How many words fit in a generated shot

A shot with a fixed ceiling can hold a predictable number of spoken words. Published measurements of conversational speech and published subtitle limits give the two ends of the calculation, and generated shot lengths give the third. As of 2026-09-12.

Inclusion rule. Published measurements and published limits. Rates quoted without a source, or derived from a single observation, are not listed. Order. Alphabetical by figure.

1The arithmetic is short and nobody does it

At roughly three words a second, a six-second shot holds about eighteen words with no pause at either end, and about fifteen once half a second is left at each. Most dialogue written without that constraint runs longer, and the result is either a rushed read or a line that does not fit the shot it was written for.

Doing the sum while writing is far cheaper than discovering it at generation, because the fix is a rewrite either way and at generation it also costs a call.

2Subtitles have their own ceiling

A line that fits the shot can still be unreadable as a subtitle. The published character-per-second limits are lower for younger audiences, which matters for a format distributed by app where the audience skews wide.

3Pauses are part of the count

Measured speech rates including silences run well below the rate excluding them. A shot list that budgets words at the faster figure produces lines with no room to breathe, which reads as hurried even when every word fits.

4Where the numbers come from matters

Speech rates measured on telephone conversations are not the same as scripted dramatic delivery, which runs slower. Using a conversational figure to size dramatic lines under-counts the time needed, usually by enough to matter in a six-second shot.

The published figures are a starting point to be adjusted against a production's own delivered shots, not a constant to be applied.

5Subtitle limits bind a different audience

A line that plays comfortably can still exceed a reading limit once subtitled, and short-drama apps are watched muted often enough that the subtitle is the primary channel. Sizing to the shot and sizing to the subtitle are two constraints, and the tighter one wins.

6Speech, generated with the picture

For the speech side of “Dialogue timing”, SceneMixer's guides describe how lines are spoken:

The script is written from the photos and the one-line description. In step-by-step mode you can rewrite it before anything is shot.

SceneMixer, How to Make an Ad from One Photo — “Do I need a script?” (read 2026-10-13)

Reading a clip produces a scene-by-scene script: who is there, what happens, every line of dialogue, in order.

SceneMixer, Remake a Video: After the Read You Generate the Storyboard — and Why the Result Runs Longer Than the Clip (read 2026-10-13)

7Sources read for this entry

• Netflix subtitle timing limits
• Gemini API video documentation
• OpenAI video generation guide

This page defines the term and logs what each vendor documents about it, each figure read on 2026-09-12. Related: Lip-sync, Voice id.