Create an AI Video: Your First 30 Minutes
Try it: set a timer when you press Get Started, note the minute each of the six checkpoints below appears on your screen, and compare. A busy hour stretches the waits; the order never changes.
The half hour, checkpoint by checkpoint
| Minutes | You do | The site does | It costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Pick a tab. For a story, paste a page; for an idea, type one line on AI Create and choose the Mini length. Then set up the project: name, three styles (or Let AI choose), 9:16 or 16:9 | On AI Create, writes a script from your line | The writing, priced by length and shown on the button, if you started from a line |
| 5–10 | Press Next. Leave the page if you like; read the summary at Script Parsed | Reads the text: finds characters, scenes and props, splits episodes, shapes the style. A few minutes | 4 credits per 1,000 characters |
| 10–16 | Step 2: read each description, fix any that is wrong, generate the pictures | Draws the cast. About a minute and a half a picture, 3 at a time on a free account | The first 15 pictures on an account are free |
| 16–22 | Step 3: press Parse Storyboard on episode 1, then read every shot and fix the text | Cuts the episode into segments of three to five shots. A few minutes | Free on your first drama; editing is always free |
| 22–26 | Open the editor and press Generate a free preview | Makes about 5 seconds of one shot, from your own cast, at the lowest tier | Nothing. One per account |
| 26–30 | Leave the tier on the default, press Generate on segment 1 | Holds the credits and starts the model. Typically ten to twenty minutes | 10 credits a second, held, spent when the clip arrives |
The sums behind the windows are the product’s own timings added up, not a promise. As an example, ten setup pictures at three at a time make four rounds of about a minute and a half, so roughly six minutes; a story with a smaller cast is quicker. While the script is being read · Generate the storyboard for an episode · The free preview.
Two things you cannot change once you press Next
The visual style shapes every picture and every video, so it is locked when you continue past step 1. The aspect ratio is fixed too: 16:9 landscape by default, 9:16 for a vertical feed. If you want the same story in the other shape, start a new project with the same script; the cast can come across from the asset library. Everything else in the first half hour can be edited later: names, descriptions, pictures, the storyboard text, and the language the characters speak. Choosing visual style settings · Vertical or landscape.
What to do while the minutes pass
- During the read: nothing. You can browse elsewhere; a pill in the corner holds the progress and the project moves on by itself.
- During the pictures: read the descriptions of the characters you have not drawn yet. A wrong age or an outfit that does not match the story is a free edit now.
- During the storyboard: write the brief for your second video. The cast and the storyboard of the first are what teach you how to write it.
- During the first segment: read the next segment’s text and check that each shot says who is in it with an @ chip, because a shot that names nobody gives the model nothing to hold.
What the first half hour costs
If you paste your own page, the only charge is the reading, 4 credits per 1,000 characters, where 3,333 characters of English count as 1,000. If you start from a line, add the writing, which is priced by the length you pick. The signup gift is 50 credits. Free in the first half hour: the first 15 setup pictures, episode 1’s storyboard on your first drama, one preview of up to 5 seconds, every edit to text, and switching between takes. Video is the first thing that is charged, from the first second: 10 credits a second on the default tier. What you get for free.
The four first-time mistakes
- Starting every segment at once. Shoot segment 1, check the faces and the room, then use Generate all. Six segments made from a wrong first shot are six regenerations.
- Choosing the Long script length when a test is what you need. A Mini line costs little and teaches the whole path.
- Picking the style in a hurry. It is the one thing you cannot edit later. Open a sample project in the style you are considering first; each sample is labelled with its style.
- Regenerating the storyboard to fix a line. That discards the finished video in the episode. Edit the line instead, which costs nothing. What you lose.
If you only have ten minutes
Do minutes 0 to 10 and stop. The project card on the home page says Step 1/3 or 2/3 and reopens exactly where you were. Come back after the cast is drawn, which is the part that needs your eyes, and do the rest in a second sitting. Project cards. If you want the five-step method rather than the clock, How to create an AI video has it.
Make it in SceneMixer, start to finish
- Script: paste your own on Upload Script, or write a one-line brief in AI Create and let it draft the episodes.
- Step 1: Type Short Drama; Scene Style American Small Town; Costume Style Soft Everyday; Visual Style Realistic HD; Target Region; dialogue language; 9:16 Portrait. Then read the script.
- Step 2: the two neighbours with a description each; the porch and the kitchen as locations; the casserole dish as a prop. The first 15 setup images on an account are free.
- Storyboard: generate episode 1 first (free on your first drama) and read it before you render anything. One place per segment.
- Video: render on the default tier at 10 credits a second, fix single shots instead of whole episodes, then put the episode together and post.
| Checkpoint | What you hold | What you have spent |
|---|---|---|
| Minute 10 | A summary, an episode list, and a cast, places and props in words | The reading fee |
| Minute 16 | The cast drawn | Nothing, within the first 15 pictures |
| Minute 22 | Episode 1’s storyboard, editable | Nothing, on your first drama |
| Minute 26 | A preview of about 5 seconds, from your own cast | Nothing |
| Minutes 40–50 | The first finished segment | 10 credits a second for its seconds |
FAQ
How long does it take to create an AI video?
Starting takes about 30 minutes: a brief, a reading, a cast and a storyboard. The first finished segment arrives around minute 40 to 50, because one segment typically takes ten to twenty minutes.
How long does the reading take?
A few minutes for a typical script, longer in proportion for a long one. You can leave the page and the project moves on by itself.
Can I make an AI video in 30 minutes?
You can have everything except the video in 30 minutes: cast, storyboard and a five-second preview. A finished 15-second segment takes ten to twenty minutes more.
What does the first half hour cost?
Only the reading fee if you paste your own page, plus the writing fee if you start from one line. The first setup pictures, the first storyboard and one short preview are free.
What cannot be changed after step 1?
The visual style and the aspect ratio. Names, descriptions, pictures, the storyboard text and the dialogue language can all be edited later.
What should I do while it generates?
Read the next descriptions and storyboard text, and write your next brief. Editing text costs nothing, and you can close the page without losing the work.
Should I generate everything at once?
Not the first time. Generate one segment, check the faces, the room and the line, and then start the rest.
Can I stop after ten minutes and come back?
Yes. The project card shows how far you got and reopens at that step.
Start the clock
One line or one page, and a cast on screen within the first quarter hour.
Updated November 2, 2026