AI video

Orshot generates short video clips with AI and treats them like any other video layer: they live in your Brand Library, render inside your templates, and can be regenerated per render from the API, from workflows and from AI agents.

What you give decides what you get. There is no mode to pick.

Every media value can be an https URL, a base64 data URI, a brand asset reference like brand:image:123, or a gen:// reference to a clip Orshot generated earlier.

Credits#

AI video is billed in AI credits, the same credits used for AI images and the design agent. Clips are billed per second, on delivery only. Failed generations and cached clips cost nothing.

A 5 second HD clip is 15 credits. Ask before you spend with POST /v1/ai/video/estimate, which takes the same body and returns the credits without generating.

Generate a clip#

curl -X POST https://api.orshot.com/v1/ai/video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "prompt": "a ceramic coffee cup on a wooden table by a window, morning light",
    "duration": 5,
    "preset": "product-hero",
    "look": "clean-studio",
    "aspect": "9:16"
  }'

The response is a job. Poll it until finished is true:

curl https://api.orshot.com/v1/studio/render-jobs/<JOB_ID> \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>"

{
  "id": 89,
  "status": "succeeded",
  "finished": true,
  "result": {
    "data": {
      "url": "https://storage.orshot.com/generated/video/0472d0….mp4",
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://storage.orshot.com/generated/video/0472d0….jpg",
      "ref": "gen://0472d0…",
      "seconds": 5.2,
      "width": 768,
      "height": 1344,
      "creditsUsed": 15,
      "cached": false,
      "videoId": 151
    }
  }
}

Pass "sync": true to wait for the result in the same request (up to 120 seconds; a clip still generating after that comes back as 202 with the job to poll, never as a lost generation), or webhook_url to be called when the job settles. Every generated clip is added to your Brand Library and listed in AI Usage Logs.

Request fields#

Generate at render time#

Any video element with a parameter id accepts the same inputs as dotted keys on a render. The clip is generated, cached, and rendered into the template in one call. Renders that generate video run as async jobs.

{
  "templateId": 18917,
  "modifications": {
    "hero_clip.prompt": "the heart-shaped cloud erupts upward with a bright flash",
    "hero_clip.imageRef": "https://…/love-bomb.jpeg",
    "hero_clip.preset": "cinematic-scene",
    "hero_clip.look": "archival-bw",
    "hero_clip.duration": 5,
    "page2@bg.prompt": "soft gradient waves in brand colours",
    "page2@bg.preset": "background-loop"
  },
  "response": { "format": "mp4", "mode": "async" }
}

Supported keys on a video element: .prompt, .imageRef, .lastImageRef, .images, .references, .audio, .script, .voice, .consent, .preset, .look, .duration, .fullHd.

To reuse a clip you already generated, pass its reference or URL as the element value instead. No credits are spent:

{ "modifications": { "hero_clip": "gen://0472d0…" } }

Identical inputs return the cached clip for free, so a template rendered a hundred times with the same footage prompt generates once.

Presets#

Presets keep prompts short and results consistent. A role says what the clip does inside a page and locks duration, motion and where text can go. A look is a visual style. Both are optional and both are listed, with preview clips, at GET /v1/ai/presets.

Roles: background-loop, product-hero, b-roll, hook, transition, ambient-texture, portrait-speak, ugc-selfie-talk, ugc-product-demo, unboxing, cinematic-scene.

Looks include archival-bw, cinematic, clean-studio, macro, aerial, anime, claymation, paper-cutout, neon, minimal-3d, watercolour, retro-vhs, documentary-archival, storybook, 3d-animated, cartoon, comic-manga, pixel-art, sketch, pop-art, cyberpunk, noir, vintage-70s, horror, epic, ugc-selfie, product-commercial, food-macro, real-estate, travel-drone, sports-action, tech-gradient, news-broadcast, music-visualiser, fashion-editorial, toy-bricks, hyper-bright.

UGC and speech#

To make a photo talk, send a clear portrait, a script or audio, and consent: true:

{
  "imageRef": "brand:image:34523",
  "script": "Three reasons this launch matters, and why you should care today.",
  "voice": "XrExE9yKIg1WjnnlVkGX",
  "consent": true,
  "preset": "ugc-selfie-talk"
}

Speech clips take one to two minutes. The script runs through text to speech first, which costs 1 AI credit per 10 seconds on top of the clip. Speech is available on paid plans.

Limits and errors#

Clip length is capped per plan (10 seconds on Launch, 15 on Scale), and speech at 30 to 90 seconds. Twenty generation requests per minute per key.