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ANSWER

Text-to-video, image-to-video or reference-to-video: which should you use for a film?

Short answer

For a film with recurring characters, use reference-to-video or image-to-video, not plain text-to-video. Text alone lets the model reinvent faces every shot; a starting frame or reference images give it the same evidence each time.

The three modes

Generation modes and what they are good for
ModeInputStrengthWeakness
Text-to-videoA promptFast, flexible, good for one-off shotsFaces and places change between clips
Image-to-videoA first frame (sometimes a last frame) plus a promptThe shot starts exactly where you approved itYou need a good frame for every shot
Reference-to-videoReference images of characters, places or props plus a promptIdentity holds across many shots without a frame per shotComposition is less controlled than a fixed first frame

ByteDance says Seedance 2.0 supports text, image, audio and video inputs, and images, audio and video as references. Source: ByteDance Seed, Seedance 2.0 (seed.bytedance.com/en/seedance2_0), checked 2026-10-18

What we use

  • Reference-video mode rendered most of our films, including The Wolf Mother, The Fall of Kalak and Blood Sun: The Fall of Kratos: each shot attaches the character and location sheets it needs.
  • Storyboard mode with grid storyboards rendered BROODFALL: each shot starts from an approved board cell, and chained cells make the last frame of one shot the first frame of the next.
  • Plain text-to-video we use only for establishing shots without recurring characters.

How to choose

  1. Recurring characters across many shots: reference-to-video.
  2. Shots that must match an exact composition or continue from the previous shot: image-to-video from a storyboard frame.
  3. Product shots where packaging must be exact: image-to-video or references from real product photos.
  4. A single atmospheric clip: text-to-video is enough.

Cost

The mode does not change the per-second video price much; the extra cost is the images. In Arc a Seedream 5.0 Lite image is 13 credits, a few percent of a 10-second Seedance 2.0 Mini clip at 94 credits. Optional reference-image charges on video generation can add a little more.

Where Katechon Arc fits

Arc projects run in reference-video mode or storyboard mode, so every shot draws on approved sheets or frames rather than text alone.

Arc does not animate an arbitrary photo you upload as a one-off clip in seconds; quick photo-to-video apps are simpler for that.

People also ask

Can I make an AI movie from a picture?

A single picture can start a clip with image-to-video, but a movie needs many shots; use the picture as a character or location reference and generate each shot from it.

Related answers

How does text-to-video AI work?A text-to-video model is trained on huge numbers of video clips paired with descriptions, and learns to turn random noise, step by step,…How do you keep the same character across AI video clips?Give the model the same visual evidence every time: one approved reference image per character, attached to every shot that character is…Can AI turn a storyboard into a video?Yes. Each storyboard frame can be used as the first frame of an image-to-video generation, so the clip starts from the composition you…How do you make an AI video from photos?Upload a photo to an image-to-video model and describe the motion you want; the photo becomes the first frame or a reference.What is a grid storyboard in AI video?A grid storyboard is one generated image divided into cells, each cell the frame for one shot, so several consecutive shots are drawn…

Sources