Picking the right model for the job

The model you pick is the biggest lever you have on cost, and the right habit is to separate exploration from production. Explore on a quick, lightweight model that understands your prompt, then re-run the prompt you settled on through a more detailed one.

• Drafting models: fast and light. Good enough to tell you whether a composition works.
• General-purpose models: reliable all-rounders for most finished stills.
• Photoreal models: for when skin, materials and light need to read as a photograph.
• High-detail models: for the frame that is actually going to be seen.

Some models work from text alone. When you pick one of those, the studio switches off the image upload. If you can't attach a reference, the model you have selected doesn't take one, so switch to a model that does.

A video clip costs considerably more than a still, so the drafting habit matters more here, not less. Settle the subject, framing and lighting as a still on a quick model first, and only then describe the motion.

• Everyday models: dependable motion for most clips.
• Specialist models: stronger physics, camera direction or lip sync.
• Premium models: the most cinematic results, at the highest cost.

Clip length is chosen per model, and the studio only offers the lengths the selected model supports.