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The Master Guide is a working reference for directors who make commercials and short films with AI. It follows the making of a film from the brief to the delivered files, with worked examples at every stage and one film, The Cold Seat, followed through all eight. This chapter says who it is for, how to read it, where to find things and where to begin.

• Who it is for, and how to read it: The Guide is written for a professional director doing the work, and it speaks to you directly.

• Find it fast: One question, one page: the common tasks and where each is taught.

• Before you start: accounts and tools: Open these accounts and set up these tools before your first job.

• The production path: A film moves through eight stages in a fixed order, and each stage ends at a gate before the next begins (decided).

• One film, start to finish: The Cold Seat: One invented film, followed through all eight stages, so you can see how each decision carries into the next.

• Reading paths: Six short routes through the Guide, each in reading order, each step with its chapter number.

• Twelve mistakes this Guide is built to stop: The twelve mistakes that cost the most credits and time.

• The house rules on one page: The rules that make this Guide's method, for a reader who already works with AI and wants them fast.