Dallies Pro guide

1Get started

Setting up takes about five minutes. You need an email address and a payment card.

1. Create your account. Go to dalliespro.org, choose Create account, and enter your name, email and a password of at least 10 characters.
2. Choose a plan. The plan page shows Starter, Pro and Studio. Each includes a monthly allowance of credits. If you're unsure, start with Starter: you can move up at any time, and the extra credits are added straight away (see Plans).
3. Pay securely with Stripe. You're taken to Stripe's checkout page to enter your card. Dallies Pro never sees or stores your card number. When payment finishes you're sent back to the studio. It can take a few seconds for your credits to appear.
4. Check your credits. The bar at the top of the studio shows how many credits you have left this month, for example 2,500 of 2,500 credits left.
5. Create your first project and follow sections 3 to 6 to make a still and a clip.

2The studio at a glance

3Projects, scenes and scripts

1. Add a project. Type a name under Projects (for example your film's title) and press Add.
2. Add scenes. With the project open, press + New scene. Scenes are numbered in order. Click a scene to work on it.
3. Name the scene. On the Still tab, give it a Title such as "Return to the driveway" and press Save.

Each scene keeps its own references, prompt, approved still, end frame, clip settings and every version you've rendered.

Import a script and build the storyboard

Have a screenplay? Dallies Pro can read it and set up every shot for you.

1. Export the script as a PDF from your writing app (Final Draft, Fade In, WriterDuet, Highland and so on). It needs to be a text PDF, up to 400 pages and 30 MB. A scanned paper script won't work.
2. Open your project and press Import script. Reading the PDF is free. You'll see the title, page count and every scene heading found (INT. / EXT.).
3. Choose what to break down: the first and last script scene (do the whole script, or one sequence at a time), and how many shots each scene may get (1–4). The credit cost updates as you change these.
4. Press Create storyboard. Claude reads each scene and picks its key moments. Each moment becomes a shot in your project, numbered by script scene (12A, 12B...), with a title, an image prompt, a suggested camera move, the character action as direction, and the locked-character box ticked when cast are in frame. Everything stays editable. A feature-length script takes a few minutes.
5. Add references once per location. Open a shot, upload a photo of the location as its base reference (plus character photos), then press Use these references for the other shots in this scene. Every shot from that script scene that has no references yet gets the same ones.
6. Render the storyboard. Press Storyboard to see every shot as a card, grouped under its script scene, with its thumbnail, status and what it still needs. Render stills for ready shots shows how many shots are ready and the total credits, and asks before it starts. Shots without a base reference are listed as not included.

4Make a still

A still is a high-resolution image (3840 pixels on the long edge, which is 4K) made by editing your first reference image. Because it starts from your picture, the setting, framing and people stay recognisable instead of being reinvented.

Upload references

1. Upload the base image first. On the Still tab, press Upload and choose a PNG, JPEG or WebP (up to 25 MB). The first reference is the base canvas: the location and framing that the still will be built on.
2. Add identity references. Upload close-ups of each character (face, wardrobe) or key prop. These keep people and objects consistent across scenes.
3. Label each upload. Before you upload, type a short note in the box next to Upload, for example "Black's face" or "the red car". The note is kept with the image and helps the assistant use it correctly.
4. To remove a reference, press the x beside it.

Write the prompt and render

1. Write the image prompt as an edit of the base image. Say what to keep and what to change: "Keep the driveway and the car; Black in the driver seat, deadpan, late-afternoon light."
2. Tick "A locked character is in this frame" if a main character appears. Their face and body are then protected when the still becomes a clip.
3. Check the cost shown next to the button (about 55 credits), then press Render still. The credits are held while it renders, and the new image appears on the stage as UNDER REVIEW.

5Review: A, T, R, S

Everything you render (still, end frame or clip) waits for your decision. Use the four buttons under the stage:

Writing a good rejection note: be specific and visual. "His expression is the same, he should be smiling" works better than "not right". The revision costs a few credits for the assistant plus the new render.

6Turn a still into a clip

Open the Clip tab. If it says "Approve a still first", go back and approve (A) or temp (T) a still: it becomes the clip's first frame.

1. Pick a camera move. Choose the move, then its speed (slow, normal, fast) and amount (small, medium, large). Optionally say what the shot ends on, for example "the open cage door".
2. Add character direction if someone should do something. Read section 7 first: direction is only used once it's anchored.
3. Check the Motion box. Before your first clip, the assistant writes a short description of how the surroundings move: leaves, traffic, light. You can edit it. It never adds new people or objects.
4. Choose the model and resolution (see the table below), check the credit estimate, and press Render clip.
5. Review the clip on the stage when it's done (hover over it to play). The frame check report appears under the Clip tab. Then press A, R or S.

Camera moves

Models and resolution

7Character direction (and why it needs an anchor)

Video models are good at moving cameras and weather, but when told to move a person they tend to rebuild the face and change the scene. To prevent that, Dallies Pro only sends your character direction when it is anchored in one of three ways. The line under the direction box tells you which state you're in.

• No direction (empty box): only the camera and the surroundings move. This is the safest choice.
• Changed your direction? An end frame belongs to the direction it was made from. If you edit the direction, make and approve a new end frame, or the direction won't be sent.
• Natural changes in light during a camera move are allowed. New people, objects or a changed expression are not.

8The frame check

After every clip, an assistant compares frames from the clip with your approved still (and end frame) and reports on four things:

• Face: is the character still the same person?
• Action: did the directed action happen?
• Background: did the setting stay the same?
• Added: did anything appear that wasn't asked for?

You see a PASS or FAIL badge, three sample frames and short notes. The decision is still yours. If you reject a clip, your note and the report together steer the revision.

9Jobs

The Jobs tab lists everything for the open project, newest first, with its status and credits:

10Plans and the render queue

The render queue

Renders run on a shared pool of render workers. When the pool is busy, waiting renders are started in this order:

1. Studio first, then Pro, then Starter. A higher plan's render starts ahead of lower-plan renders that are already waiting.
2. Nobody waits forever. Any render that has waited more than 5 minutes moves to the front, whatever the plan.
3. Oldest first among renders of the same priority.

Each account can also run a set number of renders at the same time: Starter 1, Pro 3, Studio 5. If you queue more, the rest wait their turn (status queued) and start automatically as each one finishes. When the service is quiet, every render starts straight away whatever your plan.

• Billing period: monthly, from the day you subscribe. Your credits reset on each renewal. Unused credits don't roll over.
• Upgrading: takes effect at once. The extra included credits are added straight away, and Stripe charges only the difference for the rest of the month.
• Downgrading: takes effect straight away, and Stripe credits the unused part of the higher price to your next invoice. Credits already added this month stay; your next renewal gives the smaller allowance.
• Cancelling: use Manage billing (see Account & billing). Your plan stays active until the end of the period you've paid for.
• Failed payment: rendering pauses until you update your card in Manage billing. Your projects and files are kept.

11Credits and what things cost

Clips are 6 seconds long. Everything you render costs credits. The number depends on the work, such as the model, resolution and length. The exact estimate is always shown next to the render button before you commit, and the Account page lists every charge.

Typical costs

* Only credits used beyond your monthly allowance are charged as overage. Overage prices on Pro and Studio are slightly lower. Figures reflect current provider prices and may be adjusted. The estimate in the studio is always current.

How a charge works

1. Held: when you press render, the estimated credits are set aside so you can't overspend.
2. Settled: when the job finishes you're charged the actual cost, which is often a little less than the estimate for assistant steps. Any difference goes back to your allowance.
3. Refunded: if a job fails or you cancel it while it's waiting, every held credit comes back.

A month on Starter: worked example

That month's bill would be $29.60: $29 for the next month's plan plus $0.60 for this month's overage, on one invoice.

12Overage and your spending cap

When your monthly credits run out, you can keep working. Extra credits are counted as overage and added to your next Stripe invoice at your plan's per-credit price.

• The spending cap is the most overage you allow in one billing period. It starts at $50. Change it under Account & billing → Overage spending cap and press Save.
• When the cap is reached, new renders are refused before anything is spent, and the studio tells you how many credits you'd need. You'll never get a surprise bill.
• Want no overage at all? Set the cap to $0. Rendering stops when the included credits are used up.
• Overage is shown live in Account & billing → This period, in credits and dollars.

13Account & billing

Press Account & billing in the header. You'll find:

14Studio: your own keys and the API

Use your own provider keys

On Studio you can use your own OpenAI, MiniMax and Anthropic accounts. The providers bill you directly for the AI work, and Dallies Pro charges only a small platform fee in credits:

1. Open Account & billing → Provider keys.
2. Paste each key and press Save. Each key is tested with the provider before it's saved, then stored encrypted. Only its last four characters are ever shown again.
3. Select Use my own keys. Switch back to the studio's keys at any time.

API access

Studio accounts can drive the studio from their own tools. Press Create API token and copy the token straight away; it's shown only once. Send it with each request as Authorization: Bearer wf_…. The API offers the same projects, scenes, render, review and usage actions as the studio, under https://dalliespro.org/api/.

15Questions