Provider Guide
14 AI video and image providers, all through your FAL.ai key. This guide helps you pick the right ones for your budget and quality goals.
Every scene in your video can use a different provider. Mix and match freely — the footage director recommends sources automatically, or you can override per scene.
| Provider | Cost/Clip | Quality | Time | Type | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veo3 | $1.60 | ★★★★★ | ~60s | Text → Video | Hero scenes, cinematic quality |
| Kling Pro | $0.35 | ★★★★★ | ~45s | Image → Video | Face consistency, character scenes |
| Kling Standard | $0.15 | ★★★★ | ~30s | Image → Video | Balanced quality/cost |
| WAN 1.3B | $0.08 | ★★★ | ~20s | Text → Video | Fast B-roll generation |
| WAN 14B | $0.25 | ★★★★ | ~40s | Text → Video | Higher quality B-roll |
| Minimax | $0.20 | ★★★★ | ~35s | Text → Video | Diverse motion styles |
| Luma Ray2 | $0.20 | ★★★★ | ~30s | Text → Video | Smooth, dreamlike motion |
| Flux Pro | $0.05 | ★★★★ | ~5s | Text → Image | High-quality stills |
| Flux Dev | $0.003 | ★★★ | ~3s | Text → Image | Budget stills + Ken Burns |
| Flux Schnell | $0.002 | ★★★ | ~2s | Text → Image | Ultra-fast drafts |
| Stable Diffusion 3.5 | $0.04 | ★★★ | ~5s | Text → Image | General purpose images |
| Recraft V3 | $0.04 | ★★★★ | ~5s | Text → Image | Stylized illustrations |
| Pexels | Free | ★★★ | ~2s | Stock Video | Generic B-roll, nature, city |
| Archive.org / NASA | Free | ★★★ | ~2s | Stock | Historical footage, space imagery |
All scenes use Flux Dev images with Ken Burns pan/zoom animation. Pexels stock for generic B-roll. Best for high-volume content where cost matters more than cinematic quality.
Kling Standard for hero and character scenes, Flux Pro for B-roll images. The sweet spot for most creators — good quality at reasonable cost.
Veo3 for hero scenes (the best AI video quality available), Kling Pro for character/dialogue scenes, WAN 14B for B-roll. For showcase content where every frame matters.
Standalone Videos
| Tier | Cost Range | Provider Mix | When to Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $0.15–0.35 | Flux Dev images + Ken Burns + Pexels | High-volume, testing, drafts |
| Standard | $0.60–1.20 | Kling Std i2v + Flux Pro + Pexels | Daily content, most creators |
| Premium | $3.00–6.00 | Veo3 + Kling Pro + WAN 14B | Showcase, portfolio, brand content |
Series Episodes
| Tier | Cost Range | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | $0.20–0.40 | Early episodes, world-building, setup — save budget for later |
| Standard | $0.60–1.20 | Core story episodes — consistent quality |
| Quality | $3.00–6.00 | Finale, climax, pilot — maximum impact scenes |
Series strategy
Routing Profiles
The footage director uses routing profiles to pick the best provider for each scene type. You can override per scene in Scene Studio.
| Profile | Optimized For | Key Providers |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | General content — balanced cost/quality | Kling Std + Flux + Pexels |
| Cinematic | Visual storytelling — premium providers | Veo3 + Kling Pro + WAN |
| Mythology / Biography | Character consistency — face matching | Kling i2v + canonical portraits |
| Finance / Tech | Data-heavy content — charts + stock | Charts + Flux + Pexels + Maps |
Smart spending tips to get the most out of your FAL credits:
Use Scene Studio procedural visuals
Maps, charts, comparisons, quotes, and process flows are rendered locally — $0 cost. Perfect for data scenes.
Flux Ken Burns for non-hero scenes
At $0.003/image, Flux Dev with Ken Burns motion is 50x cheaper than AI video — great for establishing shots and B-roll.
Pexels for generic B-roll
Free stock footage for cityscapes, nature, offices, crowds. Search from the review page — no API cost.
Kling over Veo3 for faces
Kling Standard i2v ($0.15) maintains face consistency nearly as well as Veo3 ($1.60) — 10x less cost.
Economy tier for early series episodes
Setup and world-building episodes don't need premium visuals. Save budget for the climax.
Upload your own clips
Scene Studio accepts your own video and images — zero generation cost. Record a quick clip on your phone for authentic B-roll.
Quick math
Avatar lipsync is an add-on cost on top of base video generation. Three engines at different price/quality points:
| Engine | Cost/sec | Quality | Speed | 60s Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SadTalker | $0.001 | Good — slight jitter | ~10s render | $0.06 |
| MuseTalk | $0.003 | Great — smooth motion | ~30s render | $0.18 |
| Sync.so | $0.05 | Excellent — near-real | ~120s render | $3.00 |
Recommendation