Need 12 seconds? Generating 30 on Wan 3.0 wastes $1.13 to $4.50

If the shot you need is 12 seconds, request "duration": 12. Wan 3.0 bills per output second, so generating 30 seconds and trimming to 12 pays for 18 seconds you throw away: $1.125 at 480p, $2.25 at 720p and $4.50 at 1080p. A video trim job adds $0.02.

Generate 12 vs generate 30 and trim

When the long take is still right

A 30-second generation can be worth the extra when you are looking for a good moment inside a long continuous take, for example a camera move that only settles after 20 seconds. In that case, pay once for 30 seconds at 480p, find the window, and cut the keeper.

At 480p the long take costs $1.875, so it is cheaper than two or three separate 12-second tries at 720p ($3.00 for two).

A rule of thumb

• You know the length: request that length.
• You want to pick a moment from a long take: generate 30 seconds at 480p, then trim.
• You need the final at a higher resolution: trim the 480p draft to find the timing, then generate the exact length at 1080p.

Worked example at 720p

A 12-second 720p clip is $1.50. A 30-second 720p take trimmed to 12 is $3.75 plus the trim, so the waste is about $2.25 per clip. Across 20 clips that is $45.00 of unused footage.

The direct request

Duration is an integer from 2 to 30 for wan-3.0:

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/videos \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: hero-12s-001" \
  -d '{"model":"wan-3.0","prompt":"A watch rotating on a marble plinth","duration":12,"resolution":"1080p","aspect_ratio":"16:9"}'