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Getting Started for Filmmakers

You already know how to make films. This page is about where ACT3 AI fits into your existing process and how to get your first production off the ground fast.

ACT3 AI works the same way your brain does: start with a script, break it into scenes, break scenes into shots, then generate the video. The difference is that instead of a crew, you have AI.

If you have a script​

The fastest way to start is to bring in the script you already have.

ACT3 AI accepts:

  • Final Draft exports (.fdx)
  • PDF scripts
  • Plain text — paste directly into the import window

When you import, ACT3 AI parses your scene headings, action lines, and dialogue automatically. Your script becomes a structured project: Acts → Scenes → Shots.

→ See How to import a script

If you're working in the script editor​

The built-in script editor behaves like a light version of Final Draft. It understands screenplay format — scene headings, action lines, character cues, dialogue — and handles formatting automatically.

You can:

  • Write your script directly in ACT3 AI
  • Paste in text from any source and reformat it
  • Export back to Final Draft format at any time to continue work there
  • Keep iterating between Final Draft and ACT3 AI — import, generate shots, export, revise, re-import

This round-trip workflow means you never have to abandon your existing script tools. ACT3 AI layers on top of them.

→ See How to use the script editor

If you're starting from an idea​

No finished script? That's fine. Describe your story in a sentence or a paragraph. ACT3 AI's story expansion system builds it into a full screenplay — acts, beats, scenes, dialogue — which you then review and adjust before generating any video.

→ See How to expand an idea into a script

Your project structure​

Once a script is in, every production in ACT3 AI follows this hierarchy:

Project
└── Act
    └── Scene
        └── Shot

You can work at any level. Edit the script, adjust a single scene's blocking, or regenerate one shot without touching anything else. Nothing locks you into a linear workflow.

Where to go next by role​

Once you're in with a script, the work splits by craft. Jump to the guide that matches how you think: