How Content Engine works

Content Engine turns one long-form video (a YouTube link, an uploaded file, or a pasted transcript) into a full set of platform-ready posts: YouTube long-form (title, description, tags), YouTube Shorts, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and a blog draft. Everything is generated in your own voice, using a fingerprint built from writing samples you provide once during onboarding. YouTube description chapters only appear when the source has real timestamps; Content Engine never invents them.

For YouTube long-form it also generates thumbnail images that match your visual style profile and can face-swap your default face photo onto the composition. You approve, regenerate, or skip; nothing gets published automatically anywhere.

1. Sign up. Enter your email, we send you a magic link, click it and you are in. No password to remember.
2. Voice onboarding. First pick which platforms you want the engine to write for (YouTube long-form, Shorts, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, blog). Then paste at least one existing sample per platform you picked, minimum 3 total, up to 12. Each sample needs to be at least 20 characters. YouTube samples get an extra title field alongside the caption so the engine learns both writing modes from the same row. Content Engine extracts a voice fingerprint from these once so every generation from now on sounds like you.
3. Thumbnail style. Upload 3 to 5 reference thumbnails you want yours to look like. These can be your own past thumbnails, creators you admire, or any visual style you want to match. Content Engine analyzes the references and extracts a style profile (colors, typography, layout, mood) so future thumbnail images match that look. This step is optional and skippable if you did not enable YouTube long-form during voice onboarding.
4. Planner defaults. Pick which days of the week you publish long-form (YouTube, blog) and which days you publish short-form (Reels, Shorts, TikTok, IG, X). One day selected = once a week on that day. Two days = twice a week. The planner uses this to auto-place new generations.
5. Generate your first video.New accounts get one free generation. Hit “One video” on the home card, paste a URL or upload a file, and hit go. To keep generating past the trial, subscribe from the “See pricing” button.

You can feed Content Engine three ways:

• Paste a URL.YouTube link, Google Drive link shared as “Anyone with the link”, or a direct audio/video file URL.
• Upload a file. MP4, MOV, WebM, MP3, WAV, or M4A, up to 500MB. For anything larger, drop it in Drive and paste the link.
• Paste the transcript. If you already have words on paper, skip transcription entirely.

A generation takes 30 to 90 seconds. When it lands, you get a card with tabs for every platform. Each tab has a copy button. The workflow is: open the tab, hit copy, paste into the platform, post. Content Engine does not connect to social platforms.

The planner is a visual calendar for the generations you have made. Drag a generation onto a date to schedule it. Drag it back into the Unscheduled backlog to remove the date.

Auto-schedule.Hit “Auto-schedule all” and every unscheduled generation is placed on the next free day that matches your publish-day settings. Long-form goes to your long-form days, short-form goes to your short-form days, and no day gets double-booked. If you want a bi-weekly cadence or a one-off shift, drag the card to the exact date you want.

Export.Hit “Export CSV” to download every scheduled generation as a spreadsheet with date, title, and platform outputs. Useful if you want to hand a month of captions to a VA or import into another tool.

Important: the planner does not auto-post anywhere. It is a place where you can see what you have made and when you plan to publish it. When the date arrives, you copy the caption and post it yourself.

When Content Engine produces an output you love, hit “Add to voice” on that platform tab. The content gets saved as a voice sample for the active brand.

You have two ways to re-teach after adding samples, both under the “Brand voice + style” card in Settings:

• Re-teach now. A button that appears once you have promoted at least one output. Re-runs voice extraction using every stored sample plus the newly promoted ones, without a form. Fastest path.
• Full re-teach. Opens the same onboarding form you did on day one so you can edit or replace any sample by hand, then re-extract.

Re-teaching is a paid feature. Solo, Studio, and Agency plans all have access.

A brand is a self-contained voice + thumbnail setup. Solo comes with 1 brand, Studio comes with 3, Agency is effectively unlimited.

Every generation belongs to a brand. Switch brands using the selector in the top nav; the planner and generation list switch with it. Voice samples, voice fingerprint, thumbnail style, and thumbnail references are per-brand. Your default face photo, planner publish days, hashtag count, and YouTube description footer live at the account level and apply across every brand.

Settings has these cards, top to bottom:

• Account. Your signed-in email, current plan (Trial / Solo / Studio / Agency), and a Manage subscription button that opens the Polar customer portal (or a Subscribe button if you are still on trial).
• This month. Only shown for paid subscribers. Videos used out of your monthly cap, thumbnail images used out of your monthly cap, and the exact date the counters reset.
• Brand voice + style.Per-brand summary of enabled output platforms (with a save button to change them), voice teaching status with a “Re-teach now” or “Full re-teach” link, and thumbnail style reference count with an upload link.
• Planner defaults. Long-form publish days, short-form publish days, hashtag count, YouTube description footer. These apply across every brand on the account.
• Help. Quick FAQ + email link to us.
• Delete account. GDPR-friendly self-serve deletion. You type your email to confirm.

Plans are monthly. Upgrade, downgrade, or cancel any time from the Polar customer portal, opened from the “Manage subscription” button in Settings.

Plan changes go into effect at your next renewal date. You keep your current cap for the days you have already paid for, no partial refunds or credit shuffling.

Generation caps reset on your subscription renewal date (visible in Settings). The counter is per-account, not per-brand, so a Studio subscriber generating for two different brands still shares the same 60-video monthly cap.

Cancel any time. Cancellation stops future renewals; you keep access until the end of the paid period.

“We couldn’t hear any speech in this video.”The URL was probably an HTML page or a social-media link we cannot read. Upload the file directly, use a Google Drive link shared as “Anyone with the link”, or paste the transcript.

“The URL isn’t publicly accessible.”If it is a Drive link, change sharing to “Anyone with the link”. Otherwise upload the file directly.

“The file is too large.” Direct uploads are capped at 500MB. Use a Drive link for anything larger, or trim the video first.

“Transcription timed out.” Usually means the video is very long. Trim to under 15 minutes or paste the transcript directly.

“Rate-limited.” Wait a minute and try again. If it keeps happening, email support.

The planner shows a video but I do not see it. Refresh the page. The scheduled/unscheduled buckets sync from the server on every visit.

Email info@theignitingstudio.com. Include your account email, the brand you were on, and (if it is a generation issue) the generation ID from the URL. We reply as soon as we can, usually within one business day.