H3 Max lip sync: 480p drafts then a 1080p final for a 6-second line

Run a 480p draft before a 1080p final only when you expect to need more than about 1.45 attempts. For a 6-second line on the Sume H3 Max lip-sync route, a 480p take costs $0.375 (6 x $0.0625) and a 1080p take costs $1.20 (6 x $0.20). One draft and one final is $1.575, which is more than going straight to 1080p; two attempts at 1080p cost $2.40, while two drafts and one final cost $1.95.

The break-even

With d the cost of a draft and f the cost of a final, k expected attempts cost k x f straight to final, and k x d + f with drafts. Drafts win when k x (f - d) > f, which is k > 1.2 / 0.825 = 1.45 here.

Check the table in code

The script prints the same figures. Rates are the Sume prices: $0.0625, $0.10 and $0.20 per second for 480p, 768p and 1080p.

import math

RATE = {"480p": 0.0625, "768p": 0.10, "1080p": 0.20}

def take(seconds, res):
    return math.ceil(seconds) * RATE[res]

d, f = take(6, "480p"), take(6, "1080p")
for k in (1, 2, 3, 5):
    print(k, round(k * f, 3), round(k * d + f, 3))
print("break-even attempts:", round(f / (f - d), 2))

What a draft tells you, and what it does not

A 480p take shows you whether the audio lines up with the mouth and whether the still crops well. It does not promise that a 1080p take will be identical. The 1080p job is a new generation, not an upscale of the draft, so small differences can appear. Use drafts to judge the still and the audio, not to approve the exact final frames.

Watch the still too. A still whose aspect ratio is outside 0.4 to 2.5 is rejected at any resolution, so check it before the first draft.

Steps

• Choose the still and render audio at its final length.
• Submit one 480p job with duration_seconds set to the audio length.
• Review. If the take is good, decide whether 480p is enough for the channel.
• Re-submit at 1080p only for takes you will ship, with a new Idempotency-Key.
• Never re-cut the audio between the draft and the final.

A worked batch

Say a team makes 20 lines a week, each 6 seconds, and expects to need two attempts on average. Straight to 1080p that is 20 x 2 x $1.20 = $48.00 a week. With one 480p draft before each final, and the second attempt happening at draft price, the week costs 20 x ($0.375 x 2 + $1.20) = $39.00. The saving is $9.00, and it grows if more lines need more tries. If most lines pass on the first attempt, the draft only adds cost, so measure your own first-pass rate for two weeks before you change the workflow.

What Sume does not do

The route offers 480p, 768p and 1080p, and no 2K. speed_tier is accepted and ignored, so it cannot make a draft cheaper. The only way to reduce the price of a take is to lower the resolution or shorten the clip, and the clip cannot be shorter than 5 seconds.