The Ad’s One Price Is a Cap, Not a Bill: What Is Actually Charged, Stage by Stage

Quick answer: When you hand an ad to AI, the button shows a single price. It is the most the ad can cost: the sum of every stage priced at its upper bound. As the ad runs, each stage freezes and charges its own actual price — fewer sheets than the bound, a shorter shot — so the total lands at or below the number you saw. In advanced mode you pay only the first stages up front (photo clean-up and script), and every later button carries its own price like any project. If a stage fails, that stage’s credits are refunded by the usual rules and the retry is quoted on the remaining stages; if a price rises before a stage starts, the ad pauses and asks. Ads are never the free first project.

Still from “Rocket Pup”, an AI short drama generated end-to-end by SceneMixer (7 characters, 1 episode) — Sample: “Rocket Pup” — Feature 3D Animation, 1 episode, produced end-to-end by SceneMixer from the script · watch the episodes

Start an ad and open its progress page: each stage shows its own price as it runs; the sum stays under the one price on the start button.

What the one price is

Each ad stage has a price: reading the photo is free, cleaning it is one sheet, writing the script is a writing charge, the breakdown is a parse, sheets are per image up to a bound, shots are per second by the tier, the final cut is per second. The one price is those at their maximum, added up. Stage list and prices: Ad Options.

The SceneMixer episode editor: asset library on the left, the storyboard in the middle, the video preview on the right, and every segment along the bottom timeline — The one price on the ad start button is the most the whole ad can cost; each stage charges its own actual price.

What is actually charged

Each stage freezes its own price when it starts and settles when it delivers, exactly as the same action would in a drama project. The bound on sheets is an upper limit; an ad with two people and one scene uses fewer. The shots are priced by the real seconds and tier. So the credit history shows several rows for one ad, and their sum is what the ad cost. Reading Your Credit History.

Advanced mode

You pay the photo clean-up and the script up front; then the ad is handed to you as a project and every generate button shows its price. Nothing later is charged until you click it. Hand It to AI or Advanced Mode.

Failures, retries, price changes

A failed stage refunds on the normal rules (provider not reached, content blocked: refunded; delivered: charged). The retry button shows a new quote for the stages still to run. Before each paid stage the ad checks the price against the quote; if it rose (a tier repriced, your discount ended), the ad pauses with a new number to confirm. Price Changed.

Balance

Starting the ad checks that your balance covers the one price; each paid stage re-checks the remaining stages before it starts and pauses if the balance has dropped below them. A paused ad resumes from the same stage after a top-up. Refund Rules.

Stage	Priced as	In the one price
Read the photo	Free	0
Clean the photo	One sheet (0 for screenshots, places and vehicles, unless people have to be removed)	One sheet
Write the script	Writing charge	Writing charge
Break it down	Parse	Parse
Sheets	Per image, actual count	Upper bound
Shots	Per second, real length and tier	Full length
Final cut	Per second	Full length

FAQ

Why did the ad cost less than the one price?

Fewer sheets than the bound, or shorter shots. The one price is a cap.

Can it cost more than the one price?

No. If a stage's price would exceed the quote, the ad pauses and asks first.

Why several rows in my history for one ad?

Each stage is its own charge; the sum is the ad.

Is the first ad free?

No. Ads never use the free first project.

Does regenerating a shot later count against the one price?

No. After the ad is done, regenerations are priced per action like any project.

The number on the button is the ceiling

Stages charge what they use; the total does not go above it.

Make an ad

Updated September 27, 2026