vidhookYou bring the assets
Your footage, your fonts, your music, hosted wherever you like. vidhook never invents footage — it arranges what you point it at.
Instead of:prompt → video
Video authoring API
Turn JSON into video.
A video authoring API, not a video generator. Send a spec describing your clips, text, and audio — get back the exact MP4 it describes. Buy credits once, with no subscription and no expiry.
JSON → MP4Deterministic rendersNo subscription
{ "resolution": "full-hd", "scenes": [ { "duration": 8, "elements": [ { "type": "video", "src": "https://assets.vidhook.app/examples/drop.mp4" }, { "type": "text", "text": "New drop ↓", "effects": [{ "use": "slide-fade" }], "settings": { "font-size": 96, "font-color": "#FFFFFF", "vertical-position": "bottom" } } ] } ]}
POST /rendersrendering
rendered
What vidhook is not
Not a video generator.
vidhook composites the assets you already have — clips, images, text, audio — into an MP4 that matches your spec exactly. There is no model in the render path.
The same spec renders the same frames
Deterministic, every time. Diff it in review, version it in git, assert on it in CI. No re-rolls, no seeds, no “try again.”
Instead of:regenerate until it’s right
Frame-exact control
Positions, timings, easing, transitions, z-order — all fields in the spec. If you can describe it, you get it, to the frame.
Instead of:“make the text a bit bigger”
Getting started
Three specs. Three videos.
Every field below is real. Press play and watch the spec light up as the video plays it.
{ "resolution": "full-hd", "scenes": [ { "duration": 4, "background-color": "#0D1424", "elements": [ { "type": "text", "text": "Rendered, not generated.", "effects": [{ "use": "word-reveal" }], "settings": { "font-size": 96, "font-color": "#F8FAFC", "text-align": "center" } }, { "type": "text", "text": "vidhook.app", "position": "bottom-center", "width": 1920, "height": 180, "start": 1.6, "effects": [{ "use": "typewriter", "stagger": 0.06 }], "settings": { "font-size": 40, "font-color": "#34D399" } } ] } ]}
0:00 / 0:04
No assets, no upload — paste this into curl and you have a video.
{ "resolution": "instagram-story", "scenes": [ { "duration": 6, "elements": [ { "type": "video", "src": "https://assets.vidhook.app/examples/skate.mp4", "fit": "cover", "duration": -2, "muted": true }, { "type": "text", "text": "NEW DROP", "start": 0.4, "z-index": 10, "effects": [ { "animations": [ { "type": "slide", "direction": "from-bottom", "distance": 120, "duration": 0.6, "easing": "ease-out" }, { "type": "scale", "from": 1.4, "to": 1, "duration": 0.6 }, { "type": "fade", "duration": 0.4 } ] } ], "settings": { "font-size": 130, "font-weight": 800, "font-color": "#FFFFFF" } }, { "type": "text", "text": "TAP TO SHOP", "position": "bottom-center", "width": 1080, "height": 320, "start": 1.8, "z-index": 10, "effects": [{ "use": "pop-in" }, { "use": "pulse" }], "settings": { "font-size": 56, "font-color": "#34D399" } } ] } ]}
0:00 / 0:06
Compose three animations onto one element, then loop a fourth forever.
{ "resolution": "full-hd", "elements": [ { "type": "audio", "src": "https://assets.vidhook.app/examples/bgm.mp3", "duration": -2, "loop": -1, "volume": 0.3 } ], "scenes": [ { "duration": 3, "transition": { "style": "wipeleft", "duration": 0.5 }, "elements": [ { "type": "image", "src": "https://assets.vidhook.app/examples/desert.jpg", "zoom": 6, "pan": "right", "pan-distance": 0.08 }, { "type": "text", "text": "Shot it.", "start": 0.3, "x": 96, "y": 812, "width": 900, "height": 160, "z-index": 10, "effects": [{ "use": "slide-fade" }], "settings": { "font-size": 88, "font-color": "#F8FAFC", "horizontal-position": "left", "text-align": "left" } } ] }, { "duration": 3, "transition": { "style": "circleopen", "duration": 0.6 }, "elements": [ { "type": "video", "src": "https://assets.vidhook.app/examples/workshop.mp4", "seek": 2, "muted": true, "duration": -2 }, { "type": "text", "text": "Cut it.", "start": 0.3, "x": 96, "y": 812, "width": 900, "height": 160, "z-index": 10, "effects": [{ "use": "slide-fade" }], "settings": { "font-size": 88, "font-color": "#F8FAFC", "horizontal-position": "left", "text-align": "left" } } ] }, { "duration": 3, "elements": [ { "type": "image", "src": "https://assets.vidhook.app/examples/nightfall.jpg", "zoom": -3 }, { "type": "text", "text": "Ship it.", "z-index": 10, "effects": [{ "use": "blur-in" }, { "use": "pulse" }], "settings": { "font-size": 120, "font-color": "#34D399" } } ] } ]}
0:00 / 0:09
Cut between scenes, pan across stills, and lay music under the whole thing.
curl -X POST https://api.vidhook.app/renders \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDHOOK_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ --data @title-card.json { "id": "rnd_7f3c…", "status": "queued" }
How it works
Three steps from spec to MP4.
No timeline to drag, no editor to learn. Describe the video as data and let the API render it in the cloud.
STEP 01
Write the JSON
Compose scenes from images, video, text, and audio. Add transitions and variables when you need them.
STEP 02
POST to the API
Send the spec to /renders with your API key. You get a render ID back instantly — rendering runs in the background.
STEP 03
Get your MP4
Poll the render or catch the webhook. Download a finished H.264 file from a CDN URL.
What you can build
Everything you need to render. Nothing you don't.
vidhook keeps the feature set tight so the price stays low — the building blocks that actually ship social video.
Images
Place stills with fit control and Ken Burns zoom and pan.
Video clips
Embed real footage with trim, volume, and fades. The feature most APIs charge a premium for.
Text & fonts
Overlay captions with any Google Font, alignment, and timing.
Audio & BGM
Layer music and sound with looping and volume fades.
Transitions
Wipe, slide, fade, and more between scenes — the full xfade set.
VariablesComing soon
Template once, then render thousands of variants from your data.
Made with vidhook
Rendered entirely from JSON.
No timeline, no editor. Footage, text, transitions, and music — described as data and rendered in the cloud.
Tokyo Pulse
Neon-soaked city night, cut to a synth pulse.
Street Bites
Sizzling night-market food, cut to a lo-fi groove.
First Light
A sunrise trail run above the clouds, set to uplifting electronica.
Petal
Botanicals unfurling in dewy macro, over ambient piano.
Aurora
Cinematic northern lights over the Arctic.
Coastline
A drone flight over turquoise cliffs, to a swelling orchestral score.
Foundry
Precision machining in macro, set to minimal techno.
Dune
Golden desert at magic hour, driven by cinematic percussion.
Pricing you don't have to babysit
No subscription. No expiry. No waste.
Most video APIs lock you into a monthly plan and reset your balance every cycle. vidhook is prepaid: buy a pack of credits, and they're yours until you spend them.
- Pay once. No recurring charge, no card on file by default.
- Credits never expire. Render this week or next year — same balance.
- Pay per second. 1 credit = 1 second of Full HD. Only pay for what you render.
- Free every week. 180 credits weekly for watermarked test renders, no card required.
Typical subscriptionuse it or lose it
Balance resets monthlyexpires
Pay even on quiet monthsrecurring
vidhook prepaid creditsyours forever
Pricing
Buy credits when you need them.
Start free, then top up with a one-time pack. Bigger packs cost less per credit. No plans, no commitment.
Free
180 credits / week
$0 forever
~3 minutes of Full HD every week. Watermarked test renders.
Start free1 credit = 1 second of Full HD · 4K = 4 credits · credits never expire
How we compare
Less to pay for the same render.
What 1,000 render credits cost as a one-time purchase, next to other programmatic video APIs. Same JSON-to-video workflow — lower prepaid price.
vidhook$3.33
Competitor A$6.41
Competitor B$6.94
Prepaid list price per 1,000 credits, 2026. 1 credit = 1 second of Full HD. Competitor names withheld; figures from their published prepaid pricing.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Do you generate video with AI?
No. vidhook is an authoring API: it composites the clips, images, text and audio you give it, exactly as your JSON spec describes. Nothing in the render path invents footage, and the same spec always renders the same frames. If you want AI-generated source clips, generate them wherever you like and point vidhook at the URLs.
What is a credit?
One credit renders one second of Full HD (1080p) video. 4K costs 4 credits per second. A render's cost is just its length times this rate, so you always know the price before you submit.
Do credits expire?
No. Credits you buy never expire. Render today or in a year — your balance stays exactly where you left it. (Free weekly credits are the one exception: they refresh each week and don't roll over.)
Is this a subscription?
No. vidhook is prepaid. You buy a one-time pack of credits — there's no monthly fee, no minimum, and no card kept on file unless you choose to buy again.
Do you support 4K?
Yes. 4K renders at 4 credits per second. Full HD remains the default at 1 credit per second.
What's included on the free tier?
180 credits every week — about 3 minutes of Full HD — for watermarked test renders, no card required. Use a test key to spend them; switch to a paid pack and a live key for clean output.
What's the difference between test and live keys?
A test key (vh_test_) renders from your free weekly credits and adds a watermark — ideal for development. A live key (vh_live_) renders from your purchased credits with no watermark, for production. The key you use decides which balance is charged.
Start rendering for free.
Create an account, grab an API key, and POST your first JSON spec in minutes.
Get started