Alibaba WAN 2.6

Alibaba / WAN 2.6 — Reference-to-Video (wan2.6-ref2v)

WAN 2.6 Reference-to-Video is Alibaba’s WanXiang 2.6 model for turning example videos + a text prompt into new shots. Provide up to two reference clips and the model learns their style, motion, and framing, then generates a new 5–10s video at up to 1080p.

🚀 Highlights

• Reference-driven motion & style – Mimic camera moves, pacing and composition from your reference videos while following your prompt.
• Up to two reference videos – Blend style from one clip and motion from another, or use different angles of the same scene.
• Cinematic resolutions – Choose from 720p, or 1080p (portrait or landscape).
• Story-aware generation – Works with prompt expansion and multishots to build richer, multi-shot sequences.
• Audio-ready pipeline – Optional audio field for workflows that need motion aligned to external sound.

Output format: MP4 video at the selected size and duration.

🧩 Parameters

• prompt* Text description of the new scene: characters, actions, environment, camera motion, mood, style, etc.

• videos* 1–2 reference clips (URLs or uploads). These guide style, camera work, pacing, and motion structure.

• negative_prompt Things to avoid, e.g. watermark, text, distortion, extra limbs.

• audio (optional) External audio track for advanced pipelines where timing should loosely follow a given soundtrack. For most use cases you can leave this empty.

• size One of the following resolution presets:

  • 1280×720 or 720×1280 → 720p
  • 1920×1080 or 1080×1920 → 1080p

• duration Video length: 5 s or 10 s.

• shot_type

  • single – Single-shot clip.
  • multi – When combined with enable_prompt_expansion, WAN 2.6 can break your idea into multiple shots of the same scene.

• enable_prompt_expansion If enabled, Alibaba’s prompt optimizer expands short prompts into a richer internal script before generation.

• seed Random seed. Set -1 for a new random result each time, or fix to a specific integer for reproducible layout and motion.

💰 Pricing

✅ How to Use

1. Prepare 1–2 reference videos

   • Clean motion, stable framing, and clear style work best.
   • You can use two angles of the same scene, or two stylistically similar clips.

2. Write your prompt

   • Describe what should happen in the new video, not just what’s in the references.
   • Example: “Cyberpunk alley at night, hero walking toward camera, slow dolly-in, neon reflections on wet ground, cinematic color grading.”

3. (Optional) Add a negative_prompt

   • Keep it short and focused: watermark, text, logo, extra limbs, low resolution.

4. Choose size and duration

   • 720p/1080p according to your platform (Reels, TikTok, YouTube, etc.).
   • 5 s for quick shots, 10 s for more complex actions.

5. Configure multishots & prompt expansion

   • Turn on enable_prompt_expansion for shorter prompts.
   • Enable multishots if you want WAN 2.6 to create a multi-shot sequence.

6. Set seed (optional)

   • Use a fixed seed to iterate while keeping composition similar.

7. Run the model and download the generated clip.

💡 Prompt & Reference Tips

• Keep reference content and prompt aligned – if references show a city night scene, avoid asking for a sunny beach.

• Use two references when you want to mix:

  • video A’s camera & motion + video B’s lighting/style.

• Mention where you want the model to follow reference closely, e.g.: “Follow reference camera speed and angles, but change character outfit to futuristic armor.”

• For portrait/vertical social content, select 480×832, 720×1280, or 1080×1920; for YouTube-style landscape, use the corresponding wide resolutions.

More Models to Try

• vidu/reference-to-video-q2 Vidu’s Q2 reference-to-video model for turning style and motion from example clips into new shots, ideal for anime-style edits, trailers, and storyboards.

• google/veo3.1/reference-to-video Google Veo 3.1 reference-conditioned video generator, designed for high-fidelity cinematic motion that closely follows your reference footage.

• kwaivgi/kling-video-o1/reference-to-video Kwaivgi’s Kling Video O1 reference-to-video model, great for copying camera language and pacing from a sample clip while changing characters or scenes.

• bytedance/seedance-v1-lite/reference-to-video ByteDance SeeDance v1 Lite, a lightweight reference-to-video model for fast, style-consistent generations based on short example videos.