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FilmOpen documentation

Google AI Studio

Implemented in plugin fo-google.

What it is and what FilmOpen uses it for

Section titled “What it is and what FilmOpen uses it for”

Google makes the Gemini models. With a key from Google AI Studio, FilmOpen writes and reads text with Gemini, and makes and edits pictures with Nano Banana.

Model What it does in FilmOpen
Gemini 3.1 Pro Writes prose, scenes and scripts, and can use tools
Gemini 3.8 Flash Reads text and returns structured data
Gemini 4 Carbon, Gemini 4 Argon Write prose, scenes and scripts, and can use tools: Carbon the strongest, Argon the faster and lighter
Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2 Make an image from a prompt, or edit one with reference images

Pricing

Section titled “Pricing”

A Google AI Studio key can run on Google’s free tier or on a paid one, once you turn on billing.

  • Free tier: Gemini 3.8 Flash is free of charge within Google’s limits. Your prompts and answers may be used to improve Google’s products. Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 4 Carbon, Gemini 4 Argon and the Nano Banana image models are not on the free tier.
  • Paid tier: press Set up billing in AI Studio. New accounts prepay, with $5 the smallest purchase; credits expire after 12 months and can’t be refunded. At a balance of zero, requests fail (billing).
  • A Google AI plan’s credit: the Developer Program gives Google AI Pro subscribers $10 a month of GenAI and Cloud credit, and Google AI Ultra subscribers $40 (20TB) or $100 (30TB), once you claim it (plans). On the usual Prepay billing, Google requires at least $5 of prepaid credit before that credit works on the Gemini API, and says the plan’s credit is then used first. Monthly credits expire a year after they are granted (benefits FAQ). See Use a Google AI plan’s credit. What that credit covers is on Google’s bill: FilmOpen records each call at Google’s price and doesn’t know whether the credit paid for it.

Paid prices (pricing):

Model Price
Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.75 per million tokens in, $3.75 out, until 31 December 2026; then $1.50 and $7.50
Gemini 3.1 Pro $2 per million tokens in, $12 out; above 200,000 input tokens, $4 and $18
Gemini 4 Carbon, Gemini 4 Argon Each $2 per million tokens in, $10 out, until 30 November 2026; then $4 and $20
Nano Banana Pro $0.134 an image at 1K or 2K, $0.24 at 4K
Nano Banana 2 $0.045 an image at 0.5K, $0.067 at 1K, $0.101 at 2K, $0.151 at 4K

Output prices include thinking tokens. Prices were checked on 9 November 2026. See Google’s page for today’s.

FilmOpen credit

Section titled “FilmOpen credit”

FilmOpen credit does not pay for this platform yet; use your own key.

Create your own key

Section titled “Create your own key”

These steps make a Google AI Studio key and put it into FilmOpen. The screenshots were taken on 9 November 2026 on an account with a Google AI Ultra plan, with personal details blacked out. That account already had billing, so the Set up billing screens aren’t shown, nor the screen straight after paying.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

You need a Google account, in a country where the Gemini API is offered. For the free tier that is all; for Gemini 3.1 Pro and Nano Banana you also need a billing account.

Create an account

Section titled “Create an account”

There is no separate account: you sign in to Google AI Studio with your Google account. New users are given a default Google Cloud project and a key once they accept the terms (API keys).

Add money

Section titled “Add money”

Skip this for the free tier. For Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 4, Nano Banana, or a plan’s credit:

  1. Press Set up billing on your key’s row in AI Studio, and choose or add a billing account.

  2. Set a limit first. In AI Studio, open Spend, press Set spend cap, enter the most this project may spend in a month, and press Save. Google marks the cap Experimental: usage pauses when it is reached, up to about ten minutes of further use can get through, and it resets on the first of each month. Google’s page doesn’t say whether usage paid by a plan’s credit counts toward it.

    Google AI Studio’s Gemini API Spend page: a Monthly spend cap marked Experimental with its amount blacked out, the Set spend cap button, and a banner saying prepay credits are depleted

    The Set Gemini API spend cap dialog: an empty amount box, with Cancel and Save

  3. Open Billing and press Buy credits. Nothing is charged yet. The page says Prepay and Auto-reload: Off.

    Google AI Studio’s Gemini API Billing page: a yellow warning that a credit balance above $0 is required, Prepay, Auto-reload Off, and the Buy credits link, with the account’s details blacked out

  4. Google preselects $20. Choose $5 unless you want more: $5 is the smallest purchase, and the most you can hold is $5,000.

    The Buy credits window as it opens: payment method blacked out, the amounts $5, $20 selected, $100 and Other amount, and Auto-reload off but labelled Recommended

  5. Leave Auto-reload off. It carries a green Recommended label, but it is the one setting that charges your card by itself. Check the payment method, then press Pay now. Credit can’t be refunded and expires after 12 months.

    The Buy credits window with $5 selected, Auto-reload off, and the Cancel and Pay now buttons

  6. Reload the Billing page. If it says Failed to load data, reload again. You should see the balance, Auto-reload: Off, one entry under Transactions, and the yellow warning gone.

    The Billing page after buying credit: Credit balance, Auto-reload Off, eligible GCP credits, and one transaction, with every amount blacked out

What can charge your card, as Google’s billing page describes it: buying credits, each time you do it; auto-reload, if you turn it on; and other Google Cloud products on the same billing account, billed monthly. On Prepay, running out of balance stops the API with an error rather than charging your card. A small overrun can take your balance below zero, and comes off your next purchase. Check that your Billing page says Prepay: on Postpay you are billed monthly for what you use.

Create a key

Section titled “Create a key”

  1. Open Google AI Studio’s key page and sign in with your Google account. The first time, accept the terms. With several Google accounts in one browser, check the account shown is the one you mean: each has its own keys.

    Google AI Studio’s API Keys page: a Default Gemini API Key with its key blacked out, in the Default Gemini Project, on the free tier with a Set up billing link, and the Create API key button at the top right

  2. If a key is listed already, you can use it. To make another, press Create API key, give it a name you will recognise, such as FilmOpen, choose the project, and press Create key.

    The Create a new key window: a Name your key box, Choose an imported project set to Default Gemini Project, and the Cancel and Create key buttons

  3. Press the copy button on the key’s row, and keep the key somewhere safe, such as a password manager, until you add it to FilmOpen. The row shows the key’s project and its billing tier.

    The API Keys list: two keys blacked out, in the Default Gemini Project, each on My Billing Account at Tier 1, with a copy button at the start of the row’s icons

Add the key to FilmOpen

Section titled “Add the key to FilmOpen”

FilmOpen keeps your key on this device, encrypted in your operating system’s credential store, for your user only. It never puts the key in a project or in its log, never shows it again apart from its last four characters, and sends it only to Google. Plugins run in FilmOpen’s desktop app, so add the key there.

  1. In FilmOpen, open Settings, choose Plugins, and press Configure on the Google row. If it isn’t turned on yet, install and allow it first.

  2. On the Google AI Studio key card, paste your key into the API key box and press Save. FilmOpen asks Google about the key before it saves anything, and the card says so while it waits. If what you pasted looks like another platform’s key, a line under the box says so and Save asks first.

  3. A green Key was accepted appears under the box, the box empties, and the card says Verified on the date, with the key’s last four characters. FilmOpen saves no key Google did not accept.

    The Google AI Studio key card after Save: Verified on the date with the key’s last four characters blacked out, the box empty, and a green Key was accepted line under it

If the card says something else:

  • Key is invalid: Google refused the key, so nothing was saved and the box keeps it. Check that you copied all of it, or create a new key.
  • Could not check: Google didn’t answer in time, couldn’t be reached, or answered with an error. Nothing was saved, and the box keeps the key: press Save again when the connection is back.
  • Saving this key could not be confirmed: the box keeps the key. Press Save to try again, and if it keeps happening, restart FilmOpen.

Save checks the key with Google before it stores anything, without running a model. Remove takes the key out of FilmOpen after asking, and the key keeps working on Google until you delete it there.

After pasting a key anywhere, clear your clipboard history if your system keeps one: on Windows, press Win+V and choose Clear all.

Keep the key safe

Section titled “Keep the key safe”
  • Anyone with your key can use your account’s allowance or spend your credits. Never put the key in a chat, an e-mail, a shared document or code.
  • If it may have leaked, delete it on the key page and create a new one.

Use a Google AI plan’s credit

Section titled “Use a Google AI plan’s credit”

If you pay for Google AI Pro or Ultra, the plan includes a monthly credit for developers, which Google says pays for Gemini API calls, those made through your key included. Google doesn’t switch it on for you: you claim it once, and on Prepay you also need at least $5 of prepaid credit (see Add money).

Google’s Compare plans and benefits table: GenAI and Cloud developer credits, $10 per user per month with Google AI Pro, $40 for Google AI Ultra 20TB, $100 for Google AI Ultra 30TB

  1. Open your Benefits page, signed in with the Google account that pays for the plan. If it says Join the program, press it: standard membership is free. Then reload the page, since the credit may not appear until you do. If it says Unlock Google AI Pro or Ultra, reload, and check you are on the right account.

    Google Builders Hub: Build the future, with the Join the program button

  2. On the card named for your credit, choose your billing account under Billing account. If you have none, create one first in AI Studio’s Billing page.

    The Benefits page with its monthly Gen AI and Cloud credits card, the amount blacked out, not yet claimed, with a Billing account box, Always use this billing account, and an unavailable Apply button

    The credit’s card with the Billing account list open, showing My Billing Account

  3. Tick Always use this billing account, so each month’s credit applies by itself; otherwise you come back and claim it every month. Press Apply. Claiming costs nothing.

    The credit’s card with My Billing Account chosen, Always use this billing account ticked, and the Apply button ready

  4. The card now shows Remaining balance and a Google Cloud Billing button.

    The credit’s card after Apply: Remaining balance, its amount blacked out, and the Google Cloud Billing button

  5. Open AI Studio’s Billing page and reload it. It should say $100 eligible GCP credits, or $10 or $40 for your plan. The warning about a balance above $0 stays until you have bought your $5.

    The Billing page after claiming: eligible GCP credits beside the billing account, the yellow warning still shown, and the amounts blacked out

Google’s own words for the $5 rule, and for the plan’s credit being used first:

Google’s billing documentation: the minimum purchase is $5 and the most is $5,000, and a note that Prepay users must buy Prepaid credits before they can use Cloud credits, which are then consumed first, and stop being consumed when the Prepay balance reaches $0

Google says that if your prepaid balance reaches $0, the plan’s credit stops working on the API too. Your $5 expires after 12 months, so expect to buy another $5 about once a year. The credit is much smaller than the plan’s price, and separate from what the plan gives you in the Gemini app. Your Google AI plan itself is changed or cancelled in your Google One settings.

The plugin

Section titled “The plugin”

fo-google gives FilmOpen Gemini for text and Nano Banana for pictures, on your AI Studio key. Turn the plugin on in Settings → Plugins; Installing plugins explains installing and allowing one. Its page is opened with Configure on its row, and Check under Can it work? asks the platform about your key without making anything.

Text. The plugin streams Gemini’s answer, shows its thoughts as notes, and can use tools. A request runs once, with no retry; the free tier’s “too many requests” answer is shown as it comes.

Pictures. A render makes one picture. If Google refuses the picture for safety reasons you are told why, and the tokens you used are still counted. The seed is not applied, so a saved seed doesn’t promise the same result again.

Cost. Usage records each call at Google’s published price. Google’s free-tier and subscriber credit are not recorded; what they cover is on Google’s bill.

If something goes wrong

Section titled “If something goes wrong”
  • “You do not have permission to create a key in this project”: ask whoever owns the Google Cloud project, or choose another.
  • Requests are refused for “too many requests”: you have reached the free tier’s limit. Wait, or turn on billing.
  • Requests fail with payment needed, or you see “Prepay credits depleted”: your prepaid balance has reached zero, even if you have never bought any. Buy credits in AI Studio. Google says a plan’s credit doesn’t count until you have.
  • Gemini 3.1 Pro, Gemini 4 or Nano Banana is refused: they need a billing account, since they aren’t on the free tier.
  • FilmOpen says the key is invalid, or that it could not check it: nothing was saved and the box keeps the key. See Add the key to FilmOpen.