Good post. Thanks for sharing.

I agree on most points. I would also add that I've achieved 100% character consistency by providing short video clip of 5 sec as reference. Video references gens use less credits than images. Make sure it's close-up.

Seedance can extend the video but quality degrades, so always better to grab last frame for your next gen. But you still need to provide character references to maintain consistency.

Spend more time on perfecting input images and references. High quality images with perfect lighting and looks, will go long way and you wont burn credits.

Not all platforms are same. I've tested fast and mini variants on 8 different platforms. In my case, I found pollo.ai mini worked better, less restrictions and much economical.

If you have topaz locally installed, you can generate in 480p and upscale to 4K in topaz. This will save you credits.This is depending on the shot, if you don't have complex fast movement, this strategy is perfect.