Articles on: Playback Mode

What is Playback Mode?

Playback Mode is Scriptation's unified way to hear your script, rehearse your lines, and record self-tapes — all from a single mode and a single control bar. It replaces what used to be three separate modes: Read, Rehearse, and Record.

Starting Playback

Touch or click the Playback icon on the Top Toolbar to enter Playback Mode;

✅ TIP: If the Playback icon isn't showing in the Top Toolbar, touch or click the plus sign on the right side to show additional icons. To pin it permanently, see More Icons and Customizing the Top Toolbar.

The annotation tools disappear and Scriptation's Playback control bar appears at the bottom of the screen.

Playback presents your script in a clean, customizable view. Scriptation extracts the text from your script so you can adjust the font type and size, filter out script elements you don't need (like Action Lines or Parentheticals), and either listen to the script read aloud or have it scroll along with you during a performance.

The Playback Control Bar

On the control bar you'll find everything you need to read, rehearse, or record:

Rehearse button (theater masks icon) — opens the Rehearse menu to pick your character and configure rehearsal options (Set up a rehearsal);
Speed slider — adjusts playback speed for both audio readback and silent scrolling (slide left to slow down, right to speed up);
Record toggle — activates your device's camera and recording functions (Record a self-tape);
Sliders icon — opens the Playback Presets popover (Table Read, All On, Rehearsal, Teleprompter, or Custom);
Play / pause / skip controls — start, stop, and navigate playback;
Waveform icon — opens the Voices panel for character voice assignment (basic voices or AI Voices);

Reading Your Script Aloud

For a straightforward read-aloud, choose a preset and press play.

Touch the sliders icon to open the Playback Presets popover;
Choose a preset like Table Read or All On — see Playback Presets for the full list;
Press Play.

✅ TIP: For natural-sounding character voices, pair Playback with AI Voices.

Voices

When you enter Playback, Scriptation automatically assigns the basic offline voices already downloaded on your device to each character, distributing as many different voices as it can. You can press Play and hear a multi-voice readback right away — no setup required.

To fine-tune individual voice assignments, touch the waveform icon on the control bar to open the Voices panel. For the full walkthrough of changing voices, languages, and speaking rates for each character, see How do I use basic voices for Playback?.

✅ TIP: The fastest way to change a single character's voice or line speed mid-session is the character's three-dot menu (⋯) next to their name in the script. It opens a two-option popover: Voice (jumps straight to that character's voice page) and Line speed (adjusts the character's speaking rate).

For a better readback experience:

Download Enhanced or Premium offline voices from Apple — see Are there better Playback voices available? — for the best offline experience;
Upgrade to AI Voices for the most natural-sounding readback overall;
To save your voice assignments for reuse across future scripts, see How do I save and reuse character voices across scripts?.

Playback Settings

To fine-tune your Playback experience, touch the gear icon in the top-right corner of the Playback view to open the Playback Settings tab. From here, you can customize Display options (font type, size, overlay), Auto-Highlight, Rehearse, and Record settings.

For a full walkthrough of every Playback setting, see the Playback section of An Overview of the Settings Menu.

Setting up a Rehearsal

📝 NOTE: Rehearse is an Industry Pro feature.

The Rehearse button (the theater masks icon) on the control bar opens the Rehearse menu, where you can pick the character you're rehearsing as, turn on Auto-Highlight, and configure Cue mode, Line Reminders, and Loop — all in one place.

For the full walkthrough, see How do I set up a rehearsal?.

💡 TIP: Choosing the Rehearsal preset from the sliders icon adjusts what's shown and read on the page (hiding Action Lines and reading only Dialogue) — separate from the Rehearse menu, which picks which character you're rehearsing as. Most rehearsal sessions use both together.

Recording a Self-Tape

📝 NOTE: Record is an Industry Pro feature.

The Record toggle on the control bar activates your device's camera and recording functions. Flip it on, configure your record settings (video preview, camera, slate countdown, record countdown) from the Playback Settings tab, then press the red Record button to start.

For the full walkthrough — including pairing record with rehearsal for a self-tape audition — see How do I record a self-tape audition?.

💡 TIP: Want to record yourself rehearsing a specific character? Use the Rehearse button to pick your character first, then flip the Record toggle on. You'll get a self-tape where Scriptation reads the other characters and pauses for your lines.

Troubleshooting Playback

Playback stops or seems frozen

If a character is selected in the Rehearse menu, Scriptation treats that character's lines as yours and skips them. With Cue mode set to On voice, it then waits for you to speak, which can look like a freeze. To hear the whole script straight through:

Tap the sliders icon and choose Table Read;
Tap the Rehearse button (theater masks) and uncheck any selected characters;
Press Play.

Pages are skipped

Table Read skips Cover Pages. To hear every page, choose All On, or choose Custom and set Cover Pages to View and voice. See What are Playback Presets?

No script text appears

If Playback shows the controls but no text, the PDF is likely flattened and has no text layer to read. Run it through an OCR tool (such as Adobe Acrobat) to add a text layer, then re-import it.

Stuck on "Please Wait — Loading audio"

If this lasts more than a minute, restart your device and run Optimize layers under Settings → Layers (see Scriptation is running slowly or crashing). If it still hangs, use the Send us an email button at the bottom of this page and include a screen recording.

Exiting Playback

To leave Playback Mode and return to annotating, touch the down caret (⌄) in the top-left corner of the screen.

What's Next

What are Playback Presets?
How do I use premium AI Voices for Playback?
How do I save and reuse character voices across scripts?
Are there better Playback voices available?

Updated on: 08/10/2026

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