✦ Summary
Turn a written SOP into a narrated training video with one step per scene, safety lines checked word for word, and an MP4 or SCORM 1.2 file at the end.
How to make an SOP training video from the procedure you already have
This is how to make an SOP training video without filming anyone: cut the procedure down to what an operator does, upload it as the source of truth, check that every step became one scene in the right order, then export an MP4 for the floor screen or a SCORM 1.2 package for your LMS.
It is written for the person who owns the SOP library and has no video team. At the end you have a narrated, illustrated video of one procedure, and a way to update it when the SOP changes.
We use one running example: a packing-line SOP for changing the label roll on a case packer.
Before you start: cut the SOP to what the operator does
A controlled SOP carries a lot that nobody should hear read aloud. Make a copy called "video cut" and edit that, never the controlled document.
- Keep. The purpose in one sentence, the PPE and tools, the numbered steps, every warning and stop condition, and what "done" looks like.
- Cut. The revision table, the approval block, scope and definitions, and cross-references (name the other SOP in one line instead).
- Split. Narration runs at about 150 words a minute. Twelve steps at 25 words each is two minutes. If your SOP has 30 steps, make two or three videos by phase: set up, run, shut down.
Here is our example after the cut:
Changing the label roll on case packer 2. PPE: cut-resistant gloves. 1. Press the red stop button and wait until the conveyor has stopped fully. 2. Open the label guard. 3. Pull the empty core off the spindle. 4. Load the new roll with the label side facing out. 5. Thread the web through the three rollers, following the diagram on the guard. 6. Close the guard and press reset. 7. Run five test cases and check label position. Never open the guard while the conveyor is moving.
If your SOP is a long, messy document, the free SOP to step-by-step outline tool turns it into one card per action with a warning card wherever the source names a hazard. That is a quick way to see how many steps you really have.
If the SOP is a scanned PDF, save or export a text version first. Interlace reads the text in the file, and a scan has none.
Step 1: Upload the SOP in Document mode
Click Create in the left sidebar. In the top right corner of the composer, switch from Prompt to Document. Three source chips appear: File, Presentation and URL. Keep File and click the upload box, which reads "Click to upload a PDF, DOCX, TXT, or MD file".
When the text is read, a Ready chip shows the word count. Click Preview and look at the first lines. Steps that sat in a table sometimes come through as one run-on line, and headers or footers can repeat. If the preview looks wrong, fix the video cut and upload again with Remove. If the chip also says "truncated", the file is longer than one video takes; split it (see the FAQs).
Step 2: Choose "Source of truth"
Under the upload box are two chips. Source of truth means "The script closely follows your document." Reference & context means "Your prompt drives the video; the document adds facts." For a procedure, always pick Source of truth.
The text box below becomes optional. Use it anyway; one or two lines of direction shape the plan more than anything else:
For new packing-line operators. One step per scene, in the SOP's order. Read every warning word for word.
"Closely follows" is not the same as "word for word". The next checks are where you make sure it is.
Step 3: Pick a style, a voice and a length
Click the style button in the row under the text box and hover a style to play its sample. For procedures, two styles do most of the work. Technical Manual is assembly-manual line drawing with numbered callouts, made for SOPs, safety procedures and equipment. Blueprint is precise line drawing on blue, better for systems and engineering flows.
Then pick a calm, clear voice from the voice button, and the narration language next to it. Set the length from your word count, not your hopes: our seven steps and a warning come to about 100 words, so one minute fits with room for a short intro. Use 16:9 for a screen at the line and 9:16 if operators watch on phones.
Leave Review script switched on, and press the arrow button. Compare every style in motion on the styles page if you are unsure.
Step 4: Check the scene plan, one step per scene
Nothing is drawn yet. You see Shape the story before we build it, with the scene count and an estimated length. Each card is one scene: a title and the exact words the narrator will say. The outline on the left lists every scene with its word count and seconds.
Hold the SOP next to the screen and check four things.
- Count. Seven steps should be at least seven scenes. Two steps merged into one scene is the first thing to look for. Split them with Add scene below from the scene's options menu (the three dots), then move the second half of the narration into it.
- Order. Use Move up and Move down in the same menu if a step drifted.
- Warnings. Every warning must read exactly as the SOP says it. If "Never open the guard while the conveyor is moving" became "Be careful around the guard", click into the card and paste the original.
- Numbers and negations. Five test cases, three rollers, "never", "until". These are the words a summary gets wrong.
On the right, What the AI understood shows the audience, the goal and the points it will cover. A wrong audience there explains a wrong tone everywhere. Fix it once with Direct the whole story: type the change and press Ask AI.
The buttons under each card rewrite one scene: Polish, Shorten and Add detail. Be careful with Shorten on a safety step. After any AI edit, Changes shows what moved, and Undo last AI edit puts it back.
When the plan matches the SOP, press Approve and continue.
Step 5: Let it draw, then export MP4 or SCORM 1.2
Interlace draws each scene in your style and records the narration. The cards fill in one by one, then the editor opens.
Click Export at the top right. Under Format, pick one:
- MP4 video. For a screen on the floor, a Teams channel or a shared drive. No tracking.
- SCORM 1.2. For an LMS that should record who finished. A Complete at row appears with Play starts, 80% watched and Fully watched. For an SOP that is part of sign-off on a machine, pick Fully watched.
Set Captions to Burn in if the video plays somewhere loud. You can also download a .srt or .vtt subtitle file. Under Render on, This device builds the file in your browser, and Interlace servers builds it and saves it with the video.
Our SCORM export records completion, not a score. If you want a short quiz scored by the LMS, export the MP4 and wrap it with the free SCORM packager, which takes up to ten multiple choice questions.
When the SOP changes
SOPs get revised, and the video has to follow. You do not need to start again. In the editor, click the scene that changed in the strip under the canvas, then click it again (or press P) to open its settings. Click the narration, paste the new wording, and press Save. Then press Re-record for the voiceover and Redraw for the picture, for that scene only. Version history, in the More menu at the top right, keeps the earlier versions.
Put the SOP number and revision in the video title ("SOP-PK-014 rev C, label roll change") so anyone can tell which version they watched, then export and replace the file in your LMS.
Common mistakes
- Uploading the controlled copy. The revision table and approval block end up narrated.
- Choosing Reference & context for a procedure. It rewrites steps in its own words. Use it for friendly overviews, not for work instructions.
- Picking a length that is too short. A 30-step SOP in one minute loses steps, whatever the tool.
- Approving without reading the warnings. The plan is the only place where changing a line costs nothing.
For the wider view on documents, including policies and decks, read the document-to-video guide for L&D teams. If your procedures live in Word, how to convert a Word document to video covers cleaning the DOCX first. For the whole SOP use case, see SOP to video.
Start with your shortest SOP
Pick a procedure with fewer than ten steps and one real warning, and make that first. You will learn more from checking one plan against one SOP than from any demo. Join Interlace and bring that SOP.