What we learn making short-form video with AI models - how they actually behave, what they cost, and how to get what you pictured without generating it ten times.
Seedance 2.5 doubles the take to 30 seconds and accepts 50 references, at about 2.6× the price of 2.0 - and ships at 720p. What a month of hands-on tests says, where 2.0 still wins, and how to pick per shot.
A cheap clip that takes six tries costs more than a good one that takes two. The arithmetic of retries in AI video, the four places a cheap model quietly gets expensive, and nine habits that cut the bill.
Seedance, Kling, MiniMax H3 and Veo each read prompts differently. A short per-model guide to the prompt each one wants - and to paying for fewer retries.
