Introducing WaveSpeedAI Sam3 Video on WaveSpeedAI
Try WaveSpeedAI Sam3 Video for FREEIntroducing SAM3 Video: Prompt-Based Video Segmentation and Object Tracking
Video segmentation has long been one of the most challenging problems in computer vision. Manually tracing objects frame-by-frame—a process known as rotoscoping—has consumed countless hours in VFX studios, content creation pipelines, and video analytics workflows. That changes today with the arrival of SAM3 Video on WaveSpeedAI.
Built on Meta’s groundbreaking Segment Anything Model 3 (SAM 3), this unified foundation model brings prompt-based video segmentation to the cloud with instant API access, no cold starts, and transparent per-second pricing. Simply describe what you want to segment—“the woman in red,” “person, backpack, bicycle,” or “remove the person in the background”—and SAM3 Video handles detection, segmentation, and tracking across every frame.
What is SAM3 Video?
SAM3 Video is a video-to-video model that performs Promptable Concept Segmentation (PCS) on your footage. Unlike traditional segmentation tools that require you to draw masks on every frame, SAM3 Video accepts natural language prompts, point coordinates, bounding boxes, or mask inputs to identify and track targets throughout your video.
The underlying SAM 3 architecture represents a major leap forward from previous versions. With 848 million parameters, it combines a DETR-based detector and transformer-based tracker that share a single vision encoder. This design enables SAM3 Video to:
- Detect all instances of a concept (not just one object per prompt)
- Segment with pixel-perfect precision
- Track identities consistently across frames, even through occlusions
According to Meta’s research, SAM 3 doubles the accuracy of existing systems on both image and video concept segmentation benchmarks while handling over 270,000 unique concepts—more than 50 times what previous benchmarks supported.
Key Features
Prompt-Based Target Selection
Forget manual mask drawing. Use natural language to specify exactly what you want to segment:
- Simple nouns:
person,car,dog - Detailed descriptions:
yellow school bus,red baseball cap,player in red jersey - Multiple targets:
person, cloth, backpack
The model understands context and finds every matching instance in your video—something previous SAM versions couldn’t do.
Multi-Object Tracking in a Single Run
Need to track multiple object categories? List them in your prompt separated by commas. SAM3 Video produces consistent masks for each target across all frames, maintaining unique identities even when objects overlap or temporarily disappear.
Strong Temporal Consistency
Video segmentation is only useful if results are stable. SAM3 Video’s tracker propagates “masklets”—temporal object segments—from frame to frame via self-attention and cross-attention mechanisms. This eliminates the flickering and drift that plague per-frame processing approaches.
Mask-Guided Control
Toggle the apply_mask parameter for different workflows:
true: Apply the segmentation mask directly to output—ideal for object removal and background cleanupfalse: Return segmentation data without applying—perfect for downstream compositing pipelines
Editing-Oriented Design
SAM3 Video isn’t just for analysis—it’s built for practical video editing. Specify removal intent in your prompts (e.g., “remove the person in the background, keep lighting unchanged”) and get clean, edit-ready results.
Real-World Use Cases
VFX and Post-Production
- Rotoscoping automation: Replace days of manual work with seconds of API calls
- Object removal: Clean up wires, rigs, boom mics, or unwanted background elements
- Compositing prep: Isolate subjects for layered compositions without frame-by-frame masking
Content Creation
- Background replacement: Segment presenters or products for virtual set placement
- Social media editing: Quick cleanup of video content for TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube
- Product showcases: Isolate products from cluttered backgrounds
Video Analytics
- Object counting and tracking: Monitor specific items across surveillance or sports footage
- Behavior analysis: Track individuals or vehicles through scenes
- Quality control: Identify and flag defects in manufacturing video feeds
Advertising and Marketing
- A/B testing visuals: Swap backgrounds or elements across campaign variants
- Localization: Segment and replace text or branded elements for different markets
- Dynamic content: Create multiple versions from a single shoot
Getting Started on WaveSpeedAI
Using SAM3 Video through WaveSpeedAI’s REST API is straightforward:
- Prepare your video: Upload your file or provide a publicly accessible URL
- Craft your prompt: Describe what to segment using clear, concrete nouns
- Configure parameters: Set
apply_maskbased on your workflow needs - Run inference: Submit your request and receive processed results
API Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
video | Yes | Input video file or public URL |
prompt | Yes | Text instruction for segmentation (comma-separated for multiple targets) |
apply_mask | No | Apply mask to output video (default: true) |
Prompt Writing Tips
- Use short, concrete nouns for reliable targeting
- For multiple objects, use comma-separated labels:
person, bicycle, helmet - Include constraints for cleanup tasks:
remove the logo, preserve the shadows
Transparent Pricing
SAM3 Video uses simple per-second pricing with a billed duration clamped between 5 and 600 seconds:
| Video Duration | Cost |
|---|---|
| Up to 5s | $0.05 |
| 10s | $0.10 |
| 60s | $0.60 |
| 600s (max) | $6.00 |
Pricing is calculated in 5-second increments at $0.05 per unit, making it predictable and budget-friendly for both short clips and longer footage.
Why WaveSpeedAI?
Running SAM3 Video through WaveSpeedAI gives you significant advantages over self-hosted deployments:
- No cold starts: Inference begins immediately—no waiting for model loading
- No infrastructure management: Skip the GPU provisioning, CUDA dependencies, and scaling headaches
- Predictable costs: Pay only for what you use with clear per-second pricing
- Simple REST API: Integrate into any workflow with standard HTTP requests
Best Practices for Optimal Results
- Use stable footage: Clear subject separation and minimal motion blur yield the best masks
- Be specific in prompts: “Red sports car” outperforms “car” when precision matters
- Enable
apply_maskfor cluttered scenes: Tighter control prevents bleed-through - Reduce targets per run if results drift: Split complex multi-object requests into focused passes
Start Segmenting Today
SAM3 Video brings enterprise-grade video segmentation to every creator, developer, and business. Whether you’re automating VFX pipelines, building video analytics tools, or simply cleaning up content for social media, WaveSpeedAI makes it accessible.
Try SAM3 Video on WaveSpeedAI →
No contracts, no minimums—just powerful AI inference when you need it.
