Section 2.1: Draft a project with ABRAM

[!WARNING] Check the numbers before you commit Budgets, timelines and roles drafted from a brief are estimates. Review the work packages and the budget on the project page before you staff or bill against them.

Draft with ABRAM turns a written description or a brief document into a project plan. You describe the work on the left of the New project page. ABRAM drafts the project name, type, dates, budget estimate and work packages on the right. You edit the draft, then create the project.

Nothing is created until you click Create project or Create and scope, so everything ABRAM drafts is a suggestion you can change.

Other ways to start a project:

• Build it by hand. See Section 2.2: Manual Project Creation.
• Bring it in from a CSV file, Jira, Asana or Monday. See Section 2.5 and Section 2.6.

1. Open New project

1. Go to Projects in the sidebar.
2. Click New project.

The button is there for organization owners and admins, and for members whose Project access is All organization projects.

[!NOTE] The Free plan includes one production, counted in total. Archived and completed projects still count, and deleting the project frees the slot. A new account's starter project is that one production, so deleting the starter frees the slot for a new one. When you are at the limit, a locked Pro button takes the place of New project, and the New project page reads Free includes one production. with an Upgrade to Pro link.

2. Describe the project

The question What are you making? sits on the left. Type or paste the brief into the box, or attach a document.

The brief

Describe the work: the vision, deliverables, tone, locations and shoot timeline. More detail gives a better draft. Whatever you write becomes the project's description.

Attach a brief (Pro and above)

Click Attach a brief, or drop a document onto the box.

• Formats: PDF, DOCX and TXT, up to 15 MB.
• With a document attached, the box is optional. Use it for anything the document leaves out.
• If ABRAM reads the document as a screenplay, a Break down the script into scenes switch appears under the draft, on by default. ABRAM runs the script breakdown after the project is created. See Section 2.4. If it cannot start, ABRAM says so and points you to the project's Breakdown tab.

On the Free plan the Attach a brief button is locked and names the plan that opens it. You can still type the brief.

Details under the question

Every one of these is optional, and ABRAM's draft never overwrites what you set here.

• Client: one of your organization's clients.
• Dates: a Start date and a Delivery date. A delivery date before the start shows Delivery is before the start. and holds back Create project.
• Owner: who owns the project. It starts as you. The row appears when your organization has more than one member.
• Team: the Team or Location that owns the project. It appears on Studio and above, when your organization has Teams or Locations.
• Budget: one total for the project. Leave it empty and ABRAM estimates one when it drafts.

3. Draft with ABRAM

Click Draft with ABRAM under the question. The button works once there is a brief or a document, and it reads Drafting while ABRAM works. It appears when AI is switched on for your organization and your access includes Let the assistant act.

ABRAM fills in the right side:

• The Project name and Project type, unless you already typed a name or chose a type.
• The dates, and an ABRAM estimate under the name if you left Budget empty.
• The Work packages, each with start and end dates.

Deliverables and milestones for each package arrive after you create the project. Until then the sections read ABRAM adds these to each work package after you create. Work packages ABRAM will fill in carry the ABRAM mark.

Edit any row before you create. Section 2.2 shows how.

If drafting fails

A line under the question says why. ABRAM never drafts a second time by itself, because drafting counts toward your AI usage once it starts reading. The starting draft stays on screen, so you can still create the project from it.

• Not enough AI usage left to draft this. comes with a Get more AI usage link.
• ABRAM is busy right now. Try again in a minute. comes with Retry.
• ABRAM couldn't draft this. and ABRAM couldn't draft the work packages. come with Retry.
• ABRAM couldn't read the file, so it drafted from what you typed. means the document could not be read and your typed brief was enough to draft from.
• ABRAM couldn't read that file. Add a few lines about the project and try again. means the document could not be read and there was not enough typed detail.

4. Create the project

Two buttons sit under the draft:

• Create project creates the project and opens it.
• Create and scope creates the project and opens Scope with ABRAM for it, with the draft's deliverables already in place. Scoping starts when you click Scope with ABRAM there. See Section 2.7. The button appears when Draft with ABRAM does and you are working in an organization.

Create project needs a project name or a brief. If you leave the name empty, ABRAM names the project from the first line of your brief.

Creating a project is all or nothing. If it fails, nothing is created and you can click Create project again. After a draft, ABRAM goes on to fill in each work package's deliverables, milestones, roles and work orders in the background, and they appear on the project page.

5. AI usage

Drafting counts toward your organization's AI usage, and so does the work ABRAM does on each work package after you create the project. How much it takes depends on the length of the brief and the number of work packages, so it varies from project to project. If your AI usage runs out, ABRAM says so and stops. If included usage runs out, an owner or admin can turn on extra usage or raise its spend limit in Settings > Billing on a paid plan, or move up a plan.

6. Step by step

1. Go to Projects and click New project.
2. Type the brief under What are you making?, or click Attach a brief (Pro and above).
3. Optionally set the Client, Dates, Owner, Team and Budget.
4. Click Draft with ABRAM and review the work packages, dates and estimate.
5. Edit any row that needs it.
6. Click Create project, or Create and scope.