Story Video credits and costs

Story Video pricing is per second of finished footage — the render is the main cost. Rewriting the script and rearranging scenes is free; the render is where most credits go. Two other things do cost credits, though: the reference images for your cast, assets, and locations, and storyboard frames. Both use the standard per-image credit cost — see how credits work.

Reference images cost credits

Before a video renders on-model, ComicInk generates a reference image for each character, asset, and location in it. Each of these costs the same flat per-image amount as any character or asset elsewhere in ComicInk — 10 credits each, generated once and reused across every scene that features them. A video with, say, four characters, three props, and two locations generates nine reference images. These are charged as they generate; you only pay for references that don't already have an image.

Your first scene is free

Your first scene render is free — once per account, so you can see your story in motion before paying anything. It applies automatically to whichever scene you render first on your first video, and runs on fixed settings — 10 seconds at 720p, on the same model your paid renders use, so what you see is what you'll get. Every render after that is charged at the per-second rate below. The free render is only consumed when it succeeds — a failed or cancelled first render is returned. See rendering scenes for how this fits into the render flow.

Per-second render rate

Renders use ~152 credits per second of footage at 720p (the current render resolution) as a baseline. Each scene also has its own Model and Time selectors, and cost scales with both the duration and the model you pick for that scene — see Choosing a model and scene length. The live estimate shown on the scene card, and the confirmation before you render, is always the number to trust.

Scene lengths are determined automatically from word count: each scene runs 4–15 seconds, with the model targeting natural narration pacing. A video can have up to 16 scenes.

Most videos fall in the range of ~2,700–9,100 credits, depending on the number of scenes and how long each scene's narration runs. Edge cases (many long scenes) can run higher — the in-app estimate before you render is always authoritative. You'll see the exact credit cost in-app before you confirm the render — no surprises.

To estimate roughly: multiply your expected total footage length in seconds by 151, as a baseline before model-specific pricing.

Optional 1080p HD upscale

Renders are 720p and free to download. At Publish, you can optionally upscale to 1080p HD for a separate, lower-margin charge:

• 9:16 and 16:9 — 19 credits per second of footage.
• 1:1 square — 11 credits per second.

The upscale AI-upscales each scene's clip to 1080p and re-stitches the video at 1080p. You're charged only for the scenes that need upscaling:

• The first time you upscale, every scene is upscaled — so a 60-second 9:16 video costs about 60 × 19 = ~1,140 credits.
• If you later re-render or edit a single scene and upscale again, only that one scene is re-upscaled. The other scenes reuse their cached 1080p clips, so you only pay for the changed scene.

The exact cost is shown in-app before you confirm, and as with renders, a failed upscale is refunded automatically.

Storyboard image cost

Generating a storyboard frame costs 50 credits — the same as a comic page image. This is charged when the image is generated (during storyboarding), not at render time.

Each scene holds up to two frames: its opening beat and its closing beat. So a scene with both frames costs 2 × 50 = 100 credits, and a video with 16 scenes costs up to 16 × 100 = 1,600 credits for a complete storyboard.

You're only charged for frames that are actually generated. Storyboards are optional and generated one tile at a time — click an empty dashed tile on the Storyboard tab to generate that scene's frame. There's no confirmation step; clicking charges immediately. A frame that's already generated is never re-charged; only an explicit regenerate on a single frame charges again. See Storyboards.

How per-scene charging works

When you render an individual scene, the system pre-charges a ~1,500 credit hold (based on a 10-second estimate at 720p). After the clip finishes rendering, the charge is reconciled to the actual footage length:

• If the clip is shorter than the estimate, the difference is refunded automatically.
• If the clip runs longer, a small additional amount is charged (bounded by the difference between the 15-second max and the 10-second estimate).

The in-app cost display reflects this estimate before you render, and your credit balance settles to the actual cost within a minute or two of the clip completing.

Refunds when a render fails

If a render fails for a system reason (model error, upload failure, or timeout), the credits are refunded automatically — typically within 1–2 minutes of the failure. The same applies to individual scene renders. See failed generations and refunds for more detail.

If you simply don't like the output and want to re-render, that's a new render and a new charge.

Getting more credits

Story Video rendering draws from your regular credit balance. The Video pack is the most cost-effective way to top up — see credit packs for current pack options and rates.

Updated on: 27/08/2026