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MiniMax H3 Lite Image-to-Video API

minimax/h3-lite/image-to-video

MiniMax H3 Lite Image-to-Video generates 480P / 768P videos from input images with flexible 4-15 second duration, making it suitable for fast image animation, social content, creative videos, ads, and production workflows. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing.

Image to Video
Input

Drag & drop or click to upload

preview

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Idle

$0.04per run·~25 / $1

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ExamplesView all

Use the engineer, mouse, workstation, and office. Preserve her exact face, glasses, clothing, desk, monitor, and mouse design. She reaches for the mouse, but it suddenly slides away from her hand by itself. She pauses, looks at it in disbelief, and the mouse slowly slides back toward her as if nothing happened. The camera keeps a clean medium composition with a subtle sideways follow of the mouse.

Continue pouring sparkling orange soda into the glass. Ice cubes shift naturally and fizzy bubbles rise around the citrus slices. A few condensation droplets slide down the glass. Smooth macro camera move, preserve the fresh orange, mint and cobalt-blue palette. Crisp fizz, pour and ice-clink audio.

The little paper fox trots along the golden woodland path as colorful paper leaves drift gently past. Turquoise mushrooms softly glow, with layered paper trees moving in subtle parallax during a smooth camera follow. Preserve the handcrafted cut-paper aesthetic. Gentle woodwind music and paper rustles.

The colorful hot-air balloons drift slowly around the floating island while waterfalls flow continuously into the clouds. The camera gently orbits to reveal more pastel village houses in golden sunset light. Preserve the miniature 3D animation style and dreamy coral, teal and gold colors. Soft orchestral music, wind and distant birds.

The dancer continues a graceful slow turn in the warm sunlit studio. Her amber skirt flows naturally. One continuous shot, gentle piano music and soft footsteps.

Related Models

README

MiniMax H3 Lite Image-to-Video

MiniMax H3 Lite Image-to-Video turns a starting image into a video with prompt-guided motion. Provide a first-frame image, describe the action and camera movement, and optionally add a last-frame image to guide how the video ends.

Why Choose This?

  • Image-to-video generation — Animate a still image with prompt-guided motion.
  • Optional last frame — Add a target ending image for more control over the final transition.
  • Flexible duration — Generate videos from 4 to 15 seconds.
  • 480p and 768p output — Choose the resolution that fits your workflow.
  • Source framing preserved — Output aspect ratio follows the input image.

Parameters

ParameterRequiredDescription
promptYesDescribe the desired scene, action, and camera movement. Supports 1–7000 characters.
imageYesFirst-frame image used to start the generated video. Each side must be between 256 and 5760 pixels, with a width-to-height ratio between 0.4 and 2.5.
last_imageNoOptional target image used to guide the final frame of the generated video.
resolutionNoOutput resolution: 480p or 768p. Default: 768p.
durationNoVideo duration in whole seconds from 4 to 15. Default: 5.

How to Use

  1. Upload a starting image — Provide the first frame for the generated video.
  2. Write a prompt — Describe the desired motion, action, and camera movement.
  3. Add a last image optional — Provide a target ending frame when additional control is needed.
  4. Choose duration — Select a video length from 4 to 15 seconds.
  5. Choose resolution — Select 480p or 768p.
  6. Submit — Generate and retrieve the completed video.

Pricing

Pricing is based on the requested video duration and selected resolution.

ResolutionPrice per Second
480p$0.025
768p$0.04

Example Costs

Duration480p768p
5s$0.125$0.20
10s$0.25$0.40
15s$0.375$0.60

The first-frame and optional last-frame images do not add separate charges.

Best Use Cases

  • Portrait animation — Bring people and characters in still images into motion.
  • Product videos — Animate product imagery for promotional content.
  • Creative storytelling — Turn illustrations and concept art into moving scenes.
  • Social content — Create short-form videos from existing images.
  • Start-to-end transitions — Use a last-frame image to guide how the generated scene finishes.

Pro Tips

  • Start with a clear image that has a strong main subject.
  • Focus the prompt on motion, action, and camera behavior.
  • Keep the requested action suitable for the selected duration.
  • Use last_image when you want more control over the ending frame.
  • Keep the first and last images visually compatible for smoother transitions.

Notes

  • prompt and image are required.
  • duration supports whole-second values from 4 to 15 and defaults to 5.
  • resolution supports 480p and 768p and defaults to 768p.

Related Models

Note:This website uses AI models provided by third parties. Documentation prices are for reference and may be outdated. The Generate button shows an estimate; the final task charge prevails.

H3 Lite Image To Video API — Quick start

Grab a WaveSpeedAI API key, then call POST https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/minimax/h3-lite/image-to-video with your input as JSON. The endpoint returns a prediction id. Start polling the result endpoint around every 2 seconds, increase the interval for long-running tasks, and stop on any terminal status. On completed, read output values from data.outputs. Examples for H3 Lite Image To Video below.

HTTP example
set -euo pipefail

: "${WAVESPEED_API_KEY:?Set WAVESPEED_API_KEY}"

REQUEST_BODY=$(cat <<'JSON'
{
    "prompt": "A cinematic shot of a city at sunset, soft golden light",
    "image": "https://interactive-examples.mdn.mozilla.net/media/cc0-images/painted-hand-298-332.jpg",
    "resolution": "768p",
    "duration": 5
}
JSON
)

# 1. Submit the prediction.
SUBMIT_RESPONSE=$(curl --silent --show-error --fail-with-body \
  -X POST "https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/minimax/h3-lite/image-to-video" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WAVESPEED_API_KEY" \
  -d "$REQUEST_BODY")

TASK=$(printf '%s' "$SUBMIT_RESPONSE" | jq 'if has("data") then .data else . end')
PREDICTION_ID=$(printf '%s' "$TASK" | jq -r '.id')
if [ -z "$PREDICTION_ID" ] || [ "$PREDICTION_ID" = "null" ]; then
  printf 'Submission response did not contain a prediction id
' >&2
  exit 1
fi
RESULT_URL="https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/$PREDICTION_ID/result"

# 2. Poll until the prediction finishes.
while true; do
  RESPONSE=$(curl --silent --show-error --fail-with-body "$RESULT_URL" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $WAVESPEED_API_KEY")
  RESULT=$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | jq 'if has("data") then .data else . end')
  STATUS=$(printf '%s' "$RESULT" | jq -r '.status')
  case "$STATUS" in
    completed) printf '%s\n' "$RESULT" | jq '.outputs'; break ;;
    failed|cancelled|timeout|deleted) printf '%s\n' "$RESULT" | jq . >&2; exit 1 ;;
    *) sleep 2 ;;
  esac
done
Node.js example
const submitUrl = "https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/minimax/h3-lite/image-to-video";
const apiKey = process.env.WAVESPEED_API_KEY;
if (!apiKey) throw new Error('Set WAVESPEED_API_KEY');

async function requestJson(url, options = {}) {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  if (!response.ok) throw new Error(await response.text());
  return response.json();
}

// 1. Submit the prediction.
const body = await requestJson(submitUrl, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
        "prompt": "A cinematic shot of a city at sunset, soft golden light",
        "image": "https://interactive-examples.mdn.mozilla.net/media/cc0-images/painted-hand-298-332.jpg",
        "resolution": "768p",
        "duration": 5
}),
});
const task = body.data ?? body;
if (!task.id) throw new Error("Submission response did not contain a prediction id");
const resultUrl = `https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/${task.id}/result`;

// 2. Poll until the prediction finishes.
while (true) {
  const resultBody = await requestJson(resultUrl, {
    headers: { "Authorization": `Bearer ${apiKey}` },
  });
  const result = resultBody.data ?? resultBody;
  if (result.status === "completed") {
    console.log(result.outputs);
    break;
  }
  if (["failed", "cancelled", "timeout", "deleted"].includes(result.status)) throw new Error(JSON.stringify(result));
  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
}
Python example
import json
import os
import time
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen

api_key = os.environ["WAVESPEED_API_KEY"]
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
payload = {
    "prompt": "A cinematic shot of a city at sunset, soft golden light",
    "image": "https://interactive-examples.mdn.mozilla.net/media/cc0-images/painted-hand-298-332.jpg",
    "resolution": "768p",
    "duration": 5
}

def request_json(url, data=None):
    request = Request(url, data=data, headers=headers, method="POST" if data else "GET")
    with urlopen(request) as response:
        return json.load(response)

# 1. Submit the prediction.
body = request_json("https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/minimax/h3-lite/image-to-video", json.dumps(payload).encode())
task = body.get("data", body)
if not task.get("id"):
    raise RuntimeError("Submission response did not contain a prediction id")
result_url = f"https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/{task['id']}/result"

# 2. Poll until the prediction finishes.
while True:
    result_body = request_json(result_url)
    result = result_body.get("data", result_body)
    status = result.get("status")
    if status == "completed":
        print(result.get("outputs", []))
        break
    if status in {"failed", "cancelled", "timeout", "deleted"}:
        raise RuntimeError(result)
    time.sleep(2)

H3 Lite Image To Video API — Frequently asked questions

What is the H3 Lite Image To Video API?

H3 Lite Image To Video is a MiniMax model for video generation from images, exposed as a REST API on WaveSpeedAI. MiniMax H3 Lite Image-to-Video generates 480P / 768P videos from input images with flexible 4-15 second duration, making it suitable for fast image animation, social content, creative videos, ads, and production workflows. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing. You can call it programmatically or try it from the playground above.

How do I call the H3 Lite Image To Video API?

POST your input parameters to the model's REST endpoint (shown in the API tab of this playground) with your WaveSpeedAI API key in the Authorization header. Submission returns a prediction ID. Poll the result endpoint starting around every 2 seconds, increase the interval for long-running tasks, and stop on any terminal status. The playground generates Python, JavaScript, and cURL examples for submitting requests and polling results. Full request/response shape is documented at https://wavespeed.ai/docs/docs-api/minimax/minimax-h3-lite-image-to-video.

How much does H3 Lite Image To Video cost per run or per second?

H3 Lite Image To Video starts at $0.04 per run or per second. That figure is the base price — the final charge scales with the parameters you set in the form (output size, length, count, references, or whatever knobs this model exposes), so a higher-quality or larger output costs more than a minimal one. The exact cost for your current input is shown live next to the Generate button before you submit, and the actual per-call charge is recorded on the prediction afterwards.

What inputs does H3 Lite Image To Video accept?

Key inputs: `prompt`, `image`, `resolution`, `duration`, `last_image`. The full JSON schema (types, defaults, allowed values) is rendered above the Generate button and mirrored in the API reference at https://wavespeed.ai/docs/docs-api/minimax/minimax-h3-lite-image-to-video.

How do I get started with the H3 Lite Image To Video API?

Sign up for a free WaveSpeedAI account to claim starter credits, copy your API key from /accesskey, then call the endpoint shown in the API tab of the playground. The playground also auto-generates a code sample in Python, JavaScript, or cURL for the parameters you've set.

Can I use H3 Lite Image To Video outputs commercially?

Commercial usage rights depend on the model's license, set by its provider (MiniMax). Check the provider's applicable terms and WaveSpeedAI's Terms of Service before commercial use.

llms.txt — minimax/h3-lite/image-to-video for AI agents and LLMs