# AI Tradecraft Serial Studio — GUI User Manual

Serial Studio creates a continuing illustrated movie series and can release a
new episode automatically every day. Open the product at:

`https://aitradecraft.com/serials/`

## How the product works

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Design the world] --> B[Preview an episode]
    B --> C[Choose release time]
    C --> D[Activate series]
    D --> E[New illustrated movie]
    E --> F[Continuity updated]
    F --> D
```

The series bible belongs to your Studio account. It stores your premise,
characters, appearance descriptions, character arcs, unresolved questions,
visual style, rating, and recent episode history.

## 1. Sign in

1. Visit `/serials/` and select **Sign in / Register**.
2. Complete the AI Tradecraft Studio sign-in screen.
3. After returning to Serial Studio, confirm that **New series** is enabled.

Your Studio credit balance is shared with the other AI Tradecraft video
products. Every generated episode reserves and charges the displayed StoryBook
movie price.

## 2. Create a series

Select **New series**. The builder opens as a single guided form:

```text
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SERIES BUILDER                                       │
│                                                      │
│ Title              Genre                             │
│ Premise                                              │
│ Audience           Rating                            │
│ Tone                                                 │
│ Visual style                                         │
│ Characters                                           │
│ Open story threads                                   │
│ Scenes · Voice · Daily time · Timezone               │
│                                                      │
│ [Save series]          [Save and preview episode]    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

Complete these fields:

- **Title:** the permanent series name.
- **Genre:** a concise genre combination, such as “neo-noir superhero
  espionage mystery.”
- **Premise:** the recurring dramatic engine and season-long question.
- **Audience and rating:** the intended viewers and maximum content boundary.
- **Tone:** the emotional and storytelling character of the series.
- **Visual style:** medium, palette, lighting, framing, and recurring visual
  motifs. Physical character details belong in the Characters field.
- **Characters:** one character per line using
  `Name | description | long-term arc`.
- **Open story threads:** one unresolved question per line.
- **Scenes:** three through eight illustrated scenes per episode.
- **Voice:** the narration voice.
- **Daily hour, minute, and timezone:** the local release schedule.

Example character entry:

```text
Mara Vey | 29-year-old South Asian woman, black bob with one silver streak,
oxblood jacket, scar through right eyebrow; guarded former courier | Must decide
whether solving her brother's murder is worth losing her memories of him
```

Specific appearance details improve continuity. Avoid descriptions based only
on mood, such as “a mysterious woman.”

## 3. Preview before activation

Select **Save and preview episode**. Previewing writes an episode plan but does
not render a movie, spend production credits, advance continuity, or publish.

Review:

1. Whether the characters behave like their descriptions.
2. Whether the episode has an understandable immediate objective.
3. Whether one problem is resolved.
4. Whether the ending creates a fair reason to return.
5. Whether the content remains inside the chosen rating.

Edit the series bible and preview again until the contract feels durable.

## 4. Create one episode manually

On a saved series card, select **Create episode**. Serial Studio:

1. Reads the current bible and continuity.
2. Writes the next numbered episode.
3. Reserves Studio credits.
4. Creates narration and illustrated scenes.
5. Renders the movie.
6. Updates the series history and unresolved threads.

The dashboard reports the Studio job ID. A same-day retry is idempotent unless
an authorized API caller explicitly requests a forced additional episode.

## 5. Activate daily production

Select **Activate** on the series card. The status changes from `draft` or
`paused` to `active`. EventBridge Scheduler then creates one episode at the
configured local time, including daylight-saving changes for named timezones.

Select **Pause** to stop future scheduled episodes. Pausing does not remove
prior episodes or continuity. You can still generate a manual preview while a
series is paused.

## 6. Edit an existing series

Select **Edit**, modify the fields, and save. Schedule changes take effect
immediately when the series is active. Treat character-description changes as
continuity decisions: changing hair, age, wardrobe, or identity can alter later
illustrations.

## Status reference

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `draft` | Saved, but no daily schedule is running. |
| `active` | Daily production is enabled. |
| `paused` | Continuity is retained; daily production is disabled. |
| `archived` | Hidden and unavailable for future generation. |

## Writing for visual continuity

- Give every lead an unchanging physical description.
- Assign signature wardrobe and colors.
- State relationships and conflicting desires.
- Use one or two cumulative character flaws per lead.
- Add concrete unanswered questions, not vague promises.
- Preview after major bible changes.

Prompt-based continuity materially improves consistency but is not
pixel-perfect identity locking. Approved reference-image character sheets are
the next planned continuity upgrade.

## Troubleshooting

| Problem | Resolution |
|---|---|
| Sign-in returns to the wrong page | Begin sign-in again from `/serials/`. |
| Preview fails | Shorten the premise or character entries and retry. |
| Episode cannot start | Confirm the account has enough available credits. |
| Images trigger a safety block | The renderer retries with a non-graphic scene prompt automatically. |
| No scheduled episode appears | Confirm the series is `active`, then verify hour, minute, and timezone. |
| Character appearance drifts | Add concrete physical and wardrobe details, then save the bible. |