The first render is a strong draft, not the finish line. Because Sleepy renders instead of generating, a retry never falls apart: everything you liked stays, and only what you change moves. That is what makes it worth refining instead of starting over.

Think of it as directing, not re-rolling: you steer the script, timing, voice and finish until the video is exactly what you had in mind.

Each render or retry counts as one video, so the efficient path is simple:

1. Render your general style first. Get the mode, look and direction right.
2. Then do everything else in one retry: fix the script, add post-process effects, adjust the voice or vibe.

That is a high-end video ready to post, for about 60 extra seconds, and retries are faster than the first render because the heavy work (like masking) is already done.

A retry keeps your chosen direction. Unless you change them, these stay as they were:

• Your prompt and creative angle
• Brand colors, fonts, text border and logo
• Motion mode, preset and effects
• Voice and vibe
• Your script and timing edits
• For captions and lyrics: the subject mask, so retries skip the slowest step

You can also just tell Sleepy what to change, in plain words, in the prompt box: “darker colors, bolder fonts, make it in Spanish”.

For motion graphics videos, the script editor is as simple as it gets: every line is one screen. Press Enter to start a new screen, and keep lines short so they hit hard on video. Change a word, split a line in two, or merge two lines, and that is exactly what the retry shows.

Emotions

Under the script, the Emotions buttons insert {laughing}, {chuckling}, {sighing}, {coughing} or {gasping} right where your cursor is, and the voice performs it there. Up to 3 in a 10–15 second video and 5 in a 25–30 second one; if one lands in an awkward spot, Fix placement moves it for you.

Direct, specific edits beat vague instructions every time.

When a result is close but not perfect, edit in this order:

1. Script clarity: tighten weak lines and remove generic phrases.
2. Hook strength: make the first line hit harder and faster.
3. Voice and vibe: match delivery to the audience and brand tone.
4. Duration: move to 25–30s only if the message feels cramped.
5. Finish: post-process effects, colors, fonts and border.

Most quality gains come from the script and the hook, not from switching modes at random.

When the words come from real audio, your own voiceover, a captions video or a song, the Detailed editor (“fine-tune timings”) gives you control down to the word. Every word sits on a timeline, and every screen is a block you can shape:

• Drag the edges of a screen or a word to move exactly when it appears and disappears.
• Add a screen before or after any point, or delete one you do not need.
• Write anything on a screen, even words that are never spoken: a title over a pause, a punchline, a call to action, a product name. Each screen's text is yours, while the timing stays locked to the audio.
• Play it back with a karaoke-style highlight, so you see and hear exactly when each word lands. For captions, your video plays right behind the text, and pausing or scrubbing shows the exact frame.
• Full script: rewrite all the wording at once and have it re-timed across the timeline.
• Cut helpers: re-split every screen into 1, 2, 3, a 2–3 mix or 4 words per screen, keeping your word timings.
• Timing presets: save a timing you love by name and load it on another video.
• Undo and zoom, for precise edits.

Videos made from your own voiceover, a captions upload or a song work differently on retry: your audio is already saved, so you never re-upload it. What you are editing is how that audio is presented on screen: which words show, and when.

• Changing too many things at once, then not knowing what improved the result.
• Vague feedback instead of explicit line-level edits.
• Switching modes before fixing the script.
• Ignoring brand colors and fonts and trying to solve everything through the prompt.
• Spending a retry on each small fix instead of batching them into one.