AI series budget: what a ten-episode season costs in credits, retakes included

Why the numbers online do not fit a short-form series

Almost every page that answers this question comes from one vendor. Invideo's pages describe a ten-episode micro-drama at about $1,000 an episode all-in, short films that used between 3,000 and 20,000 of its credits, and one 3-minute episode that took 164 generations to keep 41. The other figure that gets passed around is Artlist's five-episode series "The Arc", reported at about $38,000 of AI credits.

Those are long episodes made by crews. A 9:16 story series is closer to a 45-second episode with two or three recurring characters, posted weekly. Nobody budgets that shape in a credit meter, so this page does it with the rates our studio bills from, and keeps the retakes as their own line instead of hiding them in an average.

The episode we are budgeting

One episode is six shots and 48 seconds, voiced, at 720p, with two recurring characters and a bigger scene once per episode:

shot	engine	length	credits
cold open, both characters	Kling O3 Pro, voiced	8 s	240
dialogue	Kling O3 Pro, voiced	12 s	360
dialogue, reverse angle	Kling O3 Pro, voiced	8 s	240
the big scene, four or more people	Seedance 2.5, 720p	8 s	560
reaction	Veo 3.1 Fast, voiced, with references	8 s	240
cliffhanger close-up	Kling O3 Pro, voiced	4 s	120
render total		48 s	1,760

The engine choices follow the rates. Kling O3 Pro is 30 credits a second voiced and holds five characters, so it takes the dialogue. Seedance 2.5 is 70 a second at 720p and holds 30 references, so it gets one shot, the one with a crowd. Veo 3.1 Fast with references always renders 8 seconds, so it gets a shot that can use all eight.

The retake line

A shot that comes back wrong costs its full price again; there is no partial fix. Invideo's reported episode kept about one generation in four, but that was a film workflow picking the best of many takes. A recurring character on an engine you have already tested should need fewer; how many fewer is worth measuring on your first two episodes. We budget a retake allowance as a share of the render total:

allowance	what it buys per episode	credits
25%	about one Kling retake and a test	440
50%	a Seedance 2.5 retake and a Kling retake	880
100%	every shot twice	1,760

We plan at 25% for a season with characters that have already held through a few episodes, and 50% for the first two episodes, while the prompts are still settling. A 4-second test on Seedance 2.0 at 480p costs 88 credits and is the cheapest way to keep the retake line small.

The lines that happen once, or once per episode

line	credits	when
reference sheet, per character	30	once (three characters: 90)
clone your own voice, per character	50	once, optional; bank voices are free
writer actions (draft, tighten, next part)	5 each	per use
export out of the editor	20	per episode, on the free, Lite and Starter plans; 0 from Creator up
captions	8 per started minute	per episode on the same entry plans; 0 from Creator up

The season, added up

Ten episodes at a 25% retake allowance, with three characters, two cloned voices, four writer actions per episode, and exports and captions at the entry-plan price:

line	credits
renders, 10 x 1,760	17,600
retake allowance, 10 x 440	4,400
writer, 10 x 20	200
exports, 10 x 20	200
captions, 10 x 8	80
three sheets and two voice clones, once	190
season	22,670

From the Creator plan up, exports and captions are included, which takes 280 off: 22,390. Starting the first two episodes at a 50% allowance adds 880 more.

Four cheaper or dearer builds

The engine mix decides most of the bill. Same 48-second episode, same 25% allowance, ten episodes:

build	per episode, render	season, render plus 25%
as above, mixed engines	1,760	22,000
Kling O3 Pro for every shot, voiced (cast of five or fewer)	1,440	18,000
Seedance 2.0 at 480p for every shot	1,056	13,200
Seedance 2.5 at 720p for every shot	3,360	42,000

The all-Kling build saves 4,000 credits over the season and works whenever the big scene has five people or fewer. The 480p build is the cheapest, and we keep it for drafts. The all-Seedance 2.5 build is what a season costs if you never choose an engine per shot; nearly double the mixed one.

A season does not have to be bought in one go

Credits on ReelDouble do not expire, whether they come with a plan or a top-up pack, so a season can be paid for as it is made and the unused balance carries forward. What matters for planning is the per-episode number: about 2,200 credits for the mixed build at 25%, about 1,800 for all-Kling.

To check the shape on your own story, build the characters in the studio and price one episode shot by shot; the quote under the render button shows each shot's cost before anything renders, and a new account starts with 600 credits. For a cheaper way to use the same budget, see what 1,000 credits makes, and for keeping a weekly schedule, episode cadence with the same character.

FAQ

How much does a ten-episode AI video series cost?

On ReelDouble, ten 48-second voiced episodes with two recurring characters and a mixed Kling, Seedance 2.5 and Veo shot list come to about 22,670 credits, including a 25% retake allowance, three reference sheets, two voice clones, writer actions, exports and captions.

How many retakes should I budget for an AI series?

We budget 25% of the render cost per episode once characters have held for a few episodes, and 50% for the first two. Every retake bills the full shot again, so a cheap 4-second test, 88 credits on Seedance 2.0 at 480p, keeps the allowance small.

What is the cheapest engine for an AI story series?

On ReelDouble, Seedance 2.0 at 480p is the cheapest at 22 credits a second, but it suits drafts best. For posted episodes, Kling O3 Pro at 30 credits a second voiced holds up to five characters and makes a 48-second episode 1,440 credits.

How much does one AI video episode cost in credits?

A 48-second, six-shot voiced episode on ReelDouble costs 1,760 credits to render with a mixed engine list, or 1,440 if every shot is Kling O3 Pro. Add about 25% for retakes, plus export and captions on the entry plans.

Do AI video credits expire between episodes?

Credits bought on ReelDouble do not expire, whether they come from a plan or a top-up pack, so a season can be paid for as it is made. Other tools differ, so check whether their credits reset at renewal.