Reels image ad with auto music, or your own video? Still to 9:16

For a Reels ad built from a still, Meta says image ads can have music added automatically with Advantage+ Creative. If you want motion, a spoken line or a pinned product frame instead, turn the still into a 9:16 video on Sume with image-to-video and upload that.

The Meta line is from its Reels ads page, read on 2026-10-07. The Sume side is from the video generation guide.

Which one fits

Both routes start from the same product image.

Image to video in one request

frame_images pins an exact frame. Send your still as first_frame, ask for 9:16, and poll the job. The full request shapes are in first and last frame. The key points from the docs:

• frame_images fixes the exact first or last frame. input_references is visual guidance only, and if you send both, frame_images wins.
• Pick a model whose supported_aspect_ratios includes 9:16. GET /v1/videos/models lists them.
• The job is async: submit, poll the polling_url until completed, then fetch the file from /v1/videos/{id}/content.
• seed is not accepted by any model, so reruns will differ.

Check the first second

Meta's page notes that the first seconds and a safe zone matter for Reels. Make sure the pinned still has your product and logo inside the safe zone, since text near the edges may be covered by the app's interface. If the clip runs longer than you need, video trim returns a new, shorter MP4 for $0.02 per job and leaves the source untouched.

What we did not verify

The Meta page does not give a result for music against no music on image ads, and we did not test Advantage+ Creative. Treat the choice as a creative one: use the automatic music when speed matters, and image-to-video when the motion or the first frame is part of the message. See also the Reels ads brief.