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Idea to reel: the whole workflow, and what it cost

One idea carried through a decode, a style reference, four generations, an upscale, a character and three sounds. Every step's credits summed — 196 to write, 55 to repeat.

September 20, 20265 min readAIKIZI

Part 11 of 11 · ← previous · all parts

This series cost 137 credits to write. Every picture in it came out of one idea — a brass lamp on a wet step at dawn — carried through a decode, a style reference, four generations, an upscale, a character and three sounds. Here is that whole run in order, with what each step cost and which step you can skip.

The run, with the bill

Step	What it was	Credits	Part
1 · Draft the idea	One prompt, Nano Banana Pro, 1K	8	1
2 · Test the cheaper engine	Same prompt, Nano Banana 2, 1K	4	2
3 · Finish	Same prompt, Nano Banana Pro, 2K	16	3
4 · Go to print size	Same prompt, Nano Banana Pro, 4K	24	3
5 · Keep the one we liked	Upscale of the 1K	15	8
6 · Carry the look to a new subject	Clay pot, no references, then with 3	16	4
7 · Cross from Midjourney	Decode a Midjourney portrait, rebuild it	8	5
8 · A character	Master portrait, then one re-pose	16	6
9 · Read every picture back	Ten decodes at 3 each	30	7
10 · The soundtrack	Voice, one effect, twenty seconds of music	0	9
Total for the whole series		137

137 credits is about a quarter of a Pro month, or most of a single Basic month. It bought ten finished pictures, ten decodes and a soundtrack — and, more to the point, it answered twelve questions that would otherwise have been answered by guessing.

What the finished thing looked like

The chosen hero shot after upscaling: the brass lamp on the wet step, one flame, the garland coiled at its base, the shaft of dawn light with dust in it, resolved to full texture — The hero. Drafted at 1K for 8 credits, chosen, then upscaled for 15 — 23 credits for a picture we picked rather than accepted. Its decode.

The second shot: a clay pot and folded linen on a wooden bench against the same wet blue stone, carrying the hero's light and palette — The second shot, made only by attaching the hero as a style reference. 8 credits. This is how a set gets a look. Its decode.

The character shot: a woman at a workshop bench holding a small brass fitting to the window light, the same person as the master portrait — The person. One master portrait at 8 credits, then this at 8 more. Its decode.

The same run, done efficiently

We spent 137 because the point was to show the differences. Doing it for work, knowing what we now know, the same result costs far less:

Draft the composition at 2 credits a try on Nano Banana 2 Lite until the framing is right. Four tries, 8 credits.
Make the hero once at 1K on Nano Banana Pro, 8 credits. Look at it properly for errors before going further.
Upscale the hero, 15 credits. Now you have a large picture you chose.
Attach the hero as a Style reference and generate the rest of the set at 1K, 8 credits each. Three more shots, 24.
If a person appears in the set, make one plain master portrait and attach it with the Character role to every shot they are in.
Build the sound in three calls inside the free daily ten minutes, 0 credits.
Cut it in your own editor. There is no video generation here.

That is 55 credits for a four-shot set with a soundtrack — under a third of what we spent, and within a Basic month with 125 credits to spare.

The four things worth remembering

Size is not a slider. Each resolution is its own generation with its own composition. Choose the picture small, then upscale it.
A reference carries what a word cannot — and only if you tell it what job it has. The Style role says "ignore its subject"; the Character role says "keep their exact face".
Structure survives, marks vanish. Faces hold across generations; scars, moles and tattoos do not unless you name them every time.
The reading is free. Sixteen thousand published decodes, each with its prompt and palette, cost nothing to read. Spend credits on making, not on finding out.

FAQ

What does a full AI image workflow cost?

This series spent 137 credits on ten pictures, ten decodes and a soundtrack. Done efficiently with what it taught us, the same four-shot set with sound costs about 55 credits — inside a single $8 Basic month.

What is the cheapest order to work in?

Draft at 2 credits on Nano Banana 2 Lite until the framing is right, make the hero once at 1K for 8, upscale it for 15, then generate the rest of the set with the hero attached as a style reference at 8 each. Choosing small and enlarging beats generating big.

How do I make a set of images share one look?

Make one hero picture, then attach it as a Style reference to every other generation. In our set that single step carried the light, the palette and the surface quality onto a completely different subject.

Can I make the video part on aikizi?

No. Video generation was retired. aikizi gives you the stills, the sound and the decode of a reference clip; the cutting happens in your own editor.

How many credits is a month of this kind of work?

A four-shot set with sound is about 55 credits. Basic gives 180 a month at $8, so roughly three such sets; Pro gives 540 at $20, so about nine.

Start where it is cheapest: read ten prompts in the gallery, then make one picture in the Studio and upscale it rather than regenerating it. That one habit saves more credits than anything else in these twelve pages.