Trim and caption a 30-second AI clip: two fixed prices, $0.22

Trimming and captioning one AI clip through the Sume API adds two fixed charges: $0.02 for the trim job and $0.20 for the caption job, so $0.22 on top of the generation itself. The caption price covers a video of up to 60 seconds, so a 30-second clip pays the same $0.20 as a 55-second one. Both numbers come from the docs' current fixed estimates; read GET /v1/catalog for the live price before you budget a batch.

The generation line is the part that scales with length. Seedance 2.5 is described by ByteDance as generating up to 30 seconds per pass (read 2026-10-05), and Sume's catalog lists it at 4 to 30 seconds. Sume bills the video models list price times 1.25 for each output second, so use the catalog rather than a number from a blog post.

The post-generation steps

Neither step calls a model for inference. The trim docs state there is no provider inference and only the worker's ffmpeg runs, which is why the price is a flat per-job number.

Where the numbers can mislead you

A caption job reserves and captures $0.20 when it is accepted, and a clip over 60 seconds is outside the stated price. Keep caption sources at 60 seconds or shorter, or read the live price for longer ones. The trim output cap of 900 seconds is far above a 30-second clip, so it will not bite here.

The trim step is only worth paying for when you need a different range. If the 30-second render is already what you want to caption, skip trim and send the render's URL straight to captions.

Worked example for a batch

For 50 clips that each need a trim and a caption burn, the post-generation spend is 50 x ($0.02 + $0.20) = $11.00. Generation is separate and comes from the model's per-second rate multiplied by clip length. If you also restyle each caption once with source_caption_id, add another 50 x $0.20 = $10.00, because a restyle is billed as a render.

Paid jobs reserve the estimate when they are accepted and capture on success. If a submit fails with 402 insufficient_credits, Sume could not reserve the estimate from the workspace balance, and no provider work started. Check the balance before a large wave rather than discovering it on item 31.

Where the $0.22 does not apply

The two fixed prices cover the trim and caption steps only. The render that produces the 30-second clip is priced by its own model, and the Video Router catalog is the place to read the model you pick. Add the render price to the $0.22 to get the pipeline total, and read the credit amount from the job rather than from your own table, since prices can change.

Trim is priced per job, not per second, and the source can be up to 1800 seconds with an output of 0.2 to 900 seconds. Captions are priced per accepted job for videos up to 60 seconds. A 30-second clip sits well inside both ranges, so the length does not move either price.

A restyle through source_caption_id is still a render and still costs $0.20, but it skips speech-to-text because the earlier word timings are reused. Budget one caption charge per style you want to compare.

• Trim: $0.02 per job.
• Captions: $0.20 per accepted job, videos up to 60 s.
• Render: the model's own price, read from the catalog.
• A failed admission, such as insufficient_credits, does not start provider work.