ZaiDrama Getting Started Tutorial

This tutorial walks you through creating your first short drama in ZaiDrama (an AI short-drama creation app, https://zaidrama.com): starting from a single sentence or a script, refining your requirements into a plan with Zai, confirming the production quote, and receiving a downloadable finished video. Just open the website and log in—no software installation or third-party API key setup is required.

What You Will Learn

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

1. Register for and log in to the ZAI account;
2. Start a project on the home page with a single sentence, a novel excerpt or script, or reference images;
3. Develop a creative brief, world model, and production blueprint with Zai in a single conversation;
4. Confirm the production quote and let Zai proceed through storyboards, videos, and the final cut in batches;
5. Track progress on the board and batch pages, and reshoot individual segments you're not satisfied with;
6. Preview and download the finished video and the editable package.

Estimated Time and Cost

• Sending your first message, creating a project, and discussing the plan incurs no charges; only image, video, and audio generation deducts from your balance (in USD).
• Video generation time depends on the number of segments, platform queue, and the models used.
• Your balance, reserved funds, and billing details are available under "Billing & Balance" in the account menu; the confirmation card before production clearly states how much this shoot will cost.
• For your first attempt, we recommend using only a small amount of content, or telling Zai to "shoot the first two segments first" to validate the style and results before expanding the scope.

1. Register and Log In

1.1 Register or Log In

On the landing page, click "Start Creating" or "Log In / Sign Up":

• Log in: Enter your email or username and password in the login modal.
• Register: On the "Create Your ZAI Account" page, register with an email verification code; the password must be at least 6 characters and include both letters and numbers.
• Forgot password: Click "Forgot password?" in the login modal to reset it with an email verification code.
• Enter from the ZAI platform: On ourzai.com, click "Creation Workspace" to enter; if you already have a valid login session, you won't need to re-enter your password.

ZaiDrama and the ZAI platform share the same account, so an account registered on the official website or developer console can log in directly. If your login session expires or security verification is required, follow the on-page prompts to log in again. For a complete guide to accounts and balances, see Account, Balance, and Support.

1.2 Account Menu

The account menu in the lower-left corner of the sidebar provides:

Entry	Purpose
Profile	Avatar, nickname, email binding, change password, login devices, delete account
Rewards Center	Daily login rewards, referral rewards
Billing & Balance	Available balance, balance details, purchase history, top up
Storage	Used capacity, per-project usage, clean up historical versions
Help & Feedback	Online customer support
Settings	Appearance and language, API tokens (for external tools to access ZaiDrama; distinct from the developer console's API keys), about, diagnostic logs

The balance badge in the top bar shows your current USD balance; click it to view usage details.

2. Start a Project from the Home Page

2.1 Say What You Want to Make

The home page title reads "What do you want to turn into a video today?" Write any of the following starting points in the input box:

• A story idea or a single creative goal;
• A novel excerpt, script, outline, or product introduction;
• Your requirements for art style, duration, aspect ratio, or target audience.

The quick-start entries below the input box can help you begin: "Upload Novel / Script" opens the file picker directly; "I Have an Idea," "Write an Episode of a Viral Drama Opening," and "Shoot an Ad for a Product" simply fill a one-line prompt into the input box without sending it for you.

2.2 Attach Materials

Add attachments using the paperclip button on the input box, dragging and dropping, or pasting:

• Images: PNG, JPG, WebP, up to 5MB per image, up to 5 images at a time. Images are shown to Zai and are suitable as references for characters, scenes, or products.
• Novel / script files: .txt, .md, .docx, .epub, .pdf, up to 50MB per file, up to 5 files at a time. After sending, they are stored as the project's source text.
• Long pasted text: Pasting a long block of text (about 800 characters or 16 lines or more) automatically collapses it into a "Pasted Text" card, which is also stored as source text and counts toward one file slot; if you don't want this, click "Convert Back to Body Text Editing."

A single input box message has a limit of 20,000 characters; attach longer content as a file. Scanned PDFs have no extractable text and must be OCR'd first; convert legacy .doc files to .docx before uploading.

2.3 Sending Creates the Project

When you send your first message, ZaiDrama creates a project and takes you to the project page, where your message and attachments continue in the Zai conversation inside the project. The home page does not store chat history separately; each project has exactly one Zai conversation that runs from planning discussions all the way to the finished video. The project starts as "Untitled Project," and Zai renames it after reading the source text.

3. Getting to Know the Project Page

The project page is divided into three areas:

• Main area: Zai conversation. This is where you make requests, answer questions, and confirm quotes; Zai reports what it did at each step here.
• Right side: Workbench. Resizable by dragging and collapsible. The "Board" is always pinned on the far left; click "+" to open "Batches," "Documents," "Asset Library," and "Project Info." When the project has products, "Products" also appears. Each page is a closable tab.
• Left side: Production progress outline. Shows the current stage across "Pre-production / Scriptwriting / Asset Preparation / Episode-by-Episode Production / Final Delivery."

When you first enter a project, the workbench automatically opens the page corresponding to Zai's current stage; after that, which page you switch to is up to you. The status label in the middle of the top bar (e.g., "Producing · Storyboards 8/11" or "Needs Your Decision") returns you to the board with one click.

4. Finalize the Plan with Zai

4.1 Script Review and Questions

If you provided a novel or script, Zai first reads it and performs a script review: identifying missing episodes, logical holes, idle characters, and unmotivated twists (up to 5 items, each with the original text and a suggested fix), then asks whether you want to make changes.

When Zai needs you to make a call, it pops up a question card that sits above the input box: options may be marked "Recommended," and you can select them with number keys or press Esc to skip. If none of the options fit, just type your answer in the input box—it still counts as a response. When multiple questions are asked at once, the card includes an "Other…" option for answering a specific question individually. Selecting an option like "I Have a Script / Novel" brings you to the input box, where you can paste the text or click + to upload a file.

4.2 The Three-Layer Plan

Zai organizes your requirements into a three-layer, editable plan:

• Creative brief: What to make, who it's for, where it will be published, how long it should be, and what tone to use;
• World model: Characters (identity and appearance), scenes, props, products, visual style, and continuity rules;
• Production blueprint: Breaking the work into segments, each specifying type, duration, characters involved, and visual/audio direction.

Projects don't require choosing a mode like "short drama / storytelling / ad" upfront, nor do they require selecting a "storyboard / reference image" route in advance: each segment decides its own production path, and a single work can mix approaches. After you import a novel or script, Zai also recommends a project style (realistic, 3D comic drama, or 2D comic drama), defaulting to realistic.

For non-charged actions like organizing the plan, analyzing source text, and writing the first script draft, Zai simply completes them and then tells you. It only pops up a card for confirmation when it needs to overwrite content you've personally edited. See Creative Workflows for details.

4.3 Adopting the Plan and Production Confirmation

Once the plan takes shape, a confirmation banner appears above the conversation:

• Adopt Production Plan: When the script or asset images aren't ready yet, adopt the plan first; this step incurs no charge.
• Production Confirmation: The card title states "Production will cost $N" (USD). Click "View Details" to see the number of segments, video seconds, storyboard count, setting image count, as well as the balance change and items not included (such as rework). After clicking "Approve and Start Production," this budget is allocated to the current project, and steps within that budget proceed automatically without interrupting you one by one.

You can shoot only part of the project: tell Zai "shoot episode one first" or "only shoot the first two segments," and the quote and budget will cover only those segments, with all subsequent storyboards and videos staying within that scope.

If a confirmation card is sitting there and you type a new message in the input box, the card is voided, and Zai starts over based on your new requirements.

5. Review Documents and Assets

5.1 Documents

The "Documents" page in the workbench lists "Original Documents" and scripts grouped by "Batch N," with each batch containing the "Batch Source" and the "Official Script." Click "Upload Source File" to add more materials.

Open the official script to see the content of each segment. When a character has multiple outfits, each segment must have one selected from the "Outfit" dropdown; segments without a selection show "Not Selected" and must be fixed before storyboard generation.

Scripts are written directly by Zai, and you can review and modify them at any time; if Zai later needs to overwrite content you've edited, it will ask for your consent first.

5.2 Characters, Scenes, and Props

The "Asset Library" page groups items by characters, scenes, and props, and lets you filter, add new items, or reuse cross-project assets via "Select from Asset Library":

• Character reference images: One per character, including a head-and-shoulders close-up plus front, side, and back full-body shots; these serve as the identity anchor for all subsequent generations.
• Outfits: A character can have multiple outfits (hair, top, bottom, shoes, accessories). Variants beyond the main outfit use the main outfit's reference image as the identity anchor, so the main outfit's reference image must be generated first.
• Voice: You can set reference audio for a character, or generate a clip using TTS.
• Version history: Asset images, storyboards, and videos all support "Switch to This Version"; after "Lock Current Version," regenerated results only go into historical candidates and will not replace the current version.

Entries you add in the asset library are automatically communicated to Zai. When asset definitions change, already-generated storyboards and videos are not silently overwritten; instead, they are marked as "older than current content," and whether to redo them is up to you.

6. Track Production

6.1 Board and Status

After production begins, the "Board" becomes the production board:

• Per-station progress: The five stations—Plan & Script, Setting Images, Storyboards, Videos, and Final Cut;
• Needs your decision: For example, a step exceeded its budget and is waiting for confirmation, or a station has several failed items;
• Latest output: Newly generated content carries a "New" marker.

Each step in the conversation reports results via a submission card, such as "Generate Video · Completed," "Using Production Budget," "Time Elapsed …"; partial failures state "M of N failed, the rest completed."

6.2 Batch Page

Production proceeds in batches: once all storyboards and videos in a batch are done, it moves on to the next batch. The title bar of the "Batches" page lets you switch between previous and next batch, and offers two views:

• Preview (default): Plays this batch continuously, with the shot script scrolling line by line in sync; each segment lets you inspect the prompt sent to the video model, with separate video and audio tracks below. Failed segments state the reason and offer "Try Again."
• Review & Edit: This batch's compiled video, production status, batch characters, storyboard images, candidate review, and video clips.

To pause, resume, or cancel production, just tell Zai in the conversation. Task statuses include Queued, In Progress, Completed, Failed, Canceled, and Interrupted. When the platform restarts, videos already submitted to model services continue waiting for results; a small number of in-progress image tasks may be marked as interrupted and need to be regenerated individually.

6.3 Local Reshoots

When you're not satisfied with a segment, say clearly in the conversation which segment and what to change (e.g., "make her colder in segment 3"). Zai provides an old → new comparison; after you confirm, only that segment's video is redone.

• Reshoots and automatic revisions draw from a separate rework budget and do not consume the production budget; if the rework budget is insufficient, another confirmation card appears.
• Output that fails automatic validation is automatically revised; if the same issue reaches the revision limit, it is handed back to you for a decision.
• "Candidate Review" lists candidate versions by score, with options to "Select and Lock," "Reject," "Generate Another," or "Revise Per Suggestion."

Changes you make directly in the workbench (such as switching versions or re-compiling) leave a record in the conversation, so Zai is aware of them before speaking next.

7. Preview and Download

The "This Batch's Compiled Video" section at the top of the "Review & Edit" view on the batch page provides:

• Preview of the compiled video with an on/off toggle for "Final Cut Subtitles";
• "Download" for the finished video;
• "Version History" to view previous compiled cuts, with "Current" marking the version in use;
• "Re-compile."

The video segment player provides:

• For narration segments, switching between "Original Audio Cut" and "TTS Overlay";
• "Download Editable Package": a zip containing the video, narration audio, subtitles (.vtt / .srt), and a description file, for further editing in other video software.

Subtitle size, position, color, and font are adjustable under "Project Info → Subtitle Style" and take effect from the next compilation onward.

We recommend downloading finished videos and materials you need to keep long-term.

8. Models and Parameters

The "Episode Parameters" section on the "Project Info" page has two modes:

• Auto mode: Choose only "Video Quality" (Fast / Standard / High Quality) and aspect ratio (Portrait 9:16 / Landscape 16:9); the platform decides the model.
• Pro mode: Choose the model and resolution by use case (image-to-video, reference-to-video, text-to-image, image-to-image), defaulting to "Follow global route"; you can also set whether to generate audio and the project style.

Both modes let you set the narration delivery method (post-production voiceover or TTS voiceover) and subtitle style. The "Project Settings…" item in the project menu lets you change the project style and the narration voiceover model, voice, and speed. The conversational model Zai uses is configured by the platform and cannot be selected by users.

Selectable models come only from the candidates currently open on the platform. When a capability is unavailable, a task fails, or billing seems off, first check the failure reason in the conversation; if it remains unresolved, contact online customer support via "Help & Feedback." Never paste any API Key or password into the conversation.

9. Next Steps

• Read Creative Workflows to learn about segments, batches, automatic validation, and confirmation points;
• Read Creative Canvas to freely experiment with images and videos outside of projects;
• Read Models & Capabilities to understand capability boundaries for each use case;
• Check FAQ if you encounter account, production, or download issues.