Production studios get the most from AI in the phases around the shoot: a mood film built from the brief for the pitch, pre-viz before the scout, looks for candidate locations, fill b-roll in post and spec work for the reel. This guide covers the five workflows, which model to route each to on 8frame, what they cost in credits, and how to bid the work.
Correction, 2026-09-30: the first version of this page described Seedance 2.5 as native 4K with 50 references and built-in 3D pre-viz (on 8frame it runs at 480p or 720p with up to 9 references), Veo 3.1 as 5-second 4K clips (it runs 4, 6 or 8 seconds at 1080p), priced a six-clip Veo mood film at under $4 (about 1,000 credits or more), quoted studio savings and win-rate figures we cannot source, suggested Google Street View images as references, and summarized guild rules we haven't verified. This version uses registry settings and prices.
TL;DR
- Pitch mood film: 6 Veo 3.1 Fast clips of 8 seconds with two takes each and a music bed, about 1,425 credits.
- Pre-viz: Seedance 2.5 at 480p for long camera moves (up to 30 seconds, 417 credits at that length), Kling v3 for quick blocking (57 for 5 silent seconds).
- Fill b-roll: 8 to 15 Kling v3 clips of 5 seconds, 456 to 855 credits.
- Don't sell AI as cheap, train more than one person, and tell clients where you use it.
The 5 production studio workflows
1. Pitch mood film
A mood film used to mean stitched stock footage and hoping the client mapped it onto their brief. Now you generate it from the brief.
Model: Veo 3.1. Pull 5 to 8 phrases from the brief (palette, setting, character, tone), write a prompt per phrase, and generate 8-second clips. Veo 3.1 runs 4, 6 or 8 seconds at 1080p in 16:9 or 9:16. Six 8-second clips give you a 45 to 48-second film.
Late afternoon industrial light through high warehouse windows, midcentury warehouse interior, woman in her 40s walking through the space with quiet confidence, slow tracking shot, dust in the light
What to check: that light direction and colour hold across all six clips, so it reads as one shoot, and that the character is recognisably the same person. For a consistent face across clips, start each from the same generated still (image-to-video) rather than text alone.
Cost: Veo 3.1 Fast is 112 credits for 8 silent seconds, 168 with audio; Veo 3.1 is 224 and 448. Six shots at two takes each on Fast silent is 1,344, plus 81 for an ElevenLabs Music bed: 1,425.
2. Pre-viz and animatics
Pre-viz is the under-billed phase: the client approves a shot list they can't picture, and the mismatch surfaces on set.
Models: Seedance 2.5 for long camera moves, Kling v3 for blocking. Seedance 2.5 generates single takes up to 30 seconds with sound, from up to 9 reference images on the canvas: 70 credits for 5 seconds at 480p, 209 for 15, 417 for 30 (720p is 157, 469 and 937). A crane reveal, a push through a doorway or a move around a vehicle can be one take. Kling v3 Standard (3 to 15 seconds, 57 for 5 silent seconds) is the cheap way to check framing and eyelines shot by shot.
Pre-viz at 480p is enough to walk the director and DP through the sequence and flag the hardest shots before the scout. If you use character stills as Seedance references, frame them waist-up or full-length: Seedance rejects close-up face references with an E005 error.
3. Location looks before the scout
AI doesn't replace the scout, but it lets the client react to directions before anyone travels.
Models: Veo 3.1 for establishing shots, Seedance 2.0 for product or character in the space. Start from your own scout photos or images you have rights to, and generate each candidate location in the brief's look. Veo 3.1 takes up to 3 reference images; Seedance up to 9. Show two or three directions, let the client pick, then scout the strongest options physically. This helps most with international clients, where a pitch-phase site visit isn't practical.
4. Post-production fill b-roll
Editorial comes back with gaps the script needs covered: a supplemental shoot, stock, or generation.
Models: Kling v3 for cutaways, Veo 3.1 when the insert sits next to real footage. The test: does the insert cut away and back, or share a frame or hard cut with real footage of a specific person or place? Cutaways (hands on a keyboard, traffic at dusk, neighbourhood signage) are the easy case. Inserts adjacent to location footage need a grade pass to match.
Cost: 8 to 15 clips on Kling v3 Standard at 5 silent seconds is 456 to 855 credits. Weigh that against your own day rate for a supplemental half-day.
5. Spec work for the reel
When you pitch a category your reel doesn't cover, generate 4 to 6 clips that show your sensibility in it, cut them alongside real work for the pitch, and label them as spec. When you win the job, real work replaces them.
Models: Veo 3.1 or Seedance 2.5. Four to six Veo 3.1 clips at 8 silent seconds is 896 to 1,344 credits.
Model routing
| Workflow | Primary | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Pitch mood film | Veo 3.1 | Kling v3 for faster, cheaper drafts |
| Pre-viz, long camera moves | Seedance 2.5 | Wan 3.0 (also up to 30 s) |
| Scene blocking, animatic | Kling v3 | Seedance 2.5 for complex staging |
| Location looks | Veo 3.1 | Seedance 2.0 for product in scene |
| Fill b-roll | Kling v3 | Veo 3.1 for footage-adjacent inserts |
| Reel spec | Veo 3.1 or Seedance 2.5 | Depends on the category's look |
Video on 8frame tops out at 1080p (2K on Hailuo H3 and Creatify Boreal), and there's no video upscaler, so plan final-delivery inserts around that.
What it costs per month
At the per-workflow numbers above, one mood film (about 1,425), one pre-viz pass of ten 5-second Seedance 2.5 shots at 480p (700) and one fill-b-roll pass (up to 855) is about 3,000 credits: the Creator plan ($49 a month, 3,000 credits). A studio running several pitches a month would look at the Agency plan ($499, 44,000 credits). Credits roll over while you're subscribed.
3 mistakes production studios make
Selling AI as cheap. Telling a client the job costs less because you use AI now commoditizes your work. Frame it as capability: a mood film instead of a mood board, fewer surprises on set, faster post.
Training one person. If only one or two people can run the workflows, every mood film waits for them. Train directors, producers and post coordinators on the basics.
Hiding AI use. It works until the client asks or finds out, and then the trust damage outweighs any awkwardness of saying so up front. Tell clients where AI sits in your pipeline, the same way you'd name your edit and colour tools.
Pricing AI work into bids
Pre-production visualization. A flat line item for mood film, pre-viz and location looks. The client buys the deliverable, not the tool.
Post-production finishing. Fold AI fill and matching passes into the finishing budget.
New business. Spec work stays overhead; cheaper spec improves margin, it isn't a client-facing price.
What doesn't work: billing AI per clip. It invites the client to compare against direct API prices.
FAQ
How do you bill AI hours on a production?
Inside pre-production and post line items: a mood film session is creative development, fill b-roll is finishing. If a client asks, AI generation is one tool in your stack alongside the edit and colour suites.
How does crew composition change with AI in the pipeline?
Coordinators and junior editors can run location looks and b-roll passes that used to need a producer or a separate shoot; pitch producers can build mood films without a motion designer. Directors, DPs, colourists and sound aren't replaced; more prep and fill work moves to people who can run generation, which frees senior crew for judgment calls.
What are the union and guild rules for AI-generated content?
They vary by guild, territory and agreement, and they change; we don't summarize them here. Anything involving a performer's likeness or voice, including a synthetic person who resembles a real one, should go past your production attorney before it ships.
Sources
- 8frame Veo 3.1, Seedance, Kling v3, Wan 3.0 and ElevenLabs prices, lengths, references and resolutions, and plan prices: the 8frame tool registry and content fact sheet, 2026-09-30
Start with the next brief: pull five phrases, build the mood film, put it in the deck. For more repeatable chains, see 10 AI workflows every brand should have. The 8frame canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.