Wan 3.0 720p plus Video Upscale vs native 1080p: 8, 12, 30 seconds

Generating a 12-second Wan 3.0 clip at 720p and running it through Sume Video Upscale costs 12 x $0.125 + 12 x $0.009 = $1.608, against 12 x $0.25 = $3.00 for the same clip generated at 1080p. The upscale route is 53.6 percent of the native price. Whether the two outputs are interchangeable for your delivery is something to check by eye on your own footage; the arithmetic alone cannot say.

The numbers

Wan 3.0 is $0.125 per second at 720p and $0.25 at 1080p. Video Upscale is $0.009 per input second, with a 30-second input maximum (a $0.27 job).

Two cautions

First, the upscale is a second job. It reserves its own amount at submit (omit duration_seconds and it reserves 5 seconds, $0.045 rounded up to 5 cents), so budget both reservations. Second, the upscale only re-renders the pixels that exist; a native 1080p generation can add detail the 720p never had. Take one clip each way before you commit a batch.

The saving also grows with length: $0.928 at 8 s, $1.392 at 12 s and $3.48 at 30 s. For a 200-clip batch of 12-second clips, 200 x 1.392 = $278.40 stays in the wallet.

With retakes

Retakes change the comparison. At a 40 percent keeper rate, a 12-second Wan clip needs 2.5 takes per keeper. Native 1080p costs 2.5 x $3.00 = $7.50 per keeper. Generating at 720p and upscaling only the keeper costs 2.5 x $1.50 + $0.108 = $3.858. The saving is $3.642 per keeper, or $87.41 for 24 keepers.

The upscale line is small because it is only paid once per kept clip. That is the strongest argument for the two-step route: you do the exploring at the cheap resolution and pay for pixels only on winners. The weakest case is a clip that was good at 1080p because the model drew fine detail natively, and you will not know until you compare.

Keep both versions of one test clip in your project and decide by looking, not by price.

When to just generate at 1080p

If you are going to retake, retake at 720p, then upscale only the winners. If the shot needs fine texture, hair or text edges, generate at 1080p for those shots alone. See the video models doc for ranges and sizes.

Run the test once

The only way to know whether upscaled 720p meets your bar is to try it on your own footage.

Write the verdict next to the clip ids so the next batch decision is a lookup, not another test.

• Generate one 8-second Wan clip at 720p ($1.00) and one at 1080p ($2.00).
• Upscale the 720p clip ($0.072).
• Compare the three at full size on the screen where the video will be viewed. The test costs $3.072.