Adding a piece
Drag a tile from the toolbox onto the stage, or click it to drop it in the middle. Either way it lands on the beat you are standing on and joins the reel's pool.
The search box at the top of the toolbox filters every group at once — quicker than scrolling once you know what a thing is called. Paste a flowchart takes a Mermaid flowchart and turns it into circles and connections in one go.
Shapes
Things and the lines between them — the vocabulary most explainers are built from.
| Piece | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Circle | A part of the system — browser, server, cache |
| Connection | A line between two circles, with a dot that travels |
| Panel | A little window with rows of values inside |
| Steps | Rows of values that merge, step by step |
Numbers
Figures, meters and charts. A quarter, a rate, a trend, a run of dates.
| Piece | What it is for |
|---|---|
| FigurePlus | One big number that counts up, with what it is underneath |
| MeterPlus | How full something is — a bar, a ring, or a row of little icons |
| Line chartPlus | A line that draws itself — or dots, for two things plotted against each other |
| TimelinePlus | Dated moments down a spine, arriving one at a time |
| Bar chartPlus | Rows compared against each other, or a total built up and eaten away |
Words
The sentences. Most reels need three or four of these and no more.
| Piece | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Big opening line | The sentence that stops the scroll |
| Opening sub-line | The short line under the opening — the premise in three words |
| Setup line | The question both sides are answering, before either answers it |
| Setup follow-up | One more sentence under the setup — what is true right now |
| Key | Names the marks the reel is about to use, before it uses them |
| Label over a headlinePlus | Two or three small capitals above the big line, naming the subject |
| Claim over a figurePlus | The sentence a number is the answer to — it sits above the number |
| TestimonialPlus | Somebody else’s words, with their name under them |
| Source notePlus | Where the number came from — a small line under the caption |
| Small printPlus | The line the lawyers want, along the bottom of the frame |
| Bottom caption | One sentence: why this beat matters |
| Narration | Full sentences that replace each other |
| Closing line | The last thing said, before it loops |
| Side-by-side recap | One coloured row per option |
| Payoff | The answer, plus two blocks that back it up |
Labels
Small type that names something else on the screen.
| Piece | What it is for |
|---|---|
| BannerPlus | A band across the screen naming the whole beat — “Q4”, “BEFORE” |
| Callout | 2–4 words pinned next to what they name |
| Side badge | Says which option this beat is showing |
| Step counter | “3 of 5” — so nobody loses their place |
Your own picture
A circle carries a small picture — a browser, a server, a database, a lock. Beside the set that ships, you can paste your own simple line drawing into a circle. It is checked before it is accepted: only plain shapes and paths come through, so nothing that could run ends up in a reel.