MiniMax H3 API

Introduction

MiniMax H3 Reference to video generates one shot from one to nine reference images and a prompt that refers to them by number, as Picture 1, Picture 2 and so on. It returns 4 to 15 whole seconds at 768p or 2k in one of six aspect ratios, with sound generated alongside. Up to three reference videos and up to three reference audio clips can join the images, each set 15 seconds in total.

Choose a MiniMax H3 mode by starting material

Key features

Up to nine numbered image slots

reference_image_urls takes one to nine images, and the prompt addresses them by position. One image can carry the face, another the wardrobe and a third the room. The character-continuity example does exactly that: it keeps the woman from Picture 1 in the black lace slip from Picture 2 inside the hotel room from Picture 3.

A new angle on an existing set-up

References keep a production consistent when the camera moves somewhere new. The red-dress-theatre-three-angles example uses three stills to fix the performer, the garment and the stage, then asks for a third camera angle, so the new position does not quietly become a new production. It ran in 3:4 for five seconds.

Movement and sound come from the prompt

Motion and audio can be written or referenced. The voice-and-room example sends two images, the performer and the stage lighting, and describes the club acoustics in words: warm reverb and a murmur from the crowd. A reference video carries movement and is referred to as <Video 1>; reference audio sets a voice or a sound. The live estimate reflects all of it before you submit.

Request parameters

Pricing

Prices are in credits, the same credits you use on the website (1 credit = $0.01). The hold is taken when the task is accepted and settled to the actual charge when it finishes; failed tasks are refunded.

Each task is rounded up to whole credits, so one run at the lowest tier costs 28 credits for a 5-second clip ($0.28).

For an exact number before you run, send the same body to POST /jobs/quote.

Use cases

Keep a recurring character across shots

Reuse the same set of reference images for every shot in a sequence and change only the action and setting lines in the prompt. The endpoint takes no seed, so the references are what hold identity steady from one take to the next; text alone would drift.

Place a performer in a specific space

Pair a portrait with a separate image of the space and describe what happens there. In voice-and-room the performer leans into the microphone, delivers one line and smiles, while the second image supplies the stage lighting and the prompt supplies the room sound.

Hold a garment or prop steady in motion

Give a garment or object its own slot rather than hoping it survives inside a portrait. The red-dress example then writes what the dress does as she moves, the slit opening with every step as she crosses to the proscenium, because its cut and colour are already fixed by a reference.

Prompt guide & pro tips

Map every picture to one job

Open the prompt with the mapping, as character-continuity does: "Keep the woman from Picture 1 and the black lace slip from Picture 2, in the hotel room from Picture 3." Then write the action. Three or four images with distinct jobs work better than nine overlapping ones; when several images show the same subject, the model averages them rather than choosing one.

Write only what the references cannot supply

Slow handheld drift, warm lamp, quiet room tone." Describing the face again in words hands the model a second description that may not match the picture.

Draft small, then deliver

Duration runs 4 to 15 seconds, and 4 seconds is only available at 768p. Draft at a lower resolution with the reference set you intend to keep, then re-run at 2k. If a take drifts, swap one reference or one instruction at a time so you can tell which change made the difference.

API quick start

Call the MiniMax H3 API in three steps

1. Create an API key. Sign in to PopNow and create a key in the API console. Keys start with sk-popnow- and use the same credits as the website.
2. Send the request. POST /jobs/createTask with model minimax/h3/reference-to-video and an input object that follows the parameter table. The response returns a task ID straight away.
3. Get the result. Poll GET /jobs/recordInfo with the task ID, or pass a callBackUrl and we post the result to it. Download the output links when the task succeeds.

# 1. Create the task. Keep the Idempotency-Key if you retry after a network error.
export IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -X POST https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "minimax/h3/reference-to-video",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "A slow aerial shot drifting over a misty pine forest at sunrise",
    "reference_image_urls": [
      "https://media.popnow.ai/influencer/examples/ava.webp"
    ],
    "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
    "resolution": "768p",
    "duration_seconds": 5
  }
}'

# 2. Copy data.taskId from the response, then poll until state is succeeded, failed, canceled or expired.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY"

Replace the prompt and any links with your own. The API tab has the response, polling and callback reference.

MiniMax H3 API questions

All MiniMax models

MiniMax H3 Max is the fast-generation variant, with an optional closing frame but no reference mode and no 2K. H3 is the all-rounder.

• MiniMax H3 APIExpressive clips with audio, up to 2KFrom 28 credits for a 5-second clip
• MiniMax Speech 2.8 HD APIHigh-fidelity speech in 400+ voices with emotion controlFrom 18 credits per 1,000 characters
• MiniMax Music 3.0 APIFinished stereo songs, with vocals or instrumentalFrom 27 credits per run
• MiniMax H3 Singularity LoRA APICommunity-tuned H3 video that loads your own LoRAsFrom 45 credits for a 5-second clip
• MiniMax H3 Max APIFast clips with ambience, effects and musicFrom 38 credits for a 5-second clip
• MiniMax H3 LoRA APIMiniMax H3 video with sound and up to three of your LoRAsFrom 38 credits for a 5-second clip
• MiniMax H3 Image LoRA APIH3 stills and edits with up to three of your LoRAsFrom 7 credits per image
• MiniMax Speech 2.8 Turbo APIFast speech in 400+ voices with emotion controlFrom 11 credits per 1,000 characters

Other video APIs

• Seedance 2.5 APIByteDance's newest: 30-second clips with native audioFrom 56 credits for a 5-second clip
• Kling 3.0 API4K clips, multi-shot cuts and motion controlFrom 51 credits for a 5-second clip
• Vidu Q4 Preview APIUp to 4K clips with sound and spoken dialogueFrom 34 credits for a 5-second clip
• Wan 3.0 APIUp to 30-second clips with synced audioFrom 34 credits for a 5-second clip
• Kling O3 APIKling’s unified model: create, animate, reference and edit up to 4KFrom 51 credits for a 5-second clip
• LTX 2.5 APILong 20-second takes up to 4K with a soundtrackFrom 68 credits for a 5-second clip

More about MiniMax H3

Try it

MiniMax H3 AI Video Generator onlineCreate videos with MiniMax H3 in PopNow

Compare

Kling 3.0 vs MiniMax H3

Docs

MiniMax H3 model ID and input schema in the API docsPopNow API quickstart: your first request in five minutesImage to video guide for the PopNow APIWebhooks: get MiniMax H3 results without polling