Render cost estimate before export: Timeline plan is unbilled

Call POST /v1/timeline-1.0/plan with the same body you would render. It compiles the timeline, returns billable_minutes and estimated_cost_usd_micros, and does not create a job, reserve credits or download media, so the estimate costs nothing.

Blackmagic's Resolve 21.1 notes describe asking an AI assistant to render deliverables and batch render. An agent that renders on your behalf is the case where a price check before the export matters. Everything below is from the Timeline 1.0 docs, read 2026-10-01.

What does the plan call return?

The response is object: timeline_plan. It runs schema validation, the check that every URL is a Sume-hosted media.sume.com file, and the pure compiler. Idempotency-Key is not required, because nothing is written.

What does a render cost once I send it?

The rate card lists Timeline render at $0.10 per output minute. The reserve at submit is ceil(audio.duration_seconds / 60) minutes, and the work is worker ffmpeg only, with no provider inference. The rounding is worked through in why 61 seconds costs two minutes.

What can a plan not predict?

The docs say plainly: a plan cannot predict short-source pad and loop warnings. If a clip is shorter than its slot, the render may pad or loop it and report a warning on the result. Those soft warnings are not failures, and the plan will not show them. Treat the plan as a check on length, slot count and cost, not as a preview of the final picture.

How should an agent use it?

Plan first, compare billable_minutes and the estimate against your budget, then submit the render with an Idempotency-Key. Poll GET /v1/jobs/:id/status, then read GET /v1/jobs/:id/result, which carries billable_minutes again as the billed figure. If the plan call is refused, fix the spec before spending anything. Related edit steps are in assemble long-form video with the Timeline API.