20 ad hook images on Nano Banana 2.1: $1.50 at 0.5K before any video

Twenty ad hook images cost $1.50 on Sume at 0.5K, because Nano Banana 2.1 is $0.075 per image there. Run the 20 as stills, pick four, and spend video money only on those: four 6-second Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 clips at 720p are another $3.00.

That makes a 20-hook test about $4.50, against $15.00 to make all 20 as 6-second 720p clips.

Image rates by size

Nano Banana 2.1 has four sizes on Sume. Google lists its own direct rates for 1K, 2K and 4K at $0.0336, $0.0504 and $0.113 on the Gemini API pricing page, and does not list a 0.5K rate there. Sume's own card is higher, as the post on the price gap explains.

What a still test tells you

A still shows whether the hook line, the product framing and the first-second composition work. It does not show motion, pacing or sound. Treat the still round as a cheap filter on the idea, not as a prediction of video performance.

Generate at 0.5K for the filter. When a winner moves to video, pass the full-size version of it as the Omni first frame.

Scaling the test

The same method at 100 hooks costs $7.50 in 0.5K stills. Choose the top 10 and make 6-second 720p clips of them for $7.50. The whole round is $15.00, against $75.00 for 100 clips.

Choose by a rule you set before looking: a clear subject, a readable focal point at thumbnail size, and a hook that makes sense with no caption. A rule written in advance keeps the favourite from winning on taste.

Caveats

Text rendered inside an image can be wrong. Put the headline in your ad tool rather than in the generated picture, and proofread any words that remain.

Sume does not rank the hooks or measure ad performance. You pick the winners, from your own click data.

Rates are the Sume card on 2026-10-07. Live prices come from GET /v1/images/models.