Create videos

The composer in video mode on Seedance 2.0: a painting of the harbor in fog as the start frame, a prompt about the fog lifting into a sunset, and the Animate image button.

Overview

Switch the composer from Image to Video and the same prompt box makes short clips. Describe the scene, what moves, and what the camera does. To bring one of your images to life, give it a start frame and the button changes from Generate video to Animate image.

For example, a still of a harbor in morning fog can become a few seconds of the fog lifting as the camera pushes in toward the lighthouse.

Start and end frames

Select + in video mode and the tray shows a Start Frame. Put an image there and the clip begins on it. Once a start frame is in, an End Frame slot appears beside it. Fill it and the clip moves from the start frame to the end frame, such as a harbor in morning fog that ends at sunset, or a whole chocolate bar that ends with one square snapped off.

The video tray with a Start Frame of the harbor in fog and an End Frame of the same harbor at sunset, and a note that Seedance 2.0 cannot combine reference images with start or end frames.

Many video models also take References, images that guide the look or the content without being frames. Each model has its own rules for combining them. Seedance 2.0, for example, can't use references together with a start or end frame. When your tray breaks a rule, the tray says which one.

Length, resolution and sound

Open the video settings from the composer.

The video settings on Seedance 2.0: Aspect ratio, a Duration slider, Resolution from 480p to 4K, the Generate audio switch, and the Estimated cost in credits.

Aspect ratio works the same way as for images.
Duration is the clip length in seconds. Each model has its own range, and a few make only one length.
Resolution sets the size.
Generate audio adds sound made to match the clip. Some models always include it, and a few have none.
Estimated cost shows what this clip will cost with these settings, before you press the button.

Models lists the lengths, sound and reference images for each video model.

What it costs and how long it takes

Video is priced by the second, and the price rises with resolution and sound. On Seedance 2.0, a 5-second 720p clip with sound costs almost three times as much as a 4-second 480p clip without it. Change a setting and watch the estimate move.

A clip takes minutes to make. Its row in the feed shows Generating video, then Saving video, and the clip plays there when it's done. Keep working while it renders. A clip that runs past 20 minutes stops and shows Timed out.

Tips

Write about motion and camera, not only the subject. "Slow push-in", "handheld" or "the camera rises over the roof" change a clip more than adjectives do.
Start from a still you already like. The start frame settles the look, and the prompt only has to describe what moves.
Make the first try short and small: 4 seconds at 480p without sound on Seedance 2.0 is 75 credits. Once the motion is right, spend the credits on the long, sharp version.
Use an end frame for a change you can't easily describe, like a before and after or day into night.