Cole with Also called: Danny, Dan, the scene Riverside Boardroom with Also called: the boardroom, the prop Grandmother’s Jade Pendant with Also called: the pendant.

For a character it can also be an address only they answer to — Cousin, Mom — or, for a creature, its species word. Words that could point at anyone are deliberately not collected: the stranger, the man, the princess. A name that fits half the cast cannot be resolved to one of them.

Where the names come from

There are exactly two sources.

The script read. When your script is read, each person, place and thing gets the other names your own text uses for it — nicknames, short forms, addresses, and for scenes and props the alternative names or translations the text uses. If the text only ever writes the full name, the card’s list stays empty and the line is simply absent. A card keeps up to eight entries.
Renames. Rename a card in step 2 and the old name moves into the list, so anything that still says it — your script, a storyboard written earlier, notes you keep — keeps pointing at the same card. Two cases add nothing: a rename that only changes case, spacing or punctuation (the name is unchanged once normalized), and an old name that is already another card’s name (adding it would make two cards answer to one name).

Reading the script again does not reset the list — new names are merged in, old entries stay.

Where you see it

Open the project and go to step 2, Characters & Scenes.
Click a character, scene or prop card. Its detail opens: the picture, the name, the badges.
Right under the name is the grey line — Also called: Danny, Dan — written the way your script writes them.
The Previous / Next arrows at the top move between cards of the same kind.

A card without the line has no other names in your script. That is normal, not an error.

Can you edit or add to it?

Not directly: there is no field to type into, and an entry cannot be deleted by hand. The two sources above are the levers:

You want	Do this
A nickname the card should answer to	Write it in the script and read the script again; the name merges into the list
An old name to keep working after a change of mind	Rename the card: the previous name becomes an entry by itself
An entry gone	Not possible on the card; keep the word for this character only in the script, or rename the card so the word is no longer part of its name

One thing that adds nothing: writing the nickname into the card’s description. The description is written for the picture; matching reads the name and the list.

What it changes in the storyboard and the clip

The cast list handed to the storyboard carries each card’s other names next to the main one, so a nickname in the script can still be tied to the right character while the shots are written.
When the storyboard is built, a name in a character slot — the speaker of a line, the in-frame list — is looked up against the cast: the full name first, and only if nothing matches, the other names. A match counts only when exactly one character answers to that name.
Matched, the line belongs to that character: it is voiced, rendered and counted in the picture as them — their voice, their reference sheet.
Not matched, the line is treated as coming from someone outside the cast: it does not get the character’s voice, and the character himself is kept lips-closed in the shot — the clip behaves as if a stranger were speaking while he stands there.
For a prop, being mentioned under any of its names counts as used in this episode — that is what keeps the prop in front of the storyboard when the shots are written.
Only characters are matched by their other names. Scenes and props are matched by their full names: their entries travel to the storyboard model as a hint (so it reads “the boardroom” as the Riverside Boardroom while writing), but a scene will not be pulled in from a nickname. Write places and things the way their cards are named.
None of it shows on screen: the clip says the words written in the shot. The list only decides who says them and who stands in the picture. Who Is in Frame · How Character Voices Work.

Names the system finds on its own

Besides the stored list, some call-forms are recognized on the fly and never appear in the dialog: the first name of a full name (Rafael Vidal → Rafael), a nickname in quotes inside the name (Tavian ‘Lil Tay Tay’ St. Clair III → Tay Tay), the tail after a dash (Bully Boy 1 - Arda → Arda), and the usual shortenings of a bracketed name (Ahriman (the Deceiver) → Ahriman or Ahriman the Deceiver). They follow from the card’s name; you do not write them anywhere. Same rule as the list: a match only when one character can take it.

How to write so the right person is matched

Let each character appear once in full, then call them the way the story does. The read collects exactly what you write.
Give every nickname one owner. If two characters share a first name or a nickname, write full names for both — with two possible answers the system matches neither rather than guess.
Prefer an address only they answer to (Cousin) over a role word anyone could answer (the guard): the first is collected, the second is not.
After a rename you do not have to chase the text: this project’s storyboards are rewritten to the new name, and the old name stays recognized. Renaming and unique names.
Spelling one person two ways (a translation, an invented short form)? Settle on one: use the card’s name in the script, or rename the card and let the old form ride in the list.

When a name goes wrong

What you see	What it comes from	What to do
The line does not use the character’s voice; he stands there lips closed	The name was not matched to any card: it is not on the list and not one of the forms found on its own	Write the card’s full name in that line, or rename the card to the name the script uses; read the script again
Two characters are both called “Sam”, and neither is matched	One name, two possible owners	Write full names for both in the script
A plain word was taken as a character	A one-owner match from a form derived from a name — an English card like “Doorman Ray” also answers to “Doorman”	Avoid the bare word for other people, or rename the card so the word is no longer part of its name
A card has no grey line although the script uses a nickname	The read collected nothing for that card	Check the nickname is written in the script itself, not only in your notes; read again
An unwanted entry cannot be removed	The list is maintained for you and is read-only	Keep the word for this character only, or rename the card; there is no third lever

FAQ

Why do some cards show the line and others not?

The line appears only when the script calls that person, place or prop something besides its full name — or after a rename. A card you added by hand starts without one.

Can I type a name into the list myself?

No; the list is read-only. Add a name by writing it in the script and reading the script again, or by renaming the card — the previous name becomes an entry by itself.

I renamed a character. Do my existing storyboards still work?

Yes. References in this project’s storyboards are rewritten to the new name, and the old name stays on the card as an entry — anything that still says it keeps matching.

Why is “Rafael” accepted when the card only says “Rafael Vidal”?

Shortenings derived from the name itself — the first name, a nickname in quotes, the tail after a dash, the usual forms of a bracketed name — are recognized on the fly and are not listed in the dialog.

Do the other names appear in the video?

No. The clip speaks the words written in the shot; the list only decides who a line belongs to and who stands in the picture.

Two characters are both called Sam. Which one answers?

Neither: with two possible owners the system does not guess. Write full names in the script.

Do scenes and props use their other names the same way?

They are shown on the card and passed to the storyboard model as a hint, but resolving a name to a card is done for characters only. For a prop, being mentioned under any of its names also marks it as used in that episode.

How many names can a card keep?

Up to eight. Reading the script again merges new names in rather than replacing the list.

Are the names translated in other display languages?

They are protected as names: when text is translated for display, the speaker is kept as written, old name or nickname included.

Let every name find its card

Open step 2, check the grey line on a card or two, and write the names your story settles on.

Open Step 2

Updated October 10, 2026