Workflows

Step-by-step tutorials for common Melies use cases. Combine commands, actors, and style flags to build complete creative workflows.

YouTube Thumbnails with AI Actors

Generate thumbnail variations using a consistent AI actor. The thumbnail command forces 16:9 and uses thumbnail-optimized defaults.

Pick an actor from the catalog to keep a consistent look across thumbnails.

Use -n 4 to generate 4 variations and pick the best one.

Add --expression to control the facial expression (surprised, smile, serious, etc.).

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Image to Video Pipeline

Generate a styled image and animate it into video, all in one command. The pipeline command handles both steps and returns URLs for both the image and video.

Style flags apply to both steps for visual consistency. Override individual models with --im (image model) and --vm (video model).

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Styled Poster Batch

Generate posters with style presets for multiple projects. Each --style preset (noir, anime, horror, sci-fi, etc.) applies a complete visual treatment. No prompt engineering needed.

Add a logline with -l for more context-aware poster compositions. The genre flag -g further refines the visual tone.

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Consistent Characters with Built-in Actors

Use the same AI actor across different scenes and media types. The --actor flag works on images, videos, posters, thumbnails, and pipelines.

Browse all 148 actors on the Actors page. For custom characters, use melies ref create with your own photos.

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Dry Run

Preview the exact prompt, model, and cost before spending credits. Useful for debugging what modifiers get applied and estimating costs for batch jobs.

Works on all generation commands: image, video, poster, thumbnail, and pipeline.

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Budget-Aware Generation

Check credits before expensive generations. Parse the JSON output of melies credits to make smart decisions about which quality preset to use.

This pattern is especially useful for AI agents that need to manage a budget across multiple generations.

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