Release Notes

• Added File > Extend Current Project to generate additional scenes and narration with Prompt Builder without creating a replacement project.
• Extension prompts use existing scene summaries and speaker identities to help new segments follow naturally from the current project.
• Added optional ending revisions for a smoother handoff into new content, with before-and-after narration review and individual approval before applying changes.
• Extensions preserve existing scenes, visuals, project settings, and speaker voices, while adding separate voice groups for new guests.
• Added explicit warnings when an approved narration revision replaces recorded audio with text-to-speech.

• Added optional narration loudness matching to make different voices and recordings sound more consistent in volume without changing the original audio.
• Added volume controls for each voice group, making it easier to balance speakers while keeping individual narration volume controls.
• Added an option to automatically import all remaining AI-generated images after reviewing any image in the queue.
• The automatic import option now remains available throughout image review, even when it is not selected for the first image.
• Batch imports preserve each generated image's project assignment and apply the selected import or background-removal settings.
• Added separate project item defaults for images, text, and props, allowing effects and camera behavior to be configured by item type.
• Added settings controls for configurable default appearance, presence, and exit effects.
• Added app-level appearance and presence defaults for consistent inheritance across projects.
• Replaced the Prompt Builder's generic image-description rules customization with editable opening text and art-direction requirements for each image style.
• Improved Ken Burns image entrances by applying the starting zoom and pan position before drawing begins.
• Fixed images snapping back to their original size and position before the camera moves to the next scene.

• Fixed project snapshot restoration and improved persistence after restoring an earlier project version.
• Improved narration and caption synchronization during long video exports.
• Improved Ken Burns performance in long, multi-scene exports while preserving previous-scene visuals during camera transitions.

• Improved viseme mouth animation for more natural character speech. Added ability to flip/mirror the viseme mouths for specific frames.

• Fixed intermittent Asset Library drag-and-drop failures for images and audio, including files dragged from ComfyUI.
• Expanded animated character publishing to support larger character pose sets.
• Reduced file size for imported assets, improving overall project performance.

• Several improvements added to the animated character system for smoother and more natural movement.
• MP3 Export support for project audio files. You can now export project audio for use in creating Podcasts.
• Multi-voice support for project narration, allowing different characters to take turns speaking in the same project.

• Updated File > Open Project and Ctrl+O to open the Projects browser, with a new Open from File option for direct filesystem access.
• Added saved project thumbnails that refresh during explicit Save and Save As operations.
• Improved project thumbnail capture so previews show the first scene without editor windows or the Lazy Podcaster Assistant covering the whiteboard.
• Added double-click project opening in the Projects browser.
• Added visible loading progress when opening projects, including transfer, preparation, and finalization stages.
• Significantly improved loading speed for very large projects with larger, pipelined project-data transfers.
• Updated startup behavior so the Lazy Podcaster Assistant opens in the foreground above other restored windows.

• Added automated smooth animation between image-character poses for more natural-looking movement.
• Expanded the paid, registered character roster to over 70 animated talking characters, with smooth pose transitions and more characters added regularly.
• Improved viseme mouth animation with sharper rendering in the editor, playback, and exported video.
• Added a silent speech preview in the Image Character Builder for positioning mouths while they animate.
• Expanded image characters to 30 images, with improved thumbnail navigation, drag-and-drop, and arrow-key mouth positioning.
• Improved project narrators: different characters can take over in later scenes, while other characters retain their own narration.
• Characters now hold their last pose while another character speaks and resume their movement when speaking again.
• Improved character playback and export consistency, including direct scene playback and reuse of prepared pose transitions.
• Fixed sidebar drag-and-drop reordering when browser drag data becomes unavailable.

• Added 22 new pre-configured talking character Lazy Podcaster cast members. Four are included in the FREE download. Eighteen more are unlocked with purchase of Lazy Podcaster Pro.
• Added a viseme talking animation tool feature for characters, enhancing lip-sync accuracy and realism.
• Taught the Lazy Podcaster Assistant to recognize and respond to more complex project-related questions.
• Added ability to drag and drop pre-recorded narration audio files directly into the project for use with talking characters.

• Adding new item to a scene now applies it exactly at the position of the playhead if the playhead is positioned after last item in the scene.
• Added number-of-images preference setting, allowing users to specify how many images should be added to a scene for the prompt builder.
• Combined the automated timing options for scenes containing video clips and scenes containing only images, providing a more consistent and predictable timeline behavior.

• Introduced Lazy Podcaster Assistant — get instant, step-by-step feature guidance and project support right inside the editor.
• Removed the tour cards, they are unnecessary with the introduction of the Lazy Podcaster Assistant.

• Added extensive copy & paste support.
• Added 'Create new Project from a Website' option. You can now quickly build videos tailored specifically to a website for use on the site or in social media posts.
• Added AI integrations for project translation and image generation, plus an AI Assistant for Lazy Podcaster questions and project guidance when a Gemini API key is configured.
• Added a project browser for easier navigation and management of projects.
• Updated the user guide. It was revised to include the latest features and improvements.

• Added multi-language support. You can now create and manage content in multiple languages within a single project.
• Added language translation service connectivity, allowing seamless integration with external translation services.
• Added TTS Narration Manager for quickly and easy updates to TTS Narrations across the entire project for each language
• Resolved an issue where TTS narrations in larger projects were timing out during pre-processing and caused lag during initial play to catch up.

• Duplicating a scene now applies it to all layouts.
• Added 'Always on Top' option for any item within a scene, allowing Text (for example) to remain visible above other items even though the other items appear later in the scene.
• Resolved an issue that caused lag when dragging or resizing short videos within a scene.
• Improved screen-captured video quality for smoother playback and better visual fidelity.
• Added additional customizable fields to the Prompt Builder for even more control when tailoring prompts for specific project types.

• Added 41 new Audio background tracks to the Asset Library, including cinematic, upbeat, and ambient music.
• Added auto-ducking for background music: when narration is playing, the background music volume automatically lowers to keep the narration clear, then returns to normal when the narration ends.
• Improved performance and stability when handling large projects with multiple scenes and assets.

• Added 'Copy to clipboard' button to the Asset Library's right-click menu for images, videos, and audio files. This copies the asset to your clipboard so you can paste it into another project or app.
• Resolved issue where GIF animations could appear to freeze when exported as a video. GIFs now play correctly in exported videos.
• The AI Prompt Generator (for creating new projects) is now customizable, so you can tweak its prompt logic to match your exact specifications.
• Added the 'Ken Burns' presence effect, bringing smooth cinematic panning and zooming to images.
• Optimized GIF animation playback within scenes for smoother, more reliable performance.

• Exporting a scene as an image now offers portrait aspect ratios when the scene is portrait
• Video export now supports MOV files with H.264/AAC encoding at 23.98 and 29.97 fps.

• Applying a voice across a project now reliably updates previously generated narration audio, so every scene uses the selected voice.
• Renaming projects with Save As no longer leaves behind unnecessary temporary files.
• Individual scenes can now be included or skipped independently in each project layout, making it easy to create different aspect ratios, edits, and running times from the same project, such as a full presentation and a shorter explainer.
• Text items created from AI prompts now show the correct label on the timeline.

• Scene duration now appears for each scene on the sidebar.
• Projects can now be accessed from a button on the sidebar.
• Lazy Podcaster Pack Library introduced in this version. Paid licenses now include 50 complete, ready-to-use Lazy Podcaster projects that you can open, edit/remix, and export. All 50 included packs ship with both 16:9 and 9:16 layouts, and you can add more layouts to any project. Additional packs are available through the optional Lazy Podcaster Pack Subscription, which adds 7 new packs each week every Wednesday morning.

• Image import now uses shorter filenames for the imported images, so they are easier to read in the Asset Library and on the whiteboard.
• Find in Asset Library now locates and highlights an asset even when it is on a different page of the library.
• Exported videos now use the saved project filename instead of 'Untitled' when no custom project title has been set.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Long item names and text now stay neatly contained in the right-click menu header, with an ellipsis instead of stretching the menu across the screen.
• Outlined text now has smooth, rounded corners in the editor, animations, and exported videos, eliminating sharp spikes on pointed letters.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• New PDF export: turn all scenes, the current scene, or selected scenes into a polished document using each scene's final design view. Optionally include scene narration and item narration in their authored order, with longer text flowing onto continuation pages. When the PDF is ready, click the saved-file notification to open it.
• Editing text directly on the whiteboard now keeps the item frame visible and resizes it naturally as you type, growing horizontally with wrapping off and vertically with wrapping on.
• Presentation Mode can now use a separate audience display. Choose the monitor and run the project in Auto-play, Presenter-controlled, or Kiosk mode while keeping Lazy Podcaster available on your main screen.
• The new presenter console gives you scene controls, presenter notes, an adjustable Teleprompter, a laser pointer, and a quick way to blank the audience screen without interrupting the presentation.
• New Kiosk mode loops a presentation unattended with an optional delay between loops, a clean fade between runs, locked audience controls, and Escape as the exit key.

• Editing text directly on the whiteboard now keeps the item frame visible and resizes it naturally as you type, growing horizontally with wrapping off and vertically with wrapping on.
• New Animated Travel Route prop: draw a journey directly on the whiteboard, add and reposition stops, choose a smooth or straight path, and animate your own traveler image along the route. Style the route and add optional waypoint markers that stay visible or appear as the traveler reaches them.

• Resizing the floating whiteboard now preserves your current zoom instead of jumping to the active scene's camera view.
• Camera menus now remain readable across packaged and custom app color themes.
• New Context Inspector: select text, shapes, items, multiple items, or scenes to get the controls you need in one compact toolbar, including text formatting, shape styling, alignment and sizing, and common item and scene actions.
• The Context Inspector can be docked above the whiteboard or used as a floating window, and a new top-toolbar button makes it easy to hide and reopen whenever you need it.
• Scene Settings now follows the active scene while it is open, so switching scenes immediately shows the correct scene's options.

• Rare crashes can now recover quickly and automatically when possible, keeping your project safe and getting you back to work. After recovery, Lazy Podcaster can optionally send a diagnostics-only report — never project data — to help us prevent the same problem and make the app more stable.
• Shape gradients now support Linear and Radial styles, with visual controls for angle, center position, and radial size.
• New Lock Position & Size option for whiteboard items: keep an item fixed within its scene while still allowing it to move naturally when the whole scene is repositioned. Locked items are clearly marked with a LOCK pill on their sidebar card.
• Adding a scene to an existing project now opens a template picker, so you can start with an empty scene or choose a built-in scene template instead of always building from scratch.

• New List tool: type a list of items, one per line, and add a lead — bullet, checkbox, empty box, arrow, star, dash, or numbered — then drop the whole list onto the whiteboard as matching text items in one go, left-aligned and evenly spaced down the scene. Open it from any selected text items to edit the list (insert, reorder, tweak) without retyping it.
• New floating Arrange toolbar: select 2+ whiteboard items to align them (left/center/right, top/middle/bottom), distribute or nudge their spacing evenly, match their width or height, or set the same entrance appearance on all of them at once.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Fixed a subtle drift between a World Backdrop image and the scene's items during a camera pan — the backdrop now eases in and out perfectly in step with everything else, instead of appearing to move at a slightly different speed at the start and end of a pan.
• New Shapes tool: draw rectangles, rounded rectangles, ellipses, triangles, diamonds, hexagons, stars, and speech bubbles straight onto the whiteboard — the actual shape previews live as you drag it out. Give each a fill and border with independent color and opacity, set the border width, round the corners, and point a speech bubble's tail at any corner. A shape is selected and ready to move the moment you draw it, and clicking any shape later reopens the panel to adjust everything live. The panel follows your chosen app color scheme.
• New Lock Aspect Ratio toggle for images and shapes: turn it off to stretch an item freely to any proportions, or leave it on to keep the original shape. Unlocked items hold the exact proportions you set everywhere — on the whiteboard, during playback, and in the exported video.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Cleaned up the sidebar scene and item cards: a card's controls no longer fade in and out or shift the card's height as your mouse moves over them — everything now stays in a stable, predictable spot.
• A scene's camera is now a "CAM" pill on the scene card, just like the one on item cards — click it to save the current view as that scene's home.
• Each item card's Play button moved to the left edge of the card, keeping the item's effect pills together on a single tidy row.
• Opening an item's or scene's settings is now a double-click on the card, with the extra actions tucked into the ⋯ (more) menu — fewer buttons crowding each card.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• The timeline's auto-arrange wand now opens a pacing panel: set how long silent items and timing breaks stay on screen, and add a pause after narrated items, then arrange a scene's items to match their narration. Each setting has its own on/off toggle, so you can update just one type of item and leave the rest untouched.
• Watermarks can now sit on a backing plate — a colored panel behind the logo, with its own color and opacity — so a light or white logo stays visible on a white whiteboard. Available for both your default watermark and a project's own watermark.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the project background music to stop after the first scene during playback — it now plays across the entire project as intended.
• Dragging an audio file into the Asset Library now shows a loading spinner on its tile right away, and the file reliably appears on the first drop instead of sometimes needing a second try.
• Splitting an image into pieces now names the pieces using the filename you type in the import window, instead of keeping the original source name.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Fixed video drifting behind the audio when publishing straight to YouTube — the finished upload now stays in sync.
• The plugin library's marketplace Update button no longer stays stuck on "Updating…" after an update; it returns to normal on its own.
• Scene titles can now be longer and no longer get cut off — a long title shows a "…" in the sidebar and appears in full when you hover over it.
• Naming your scenes now saves right away, even before you've added anything to them — so a set of named, empty scenes won't be lost if the app closes.
• You can now drag several selected images from the Asset Library onto the whiteboard at once, and a single Undo removes the whole batch.
• New "Make Same Width" and "Make Same Height" options on the right-click menu resize selected items to match — handy for clean transitions between two graphics.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Fixed props — like embedded videos — getting stuck on screen in exported video when the camera pans between scenes; they now follow the camera along with everything else.
• Publishing to YouTube now uploads an MP4, keeping audio and video in sync on the finished YouTube video (previously some projects could drift and skip).
• Selecting several timeline diamonds and then pressing Play now clears the group properly, so adjusting one diamond afterward no longer moves the others.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Setting an item's camera view is quicker now — a new camera button right on each item card lets you choose how the camera behaves for that item without opening the full menu, and the icon shows the current choice at a glance.
• Simplified the item Camera View options into three clear choices: Inherit (stay where the camera is), Scene Camera (frame the whole scene), and Custom View (a spot you pick).
• Choosing Custom View now saves your current camera position on the spot, so there's no extra step.
• The Item, Scene, and Project menus now have a close (×) button, so you can dismiss them without clicking elsewhere.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• New Live Presentation mode: play your project full-screen and advance one scene at a time on your own cue — click, or press Space, Enter, or the arrow keys to move forward, and go back with the left/up arrows, Backspace, or Page Up. Great for presenting live instead of auto-playing.
• Fixed custom item camera views drifting to the wrong spot after resizing the whiteboard or changing the project's aspect ratio — clicking an item now lands the camera exactly where you set it, at any size.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Exporting a video no longer overwrites a previous export of the same project — exports made on the same day are now numbered in sequence (e.g. "Project (2).mp4"), so you can export the same project at different quality settings without losing a file.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Fixed an issue where pressing Undo (Ctrl+Z) could turn text white; text now keeps its color when undoing.
• New text items no longer balloon to an oversized height when you type a long sentence — longer text now starts at a sensible size that you can resize as needed.
• Sketches with thick strokes are no longer clipped along their edges when placed on the whiteboard.
• The Sketch tool's "Discard Sketch" button no longer clears the folder name, so you can keep drawing into the same folder.
• Scenes with the timeline turned off no longer show out-of-bounds item warnings or an inflated scene duration — item start times only apply when the timeline is enabled.
• Starting a new project no longer leaves phantom scene outlines when group-selecting scenes in the world view.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Text with no entrance animation now wraps correctly in exported video, matching the editor — including custom per-character width and kerning.
• Item opacity on SVG artwork now renders correctly in exported video.
• Refined pen layering so the drawing hand stays cleanly on top as it draws over other artwork.
• Various fixes and refinements.

• Added new animation fonts (Comic Neue, Inter, Nunito, Roboto, and more).
• Improved on-whiteboard text editing and selection.
• Perspective and skew on text now render accurately in exported video, with the pen tracing the transformed letters.
• More reliable pen-drawing sounds across scenes with many items.
• Streamlined the File menu and Export options; Animated GIF export now targets a single scene at web-friendly resolutions.
• Various fixes and refinements.