Synthesia says 3 to 5 minutes per video; how to watch a Sume job

Synthesia's API overview says video processing typically takes 3 to 5 minutes before status becomes complete and a time-limited download link appears. Sume does not publish a fixed render time for avatar video, and the quality tier changes it: standard is the fastest path, max is slower. The practical answer is the same on both: submit, store the id, and let a webhook or a calm poll tell you when it is done. On Sume you can also read GET /v1/jobs/{id}/events to see why a render is slow.

Synthesia facts: API overview, read 2026-10-04.

What the two vendors tell you

Synthesia names a typical range and says to poll the retrieve endpoint or configure a webhook for completion. Sume's avatar video page shows three reads on a job: status, events and result.

A polling shape that does not hammer the API

Start at a few seconds, back off, and stop when the job is terminal. Poll from your server and push the result to the client. If you want push, use a webhook and keep one slow poll as a safety net, as the jobs guide advises.

import os
import time
import requests

H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['SUME_API_KEY']}"}

def wait(job_id, every=10, limit=900):
    waited = 0
    while waited < limit:
        url = f"https://api.sume.com/v1/jobs/{job_id}/status"
        data = requests.get(url, headers=H, timeout=30).json()["data"]
        print(data["sume_status"])
        if data["terminal"]:
            return data
        time.sleep(every)
        waited += every
    return None

When a render is slow

Read the events endpoint before you resubmit. A slow job that is still moving through its stages is not a failed job, and a second submit under a new key would pay twice. Resubmit only after a terminal failure, and reuse the same Idempotency-Key for a true retry of the same request.

• Queued: the job is waiting for capacity.
• Processing: stages are advancing; read events.
• Failed: read the public error before retrying.

Bottom line

Treat 3 to 5 minutes as a planning figure for Synthesia only, because it is the vendor's own statement. For Sume, design the waiting experience around async jobs and a webhook, and use the events endpoint when a customer asks why a clip is not ready yet.