Seedance 2.5 API

Introduction

Seedance 2.5 Text-to-Video turns a written sequence into a video with room for a setup, an action and a conclusion. Use this mode when you want to develop a story or demonstration before preparing stills, footage or other reference assets.

ByteDance introduced Seedance 2.5 in its July 31, 2026 launch article. The text-only workflow focuses on planning what happens over time, with optional generated sound as part of the same brief.

Choose the starting point for your Seedance 2.5 sequence

Key features

Longer stories in a single generation

Seedance 2.5 supports clips up to 30 seconds, giving a sequence room for a setup, development and ending. Its storytelling capabilities include connected shots and scene transitions rather than simply extending one gesture.

Flexible multimodal references

Images, footage and audio can guide different elements of the same production. The expanded reference workflow supports more complex casts, settings and shot plans while separating appearance from movement and sound.

Clay-render and storyboard guidance

Rough 3D planning footage can communicate spatial structure, blocking and camera movement, while visual references supply the final look. Storyboards and ordered keyframes offer additional ways to convey a sequence.

More detailed visual and sound direction

The model's development emphasizes materials, lighting, skin and eye detail, along with coordinated audio and motion. Prompts can specify dialogue, effects and ambience separately, and use whole-second timestamps to organize events.

Targeted editing and continuation

The model family includes time-targeted video edits, background changes and continuation of existing footage. These are distinct video-input workflows; their availability and settings depend on the selected task, not on a text-to-video or image-to-video request.

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 93 credits for a 5-second clip ($0.93).

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

Use cases

Previsualize a small narrative

Draft a complete scene, such as a shopkeeper preparing a window display and switching on its lights. Evaluate the order of events and final impression before making production assets.

Explain a simple visible process

Describe a few stages of a demonstration: arranging parts, completing one operation and showing the result. Use the clip as a visual draft; verify the sequence and any instructional claims before sharing it as guidance.

Explore a campaign concept without a photoshoot

Write an invented environment and a product idea to discuss mood, pacing and a reveal. If the actual packaging must be recognizable, move to an image-guided mode rather than expecting text to reproduce an approved design.

Prompt guide & pro tips

How to plan a Seedance 2.5 video with timestamps

Begin with a one-sentence scene idea, then divide the clip into consecutive time ranges. Each range should describe a visible event, the camera and any sound that belongs to that moment.

1. Choose the total duration_seconds.
2. Cover that duration with connected whole-second ranges, without gaps.
3. Give each range enough time for its action.
4. End with instructions that apply throughout, such as style and sound exclusions.

For a 12-second sequence:

A mechanic checks a bicycle light in a small workshop at closing time.
Warm naturalistic lighting, one continuous shot.

0-3s: Medium view. The mechanic notices the dark front light and reaches toward its switch. The camera stays still.
3-8s: The mechanic switches the light on. Its beam falls across the workbench. The camera slowly pushes closer.
8-12s: The mechanic lowers their hand and steps aside. Hold on the illuminated bicycle.

Keep the bicycle on the same stand throughout.
Sound: a switch click and quiet workshop ambience.
No dialogue, background music or captions.

Give each time range one clear purpose

A range with little action leaves room for the model to improvise; too many events can lead to omitted action or excessive cuts. Specify the meaningful beats, not a count of rapid repeated movements such as “three nods every second.”

When a beat is missing, first shorten the action list or reallocate time. Do not add increasingly dense instructions to the same short interval.

Describe transitions and focus changes

Name the trigger and type of transition when requesting cuts. For a continuous shot, explain how the camera moves between subjects instead. If using a specialist term such as “rack focus,” add its visible meaning: the foreground softens while the person behind it becomes sharp.

Direct dialogue, effects and music separately

Name each speaker and write their exact line. Then describe ambience and action sounds separately.

API quick start

Call the Seedance 2.5 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 bytedance/seedance-2.5/text-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": "bytedance/seedance-2.5/text-to-video",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "A slow aerial shot drifting over a misty pine forest at sunrise",
    "aspect_ratio": "adaptive",
    "resolution": "720p",
    "duration_seconds": 5,
    "generate_audio": true
  }
}'

# 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.

Seedance 2.5 API questions

All Seedance models

Seedance 2.0 reaches 4K but stops at 15 seconds, and costs less per second. Seedance 2.5 runs up to 30 seconds per take and takes the largest reference sets.

• Seedance 2.5 APIByteDance's newest: 30-second clips with native audioFrom 56 credits for a 5-second clip
• Seedance 2.0 Mini APILightweight Seedance for quick 720p drafts with soundFrom 9 credits for a 5-second clip
• Seedance 2.0 APICinematic clips up to 4K with native audioFrom 33 credits for a 5-second clip
• Seedance 2.0 Fast APIFaster Seedance 2.0 with sound at 720pFrom 17 credits for a 5-second clip
• Seedance 1.5 Pro APINative-audio clips with an optional locked cameraFrom 9 credits for a 5-second clip

Other video APIs

• MiniMax H3 APIExpressive clips with audio, up to 2KFrom 28 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
• MiniMax H3 Max APIFast clips with ambience, effects and musicFrom 38 credits for a 5-second clip

More about Seedance 2.5

Try it

Seedance 2.5 AI Video Generator onlineCreate videos with Seedance 2.5 in PopNow

Compare

Kling 3.0 vs Seedance 2.5Seedance 2.5 vs Wan 3.0Seedance 2.0 vs Seedance 2.5

Docs

Seedance 2.5 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 Seedance 2.5 results without polling