When a Video, Short, or Voiceover Fails

Magic Video, Shorts, and Voiceovers use the same generation pipeline, so a failure works the same way in all three. For a Podcast Episode, see Generating Episode Audio instead.

What Needs Attention Means

When a generation fails, its card in your Videos, Shorts, or Voiceovers library turns red and reads Needs attention. You cannot click the card, because there is nothing to open yet. The card shows a Retry generation button above the usual Download button and ••• menu.

The card does not say why the generation failed. Most failures are temporary: a provider timed out, a step ran too long, or one visual could not be produced.

Retry Generation First

Click Retry generation on the card. This is usually all you need.

A retry continues from where the generation stopped. It does not start over:

• If it failed while rendering and the visuals are already built, the retry only renders again. Nothing is generated twice.
• If a script and narration already exist, the retry uses that saved script instead of writing a new one.
• If it failed before there was a script, the retry starts from your original prompt, Sources, and settings.
• A Voiceover retry reuses the files you already uploaded, so you never upload them again.

If Retry Keeps Failing

If Retry generation fails twice, stop retrying and contact support. A failure that repeats usually has a cause a retry cannot clear.

Include the link to the failed Video, Short, or Voiceover, and roughly when you first tried to generate it. That is enough to find the run and the error behind it.

Do Not Delete to Fix a Failure

Deleting a failed item and creating a new one repairs nothing, and it is the most expensive way to respond:

• Deleting is permanent. It removes the Video, its renders, and every visual and audio segment generated for it. You cannot undo it.
• The replacement is a new generation, charged in full: 1 credit per second of narration, 7 credits per generated image, and 17 credits per generated video clip. Retrying instead pays only for what it still has to produce, and pays nothing at all when the visuals are already built.
• The new generation runs the same pipeline with the same settings, so whatever stopped the first one is likely to stop it too.

Delete and start over when you want a different result: a new prompt, a different orientation, or another Visual Style.

Voiceovers and File Errors

A Voiceover can fail because one of your uploaded files could not be processed. Generate does not wait for uploads to finish, so you see this error when the Voiceover fails, not when you add the file.

Retry from the card first. Your files are kept, so the retry uses them without another upload. If it fails again, the file itself is probably the problem. Export it again, then create a Voiceover from the new file. See Creating Voiceovers for supported formats and limits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was I charged for a generation that failed?

It depends on how far it got. Credits are held when generation starts, and the hold is released if the failure happens before the narration and visuals are finished, so nothing is charged. Once they are finished the generation is charged, and a failure in the render that follows keeps that charge, because you have the generated content. Rendering itself is always free, so the retry costs nothing.

Does retrying cost credits?

A retry is charged for what it generates. If it only needs to render again, it costs nothing, because rendering is always free. If it continues from a saved script, it pays for the narration and visuals it still has to produce. If it starts from your prompt, it costs what the first generation would have cost.

Does Retry generation start over from my prompt?

Only if the failure happened before a script existed. Otherwise the retry continues from the saved script, or from the visuals that are already built if only the render failed.

Should I delete a failed Video and create a new one?

No. Deleting is permanent, and the replacement is charged as a full new generation, while a retry pays only for what it still has to produce. Retry first, and contact support if a retry fails twice. Delete only when you want a different result.

Why doesn't the card tell me what went wrong?

The library card shows Needs attention without the underlying error. Retry generation clears most failures on its own. If it doesn't, contact support with the item's link and support can look up the error.

My Voiceover failed and I don't know which file caused it. What should I do?

Retry from the card first, since your files are kept and processing may have timed out. If it fails again, export the files again and create a Voiceover from the new versions.