One episode
"It's AI, so it's quick" is the assumption that breaks most AI drama schedules. A shot can take seconds to generate and a long time to get right: the face drifts, the hands go strange, the light doesn't match the shot before. The re-rolls are where the hours go.
The calculator counts them. Use your own figures from the last episode you made, not your hopes for the next one.
Where the time usually goes, and what to change
- Faces talking to camera. The hardest shots to keep consistent. Our no-lip-sync approach uses over-the-shoulder framing, hands, objects and landscapes instead.
- Prompts written from scratch. Keep a character sheet and paste the same description every time.
- Light that doesn't match between cuts. Decide the time of day for each scene before generating anything.
The over-the-shoulder directing guide and character consistency bible on this site go into each of these.
Questions people ask
Should I count rendering time when I'm not at the computer?
Only if you're waiting and can't do anything else. If you edit while a batch renders, leave it out.
What's a good number of hours per episode?
There isn't one. The useful number is the one that fits the time you actually have every week, without burning out.
Keep going
Before you hit publish
Ten-minute pre-publish checklist for AI drama episodes, including AI disclosure.
Twelve things to check on a thumbnail and title
Our 12-point house check for story-channel thumbnails and titles.
Will they click 'next episode'?
Test your planned episode ending and get the one change most likely to strengthen it.
