80-second avatar script: 60+20 or 40+40, $19.60 at Plus either way

An 80-second script does not fit one Sume avatar video job because the accepted window is 4 to 60 seconds. Split it into two jobs: 60+20 or 40+40 both total 80 billable seconds, which is $14.72 at Standard, $19.60 at Plus and $44.00 at Max by the per-second tier rates.

Same seconds, same price

Rates: Standard $0.184, Plus $0.245, Max $0.55 per second without a product image; $0.194, $0.258, $0.58 with one (Sume pricing page, as of 2026-10-08). Because the unit is the second, where you cut does not change the total, provided each part stays inside the window.

Why equal halves are easier

A long first job with a short tail leaves the tail with a fresh first frame, so the cut is visible. Two equal halves let you cut on a sentence boundary near the middle of the script and keep the same avatar, aspect ratio and scene prompt in both jobs.

The docs state that the current execution supports one resolved avatar per final video and expects scene backgrounds to resolve to one shared scene. For a split, reuse the same avatar_handle and the same scene prompt in both requests.

• Keep each part at 4 seconds or more; shorter plans are rejected.
• Use a unique Idempotency-Key per part.
• Review the second half separately; a failed part does not require re-rendering the first.

Join cost

Timeline 1.0 is $0.10 per ceil(output minute) (Timeline 1.0). An 80-second output rounds up to 2 minutes, so $0.20. Plus total including the join: $19.60 + $0.20 = $19.80.

Practical notes

Quality tiers. quality accepts standard, plus and max. Plus is the default when you omit it. Standard is the fastest Sume execution path, and Max is the highest quality tier with slower turnaround. Because the three differ in both price and speed, decide the tier per stage of your workflow: a quick pass to confirm wording, then a final render once the script is settled.

Output format. Avatar video output is 720p at this time, and the aspect ratio defaults to 9:16 with 1:1, 3:4, 4:3 and 16:9 also accepted. Choose the ratio in the request rather than cropping afterward, since a crop throws away part of a frame you paid for by the second.

Job lifecycle. Every Sume avatar request is job-backed. You submit, store the job id, and poll GET /v1/jobs/{id}/status until it completes, then read GET /v1/jobs/{id}/result. The shared lifecycle also lets you wait with sync or subscribe mode for a limited time instead of polling, and the result carries Sume-hosted artifacts rather than provider URLs, so you never handle a provider queue id. Plan your client around the job, not around a single blocking response.