How to make a video

Clips are made on Video. Your clips are under My videos, and the Templates tab has prompts to start from: a template fills in the words and the shape, and nothing runs until you press Generate. Everything else is set in the bar at the foot of the page.

Make a clip

1. Pick a tab at the top of the bar, for what you're making from:

   • Text / Image to Video: your words alone, or a Start frame the clip begins on and an End frame it travels to. The two sit beside the prompt.
   • Reference to Video: pictures, clips and sounds for the model to work from, in a box above the prompt. Name them in your prompt as @Image1, @Video1 and @Audio1. The box's Opening tile takes a picture the clip opens on. On Wan 3.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime there's a place for a web page or a document too.
   • Edit a video: one of your clips, or an upload, to carry on, edit, or have a character move like. See Extend, edit or upscale a clip you have.

   What you put in one tab stays there while you're on another, and only the tab that's open goes with Generate.

2. Pick a model. The model menu, first in the row under the prompt, lists the models that make from what the open tab takes. Each shows what it takes and what it would cost at your settings, and you can filter the list.

3. Add what it takes. Press a tile to choose from your Uploads, what you've Made and your Cast and products, or drop files anywhere on the bar. From your work in the references box opens the same choice. A video or a sound dropped on Text / Image to Video goes to Reference to Video, where the model takes it, and that tab opens.

4. Describe the shot. Say what happens: the motion, the camera, the light. With a start frame, describe what moves; with references, say where each one goes. The count under the prompt says how many characters you've typed of how many the model reads, and the ? beside it opens tips on writing one. If your prompt is short or unclear, press Improve the words under it: it writes your idea out in full, with the motion, camera and pacing, and keeps every detail you gave. Beside it is the most it can cost, such as "up to 2 credits", and you pay only what it uses. Changed your mind? Press Undo beside it to put your own words back.

5. Set it up. The row under the prompt holds every setting:

   • Output, such as "16:9 | 720p | 5 s": press it to pick the shape, the resolution and the length. Only what the model makes is offered, and each resolution and length shows what it costs.
   • Sound, a switch: on, dialogue, effects and ambience are made with the picture. Point at it to see whether it costs more. On Kling 4.0, Kling 4.0 Flash and MiniMax H3 it shows on and can't be switched off: they make sound with every clip.
   • Music, a switch on Seedance while Sound is on: off to start with, so the clip has only the voices and sounds your prompt asks for. Switch it on to let the model add background music.
   • Advanced: a Camera move added to your prompt, at no extra cost, and the Seed on PixVerse v6 and v6 Max: blank makes a new clip every time; a number helps make the same clip again from the same words and settings. A dot on Advanced means something in it is set, and Reset clears it.
   • Some models add their own switches, and a few buttons. Point at one to see what it does:
     • Storyboard: several shots, each with its own prompt and length. The clip is as long as its shots together. On Kling 3.0 it's on Text / Image to Video; on Kling O3 (reference) the shots go with your image refs on Reference to Video, and a video ref is kept aside while the storyboard is on.
     • Draft, on Seedance 2.5: a quick take at 480p, at the 480p price. See A draft first, below.
     • Cuts, on PixVerse v6 and Kling O3 (reference): the model plans a few shots in one clip, at no extra cost. It's off for a clip from a start and an end frame, and on Kling O3 while the storyboard is on or a video ref is in.
     • Loop, on Grok Imagine 1.5 with a start frame and no end frame: the clip ends on its start frame, so it plays round.
     • Effect, on PixVerse v6: pick one of 49 ready-made effects, such as a product turned into a landmark, a dance trend or a stadium moment. Each tile plays its example and shows what it takes, how long it runs and its price. Add the one or two pictures it asks for; words are optional. An effect sets the clip's own length, from 5 to 27 seconds, and the price follows it. The frames are kept aside while an effect is on.

6. Check the price on Generate. Hover over it, or move to it with the Tab key, to see how it's worked out.

7. Press Generate, or ⌘ Return (Ctrl Enter on Windows) in the prompt. The clip appears at the top of My videos straight away and shows its stage while it's made. The prompt clears so you can write the next one; your model, settings and files stay.

Clear all, beside the tabs, takes the words and everything you've put in out of every tab; your model and settings stay, and the files stay in your Uploads. The chevron beside it folds the bar away to a Make a video button, so you can see your clips; press it to bring the bar back as it was.

On a phone the bar keeps one row: the tabs on top, then what you've added, the prompt with Improve the words under it, a line saying every setting (tap it to change them), and the model and Generate. The character count shows there only once your prompt is longer than the model reads.

A draft first

Seedance 2.5 has a Draft switch in the bar. With it on, the clip is made at 480p and priced at 480p, so you can see whether the shot works before paying for 1080p. Output shows 480p while Draft is on.

A finished draft says draft under it in My videos, with an Upgrade to 1080p button and its price. The upgrade is the same take made sharp, not a new one: same motion, same timing. It's priced at Seedance 2.5's 1080p rate for the draft's length, including the seconds of any reference video the draft used. It arrives as a clip of its own, marked from draft, and the draft stays.

A draft can be upgraded once, for 7 days after it's made. After that the button goes; turn Draft on and make it again.

Adding files

Each tile opens your Uploads, what you've Made, and Saved (your Cast and products), or takes a new file. Pictures can be PNG, JPEG, WebP or GIF, and a large photo is made smaller on your device before it uploads. Videos can be MP4 or MOV up to 200 MB, and sounds MP3 or WAV up to 15 MB. A voice note from your phone (M4A, AAC, OGG or Opus) works too: it goes in as an MP3. A sound longer than the model takes is marked, and you can trim it.

If you switch to a model that doesn't take something you added, it stays in its slot, unsent, until you pick a model that does. The same goes for what's in another tab: it waits there until you open it again.

If you upload a sound with someone's voice in it, the bar asks whose voice it is: a real person, named, with their consent confirmed, or no one speaking or singing. For some jobs on an uploaded picture or video, it asks the same about who is in it. Generate stays off until you answer.

What it costs

Video is priced by model, length and resolution. Clips start from 2 credits, and a five-second Seedance 2.0 clip at 720p is 85 credits. Some models also charge for the seconds of reference video you send; the price on Generate includes them.

You're never charged more than the price you pressed at. If the price has gone up since the page loaded, you're shown the new one and asked to press again. If your balance is short, Generate opens a window where you can add credits or choose a plan, and what you typed is kept for when you come back.

When it's done

A finished clip can be downloaded, put in Edit a video as the video to work on (Use in composer), added to the video refs on Reference to Video (Use as reference), or deleted. Open a clip to play it. Beside it are its prompt, its References and its model and settings. References are what you made it from: its start and end frames, and the pictures, clips and sounds you gave it, named as your prompt names them, such as @Image1, @Video1 and @Audio1. Press one to see or play it where the clip was; Back to the clip, or Esc, brings the clip back. Press Use prompt to put its words, model and settings back in the bar. Deleting a clip leaves what it was made from where it was: your uploads stay in your Uploads. A clip that fails is refunded automatically: see My video failed. Did I lose my credits? If one seems to be taking a while, see My generation is stuck.