Vertical short drama runs on a clock. The rule writers share on Xiaohongshu: the first 3 seconds must grab, there is a peak every 30 seconds, and an episode of 60 to 90 seconds carries two or three of them before it ends on a hook.

The problem

A script page does not show seconds. Writers count characters by hand against each platform's band, and the notes they get from AI tools read like notes for a feature film.

How Scenaloom handles it

  1. Write in the Asian layout and choose the platform the series is for. The meter shows the episode's characters against that platform's band and about how long it plays.
  2. Mark the line the episode ends on as its hook, and the paywall point. The marks show in the outline and in the export.
  3. Ask Script Doctor to read as a vertical short drama. It checks the opening hook, the cliffhanger, the paywall beat, pacing and reversals, and lays the notes on the beat clock.
The short drama episode The Night Shift Heiress with the scar line marked as the paywall point, the last line marked as the hook, and the length meter in the toolbarThe short drama episode The Night Shift Heiress with the scar line marked as the paywall point, the last line marked as the hook, and the length meter in the toolbar
The hook and the paywall point, marked in the script.
Script Doctor's beat clock for the demo episode: the hook lands at 0:19, later than the 3 second target, and the episode runs about 98 seconds against 60 to 90
Script Doctor's notes against the beat clock, from a real read of the demo episode: the hook comes too late.
Put the cursor on the last line and mark it as the hook; the outline lists it.

The result

An episode you can time before anyone shoots it, with notes about the beats short drama is judged on. Script Doctor reports and the writer decides: the first-paywall window, for example, is shown as common practice, not a rule.

Questions

Which platforms have a length band?

Hongguo, Yuewen and Baidu each have their own character band; General uses a common one.

Does Script Doctor rewrite the episode?

No. It gives notes; your script changes only when you change it.

Try it on a story. Start free with “The Night Shift Heiress”, the example on this page, or with your own work.

Start free with this example