AI Video Creation: What Sora, Veo, and Seedance Excel At, and How to Get Started

"AI-generated video" has transitioned from demonstrations to everyday workflows over the past two years. However, when it comes to hands-on experience, the questions become very specific: what are the differences between Sora, Veo, and Seedance? Which one can directly call the API, and which one is more suitable for generating videos with just a few clicks in the interface?

This article does not hype parameters but clarifies the positioning of these video models on Ace Data Cloud (studio.acedata.cloud / api.acedata.cloud) and provides the current practical paths to get started—each video is genuinely generated.

Positioning of the Three Models

Sora (sora-2 / sora-2-pro) is OpenAI's video model, excelling in physical realism and long-shot storytelling, with sora-2-pro capable of producing videos up to 25 seconds. Its threshold lies in tight upstream supply and higher costs, making it more suitable for "less but better" scenarios—one main visual and one key shot. In Ace Data Cloud, the current reliable usage of Sora is to generate directly in the Capabilities panel of Studio (studio.acedata.cloud), filling in prompts, selecting duration and aspect ratio through a visual interface, without needing to handle queuing and polling yourself.

Note: sora-2 / sora-2-pro is available as an application in Studio, but the external /sora/videos HTTP route is currently not open (direct requests will return a route not matched). Therefore, if you need to use the API to generate videos in bulk right now, the following two are the options that can be immediately executed.

Veo (Google) understands shot language the best. If you clearly describe "subject + lighting + camera position + movement + rhythm," it will follow suit, making product shorts, program intros, and tracking shots very stable. The API is mature and asynchronous stability is ensured.

Seedance (Byte Doubao series) is friendly to Chinese prompts, generating videos from images steadily, and the 2.0 series also supports uploading real human photos as "character references," allowing fixed characters to appear in any new scene—suitable for vertical short videos and voiceover content.

In summary: Need API for bulk, need shot sense → Veo; need Chinese, need vertical, need real reference → Seedance; need a single high-quality long shot → Use Sora in Studio.

Running a Video with Veo: Real Output + curl

The following is a real result of a video generated by veo31-fast—a close-up slow-motion of a hummingbird at golden hour, wings almost frozen:

📹 https://cdn.acedata.cloud/5e1f2c52a9.mp4

The request is just a sentence in English describing the shot, with async for asynchronous processing:

curl -X POST 'https://api.acedata.cloud/veo/videos' \
  -H 'authorization: Bearer {token}' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "action": "text2video",
    "model": "veo31-fast",
    "async": true,
    "prompt": "Extreme slow-motion macro of a hummingbird hovering beside a dew-covered flower at golden hour, wings frozen mid-beat, shallow depth of field, cinematic."
  }'

It immediately returns a task_id, and then you can poll /veo/tasks until you get state: succeeded to retrieve the video_url:

curl -X POST 'https://api.acedata.cloud/veo/tasks' \
  -H 'authorization: Bearer {token}' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"id": "<task_id>", "action": "retrieve"}'

Optional models: veo31-fast / veo31 / veo3 / veo3-fast: the fast series is for quick trials, while the quality tier produces finished videos. To animate a static image, just change action to image2video and provide image_urls.

Running a Video with Seedance: Real Output + Cost

Below is a shot of a paper boat drifting generated by Seedance, with the recorded real cost of this call being 5.7 credits:

📹 https://cdn.acedata.cloud/de34c29169.mp4

Seedance places the prompts and reference images into the content array:

curl -X POST 'https://api.acedata.cloud/seedance/videos' \
  -H 'authorization: Bearer {token}' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "model": "doubao-seedance-2-0-fast-260128",
    "content": [
      {"type": "text", "text": "A white paper boat drifts on calm dark water at dusk, cinematic reflection, gentle ripples, slow dolly-in."}
    ],
    "resolution": "720p",
    "ratio": "9:16",
    "duration": 5,
    "async": true
  }'

It also returns a task_id, and you can poll /seedance/tasks to retrieve the result. Setting ratio to 9:16 directly produces a vertical version; the 2.0 series can also accept a real human photo as role: reference_image for character reference.

Two Paths to Get Started

  • Just want to see the effect, create a single high-quality piece: Open studio.acedata.cloud, select Sora / Veo / Seedance in the Capabilities panel, fill in prompts and click to generate, without touching code;
  • Want to integrate into your product, generate videos in bulk: Use the API of Veo or Seedance, both follow the POST + JSON + async polling structure, with a single Token to access all services on the platform. Get a Token at the console, with initial free credits.

Additional Note on Revenue

Video is currently the most scarce and expensive content form. Consistently producing short videos is itself a core traffic driver for content accounts; linking the tools you use in your homepage and generating commissions through the Ace Data Cloud Revenue Alliance from users you register is an additional income stream beyond content. To be more direct, you could package the above "input description, asynchronous video retrieval" process into a small tool and sell it to businesses that need to generate videos in bulk—your cost would be the platform's usage-based charges (like the 5.7 credits mentioned above).

First, click on a line in Studio to see the effect, and once the direction is confirmed, use the APIs of Veo / Seedance to turn it into a process.