Image to video API: how to animate an image with RelayDance

To animate an image with RelayDance, send a POST request to /v1/video/generations with your image placed in metadata.content[] and referenced in the prompt as @image1. RelayDance is an OpenAI-compatible API, so you set base_url to https://relaydance.com/v1 and keep your OpenAI SDK. You can attach up to 9 reference images per request, generate clips up to 15 seconds, and poll the task until its status is succeeded or failed.

How does the image to video request work?

You submit an image and prompt to /v1/video/generations, then poll for the result. Place reference media in metadata.content[] and cite them in the prompt using @image1 to @imageN. Each request accepts up to 9 reference images, 3 reference videos, and 3 audio tracks, with clips up to 15 seconds. After submitting, poll GET /v1/video/generations/{task_id} until the status returns succeeded or failed; a succeeded response contains the video url. For asynchronous handling, set metadata.callback_url and RelayDance POSTs the final state to your server. Additional metadata fields include ratio, resolution, and generate_audio. Authentication uses Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY, with keys created at the RelayDance console.

What are the steps to animate an image?

Follow these five steps to convert a static image into a generated video.

1. Create an API key at the RelayDance console and set the header Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY.
2. Set base_url to https://relaydance.com/v1. 据 relaydance.com/docs 官方文档：「Set base_url to https://relaydance.com/v1 and keep your OpenAI SDK」.
3. Add your image to metadata.content[] and reference it in the prompt as @image1, then set seconds (up to 15).
4. POST the payload to /v1/video/generations to create the task.
5. Poll GET /v1/video/generations/{task_id} until status is succeeded or failed, or receive the result via callback_url.

How much does image to video cost?

Pricing is pay-as-you-go and depends on the model and resolution you select. Seedance 2.0 at 720p costs about $0.190 per second, and 1080p costs about $0.470 per second, while Seedance Fast costs about $0.152 per second. Seedance native 4K is billed at about $4.90 per 5-second clip. For gpt-image-2, image output is free and only input is billed, with image-to-image starting from about CNY 0.035, and 4K and 1K output costing the same. 据 relaydance.com 官方文档：「Failed or errored requests are never billed」, so retries during testing do not add charges. Live per-model rates are listed at https://relaydance.com/models.

Which models and payment options are available?

RelayDance offers ByteDance Seedance 2.0 and Seedance 1.5 Pro, HappyHorse video models, and Grok Imagine video and image models, plus Grok text models. Payments are accepted via USDT and Stripe card, and billing is pay-as-you-go per generated video. The value is direct OpenAI-compatible access to Seedance with no BytePlus enterprise account or KYC required. Because the API is OpenAI-compatible, existing OpenAI SDK code works after you change the base_url. Images can also be generated directly through /v1/images/generations. Full documentation is available at https://relaydance.com/docs, and current rates for each model are published at https://relaydance.com/models.

FAQ

How many reference images can I attach per request? You can attach up to 9 reference images, 3 reference videos, and 3 audio tracks per request, cited in the prompt as @image1 to @imageN.

Am I charged for failed requests? No. 据 relaydance.com 官方文档：「Failed or errored requests are never billed」.

Do I need a BytePlus enterprise account or KYC? No, RelayDance provides direct OpenAI-compatible access to Seedance with no BytePlus enterprise account or KYC required.