Seedance 2 Is Here: The #1 Video Model Just Landed on Alici AI

Seedance 2 - currently sitting at Elo 1,273 on text-to-video, #1 on the public leaderboard (Artificial Analysis, March 2026) - is now live inside Alici AI. Open Video - Image to Video, pick Model: Seedance 2, drop in a start frame, and you're generating. Same credits, same workspace you already have.

A 30-point Elo gap is statistically significant, and Seedance leads Kling 3 by 32 points in text-to-video. This is the first time any model has taken the #1 slot across all three categories - T2V (1,273), I2V (1,168), and Audio (1,214) - simultaneously. I've spent the last few weeks testing it across ten prompts for three separate articles on this blog, so instead of another "what's new" rundown, I want to hand you the things I wish I'd known on day one.

See It in Action

Open the Alici AI workspace and you'll find Seedance 2 in the model dropdown under Video - Image to Video. Frames mode (start/end frame) and Reference mode (1-4 reference images) are both supported, outputs in 16:9 / 9:16 / 4:3 / 3:4 / 1:1, and Magic Prompt with Agent is there if you don't feel like writing the shot yourself. 31 credits per 5-second clip.

What's Actually New (The Three Things That Matter)

• #1 ranked quality across every category. Text-to-video Elo 1,273, image-to-video Elo 1,168, audio Elo 1,214 - all first place (Artificial Analysis, March 2026).

• 85% hand accuracy. The thing every video model has been failing at for two years. In my physics test suite, Seedance 2 produced anatomically correct hands in ~85% of generations versus ~70% for Kling and ~60% for Veo. It won physics accuracy 7 out of 10 against Kling 3.

• 75-85% character consistency across cuts, when you feed it a three-image reference set the right way (more on this below).

If you want the full breakdown - the tested genres, the scorecard, every number - the deep dives are already up: the complete Seedance 2 guide, the alternatives map, and the head-to-head with Kling 3.

The 5-Block Prompt Structure (Memorize This)

After burning roughly 400 credits on bad runs, here's the only prompt skeleton I use now:

Subject + Action + Camera + Style + Quality

Concrete example (62 words, which is the sweet spot for image-to-video):

"A young woman in her 30s, dark hair, cream linen blazer, sits at a sunlit cafe table. She slowly lifts a ceramic cup and sips, eyes glancing sideways. Medium close-up, handheld drift right, shallow depth of field. Warm motivated lighting from window, volumetric dust in sunbeam, muted earth tones. 4K, Ultra HD, Rich details, Sharp clarity, Cinematic texture, Natural colors, Stable picture."

Prompt length sweet spot: 50-80 words for I2V (the reference image carries identity), 120-280 for T2V. Rule of thumb: if it doesn't fit in a tweet, it's too long. Over 100 words and the model starts cherry-picking details while ignoring the ones you care about. Always end with the quality suffix - those seven words are doing real work on output sharpness.

The Three-Image Reference Trick (75-85% Character Consistency)

This is the single highest-leverage feature and nobody uses it correctly. Seedance 2's Reference mode accepts 1-4 images. Here's the exact flow I use:

1. Create three angles of your character: front view, 3/4 side, full side.

2. Crop each image separately. Do NOT upload a grid - Seedance reads each grid panel as a different character and you'll get drift.

3. Put the front view in Slot 1 - it gets 40-50% more weight than the other slots.

4. In your text prompt, describe only action and environment. Let the images carry identity.

Do this and you'll hold 75-85% consistency across cuts. Skip the cropping step and you're back to rolling dice.

Where Seedance 2 Fits in the Alici Formulas Ecosystem

Seedance 2 isn't a standalone toy - it's now wired into the Formula-Driven workflows we've been building around Alici. Three places it earns its spot:

• Physics-heavy hero shots in the AI Influencer Video Super Agent pipeline. Cat-vlog creators like cat_vlog365 (427K avg engagement) use it for the money shots where hands, fur, and inertia all have to look right in the same frame.

• UGC product ads where the model has to render fingers touching a product and a readable label in the same clip. The @Mho_23 ordinary-serum test was the moment I stopped being able to tell it was AI.

• Stylized commercial concepts - the giant-cat meme scored 9/10 on commercial viability in my head-to-head vs Kling's 4-5/10. If your concept is weird, Seedance leans into it.

For choreography-first content, Kling 3 Motion Control still wins (frame-level extraction vs Seedance's ~60% dance success). The rule I follow: Seedance for what the frame looks like, Kling for what the subject is doing.

Seedance 2 vs The Rest (Short Version)

Short version: Kling is a disciplined director; Seedance is a creative DP. Kling wins disciplined continuous shots (9.5/10 on my chase prompt, 9/10 on an unbroken spy-thriller take). Seedance wins stylized, commercial, anything-goes creative (9/10 on giant cat, 7/10 visual quality on the spy test vs Kling's 6/10). Full frame-by-frame breakdown - about 36,000 words of analysis via Gemini 2.5 Flash - lives in the vs Kling 3 post.

And if you're rebuilding your tool shortlist this month, our Best AI Video Generators 2026 roundup is getting an update - Seedance 2 at Elo 1,273 lands squarely in the top tier alongside Sora 2 and Runway Gen-4.5.

3 Credit-Burning Mistakes to Avoid

1. Writing novels. 40% of casual users cite prompt confusion as their #1 problem, leading to a 70% failure rate. Stay under 80 words on I2V.

2. Stacking camera movements. Pan + zoom + tracking on one shot = jittery mess. One movement per shot, period.

3. On-screen text. Text renders garbled roughly 90% of the time. Add titles and captions in post, never in-prompt.

(Full list of all 6 mistakes + fixes in the how-to-use guide.)

Try It on Alici

1. Go to alici.ai - Video - Image to Video

2. Model dropdown - Seedance 2

3. Frames mode (start/end) for motion, Reference mode for character consistency

4. Describe the shot in 50-80 words, or tap Get Magic Prompt with Agent

5. Hit Create - 31 credits per 5-second clip

FAQ

How do I access Seedance 2?

alici.ai - Video tab - Image to Video - Model dropdown - Seedance 2. It's already in your account; no waitlist, no separate login.

Can I use Seedance 2 outside China directly?

Not v2.0 through ByteDance's Jimeng platform - that requires a Chinese phone verification. But Alici AI gives you full Seedance 2 access globally through our unified API, same as Kling, Sora, Veo, and Runway.

What's the optimal prompt length?

50-80 words for image-to-video (the reference image carries identity), 120-280 words for text-to-video. If your prompt doesn't fit in a tweet, it's too long.

Why do my videos look "AI-generated"?

Three usual causes: generic lighting (saying "cinematic" alone produces flat gray output - specify key direction, temperature, and practical sources), prompt overload (over 100 words and the model starts cherry-picking), and skipping reference images.

How do I maintain character consistency across multiple shots?

Use the three-image method: front view + 3/4 side + full side, cropped separately (never as a grid), front view in Slot 1. 75-85% consistency in my testing.

How do hands compare to other models?

Seedance 2: anatomically correct in ~85% of generations. Kling 3: ~70%. Veo: ~60%. If your shot depends on fingers touching a product, start here.

Is Seedance 2 better than Kling 3?

On benchmark Elo, yes - by a statistically significant 32 points in T2V. In practice: Kling wins disciplined continuous shots and multi-scene structure, Seedance wins stylized creative and physics. Both are on Alici, so the honest answer is run both on the same prompt and keep the winner.

Can I add on-screen text in the video?

No - text renders garbled ~90% of the time on every current video model, Seedance included. Add text, titles, captions, and overlays in post-production.

Sources: How to Use Seedance 2 (2026 Guide) - Best Seedance 2 Alternatives - Kling 3 vs Seedance 2 - Best AI Video Generators 2026. Elo data: Artificial Analysis, March 2026 (10,000+ blind comparisons). Testing notes and scorecards: Lucy @ Alici AI, n=10 prompts.