The world's first Director's DCC is here.
CiGYL is a browser-based Preproduction Studio for Film & Games — the missing layer between your storyboard and your 3D engine. A DCC built for directors, not modelers.
Wanna make a movie or game — but don't know where to start?
CiGYL takes you from idea to playable 3D scene. No 3D skills, no AI know-how, no pipeline needed.
Plan · Generate · Assemble · Collaborate
Sync to Blender & Unreal Engine 5 WIP
No install · No credit card · Runs entirely in your browser
Characters, Locations & Storyboard
Your single source of truth for characters, locations and storyboard. Generate reference sheets from one illustration, auto-split a storyboard sheet into shots, and set pacing on a 2D timeline — before you open a 3D view.
Bring Your Own Key
No AI subscription. Add your own Gemini, Claude or OpenAI key — it stays in your browser, and the AI runs client-side. You pay the provider directly, in cents. Every AI feature is optional.
Reconstruct the Set
Turn a photo or a rough sketch into a persistent 3D proxy environment, right in the browser — no manual box-modeling. Each set is tied to its Location, so it stays consistent across shots, and you can save several states (day, night, before, after) and switch between them in one click.
Populate the Set
The fast lane for scenery. Generate high-quality 3D geometry from a 2D concept — or upload your own props, set pieces and background assets — with direct control over pivots and scale. Everything drops straight into the Scene Generator, no administrative overhead.
Stage Every Shot
Drop a storyboard frame onto your set and CiGYL places the character proxies and matches the camera to the framing with real focal lengths. Every camera move and actor position is saved per shot.
Create Your Characters
Generate detailed 3D characters and props from a 2D concept, or upload your own models. Every mesh stays permanently tied to its character, ready to rig and drop into a scene.
Rig in the Browser
Bind a clean animation skeleton to any character without leaving the browser — no manual weight painting. Rigs stay linked to the character and travel all the way to Blender and Unreal.
Relight Any Image
Generate depth maps and object masks from a flat image, then place and animate light sources over it. Test lighting ideas in seconds and export the result.
Read a Reference Photo
A standalone tool that analyzes a single reference photo to extract its real focal length, field of view and spatial layout — perfect for matching a camera to a look.
Extract a 3D Pose
A standalone tool that pulls a full 3D body pose — 33 landmarks — from any image or phone snap, right in the browser. Use it on its own or to pose characters in your shots.
Send Scenes to Blender & Unreal Engine 5
When your scene is ready, CiGYL pushes the whole thing — cameras, timings, poses and rigged meshes — straight into Blender or Unreal Engine 5, with shot folders and naming created for you. Editing timelines export to DaVinci Resolve, and finished renders swap in for your proxies automatically. A full two-way sync — changes in the engine flowing back to the browser — is planned on the roadmap.
See CiGYL in Action
A quick, ~10-minute walkthrough — not a tutorial. See the whole loop back to back: characters & storyboard in the Hub, the 3D reconstruction in Scene Generator, populating the set with the Mesh Generator, rigging in Rig Master, and the DCC Bridge to Blender & Unreal Engine 5.
No More Data Hustle. Focus on Your Creativity.
Pre-production for solo artists, indies and small teams is usually a mess of scattered tools.
CiGYL clears out the roadblocks so you can just make your movie or game.
End the Data Hustle & Tool Chaos
Storytelling, image generation, 3D scene creation, character creation, pose extraction, rigging, and the bridge to Blender, Unreal & DaVinci — combined into a single app. No more uploading, downloading, renaming assets, or hunting down folders.
A Fast, Gentle Entry into 3D
Blender or Unreal can feel overwhelming for newcomers. CiGYL is straightforward and 100% browser-based — no deep modeling skills required. Sketch out an idea from anywhere and load it straight into your engine later.
Smart Storytelling Support
Not everyone is a born writer. CiGYL offers AI support for synopses, characters, locations and storyboards that are easy to tweak — or give it a topic and get a ready narrative in seconds.
Real Prompt Management
Pick your visual style and genre once — every image in your storyboard matches seamlessly after that. No API key yet? Edit or copy any prompt to use in an external AI tool instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CiGYL really free?
Yes — accounts created during the beta get completely free lifetime access. No credit card, no subscription. Everything that's in the beta stays free forever, including updates. Cloud features are planned down the line and will cost a little, but they'll be entirely optional.
Do I need to install anything?
No. CiGYL runs entirely in your browser, on any OS. The only optional installs are the Blender & Unreal add-ons that connect CiGYL to your DCC. (More DCCs will follow once the Blender & Unreal integrations are production-ready.)
Do I need an AI API key?
No. AI is an optional accelerator. You can write your own descriptions and upload your own images without any key. For AI features, add your own key (BYOK) and pay the provider directly.
Is CiGYL a browser-based DCC?
Yes — CiGYL is a browser-based DCC that runs 100% in your browser, on any OS, with nothing to install. It's built for directors and pre-production rather than a full replacement for a desktop DCC like Blender or Maya.
You can storyboard, build and light 3D scenes, rig and pose characters, then send everything out to your engine via the Blender & Unreal Engine 5 Bridge. The only optional installs are the Blender & Unreal add-ons. (See the Bridge questions below for the current status.)
Can I build 3D worlds in the browser?
Yes — CiGYL lets you build worlds in the browser with no desktop software. Its Scene Generator is an AI scene generator that turns a photo or rough sketch into a persistent 3D proxy environment, which you populate with AI-generated or uploaded props and light — all as a browser 3D workflow that runs on any OS. Each set stays tied to its Location so it's consistent across every shot, and you can later sync it out to Blender or Unreal Engine 5.
Can I turn a 2D image into a 3D model?
Yes. CiGYL's Mesh Generator is an AI mesh generator that turns a single 2D concept or reference image into 3D geometry, right in the browser — built for props, set pieces and background assets. You stay in control of every asset: tweak pivots, scale and quality, and decide which models are worth a high-quality generation — so you only spend on the assets that matter (BYOK, cents per model). Once a mesh is ready, you place it in your set with the Scene Generator. You can also upload and manage your own meshes.
Can I rig a character in the browser?
Yes. CiGYL's Rig Master binds a clean animation skeleton to any character without leaving the browser — no manual weight painting. The skeleton is Unreal Mannequin ready out of the box and comes with a Control Rig and automatic retargeting. The rig stays linked to the character and travels all the way to Blender and Unreal Engine 5.
Is CiGYL an AI-powered DCC / AI 3D tool / 3D AI software?
Yes — that's exactly what CiGYL is. It's an AI-powered DCC that helps with storyboards, reference sheets, 3D modeling and relighting — an AI 3D software you can lean on as much or as little as you like. Every feature is optional and BYOK: bring your own key, pay the provider directly in cents, and you can do everything by hand without any AI at all.
Which software does the DCC Bridge connect to? WIP
Blender and Unreal Engine 5, through CiGYL's Unreal Blender bridge (together with Pose-X & Stage-X). It carries your full scene — proxy sets, assets, shots, poses and FOV-exact cameras — from the browser straight into your engine. Honest status: the Bridge is currently one-way (browser → engine) and being stabilized alongside the new Scene Generator. A full two-way sync — changes in the engine flowing back to the browser — is planned and on the roadmap.
Can I sync Blender to Unreal Engine 5, or use CiGYL as an Unreal ↔ Blender bridge? WIP
Yes — that's what the DCC Bridge is built for. Today it's a one-way bridge: CiGYL pushes your scene from the browser straight into Blender or Unreal Engine 5 — so instead of moving files from Blender to Unreal (or Unreal to Blender) by hand, both engines get the same set, cameras and poses from one source. The full two-way sync, with changes in the engine flowing back to the browser, is in development and on the roadmap.
What is Stage-X?
A standalone tool that analyzes a single reference photo to extract its real focal length, field of view and spatial layout — useful for matching cameras to a look.
What is Pose-X?
A standalone tool that extracts a full 3D body pose (33 landmarks) from any image or phone photo — directly in your browser. Use it on its own or to pose characters in your shots.
Can I match a camera to a storyboard shot?
Yes. Drop a storyboard frame onto your 3D set and CiGYL's Shot Generator places the character proxies and matches the camera to the framing with real focal lengths. Every camera move and actor position is saved per shot — the core of browser-based previs.
Can I relight a photo or change an image's lighting?
Yes. CiGYL's ReLight generates depth maps and object masks from a flat image, then lets you place and animate light sources over it — test lighting ideas in seconds and export the result, all in the browser.
Is CiGYL a free storyboarding tool?
Yes. CiGYL includes a free storyboarding tool that runs entirely in your browser — no install, no subscription. It's designed to be an easy storyboarding tool for people who aren't professional artists: sketch or describe a scene, auto-split a storyboard sheet into individual shots, and set your pacing on a timeline. You can export professional storyboard PDFs with one click, and accounts created during the beta stay free for life.
Can I export my storyboard as PDF?
Yes. Export professional PDFs — storyboard sheets, character sheets and location sheets — with one click.
Where is my data stored?
Everything is stored locally, on your own machine — your projects are never uploaded to any server. You just pick a folder on your hard drive and everything lives there. You can even drop that folder into your cloud drive and share it, so others can open your project.
Does CiGYL support collaborative work?
Not yet — but it's on the way. Real-time collaboration, so several people can work on the same project at once, is one of the major next steps. Stay tuned.
Can I use CiGYL for commercial projects?
Yes. Whatever you create is yours — use it freely, including in commercial productions.
What's Coming Next
Here's what's next — roughly in the order we're building it.
Full DCC Sync — Blender & Unreal
The big one: a two-way Bridge that carries your entire 3D scene — proxy sets, high-quality assets, shots, poses and cameras — straight into Blender and Unreal Engine 5, with FOV-exact cameras, metric transforms and every change flowing back in real time. In active development.
Cloud Save & Collaboration
Save your projects to the cloud and work on the same scene together in real time. Open your work from any device — your storyboard always with you, always up to date.
AI Video Generation
Turn your shots and storyboard frames into AI-generated video clips, right inside the timeline — a quick way to feel out motion and pacing.
Style Board
Feed reference images for visual style, camera, lighting and character look, and CiGYL steers every AI generation to match your film's aesthetic — consistently, across the whole project.
More AI Models
A growing roster of text, image and 3D-mesh providers, so you can pick the best model for each task — always through your own keys (BYOK).
Relation Board
A visual narrative graph and timeline editor — map character relationships, story arcs and location states across acts on a single canvas. Built for stories of any complexity.
The developer behind CiGYL
I'm André Graf, a technical artist and pipeline developer based in Hamburg, and I'm building CiGYL.
For the past several years I've worked inside virtual production studios and 3D pipelines — most recently at DOCK11, a virtual production studio built around real-time, greenscreen-based hybrid productions, and before that at Since Idea across dozens of client projects spanning games, architecture visualization, and film. My job, in every version of it, has been the same: take whatever a director, artist, or producer needs to make, and build the pipeline that gets it there without breaking under revisions.
Somewhere along the way I got tired of watching the same problem repeat itself. A storyboard gets drawn. Then someone spends hours or days manually rebuilding it in Unreal or Blender — placing cameras, matching lenses, blocking scenes by hand — before anyone can actually judge whether the shot works. Every note from the director means doing it again. I've built internal tools to shrink that gap before; CiGYL is what happens when I stop patching it project by project and just build the bridge properly.
CiGYL is a solo project. I design the architecture and make every product decision myself, and I build it with AI-assisted development — which is also why CiGYL's own philosophy is “AI as accelerator, never as requirement.” Every AI-powered feature in the app can be skipped entirely in favor of doing it by hand, because that's exactly how I think tools like this should work: useful when you want the speed, invisible when you don't.
CiGYL is currently in open beta, free to use, with a bring-your-own-key model so there's no subscription and no central server cost standing between you and the tool. I'm building it in the open, in public, one working module at a time — and I read every bit of feedback that comes through Discord myself.
If you make films, games, or previz and you've felt this friction too, I'd genuinely like to hear about it.
And if you'd like to support the project: follow along below.
A like or subscription on YouTube genuinely helps more than you'd think.
It's just me building this, so every bit counts. 🙏