Veo 3.1 Image-to-Video: Settings, Audio, and Credit Costs, Explained

Veo 3.1 is live in the MediaMuse video composer as an image-to-video model, and it works differently from the text-to-video tools most guides describe. Here is the short version before the detail: Veo 3.1 animates exactly one still image into a 6 or 8 second clip at 720p or 1080p, every render ships with an audio track, and billing is per clip — 60 or 65 credits on the Fast tier, 30 or 35 on Lite. No reference image, no render.

This guide walks through what that means in practice: what the model needs from you, how to set up a run step by step, what each setting costs, and where the limits are. Everything below mirrors the current Veo 3.1 model page and the live composer settings.

What is new with Veo 3.1 here

Three things define this integration, and they answer most of the questions that land in support:

• It is image-to-video only. The recipe requires one reference image per run — exactly one, no more, no less. There is no text-only path into Veo 3.1 in MediaMuse; if you want to start from a written idea, draft the opening frame with a text-to-image model first, then hand that still to Veo 3.1.
• Audio is always included. Every clip renders with a soundtrack in the same pass as the picture. There is no silent-render option to deselect and no separate audio step to buy — sound is part of the output, so write it into the prompt ("rain on the roof, she says: stay").
• Billing is per clip, not per second. A 6 second clip and an 8 second clip at the same resolution cost the same number of credits. The price axis is tier and resolution, not duration.

The model sits alongside the other image-to-video models in the models directory — MiniMax H3, Kling 3.0, Hailuo 02 — and the composer treats them the same way: attach an image, describe the shot, pick settings, run.

How the settings map to the price

Veo 3.1 exposes two tiers in MediaMuse, Fast and Lite, and the numbers below are the exact credits deducted per clip — the estimate the composer shows before you confirm a run is the estimate you are billed.

Tier	Length	720p	1080p
Veo 3.1 (Fast)	6 s	60 credits	65 credits
Veo 3.1 (Fast)	8 s	60 credits	65 credits
Veo 3.1 Lite	6 s	30 credits	35 credits
Veo 3.1 Lite	8 s	30 credits	35 credits

Read the table with two takeaways. First, duration is free: stretching from 6 to 8 seconds changes nothing on the bill, so take the 8 seconds whenever the shot needs a beat to land. Second, the 1080p upgrade is 5 credits on either tier — cheap enough that the usual loop is: draft at 720p, re-run the winner at 1080p.

The remaining settings do not affect price:

Setting	Options	Default
Aspect ratio	16:9, 9:16	16:9 landscape
Resolution	720p, 1080p	720p
Duration	6 s, 8 s	Composer preset
Reference images	exactly 1	required — run is blocked without one

There is no resolution above 1080p in this integration, and no duration outside the 6 and 8 second presets. If a listing elsewhere promises 4K Veo 3.1 or 20 second clips through MediaMuse, it is describing something we do not sell.

Step by step: animating one still

1. Open the composer in image-to-video mode. Start from the Veo 3.1 model page or the video composer directly, with the image-to-video tool selected — that is the only path Veo 3.1 answers to.
2. Attach exactly one reference image. This still is the first frame of the clip, so everything you want preserved — the product, the face, the framing — has to already be true in the image. Fix the still before you spend a credit on motion; the image-to-video checklist covers what makes a strong first frame.
3. Write motion, camera, and sound into the prompt. One action and one camera move travel better than three of each, and because audio is always included, sound cues belong in the prompt rather than in a later edit. For prompt structure that applies to every video model here, see how to write text-to-video prompts.
4. Pick ratio, resolution, and duration. 16:9 for landscape placements, 9:16 for vertical; 720p to explore, 1080p to finish; 8 seconds costs the same as 6.
5. Check the estimate, then run. The composer shows the exact credit figure from the table above before the render starts. Watch the clip end to end — motion quality, audio sync, whether the final frame is a usable cut — and change one variable per re-run.

Fast or Lite: which tier to pick

The tiers price the same settings differently, so the choice is about where a clip sits in your workflow:

• Lite at 720p (30 credits) is the draft tier. Use it to test whether a motion idea works at all — the action, the camera move, the sound direction — before any real spend.
• Fast at 720p (60 credits) is the working tier for clips that ship to social or web placements, where 720p is often the delivery resolution anyway.
• Fast at 1080p (65 credits) is the finish tier when the clip goes into a larger composition or needs cropping headroom.

A concrete budget example: with the numbers above, a one-time credit pack covers a meaningful batch of drafts — how credits map to packs and subscriptions is on the pricing page. Veo 3.1 has no free credit allowance of its own; every clip draws from the credits on your plan or pack.

Two technical footnotes for anyone comparing integrations. The upstream service also lists a Quality tier for this model family, but it is not offered for billing here — the tier is pinned server-side to the Fast and Lite options you see, so the price quoted before a run is always a price that exists. And under the hood the request is sent as a first-and-last-frames generation job carrying a single image URL, which is the API's way of saying what the composer enforces visually: one still in, one clip out.

What Veo 3.1 will not do here

Being explicit about the limits saves credits:

• No text-to-video. Exactly one reference image is required; zero images means the run does not start.
• No resolution above 1080p, no duration beyond 8 seconds. The settings list is complete: 6/8 seconds, 720p/1080p, 16:9/9:16.
• No silent renders. The audio track is part of every clip; plan the edit around it rather than hoping for a mute button.
• No free quota for this model. Renders are billed per clip from your credit balance.

FAQ

Does Veo 3.1 need a reference image?

Yes — in MediaMuse it runs strictly as image-to-video, and the run requires exactly one image. If your idea starts as text, generate the opening frame with a text-to-image model in the image composer first, then animate that still.

How much does one Veo 3.1 clip cost?

Billing is per clip: Fast is 60 credits at 720p and 65 at 1080p; Lite is 30 and 35. Duration does not change the price — 6 and 8 second clips cost the same at a given tier and resolution.

Is audio really always included?

Yes. Every Veo 3.1 render carries an audio track — there is no option to render silent, and no extra charge for sound because it is part of the per-clip price.

Can I render longer than 8 seconds or above 1080p?

No. The integration offers 6 or 8 seconds at 720p or 1080p, in 16:9 or 9:16. Longer cuts are assembled from multiple clips in your editor.

Is there a free trial or free credits for Veo 3.1?

This model has no free credit allowance — each clip is billed from your balance. Credits come from a subscription or a one-time pack; see pricing for both.

Which aspect ratios does Veo 3.1 support?

16:9 for landscape and 9:16 for vertical — pick the one that matches the placement before you render, because the ratio is baked into the clip.

Run your first clip

Open the video composer, attach one clean still, describe the motion and the sound, and start with a 720p draft to test the idea. The Veo 3.1 model page carries the live spec sheet, the models directory shows every model you can cut against it, and pricing shows what a batch of clips costs before you commit.