Projects

A project is one story: its scripts, its Library pages and its media, kept together. Everything on this page assumes Settings → Labs → Writer and Director views is on, which is the default.

The Projects home

With no project open, the window shows Projects. Its header has Find a project, Import…, New project, Settings and your account.

Signed out, a banner says "EpicDraft works right here on your device — no account needed", with Sign In and Register. Your projects are listed under On this device.

Signed in, the home lists:

Pick up where you left off — your most recent projects.
My projects — every project you own. Sort them by Last edited or Name.
Collaborations — projects other people shared with you.
Guest Files (Read-Only) — scripts you can read. Opening one opens an editable copy.
Pending Invites — each shows the role you're invited as, with Accept invite and Decline invite.

A project's card cycles slowly through pictures from the project's media. Its ⋯ menu has Open, Duplicate and Delete. On a project shared with you it has Leave Collaboration instead of Duplicate and Delete.

Recently deleted, with a count, sits beside My projects once something has been deleted. See Deleting a project.

Your first project

With no projects yet, the home reads Start your first project, with three ways to start: New project, Explore a sample project, and Import… (Fountain, Final Draft, PDF or plain text). Under them, …or explore a sample by format offers one sample for each format: Narrative, Television, Stageplay, Documentary, Ads & Content, Music Video and Game. See Story Modes.

On a phone the Projects screen has the same lists, with Import… and New project in a bar at the bottom.

The project switcher

Click the project's name at the top left of the header. The switcher has:

Find a project and your Recent projects.
Rename Project…
New project, Open project… and Import…
All projects, which goes back to the Projects home.

A new project

New project (on the home, in the switcher, or File → New Project, ⌘N / Ctrl+N) opens a guided flow. A bar across the top shows the steps: Story → Logline → Plan → Produce. Save and exit keeps your answers for next time; Back to projects leaves. Nothing is made until you press Continue on the last step.

Story

What's your story? Pick a Format, and optionally describe the story in a sentence or two. Then choose how to continue:

Shape it myself — no AI, five short questions. This is the guided path below.
Help me shape it — uses AI, which is part of Pro. See With AI.

Start blank instead skips the flow and opens a short dialog: a name, a format, and Start from example to begin from a sample script.

Logline

Write your logline asks five questions: who the story is about, what they want, what stands in their way, what they do about it, and why it matters. Your logline builds from the answers as you type.

The High-concept check beside it marks five things as Met or Not yet: a specific hero, a clear goal, what stands in the way, what's at stake, and a hook you can say in one breath. Use this logline moves on.

Plan

Your plan has a part for each Plan page: title and genre, the synopsis, the world, characters (Add character, and mark one as the Lead), locations (Add location) and the outline. Start your outline offers Basic, Beat Sheet or Start blank, then Add act and Add beat. Every part is optional and can change later.

With Pro, Fill these pages with AI writes them for you. Without it, the button reads See Pro.

Produce

Your pages lists the pages your answers make, with their Name, Type and where they came From. Search, filter by type, and sort them. Untick any page you don't want, or use Keep all pages. The pages are made by fixed rules from your answers; no AI is used.

If you have Pro, a model set up, and an outline with beats, a Write with AI section offers to draft the first scenes and storyboards too. What you choose is sent to your AI provider when you continue.

Continue makes the project and opens it in Writer · Plan. A Next steps card suggests what to do first: Open the outline, Check the characters, Read the synopsis and Write scene 1.

With AI

Help me shape it adds a Finish step to the bar, and asks only what it needs to:

Sign up to use AI, if you're signed out.
Pick a plan — Continue with Free returns you to the guided path.
Where AI runs — On this computer (or On this device) downloads a local model, and the screen shows its size. Your own API key asks for a provider and its key. You can change this later in Settings. See AI Setup.
Choose your logline — Write three versions of your idea, pick one and edit it. The same high-concept check reads the logline in the field.
Plan — Write the plan writes the Plan pages one by one. Each page can be kept, written again or edited, with a Note for the AI. Keep and continue makes the project.
Produce — one screen at a time, each reviewed before the next builds on it: Models, Lookbook, Scenes, Storyboards and Voices. On Voices, pick a voice for each character, Try a voice and Play a sample before the whole script is voiced. You can also choose to voice the drafted scenes for a table read when the project opens.
Finish — Make the film makes a video for every storyboard shot. It needs a video model. Then Open my project, or export it.

Each screen says which provider your text is sent to. Continue without AI returns to the guided path.

Opening a project

Open a project from the home or the switcher. File → Open Project (⌘O / Ctrl+O), or Open project… in the switcher, opens an EpicDraft file from your device. A file that isn't a project goes through Import instead.

Renaming

File → Rename Project…, or Rename Project… in the switcher.

Duplicating a project

File → Duplicate Project (⇧⌘N / Shift+Ctrl+N), or Duplicate on a project's card, opens Duplicate Project:

Name for the copy.
Include — Script and scenes (always), Library pages, and Media. The copy's media points at the same files on this device; nothing is stored twice.
Where — This device and your account (when you're signed in), or This device only.

The copy opens when it's done, and shares nothing with the original from then on. A password-protected project can't be duplicated. On a phone, use Duplicate project in the drawer's Document group.

Deleting a project

Delete on a project's card asks you to type the project's name. The project then moves to Recently deleted for 30 days, and a message offers Undo. Open Recently deleted to Restore a project or Delete now. See Using Files for the details.

A project someone else owns can't be deleted. Use Leave Collaboration to take it off your list.

Shared projects

Projects shared with you appear under Collaborations, and invites under Pending Invites. To invite people to your own project, use File → Share…. See Sharing and Collaboration.