You don't need to know how to edit, and you don't need to know AI prompting. Walk through this once and you'll have your first film in about 30 minutes.
Fastest route: five steps to a finished film
1. Start a project — sidebar "Short Film" → top right "New project".
2. Write the script — type straight onto the page at stage ① "Script", one paragraph per line. Too much effort? Put one line in the box at the top — for example "Taipei streets late at night, a delivery rider finds a photo that shouldn't exist" — and press "Write the script with AI".
3. Split into segments — go to stage ②, press "Pick a style · generate the breakdown", and choose a director style. The AI cuts the script into segments; each one becomes a video later. About 30 seconds.
4. Generate the art — go to stage ③ "Art" and press "Generate all". Images for characters, scenes and props are generated and carried into the shoot automatically. Don't skip this — no images means no reference, and the people won't look right.
5. Shoot — go to stage ④, pick a segment on the left, press "Generate" on the right. The button says how many credits this one costs. Wait 1–3 minutes; you can close the window and it updates itself.
Once every segment is filmed, press "Download assets" at the bottom to take it all away.
What each stage is for
| Stage | What you do here |
|---|---|
| ① Script | Write the story |
| ② Master score (or Breakdown) | Cut the story into segments |
| ③ Art | Generate images for characters, scenes and props |
| ④ Shoot | Generate each segment, pick the best take, download |
The small text on the progress bar shows each stage's progress (e.g. "8 segments", "5/7"), and a green tick means that stage has something in it. Tap to jump between them.
Stage ② has two modes — pick one first
Entering the stage shows a "Pick the video engine first" card. That choice decides what the whole stage looks like:
| Engine | Max per segment | This stage becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.0 | 15 seconds | Breakdown — each segment is cut further into shots |
| Seedance 2.5 | 30 seconds | Master score — one segment is one whole scene, and segments can be chained |
⚠️ New projects default to 2.0. For the master score, tap Seedance 2.5 on the card — or start from "Paste a shot list to import" and choose "assemble a 2.5 master score".
Switching engines only affects the next breakdown; segments already broken out are not rewritten.
Choosing 2.0: the breakdown
Press "Pick a style · generate the breakdown" and choose a director. Each card is one segment, with its shots listed inside:
0-8s wide, eye level, slow push in. Two dragons circling in stardust…
8-15s medium, eye level, static. The beast appears without warning…
Tap in to change anything. If it isn't right, press "Regenerate the breakdown" or "Re-break with another director".
⚠️ Re-breaking overwrites anything you edited by hand. Press "Duplicate project" at the top to back up first.
Choosing 2.5: the master score
Press "Break the script into a master score". Each card is one complete scene, and the card mainly holds:
- The segment body — what happens in this scene. Typing
@brings up character and scene names. - Duration — tap the number to change it.
- ⛓ Independent start / continues from the previous — see below.
- Move up / move down / insert / delete.
The horizontal "score bar" at the top gives each segment one cell, its width proportional to the duration, so the shape of the film is visible at a glance.
⛓ Chaining two segments: tap the ⛓ on a segment card to switch it to "continues from the previous", and it films on from where the previous one ended, with no cut. A run of chained segments is a "chain", and one chain tops out at 180 seconds; go over and it turns red — switch a segment in the middle back to "independent start".
Stage ④: using the shoot page
Three panels: segment list on the left / preview in the middle / generator box on the right.
Write the prompt — the box on the right, describing what this segment shoots. Two buttons you'll use constantly:
- ✨ Refine with AI — rewrites a rough description into a proper prompt. The result is saved as a take, and you can switch between "Original / Take 1 / Take 2".
- @ — inserts a character, scene or prop name. Tapping the pills under the box inserts them too.
Adjust the settings — expand the parameter row: model / quality / ratio / duration. The duration limit follows the engine (2.0 up to 15 seconds, 2.5 up to 30).
Press generate — the button says what this one costs, and what it says is what you pay. If it's greyed out, the reason is written right beside it.
Pick a take — you can shoot a segment as many times as you like. A row of v1 v2 v3 sits above the video; tap to switch, and the one with ★ is the main version (used for downloads and the full preview). To change it, press "Set as main ★".
Watch the whole thing — "▶ Full preview" at the top plays the finished segments back to back.
Download — a single segment from the download control on the video; the whole package from "Download assets" (only offered once every segment is filmed).
Letting the system film it for you
If you'd rather not click through segment by segment, the bottom of the shoot page has "Film it automatically". Pressing it quotes you first, for example:
6 rounds, an estimated 4,226 credits. On confirmation, independent segments go out in parallel and ⛓ segments follow on automatically as the previous one finishes. You can stop at any point.
Credits are only spent when you press "Shoot"; "Cancel" does nothing at all. You can stop it halfway, and pick it up again later.
On 2.5 projects there is also a "🎬 Direct round by round" button — that turns automation off and puts you back in control segment by segment.
Where things are
A feature you can't find is worse than a feature that isn't good, so here they are.
| What you want to do | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Start a new short film | Sidebar "Short Film" → top right "New project" |
| Import a shot list you already have | "Paste a shot list to import" on the Short Film page |
| Start from a ready-made template | The "Templates · one-click start" row on the Short Film page |
| Switch the video engine | The "Pick the video engine first" card at stage ② |
| Generate character / scene / prop images | "Generate all" at stage ③ |
| Film the whole thing in one go | "Film it automatically" at the bottom of the shoot page |
| Watch what you have so far | "▶ Full preview" at the top of the shoot page |
| Download the result | "Download assets" on the shoot page |
Beyond the basics
Skip all of this if you don't need it; come back when you do.
- ⚓ Staging (reference area on the shoot page) — the AI often doesn't know where people should stand in a scene. This composites a still with the positions fixed first, then starts the video from it. Paid plans only.
- 🎬 3D director's console (bottom of the master score stage) — block movement and camera positions on an overhead plan with white-box models. Open it on a computer; phones aren't wide enough.
- 📍 Spatial map (the location pill on a segment card) — draw a venue's landmarks, axis and light sources; every segment in that location shares it.
- Reference images / reference audio (reference area on the shoot page) — specify by hand which images this segment references, up to 6; audio can drive lip sync or catch a track's rhythm.
- First and last frame (generation settings) — turn it on and reference image #1 becomes the video's first frame, #2 the last.
- Videos waiting to be filed (top of the shoot page) — after deleting or re-breaking segments, previously filmed videos collect here; press "Sort" to put them back on any segment.
Credits and failures
- Video generation needs Aperçu or above. On the free plan, try "Quick Shoot" first to get a feel for it.
- What the generate button says is what you pay. Your balance is always visible at the bottom of the sidebar.
- Failures refund automatically — nothing to claim.
- A character got blocked — if the failure message mentions real-person detection, a "Verify character · free" control appears on the video card; verify and regenerate. Only AI-generated portraits are accepted; photos of real people are not supported.
Common questions
I picked 30 seconds but only got 15.
The model is Seedance 2.0, which tops out at 15 seconds. Switch to 2.5 and shoot again.
I switched engines but the old segments didn't change.
The engine only affects the next breakdown. To apply it, re-break (which overwrites everything — back up first).
My filmed videos vanished after re-breaking.
They didn't. Segments whose titles didn't change are reconnected automatically; anything that couldn't be is in the "waiting to be filed" area on the shoot page, ready to be put back by hand.
A chained segment won't generate.
Two possibilities: the model isn't Seedance 2.5 (only it supports chaining), or the previous segment hasn't produced a finished video yet. The button tells you which.
The person on screen doesn't look like the character card.
First check that all the character images at stage ③ finished generating. If it still looks wrong, add that character image by hand under "Reference images" on the shoot page, and name it in the prompt with @CharacterName.
Share a finished film from the Screening Room with "Submit my work". If you want a vertical series instead, see “The Short Drama Shoot Handbook”.