Continue a scene in the next Shorts episode: last frame as first frame

To make episode 2 pick up where episode 1 stopped, extract a frame from the end of episode 1 with Sume video frames and pass it as the first frame of the next generated clip. Extract several candidates in the last second, since the very last frame may be blurred, and pick the sharpest. An 8-second Omni clip at 720p then costs $1.00.

Why bother

YouTube's Shorts series groups related Shorts into seasons and episodes and plays them in sequence (YouTube Blog), so continuity between the end of one episode and the start of the next is something viewers can notice. Each episode must be a Short: portrait or square and at most 180 seconds (YouTube Help).

Step 1: candidate end frames

POST /v1/video-frames accepts an at list of 1 to 24 times. Each time must be at least 0 and below the clip's duration, otherwise the worker returns frame_time_out_of_range. For a 10-second episode, ask for times between 9.0 and 9.9 as PNG. The frames are durable media.sume.com images.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-frames \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: ep1-end-frames" \
  -d '{
    "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_ep1/ep1.mp4",
    "at": [9.0, 9.3, 9.6, 9.9],
    "format": "png"
  }'

Step 2: use it as the first frame

Choose the frame with open eyes, no motion blur and the subject where you want it. Then submit a POST /v1/videos request with frame_images holding that frame as first_frame. Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 takes 3 to 10 seconds with native audio, at 9:16. The mode follows the fields you send: frame_images means image-to-video.

{
  "model": "gemini-omni-flash-1.1",
  "prompt": "Continue the scene: the door opens and light spills into the hallway",
  "duration": 8,
  "resolution": "720p",
  "aspect_ratio": "9:16",
  "frame_images": [
    {
      "type": "image_url",
      "image_url": { "url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_frames/9-6.png" },
      "frame_type": "first_frame"
    }
  ]
}

Omni bills output seconds by resolution. Sume's per-second rate for Omni 1.1 at 720p is $0.125, so 8 seconds is $1.00. Frame extraction is billed by its own worker compute.

Limits

A matching first frame helps with continuity but does not guarantee it. Characters and lighting can still drift, so add a reference image for faces. Poll the job with GET /v1/jobs/{id}/status and read the result when it is completed; do not resubmit a paid request because a client timed out.