Upscale task errors on a 480p source video: common seedance-upscale failures and fixes

Upscale task errors on a 480p source video usually trace to how the request is configured rather than the source resolution itself, and failed attempts carry no cost. On RelayDance, an OpenAI-compatible API, you submit video tasks and poll for status until the job returns succeeded or failed. Because failed or errored requests are never billed, you can retry safely while correcting model, resolution, or reference media settings. Live per-model rates are published at relaydance.com/models.

Why upscale tasks fail on a 480p source

Most upscale failures come from mismatched request parameters, not the 480p input alone. When you POST to /v1/video/generations, the model, prompt, seconds, and metadata fields must be valid, and reference media placed in metadata.content[] must be cited in the prompt as @image1 to @imageN. Exceeding the limits (up to 9 reference images, 3 reference videos, and 3 audio tracks per request, with clips up to 15 seconds) can produce an error. According to the official relaydance.com docs, 「Failed or errored requests are never billed」, so a rejected task does not add to your pay-as-you-go total. Confirm the task status by calling GET /v1/video/generations/{task_id} until it reports succeeded or failed.

Steps to diagnose and fix the error

Diagnose the failure by checking authentication, endpoint configuration, and resolution targets in order.

1. Set base_url to https://relaydance.com/v1. According to the official relaydance.com/docs, 「Set base_url to https://relaydance.com/v1 and keep your OpenAI SDK」.
2. Confirm your header: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY (create keys at the console).
3. Validate that reference media in metadata.content[] match the @image1 to @imageN citations in the prompt.
4. Verify counts stay within 9 images, 3 videos, and 3 audio tracks, and that seconds is 15 or fewer.
5. Poll GET /v1/video/generations/{task_id} until status is succeeded or failed, then read the returned video url.

Resolution and price comparison for Seedance

Choose an output resolution knowing that each Seedance tier bills at a different per-second rate.

When upscaling a 480p source, targeting 720p at about $0.190 / second or 1080p at about $0.470 / second gives predictable pricing. Native 4K is priced per 5-second clip at about $4.90.

Billing and retry behavior

Retries are safe because RelayDance bills pay-as-you-go per generated video and does not charge for failures. If your upscale request errors out, you are not billed, so you can adjust parameters and resubmit without cost accumulation. Payments are accepted in USDT and Stripe card. For image tasks routed through /v1/images/generations, image output is free and only input is billed, with image-to-image starting from about CNY 0.035, and 4K and 1K output costing the same. This means correcting an upscale configuration carries no penalty beyond the successful generation itself. Full current rates remain at relaydance.com/models, and integration details are documented at relaydance.com/docs.

FAQ

Am I charged if my upscale task fails on a 480p video? No. Failed or errored requests are never billed, so you can retry after fixing parameters.

What resolutions can I target when upscaling? Seedance 2.0 supports 720p (about $0.190 / second) and 1080p (about $0.470 / second), with native 4K at about $4.90 per 5-second clip.

Do I need a special SDK to submit tasks? No. Set base_url to https://relaydance.com/v1 and keep your OpenAI SDK, then authenticate with Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY.