AI video budgets should be measured by cost per finished second, not render price

NoaBlake · reddit · 2026-11-05

A Reddit post argues the metric that actually predicts AI video budgets is cost per finished second — (price per render × renders per keeper) ÷ keeper length — not the sticker price. A $3.80 render yielding one 8-second keeper costs $0.48/second; if keeper rate drops from 1-in-7 to 1-in-14, cost doubles without any price change.

Three habits to improve the number:

Draft cheap, pay full only on keepers: run low-res short tests until motion and framing lock, then render the final take at full price.
Track keeper rate, not render count: without it you can't tell if a new model is cheaper or just lucky.
Compare tools on finished minutes: near-identical per-render prices diverge sharply once keeper rate is factored in.

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AI video budgets should be measured by cost per finished second, not render price

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