New-hire welcome video: 30-second avatar with auto captions

A 30-second welcome video from an Avatar 1.0 talking video at standard quality costs $5.52, and burning captions from its speech adds $0.20, for $5.72 once the avatar exists. Avatar creation is a one-time $0.95. Scripts must plan to 4 to 60 seconds and are English-only.

HR and team leads send the same welcome many times with small changes. The reusable avatar makes each version a script edit. Captions matter because new hires often watch muted at a desk. Prices come from the Sume pricing code (read 2026-10-10).

What is the endpoint chain?

Two writes after a one-time setup.

• Once: POST /v1/avatar-1.0/generate with a photo to create the presenter and save the avatar_handle.
• POST /v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video with the handle, a 30-second script (roughly 75 to 80 words), quality: standard, aspect_ratio: 16:9.
• POST /v1/video-captions on the result with no cue fields, so Sume transcribes the speech, and a style you pick for the whole team's videos.
• Optional: POST /v1/video-trim at $0.02 to cut a long take down.

What does it cost by quality and length?

Avatar seconds are the main cost, billed per second by quality.

What are the limits?

Avatar 1.0 is English-only, and a script that plans under 4 seconds or over 60 is refused. Voice cloning is not an API feature, so the voice is a catalogue voice, not the manager's. If your hires speak another language, add translated captions as cues, not a translated avatar; the face will still speak English.

Do not generate a face of a real person without their permission. An avatar made from an employee's photo needs that employee's consent, and the video must not suggest they said something they did not. See Generate avatar video and Create new avatar for input rules.

Keep policy details out of the video: they change, and the cost to re-render is the whole table again.

When is a recorded video better?

If the manager can record 30 seconds on a phone, that is free and more personal. Use the avatar for repeatable parts, like compliance reminders or a role-specific tour. Related price planning is in AI avatar for online course videos and the training explainer plan-first note.

Pre-publish checklist

Read the script aloud once. Avatar time is the only expensive part, so catch awkward lines before you generate, not after.

Plan updates: when a name or date changes, the whole 30 seconds is regenerated at $5.52, so keep volatile details out of the script.

• Keep the script under 80 words.
• Use plain English the avatar can pronounce.
• Add team names as caption cues rather than speech.