Overview
Click a card to filter the list. Start a post in the card below, or open Ideas and Production when you need the full path.
Chicago Shining
QA Multi-Platform Social Media Publishing
Start a post
Answer a few questions. Studio fills the plan. Open Ideas or Production if you already know the path.
Where do you want to start?
Recent platform outputs
Normalized states hide scenario implementation details while preserving actionable status.
Intake
Ideas
Write or pick a brief, then add photos. Promotion happens after the photos are in — not from the type list on the idea.
Start with an idea
Pick an idea that’s already in the queue, or write a new one. This does not start publishing.
Production
Start with content
Name it, pick the media you have, then drop it in.
Used as the publish location tag. Prefills from the idea or title when we recognize a place. You can overwrite it anytime before promote.
You can edit these anytime. Photos do not lock the name.
Video clips and finished video come later.
Drop photos here or choose filesAdd or remove one at a time. They show up here immediately.
Audio / Voiceover
Post title
This is the on-post title. The idea name at the top is what shows in Ideas.
Post caption
This is the post caption. On-photo labels under each crop stay on that photo only.
Script
To override the spoken words: set Script control to Force exact, then paste the script.
Cover
Structure
Video
Carousel / photo sequence
Notes
Outputs
Defaults follow your platforms and photos. Add extras here. Facebook Slideshow Reel stays opt-in.
Untitled piece
Draft- Photos
- Platforms
- Frames
Drafts
Open Production Requests you can still edit. Promoted work leaves this list.
In production
Content still moving through render or review. Published and scheduled pieces stay on Platform pipeline.
Execution + creative review
Platform pipeline
Click an output row to watch the render, see the photo package, and read the caption. Studio state refreshes automatically while this page is open.
Checking for updates…
Creative editor
Creative review
Review and refine the current platform creative.
Saved
Publishing locked
Rendered preview
Listen to the current mix, adjust below, then save for the next preview render.
Current rendered preview
No rendered preview is available yet.
Rendering new mix
This player still has the previous mix. Wait until the new preview is Ready.
Global creative controls
Shared defaults. Individual slides can override these values.
Review-time audio mix
Voiceover, normal music, and music-under-narration are independent controls. Voiceover starts at the existing 100% render level.
VO 100% · music 24% · 5% under narration
100% voiceover is the current proven render level. A slide can optionally override it below. Changes apply to the next preview render; they do not alter the current video in-place.
Ratio readiness
Platform mapping remains the ratio authority. Exact resized variants are optional. When one is not prepared, Studio can render from the source image using the selected crop/fill treatment.
Review notes
Publish time
Immediate publishes as soon as you approve. Schedule uses your local time.
Creative change progress
Idle
No change request in progress
Adjust music and voiceover, then apply the mix to render a new preview.
Choose what happens next
Save draft stores edits only on validation posts. On production review, adjust the mix and Apply mix & rerender. The progress panel shows Processing, then Ready when the new preview exists. Approve for publishing queues Instagram and Facebook to auto-publish and TikTok as a draft.
Background audio
Music library
Add MP3 tracks, star favorites so they sit at the top of Production music dropdowns, then preview a bed before you pick it.
Add tracks
Drop MP3 files here. They are stored in Google Drive Assets/Music, registered as Media Assets, and become selectable in Production.
Drop MP3 files here or choose filesMP3 only · up to 8 files · 40 MB each
Control
Operations
Per-profile daily ideas, library intake, publish queues, oversized compression, and render retries.
Daily ideas
When a profile toggle is on, Studio generates a daily batch of ideas around 1:00 a.m. Chicago for that profile only.
Loading profiles…
Library intake
Opening this tab checks Airtable for assets that need classification or compression. Process intake only when you want A2 to scan the Drive folder.
Waiting to start…
Analytics
Seasonal posting-time and caption guidance from Chicago creators and your published posts. Expand to refresh data, review the heatmap, or manage handles.
Analytics
Seasonal posting-time and caption guidance from Chicago creators and your published posts. Expand to refresh data, review the heatmap, or manage handles.
Analytics timing loads with Operations.
Caption guidance loads with Operations.
Handles
Instagram and YouTube are timed from public posts. TikTok and Facebook stay reference-only. Suggested times never auto-apply.
Handles
Instagram and YouTube are timed from public posts. TikTok and Facebook stay reference-only. Suggested times never auto-apply.
No handles yet. Opening Operations seeds the Chicago list Joseph provided, plus researched city/tourism peers.
Ready to schedule
Approved outputs that still need a post date. Set the time here instead of waiting for a reminder email.
Ready to publish
Due packages. Auto-publish still runs from Pipeline review. Use this when you posted by hand and need to mark them published.
Oversized library videos
Files over 100 MB. Compress starts A1S for that Drive file instead of a daily folder scan.
Render repair
Use these when Remotion moved URL, asset selection failed, or a Make admin command is waiting. They do not run on a clock.
Help
Support
A full idea-to-publish walkthrough, then a guide for each Studio page.
Idea through publish on every platform
This is the photo-based path ChicagoShining Studio uses today: write or pick an idea, attach stills, let Studio plan the packages, review the renders, then approve. Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube publish publicly. TikTok is saved as a draft.
- Confirm the city in the top bar. The profile (Chicago, New York, Los Angeles) stamps branding, defaults, and which library the new work uses. Change it anytime from Profile in the header.
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Start in the publishing wizard.
On Home, answer where you want to start: an idea, photos you already have, AI images, or a mix. Then pick a platform package. Ideas and Production stay in the sidebar if you already know the path.
Ideas — select an existing candidate or enter one, then continue. Manage opens the drawer to add photos. - Add photos from the idea drawer. Open the idea, then Add new photos or Use existing. New uploads start an empty Production request. Library stills attach first, then you customize. Studio builds a multi-platform plan from the photo count, not from a content-type picker on the idea.
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Confirm platforms and crops in Production.
Default multi-photo packages: Instagram Reel, Facebook Slideshow Reel, TikTok Video Draft, YouTube Short. Instagram and Facebook also keep silent 9:16 Story companions. Single-photo work plans feed/still packages instead. Reframe crops, write or AI-fill captions, leave Voiceover and Music on Yes unless you want a silent cut, then Save.
Production — name the piece, choose single or multiple photos, drop stills, then set platforms and audio. - Approve & Promote. Production hands the request to render. Companion Stories attach from the same 9:16 stills. YouTube 16:9 covers can finish in the background; 9:16 plan crops are enough to continue.
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Watch Pipeline until Ready for Review.
Open Platform Pipeline. Rows move through package, asset selection, Remotion render, and review mail. Click a row to open the creative editor: preview, audio mix, per-photo titles, then Save & rerender preview if you change the mix.
Pipeline — one row per platform output. Open review when Ready for Review, then Approve for publishing or Approve All. -
Approve for publishing.
When the preview is right, Approve for publishing (or Pipeline Approve All). Confirm the public/draft warning. Studio stages a public R2 URL (AP0) for video, then:
- Instagram Reel — auto-publish to the professional account
- Instagram Story companion — AP1 story webhook
- Facebook Slideshow Reel — FBS3 / FBS4
- Facebook Story companion — Graph binary upload
- TikTok Video Draft — TTD0 (stays a draft in TikTok)
- YouTube Short — YouTube orchestrator when the row is due
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Confirm in Operations if you need a clock or a manual mark.
Ready to schedule lists approved rows that still need a post time. Ready to publish lists due packages. Use mark published only when you posted by hand. Daily ideas, Drive intake, and render repair live on the same page (admin roles).
Operations — schedule a post time, mark a hand-posted URL, or pulse intake and render repair.
Other entry: Home can skip the Ideas table when you start with photos or AI images. Name the piece on Production if needed, and the rest of this walkthrough is the same from step 4.
Home
Home is the start screen. It does not run the pipeline by itself.
- Publishing wizard — where to start, input type, counts, then a platform package.
- Sidebar — Ideas and Production remain available as power-user paths.
Come back here anytime to begin a new piece. The top-bar Profile selector is the city/brand for new work.
Dashboard
Dashboard is the queue overview. Metric cards stay on the page and filter the table under them.
- Cards typically cover ideas waiting, production drafts, ready-for-review outputs, and publish-side states.
- Click a card to show those records in the list below. It does not leave Dashboard.
- Use Refresh after a promote or approve if the counts look stale.
Open an idea or output from the filtered list, or switch to Ideas / Production / Pipeline when you need the full workspace.
Ideas
Ideas holds Idea Candidates before they become Content Items. Nothing here publishes.
- Generate AI ideas — create 1–10 ideas. Studio waits until they show up in the table.
- New idea — select an existing unpromoted candidate or enter a title/summary by hand.
- Manage — edit copy, hold/restore, delete, or choose Add new photos / Use existing to open Production.
- Promote without photos — advanced path when footage already lives in the catalog. Requires a summary. Most work should use Add photos instead.
Status on the table is the candidate’s Airtable state (open, held, promoted). Promoted rows leave this queue.
Production
Production is where photos become a platform plan and a Content Item.
- Start with content — title, optional description, photo cards, per-still captions, platform checks, crop pans.
- Draft requests — unfinished production requests you can reopen.
- Promoted content items — work that already entered render. Open Pipeline to review those outputs.
- Advanced — exact titles, voiceover tail, extra output types. Empty EZ defaults do not overwrite saved Pipeline direction.
Save often while uploading. Approve & Promote is the handoff into render. Music tracks shown here come from the Music Library catalogue.
Pipeline
Platform Pipeline is execution plus creative review. It refreshes while the page is open.
- Each row is one Platform Output (Reel, Story, Short, carousel, and so on).
- Columns cover Studio state, render, review, and publish. Click a heading to sort.
- Click a row for the creative editor: preview player, defaults, audio, ratios, slides, review notes.
- Approve for publishing on a ready row starts live dispatch. Approve All does the same for every Ready-for-Review output after confirm.
Publishing stays locked until that approve step. Preview-approve (when shown) records review without posting.
Music Library
Music Library is the Airtable background-music catalogue plus tracks you add as MP3s.
- Browse and preview tracks before or during Production.
- Use + Add MP3 or drop files on this page. New tracks show up in Production music pickers.
- It does not start a render. Production still decides Include background music Yes/No and the mix in Pipeline review.
Operations
Operations is the control room. The nav item is limited to tenant admin, publishing, and production-configure roles.
- Daily ideas — per-profile daily batch around 1:00 a.m. Chicago, or Run today now.
- Library intake — Process intake folder starts A2 (and the A0 daisy-chain) instead of a 2-hour clock.
- Ready to schedule / publish — set a post time or mark a hand-posted package published.
- Oversized library videos — compress via A1S/A1M for Drive files over 100 MB.
- Render repair — reset stale Remotion URLs (M1), retry failed asset selection (R2B), run a Pending Make admin queue row.
These buttons do not turn interval scanners back on. They pulse the matching on-demand scenario when work exists.