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Getting Started

This guide takes you through your first previewable, reversible, exportable AI video project on the unified platform. Regular users do not install a server or configure third-party API keys; the operator provides identity, model capabilities, task resources, and data services.

What you will complete​

  1. Register and sign in with a unified platform account.
  2. Start a Zai conversation from an idea, long text, novel/screenplay attachment, or product brief.
  3. Choose source handling, a content mode, and a video generation route.
  4. Review the creative proposal, script, assets, and shots before authorizing production.
  5. Track tasks, recover interrupted work, rerun selected work, and activate a new version.
  6. Preview and export video, subtitles, audio, or a project package.

Time and credits​

  • Video time depends on shot count, the platform queue, and the selected model.
  • Image, video, text, and TTS work consumes account credits; current plans and usage are shown in the account center.
  • Start with a small sample and 2–4 shots to validate style, route, and review criteria.

1. Register and enter the workspace​

1.1 Sign in​

Open the platform entry point and register or sign in. Registration uses an email verification code and a compliant password. The account center manages profile details, password resets, and active sessions.

ZaiDrama no longer asks regular users to create an instance-specific administrator account.

1.2 Account services​

The account center shows your subscription, credits, and usage. The rewards center provides platform activities such as daily login rewards. Rules are defined by the platform and are not configured inside a project.

2. Start from a home conversation​

2.1 Provide a creative goal​

Open Zai on the home page and provide an idea, novel, screenplay, product brief, source file, image attachment, or long text. Supported source files include .txt, .md, .docx, .epub, and .pdf.

Sources can remain in a temporary draft first. The platform creates a real project and persists the source only after you send a creative message and confirm how it should be handled. Large text is persisted before extraction, summarization, normalization, or reference-only processing.

2.2 Choose source handling​

  • Extract and analyze: identify characters, scenes, props, plot, and usable chapters.
  • Summarize before creating: review a summary before moving into a creative proposal.
  • Normalize the original: preserve screenplay dialogue and narration while adding production structure.
  • Use as reference only: keep the source searchable without immediately creating structured content.

3. Confirm the project proposal​

3.1 Content mode​

  • drama: character, scene, and dialogue-driven episodes or narrative shorts.
  • narration: narration- and visual-driven storytelling videos.
  • ad: product, benefit, and call-to-action focused ads or shorts.

3.2 Generation route​

  • storyboard: generate storyboard images before video; grid_storyboard is an optional project flag.
  • reference_video: generate video directly from character, scene, prop, or product reference assets.

The generation route is immutable after project creation. Grid is a storyboard option, not a third route.

3.3 Proposal gate​

Zai summarizes intent, source handling, mode, target duration, and the initial production scope. Confirming the proposal creates the project; you can revise or cancel before that point without starting full production.

4. Review scripts and assets​

4.1 Script preprocessing and sources​

Drama and narration projects run source analysis, script preprocessing, and quality checks first. The source page groups the original manuscript, episode sources, and formal screenplay. The structured viewer shows scenes, segments, shots, durations, and referenced assets; failed processing can be retried independently.

4.2 Characters, scenes, and props​

Review definitions before batch generation. Character cards lock identity traits and provide front, side, back, and head-and-shoulders views. Regenerate one view or the full set, or restore a prior definition from history. The global asset library supports search, paging, reuse, and project association. Definition changes never silently overwrite existing media.

4.3 Storyboards and shots​

Review shot order, duration, dialogue/narration, referenced assets, first/last frames, and prompts on the timeline. Storyboard projects need a storyboard image; reference-video projects need the referenced asset images.

5. Run and monitor production​

5.1 Independent production gates​

Creating tasks, reviewing results, and authorizing final production are separate actions. Approve each stage deliberately so one confirmation does not trigger every generation.

5.2 Task status and recovery​

The task panel shows queued, running, successful, failed, cancelled, and cancelling states. After a service or network interruption, the platform attempts to resume work with an upstream task identifier. Cancelling and resuming rebuilds only cancelled or missing child tasks and reuses completed results.

5.3 Selected reruns and versions​

Rerun only the affected script, asset, storyboard, or shot. Results enter a new version; review quality and delivery before activating it. The current version remains available for preview and export.

6. Preview, export, and continue​

The presentation player can play an episode or clip, switch between native audio and project TTS when available, show subtitles, and download editable packages and generated media. Return to Zai to iterate on the next version.

A project ZIP is a single-project export, not a platform backup. Platform-wide account, subscription, credits, and task data are operated by the platform team.

7. Model capability boundary​

Regular users select from the text, image, video, and TTS capabilities currently exposed by the platform. Provider credentials, model routing, concurrency, and custom endpoints are restricted to administrators. For failures or credit issues, inspect the task error and account center, then contact platform support without sharing keys.

Next steps​