Cost breakdown

AI Video Cost Calculator

Updated September 20, 2026

Quick answer: five operations cost money — analysis, reference images, shot lists, video per second and assembly — and editing text is free. In a worked 8-episode vertical series from a 40,000-character script, video is about nine tenths of the bill and all the text work is about three percent. So the only levers that move the total much are how many seconds you render and at which tier.

Still from “Starfall Command”, an AI short drama generated end-to-end by SceneMixer (7 characters, 1 episode) — Sample: “Starfall Command” — Realistic HD, 1 episode, produced end-to-end by SceneMixer from the script · watch the episodes

Five things cost money, and only one of them is video

Everything in the pipeline is priced per unit of work, and the bill for a project is the sum of five line items. Nothing is a subscription-gated feature with a hidden meter; nothing is billed by seat or by month unless you choose a plan for the discount.

The five billable operations
Operation	Billed by	Rate
Script analysis	Script length, once per project	4 credits per 1,000 characters (3,333 characters = one unit for alphabetic scripts)
Reference images	Per image	7 credits
Shot lists	Per episode, by that episode's share of the script	1 credit per 100 characters
Video	Per second of output, by model tier	from 10 credits/second
Assembly	Per second of finished episode	1 credit/second

Editing text — outlines, shot scripts, character descriptions, names — is free. Re-generating anything costs the same as generating it the first time, because it is the same work.

A real project, itemised

An 8-episode vertical series from a 40,000-character English script, 90 seconds an episode, on the cheapest video tier:

Worked example: 8 × 90-second episodes
Analysis	36 credits
Shot lists, 8 episodes	90 credits
Video, 720 seconds	9,000 credits
Assembly, 720 seconds	900 credits
Total	10,026 credits ≈ $62

Two things to read off that table. Video is roughly nine tenths of it, so the only lever that matters much is how many seconds you render and at which tier. And the text work — the part that decides whether the series is any good — is about three percent, which is why iterating on outlines and shot lists before rendering is not just good practice but good arithmetic.

The levers, in order of how much they move the bill

Seconds rendered. Linear and dominant. A 60-second episode costs two thirds of a 90-second one.
Video tier. The per-second rate spans $0.06 to $0.47 per second. 480P is the default and is genuinely fine on a phone; the sharper tiers cost what they cost.
Re-renders. Every regeneration is a full charge. Preview one segment before committing an episode — that is what the free preview is for.
Credit price per pack. Larger packs carry bonus credits, so the effective price per credit ranges across $0.0090–0.0096.
Membership discount. 5 include a monthly credit allowance and a standing discount on purchases. Total discount is capped at 50% by design.
Script length. Affects analysis and shot lists only — a few percent of the total. Alphabetic scripts count 3,333 characters as a thousand, which is the cost-aligned rate rather than a promotion.

What you can try without paying

New accounts get 50 credits. The first project additionally includes 15 free reference images — five each for characters, locations and props — and the first episode's shot list free. There is one free video preview of up to 5 seconds. That is enough to run a real script through analysis, see your cast, read a shot list and watch a few seconds of rendered output before spending anything.

How the money is actually handled

Credits are frozen, then spent. Submitting a job reserves its cost; success converts the reservation into a charge, and a confirmed upstream failure returns it.
Delivery failures are not charged. If a job produced nothing usable on our side, the reservation is held for review rather than spent.
Every movement is in a ledger. The credits panel shows each freeze, charge and refund with its job.
Price shown is price charged. Every button's label comes from the same quote endpoint the charge uses, so the number on the button is the number billed.

What it will not do

Quote a project before analysis. Shot-list and video costs depend on how the script actually divides. Analysis is quoted up front from the text you paste.
Bill by the month for generation. Memberships give allowance and discount; generation is always per unit of work.
Refund a delivered render you dislike. The model ran and the upstream cost was incurred. Preview first.
Charge for deleting things. Deleting projects and assets is free; note that deleting a target mid-generation still costs the generation, because the model already ran.

Current rates

Everything above is pulled from the live rate table, so it is current as of this page load. The pricing page lists packs, tiers and per-tier video rates in full; micro drama economics works through the per-episode arithmetic for a vertical series.

Languages

Native dialogue in 15 languages

Every series below was produced by the same pipeline with the cast speaking that language natively: the interface, the working documents and the spoken lines are all in one language, and nothing is dubbed. Open one to hear it.

See all 15 languages

Frequently asked questions

What dominates the cost of a series?

Video, by roughly nine to one. In an 8×90-second worked example, rendering and assembly are about 9,000 and 900 credits against 36 for analysis and 90 for all eight shot lists. Seconds rendered and the video tier are the only big levers.

Is editing free?

Yes. Outlines, shot scripts, character and prop descriptions, names — all free to change as often as you like. Only generating and re-generating costs credits.

Does a re-render cost full price?

Yes, because it is the same amount of upstream work. This is why the free preview exists: check one segment before committing a whole episode.

Can I estimate a project before uploading the script?

Only roughly, because shot-list and video costs depend on how your script divides into episodes. Paste the script and analysis is quoted exactly before you start it; from there the episode list tells you the rest.

What do memberships change?

They add a monthly credit allowance and a standing discount on purchases, capped in total at 50%. Generation is still billed per unit of work — there is no unlimited plan.

Run the numbers on your own script

Analysis is quoted exactly before it starts, from the text you paste.

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