Picsart adds Seedance 2.5 4K for 30-second AI video

Picsart said on November 11 that it had added 4K output to ByteDance’s Seedance 2.5 video model. The option is available in AI Playground on the web and desktop, where a single generated take can run up to 30 seconds. The previous ceiling for a finished Seedance 2.5 clip in Picsart was 1080p, which remains available.

A creator can review several 480p previews and then generate the selected take again at 4K. Picsart says the final render carries over the prompt, reference material and seed, the starting value used in generation. For a product clip, that means the creator can settle on a camera move in the preview and reserve the high-resolution render for the take that will go into the edit. Pika also said on its official channel that day that it had added native 4K generation in its editor and Pika API Club.

What a draft and final render cost

A draft can show when a product enters the frame and where a camera move ends. A finished render is where details such as the lettering on a label or the weave of a fabric become easier to judge. Picsart presents the two stages as a way to spend fewer attempts at the highest resolution. Its launch post gives no credit price for a 4K render in the app.

Runway publishes rates for developers who integrate the same model. It lists 480p output at $0.20 a second, 1080p at $0.68 and 4K at $1.10. At that last rate, a single 30-second render costs $33 for the output. Runway charges separately by the second for input or reference video. Reference images and audio carry no extra input charge under the published rates.

The Runway API documents a separate draft workflow. It bills the 480p preview and the 1080p final as two jobs. An enhancement request carries the reference to the draft, and the API rejects a new resolution in that request. On Picsart’s developer side, the video-edit documentation likewise specifies a 1080p result when a draft is submitted for finishing. It lists 4K separately in the resolution settings.

Venice lists 4K in its web studio and developer API. It posts prices of $11.42 for 10 seconds and $34.26 for 30 seconds. Its 4K option covers a shot generated from text, one started from an image and one guided by reference material. The published amounts describe a single clip. The cost of arriving at an approved take depends on how many generations a production uses.

From the production trial to the editing app

BytePlus, ByteDance’s cloud business, introduced the 4K version on October 27. It described trials with selected film and post-production companies working on tasks such as storyboards, visual planning and background edits. The company says the version captures finer textures and can produce smoother gradients with 10-bit color. Resolution describes how many pixels make up the picture. Bit depth describes how many levels each color component can represent. Ten bits give a component 1,024 possible levels, which matters in areas where brightness changes gradually, such as a shadow or light passing through translucent glass.

The 30-second limit predates the 4K rollout. In August, BytePlus described the base Seedance 2.5 model as capable of longer clips and able to take image, video and audio references together. A creator could use those materials to specify the look of a setting and the sound of a scene. Picsart’s November release brings that longer take to a higher output resolution in its own editor.

BytePlus’s general Seedance 2.5 API guide lists output through 1080p for that model. The Picsart and Pika announcements describe availability on their own services. BytePlus gave no date or price for 4K access through its general-purpose API in the October announcement.