Ramadan 2027 begins around Feb 8: an iftar-special clip from photos

Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin on the evening of Sunday, February 7, 2027 and end on the evening of Monday, March 8, 2027, but the dates depend on the sighting of the moon (HRF, read 2026-10-12). Plan the clip for "around Feb 8", keep the date text out of the video, and add it in a cue only after your local authority confirms.

A restaurant, bakery or grocer can make a 20-second iftar-special promo from five photos, a generated instrumental bed and caption cues for $0.425 in Sume rates.

How do I avoid printing the wrong date?

Because the start is moon-sighted, build the clip so only the cue text changes. The photos and bed stay fixed, and you re-run only the $0.20 caption job once the date is confirmed. The timeline render, $0.10, is not repeated.

What goes in the photos and cues?

Use four seconds per photo: the dates and dish for the iftar box, the table setting, the pickup counter, the box in hand, and the order card. Keep cues factual and calm: "Iftar boxes, order by 3pm" (0 to 8), "Pickup 5 to 7pm" (8 to 16), "Ramadan Kareem" (16 to 20). Prompt the bed as soft instrumental oud and strings, 20 seconds, no vocals.

How do I build it with the Sume API?

Import the photos first (POST /v1/media-imports), because Timeline only accepts files already hosted on media.sume.com. Still photos are static holds, so the fades carry the motion. Hold the date cue back until the moon is sighted.

Each call returns a job. Poll GET /v1/jobs/:id/status and read GET /v1/jobs/:id/result for the video_url, then pass that URL to the next step. You can call POST /v1/timeline-1.0/plan first: it is unbilled and returns the duration and estimated cost before you render, which is a cheap way to catch a timing mistake. The placeholder URLs below are examples only.

# 1) bed: POST /v1/music-router/generate (prompt: soft instrumental oud and strings, 20-second track, no vocals) -> audio artifact
# 2) assemble five imported photos (media.sume.com URLs) over a silent spine + bed
curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/timeline-1.0/render \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: ramadan-timeline-001" \
  -d '{"audio":{"mode":"silence","duration_seconds":20},
       "video":[{"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo1.jpg","start":0,"duration":4},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo2.jpg","start":4,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo3.jpg","start":8,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo4.jpg","start":12,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}},
                {"source_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/photo5.jpg","start":16,"duration":4,"transition":{"type":"fade","duration":0.5}}],
       "soundtrack":{"url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/bed.mp3","gain_db":-6,"fade_out_seconds":2}}'
# 3) burn authored cues on the finished MP4 (no speech needed)
curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-captions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: ramadan-captions-001" \
  -d '{"video_url":"https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/timeline.mp4","style":"slam","cues":[{"text":"Iftar boxes: order by 3pm","start":0,"end":8},{"text":"Pickup 5 to 7pm","start":8,"end":16},{"text":"Ramadan Kareem","start":16,"end":20}]}'

What does the 20-second version cost on Sume?

The photos are yours, so there is no image or video generation line. Rates come from the Sume docs: Music 1.0 and Music Router charge $0.125 per generation, Timeline 1.0 charges $0.10 per ceil(output minute), and a standalone caption job is $0.20. Check GET /v1/catalog, the live catalog, before you budget.

When is this the wrong approach?

A photo slideshow with cues is the cheap, fast option. It is not the right tool for every job.

• Your audience wants a voice greeting in Arabic: use a spoken voice track and speech captions rather than overlay cues.
• You are a mosque or charity that must announce the exact start: wait for the official announcement instead of using projected dates.
• You want a hands-free daily post for 30 nights: that is a batch of clips, not one slideshow.