Text-to-Video vs Image-to-Video on Topview T1

The Topview T1 workspace supports two main paths: text-to-video and image-to-video. Picking the right one early saves credits and gets you closer to the shot you imagined.

When to use text-to-video

Choose text-to-video when the idea starts as words — mood, camera move, lighting, and subject — and you do not need to lock a specific still frame.

Strong prompts usually include:

1. Subject and action — who or what moves, and how.
2. Camera language — close-up, slow push-in, tracking, handheld, etc.
3. Look — time of day, lens feel, color grade, film stock cues.
4. Constraints — aspect ratio intent (landscape / portrait / square) and pace.

Example direction: “Cinematic close-up of a detective under neon rain, anamorphic flare, photorealistic, slow dolly in.”

Vague prompts (“a cool video”) waste credits. Specific motion and framing travel better through Topview T1.

When to use image-to-video

Choose image-to-video when you already have a key frame, product still, character board, or reference image you want to animate.

Tips that usually help:

• Prefer a clear subject with readable edges over busy collage frames.
• Say what should move (camera vs subject) and what should stay stable.
• If the UI allows extra references, use them for identity or style continuity — not as a dump of unrelated files.

Image-to-video is ideal for product reveals, poster-to-motion, and keeping a face or prop consistent across a short take.

Resolution, aspect ratio, and duration

Before you submit, set:

| Control | Typical choices on this site | | ------------ | -------------------------------- | | Resolution | 720p or 1080p | | Aspect ratio | 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 | | Duration | Up to ~30s (options shown in UI) |

1080p and longer clips cost more credits. Draft in 720p / shorter length, then lock a hero take at higher settings.

Credits checklist

1. Read the estimated cost before submit.
2. Confirm you are in the real workspace, not the homepage preview canvas.
3. If an upstream task fails, credits are designed to refund — retry after checking your prompt and assets.

A simple workflow

1. Decide: text-first or image-first.
2. Write (or refine) one cinematic sentence with camera + light.
3. Set 720p for a draft, or 1080p for delivery.
4. Submit, preview, then iterate with a smaller change each time.

More plan details live on Pricing. For product positioning and capabilities, see What is Topview T1.