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

# How LatentCast works

> The whole platform in one picture: four easy steps from a campaign idea to a personal video for every person on your target list. 

<Frame caption="Each of the first three stages ends with a sign-off. Then you move to the next stage.">
  <img noZoom src="https://mintcdn.com/latentcast/aHybYLuVNe80QpdP/images/guides/four-stages.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=aHybYLuVNe80QpdP&q=85&s=6f6e6375aa0ca14d775b2061e3aa35c0" alt="Four connected cards: make the Video Story, define who receives it, set personalization rules, produce and send at scale" width="900" height="540" data-path="images/guides/four-stages.svg" />
</Frame>

The same four stages, in more detail:

<Frame>
  <img noZoom src="https://mintcdn.com/latentcast/gYJwLb5Uu2rOcTqD/images/guides/how-it-works.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=gYJwLb5Uu2rOcTqD&q=85&s=d3338de469a9f8113274e29465aeefc4" alt="The four stages in detail: make the Video Story, define who receives it, set personalization rules, produce and send at scale" width="900" height="1212" data-path="images/guides/how-it-works.svg" />
</Frame>

## Five things to remember

1. **A <Tooltip tip="The editable video you build and finetune. It is a LatentCast data model, not a file. Every personalized video is rendered from one."><strong>Video Story</strong></Tooltip> is a LatentCast proprietary data model:** You can edit it, you can finetune it\*\*.\*\* A video is an mp4 file. Once it is rendered, you can only watch it.
2. **Nothing moves on until it is <Tooltip tip="Freezes a Video Story, Personalization Canvas or Personalization Profile as a numbered version. Only signed-off things can be used by the next stage."><strong>signed off</strong></Tooltip>.** Video Story, <Tooltip tip="Your recipient list as a spreadsheet: one row per recipient, one column per thing that may change in their video."><strong>Personalization Canvas</strong></Tooltip> and <Tooltip tip="The rule set for one outreach: which signed-off Video Story, which Personalization Canvas, what may change, and how the Viewing Page looks."><strong>Personalization Profile</strong></Tooltip> must each be frozen before the
   next stage can use them. Change one later and you sign it off again.
3. **The core message of your Video Story never changes.** Personalization wraps around it: the
   opening, one context scene, the closing, and the look.
4. **Preview one video, then produce all.** Preview (at least) one recipient's video before you run a batch. If the personalization did something you don't like, edit the personalization.
5. **LatentCast produces. You send.** A <Tooltip tip="The batch's output sheet: each recipient's video, Viewing Page link, GIFs and outreach copy."><strong>Campaign Manifest</strong></Tooltip> gives you all the assets you need to launch a campaign. You can integrate it with your scheduler to automate the sending.

If you want more depth than this walkthrough gives you, the four sections in "Your first campaign" follow these same four stages in the same order, one page per topic.