Resources & Tools

These are reusable resources distilled from the Silent Era · The Guardian project. Not "best practices" — these are what survived real failures.

Workflow Resources

Cost Tracking Template

A Markdown table is all you need. The key is start tracking from day one.

Date	Category	Item	Amount	Necessary?	Alternative	Notes
YYYY-MM-DD	I2V / Agent / Subscription / Image Gen	Specific use	¥XX	Y/N	If applicable	Brief note

Full cost ledger structure and analysis: The True Cost of AI Video

Four-Layer Workflow Architecture

Text Layer: Novel → Trailer Script → Shot List → PU Breakdown
    ↓
Anchor Layer: Character Anchors + Scene Anchors + Object Anchors
    ↓
Production Layer: First-Frame Gen → Preflight Gate → I2V → QA
    ↓
Ledger Layer: cost_log + token_log + attempt ledger

Detailed breakdown: From Novel to Trailer: Complete AIGC Filmmaking Workflow

Preflight Gate Checklist

4 checks before a first-frame enters I2V (12-point scale, pass at 10):

1. Anchor Compliance (3 pts): Do characters / scenes / objects match anchor references?
2. Spatial Stability (3 pts): Are spatial positions, proportions, and occlusions correct?
3. Motion Feasibility (3 pts): Can the I2V model generate plausible motion from this frame?
4. High-Risk Failure Points (3 pts): Hands, faces, limbs, perspective, large-scene detail

Candidate Cap Rules

PU Complexity	Candidate Cap
Simple	2
Standard	3
Complex	4
Hero / Bottleneck	5

When the cap is hit: don't keep re-rolling with the same prompt. Change strategy.

Failure Classification Framework

82 PU failures grouped into 5 categories, each with a distinct counter-strategy:

Type	Symptoms	Strategy
Character Consistency Failure	Same character looks different across shots	Anchor system + candidate caps + local fixes
Spatial / Scale Drift	Scene spatial relationships and scale drift	Spatial constraint keywords + scene anchor images
Multi-Character Collapse	3+ people — spatial relationships uncontrollable	Split-and-composite route, or downgrade to suggestive shots
I2V-Stage Failure	First frame OK, but video jumps / flickers / deforms	Preflight Gate + candidate caps
Tool / Platform Failure	API failures, Agent drift	Cost log + task cards + manual gate

Full postmortem: 82 Production Units: AI Video Failure Retrospective