Listing photos to a narrated tour video with TTS and Timeline
Turn ten listing photos into a 45-second narrated tour: write the script, get word timestamps from TTS, then render stills on a Timeline spine for about $0.15.
Write a script of about 110 words, send it to the TTS Router for narration, then place ten listing photos as stills on a Timeline 1.0 render timed to that audio. The narration costs $0.0475 per 1,000 characters, so a 700-character script is about $0.03, and the render is $0.10 per rounded-up output minute. Total for a 45-second tour: roughly $0.13 to $0.15, before any retries.
Steps
Upload each photo (POST /v1/assets/upload-url, PUT the bytes, then POST /v1/assets/{id}/complete; the ready asset's url is the media.sume.com URL Timeline accepts), because Timeline only accepts this workspace's media. Generate the voice with POST /v1/tts-router/generate and request timestamps: {words: true}; the result carries words[] with start and end seconds. Pick the word that opens each room and use its start as that photo's start time. Photos are static holds, so keep each one on screen for four to six seconds.
Costs
| Step | Rate | Example | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Narration | $0.0475 per 1,000 chars | 700 chars | $0.03 |
| Render | $0.10 per rounded-up minute | 45 s | $0.10 |
| Photo uploads | no generation charge listed | 10 | not priced as a job |
| Plan check | unbilled | 1 | $0.00 |
Timeline body
{
"audio": { "url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/tour.mp3", "duration_seconds": 45 },
"video": [
{ "source_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/front.jpg", "start": 0, "duration": 5, "fit": "cover" },
{ "source_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/kitchen.jpg", "start": 5, "duration": 6, "fit": "cover",
"transition": { "type": "fade", "duration": 0.5 } }
]
}Limits
Narration describes what you write, so check every claim about size, price or neighbourhood against the listing. Stills are holds, not camera moves; for motion generate a clip per room with an image-to-video model and expect a higher cost. Coverage may trail the audio spine by at most 0.5 seconds, so make the last photo long enough. Disclose staged or AI-altered images where listing rules require it.
Sources
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Written by Sume