Is a 9:16 Seedance clip cheaper than 16:9? Pixel math on Sume
On Sume, 9:16, 16:9 and 1:1 Seedance 2.5 clips cost the same at 720p because the token count is identical. 4:3 and 21:9 cost slightly more.
No. At 720p a 10-second Seedance 2.5 clip costs $5.778 in 9:16, 16:9 and 1:1 on Sume. The token count per second is 21,600 for all three, so the price is the same. Only 4:3, 3:4 and 21:9 differ, by under 1 percent.
This matters when you plan one Black Friday concept in several placements: vertical, landscape and square cost the same to render.
Why the count matches
Seedance 2.5 on Sume is billed per 1,000 video tokens, and tokens per clip are ceil(width x height x seconds x 24 / 1024). Vertical and horizontal frames use the same pixels, only rotated, so 1280 x 720 and 720 x 1280 are both 921,600 pixels. The 1:1 frame at 960 x 960 is also 921,600 pixels.
The other ratios land on slightly different pixel counts. The video model docs list the supported ratios.
| Ratio | 720p frame | Tokens per second | 10 s at 720p | 10 s at 480p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:9 | 1280 x 720 | 21,600 | $5.778 | $2.68677 |
| 9:16 | 720 x 1280 | 21,600 | $5.778 | $2.68677 |
| 1:1 | 960 x 960 | 21,600 | $5.778 | $2.568 |
| 4:3 | 1112 x 834 | 21,737 | $5.814434 | $2.640225 |
| 3:4 | 834 x 1112 | 21,737 | $5.814434 | $2.640225 |
| 21:9 | 1470 x 630 | 21,706 | $5.806222 | $2.68677 |
The multiplication, step by step
For 9:16 at 720p: 720 x 1280 = 921,600 pixels. Times 24 frames, divided by 1,024, gives 21,600 tokens per second. For 10 seconds that is 216,000 tokens.
At the $0.0214 list rate per 1,000 tokens, that is 216,000 x 0.0214 / 1,000 = $4.6224. Sume then multiplies by 1.25 to reach $5.778.
What to do with this
- Pick the ratio for the placement, not for the price: the render is the same cost.
- Generate the ratios you will ship as separate jobs. Re-framing one render by cropping loses pixels.
- For 21:9 expect $0.028222 extra per 10 seconds over 16:9.
Resolution is the real lever
Moving from 480p to 720p multiplies a 9:16 clip price by 2.15. Price the resolution you will actually publish, since that is where the budget moves.
Sources
Related posts
More in Pricing
- Seedance 2.5 cost calculator in Python: tokens to dollars
A short Python function prices a Seedance 2.5 clip on Sume from width, height and seconds. It gives $1.612063 for 6 s at 480p and $8.667 for 15 s at 720p.
- Seedance 2.5 reference video price on Sume: the 15-second assumption
Adding a reference video to Seedance 2.5 changes the price: Sume assumes 15 input seconds and applies a 0.6 multiplier. Totals for 4 to 30 second clips.
- Seedance 2.5 tokens per second: 21,600 at 720p, and the price
Seedance 2.5 bills width x height x seconds x 24 / 1024 tokens. 720p is 21,600 tokens a second, $0.5778 on Sume. A short Python check for 480p, 720p, 1080p.
- Seedance price ladder on Sume: 2.5, 2, Fast and Mini per second
At 480p a 5-second Seedance clip costs $1.34 on 2.5, $0.88 on 2, $0.70 on Fast and $0.44 on Mini at Sume's billed rates. 720p and 1080p inside.
Written by Sume