Edit or regenerate an Omni clip? The per-second price is the same

Editing a clip with Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 and generating a new one cost the same per output second on Sume, so the decision is about continuity, not money. If the clip is right except for one object or one effect, edit; if the composition is wrong, regenerate. The docs bill both as the provider list times 1.25 per output second, by resolution.

What each path sends

A regeneration sends a prompt, optionally with an image or references, plus duration and aspect_ratio. An edit sends video_url and a prompt with the instructions, and takes no aspect_ratio or duration. You cannot mix video_url with image_url or reference fields.

If you need to change length or ratio, an edit cannot do it. That is a regeneration.

Three tries of each

Take a 6-second result at 720p: 6 x 12.5 = 75 cents per try. Three edits are $2.25 and three regenerations are $2.25. The money is equal, so what you pay for is the chance of keeping the parts that already work.

Sume rounds each clip up to the next whole cent, so a clip total is ceil(seconds x rate), not a sum of fractional cents.

A regeneration has no seed to repeat, since the Sume docs say no v1 video model accepts a seed. A second try can change everything. An edit is more likely to preserve the clip, which is its main value.

A rule of thumb

Edit when the change is local: swap an object, add steam, change a colour. Regenerate when the idea or the framing fails. For the first, the prompt pattern in the docs is short: name the change and then say to keep everything else the same.

Whichever path you take, test at 360p first if the clip is long. Six seconds at 360p is 23 cents.

The same length at every tier

For reference, a 6-second Omni Flash clip at each resolution. Every price is the seconds times the billable rate, rounded up to a whole cent, as of 2026-10-08.

Limits to remember

These apply to every request on this page, from the Video Router and Video generation docs:

• Length is 3 to 10 whole seconds in generation modes; an edit takes no duration.
• Aspect ratio is 16:9 or 9:16; an edit takes no aspect ratio.
• Native synced audio is always on, and generate_audio: false is rejected.
• There is no bitrate_mode, no reference audio and no seed.
• Billing is the provider list times 1.25 per output second, reserved at submit and shown in usage.cost.