Read a competitor ad before you remix it: 24 frames per call

To study a reference ad before a remix, import the clip into your workspace and call Sume's video frames endpoint with up to 24 timestamps (at[]) or a sample rate (fps up to 2). It returns durable image artifacts at source size, from a source up to 300 seconds. Use only clips you have the right to analyze or recreate, such as your own earlier ads, licensed footage, or material you have permission for.

The goal is to understand structure: where the hook sits, when the product shows, how long each shot holds and what text appears. You then brief your own version in your own words and your own footage.

Pick the instants

A 30 second reference with six beats needs six or seven stills, not 24. Choose at[] from your own viewing: the first frame, each cut, the product reveal and the end card. Each value must satisfy 0 <= t < duration, or the worker fails with frame_time_out_of_range and tells you the probed duration.

Call it

Send exactly one of at[] or fps, never both. The clip must already be a media.sume.com artifact, because the API does not fetch from the open internet. Add an Idempotency-Key so a retry does not queue a second extract.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-frames \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: ref-ad-frames-001" \
  -d '{
    "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/talk.mp4",
    "at": [0, 2.5, 6, 11, 14.5],
    "format": "png"
  }'

Read the result

Poll GET /v1/video-frames/:id. When resource_status is ready, frames[] holds t, url, width and height for each still, and source_duration_seconds is the probed length. If one instant fails, that frame has url: null; the job itself does not fail, so check each entry. This job uses no admission seat and is billed by its Modal compute, never more than the hold.

Do not use it where you need a transcript or an overview; the docs point to video inspect for a probe, eight mid-bin stills and optional speech-to-text, and to video trim for a range cut.

Turn stills into a brief

Lay the stills in a row, label each with its time, and write one line per shot: what the viewer sees, why it works and what you will shoot instead. Keep the structure and rewrite the content, because a remix that copies a competitor's footage, words or branding is a legal and brand risk, not a creative strategy.

Then build your version with your own product clips and a fresh script, and re-check it with the same frame call at the same beats.

• Own or licensed clips only.
• Six to eight stills usually tell the structure.
• Brief in your words, shoot your product.