Video Duration & Pacing
Choose how long your music video should be and control the pacing.
Choosing video length
On a project's first message, Melodious picks for you: a 30-second Clip. It's the cheapest thing worth looking at and it's available on every plan, so the first run costs the least and fills the screen fastest. See One-message storyboards.
To get something longer, ask in the composer once you've seen the storyboard — "make it 60 seconds" — and the plan is rebuilt at the new length. Judging a length against a storyboard you can see is easier than picking one before anything exists. The options are calculated from your actual song duration:
| Tier | Duration | Scenes | Best for | Available to | |------|----------|--------|----------|-------------| | Clip | 30s | 4 | TikTok, Reels, Shorts | Everyone | | Standard | ~60s | 7-8 | Extended social posts | Creator, Studio | | Extended | ~2 min | 14-15 | YouTube videos | Creator, Studio | | Full song | Entire track | Varies | Complete music videos | Studio |
For shorter songs (under 30 seconds), the AI automatically covers the full track with no need to choose.
Pacing control
Pacing controls how fast scenes change. The first run uses Balanced; ask in the composer to change it. Pacing changes how many scenes you get, not what the video costs — every pacing packs to the same total length.
| Pacing | Shot length | Feel | |--------|-------------|------| | Slow & cinematic | 8s shots | Dramatic, fewer cuts, contemplative | | Balanced | 6-8s shots | Natural flow, default choice | | Fast cuts | 4-6s shots | High energy, music video feel, more scenes |
Fast pacing produces more scenes for the same duration, giving you a more dynamic video with frequent visual changes.
How credits work
Credits scale linearly with video duration at 20 credits per second:
| Duration | Credits | |----------|---------| | 30s (Clip) | 600 | | 60s (Standard) | 1,200 | | 2 min (Extended) | 2,400 | | 3 min (Full) | 3,600 |
Credits are reserved in two stages:
- Image generation (~8% of total) — on a project's first message this runs automatically when you press send, with the cost stated under the composer beforehand
- Video generation (~92% of total) when you click Generate Videos
This lets you review keyframes before committing to the more expensive video stage.
Free accounts
Free accounts don't include credits. Planning is free — analysis, chat and the storyboard — and the $14.99 30-Second Teaser pack covers one finished Clip (30s), keyframes included. Longer durations need a Pro plan or the Single Release Video pack. See Credits & plans.