Animal Shelter Adoption Appeal as an AI Avatar Video: Cost

Shelters post one appeal after another, and the pets are the story. A Sume Avatar 1.0 clip can introduce them with a consistent host and a scene photo, in 4 to 60 seconds, without anyone setting up a camera.

Prices are from Sume's API pricing page and the request shape from Generate avatar video, both read on 2026-10-05. The avatar must exist first: Create new avatar accepts a prompt, a profile or a photo.

What should the script and scenes look like?

Use a top-level scene with type photo and an image_url for the kennel or the animal. Docs state the video supports one avatar and one shared scene, so one photo per clip. Counts below use the 2.8 words per second estimate.

The seconds column is Sume's planning estimate of ceil(words / 2.8) per scene, not a measured render time.

POST https://api.sume.com/v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video
{
  "avatar_handle": "front_desk_host",
  "aspect_ratio": "9:16",
  "quality": "standard",
  "scene": { "type": "photo", "image_url": "https://example.com/kennel.jpg" },
  "video_inputs": [
    { "id": "meet", "voice": { "type": "text", "script": "Meet Biscuit, a two year old beagle mix who loves long walks and car rides." } },
    { "id": "fit", "voice": { "type": "text", "script": "He does best with a fenced yard and a family who is home most afternoons." } },
    { "id": "how", "voice": { "type": "text", "script": "Visit us Saturday between ten and two, or apply online at the shelter's website." } }
  ]
}

What does it cost?

The plan above comes to 17 seconds, inside the 4 to 60 second window. At Sume's per-second rates (no product image), one render costs $3.13 on standard, $4.17 on plus (the default when quality is omitted) and $9.35 on max. Across 12 weekly appeals, that is $37.54, $49.98 and $112.20. Creating the avatar is a separate one-time $0.95; later clips reuse the handle.

Does the avatar change how the animal looks?

It should not, but do not rely on that. A scene photo is a reference for the setting; preview the first frame with Avatar video previews and compare it with the real animal before publishing.

Describe only what the shelter has confirmed. Temperament claims belong in your adoption records, then the script.

What will it not do?

It will not film a real animal or take adoption questions live. It reads your script over the photo setting you gave it.

Scripts for Avatar Video should be English; Sume's guidance is that non-English speech breaks caption alignment.