Small business year in review video from 10 photos and cues

A small business year-in-review video works best as ten short clips, each started from a real photo, with your actual numbers burned in as caption cues. Use frame_images with frame_type: "first_frame" on POST /v1/videos so each clip begins on the photo you took, then add text with POST /v1/video-captions. The AI adds motion; you supply the facts.

Why start from photos?

Sume's video docs say the mode is inferred from which field you send: frame_images means image-to-video, and a pinned opening frame goes in with frame_type: "first_frame". That keeps your shopfront, products and people recognizable, which a text-only prompt cannot do. A year recap that shows invented storefronts would read as fake.

What does the pipeline look like?

Run ten video jobs, one per photo, each with a callback so you are told when it finishes. Trim any that run long, caption each with one line, and join them in the order of the year. Sume documents the job flow and webhooks on its jobs and webhooks pages.

Which numbers belong in the cues?

Only numbers you can show from your own books or counts: orders packed, classes taught, new locations opened. Do not let a video model draw statistics; put them in as cue text, which the captions page describes as authored overlay text. Keep each cue to a few words so it is readable in two seconds.

• Month label plus one event ("March: second oven")
• One thank-you line to customers near the end
• Your site or phone number on the final clip

When should you post it?

Late December and early January are common for recaps, but pick the day that suits your audience. Make a vertical cut first if you post to phones, and keep the total short enough that people watch to the thank-you.