Seedance 2.0 Shockwave: A Cost Collapse Spanning E-commerce, Gaming, and Film and Television

While OpenAI across the ocean seems to have hit the "pause button" on its AI - generated model Sora, Chinese tech giants are launching a counter - offensive in this field.

Recently, ByteDance's latest AI video - generation model, Seedance 2.0, was launched. With advantages such as multi - modal input, self - camera operation, and consistency, it quickly took the Internet by storm.

After an in - depth experience, Feng Ji, the founder of Game Science, made a very weighty judgment: "The content field is bound to experience unprecedented inflation."

Feng Ji's prediction is not unfounded.

This shockwave is rapidly spreading to industries such as e - commerce, gaming, video platforms, and film and television production: In the e - commerce field, the technical barriers of low - end outsourcing and shooting bases have been completely flattened; in the gaming industry, the production cycle of concept verification and promotional materials has been extremely compressed, and competition has become more brutal; video platforms have to further optimize their distribution logic to cope with the explosion of supply; and the traditional linear process of "shooting + editing" in film and television production is facing a dimensionality - reducing blow from the industrial pipeline of "prompt + generation".

An industrial reshuffle regarding benefits and replacements has already begun.

1

The Explosion of Video Production Capacity

In the past year, the biggest pain point of AI - generated videos has been deliverability.

Whether it's Sora, Runway, or domestic models like Keling, and even ByteDance's self - developed Jimeng, they all have this problem. Creators often get stuck in a "gacha" - like situation, having to generate a video dozens of times repeatedly just to get a few seconds of non - distorted and consistent footage.

The core breakthrough of Seedance 2.0 lies in its attempt to transform "showy skills" into "deliverable narratives".

The breakthroughs in key capabilities are mainly reflected in three aspects:

Firstly, multi - modal input. According to the actual test by All - Weather Tech, new members logging in to Jimeng for the first time can directly use Seedance 2.0 by paying 1 yuan to activate auto - renewal. It supports text, pictures, videos, and audio as reference materials for input. In other words, almost all formats you can think of can be used to generate videos.

Secondly, understanding narratives and learning camera operation on its own. Seedance 2.0 demonstrates "director - level" thinking. It can not only understand complex narrative logics but also automatically schedule camera language to complete operations such as pushing, pulling, panning, and tilting. Videos are no longer simple displacements of static images but have a cinematic narrative logic.

Thirdly, the consistency of the picture. According to All - Weather Tech's actual tests of multiple AI video - generation applications on the market, problems such as distorted facial expressions during the movement of the main subject and a mixture of clear and blurred backgrounds are endless.

However, from the demo video, Seedance 2.0 maintains the consistency of facial and visual information during the movement of the main subject, making it possible to express a coherent plot.

This means that AI video generation is evolving from a toy to a tool. This ability to turn video generation into a standardized industrial pipeline makes the slogan "Everyone is a director" no longer an empty phrase, and it will also significantly reduce the cost of video production.

Feng Ji uses the term "inflation" to describe this change.

"The production cost of general videos will no longer follow the traditional logic of the film and television industry and will gradually approach the marginal cost of computing power. The content field is bound to experience unprecedented inflation, and traditional organizational structures and production processes will be completely restructured. I believe that anyone who has used it will quickly understand that this prediction is not unfounded," Feng Ji said.

2

The First Wave of Impact

When the marginal cost of video production approaches zero, business models built on the old cost structure will bear the brunt.

The four major industries of e - commerce, gaming, video platforms, and film and television production may be the first to be affected.

The most direct impact is first felt in the e - commerce field.

Product display, scenario demonstration, and function explanation videos essentially do not rely on complex artistic narratives but on clear information transmission.

With the popularization of Seedance 2.0, the threshold for merchants to obtain video - expression capabilities has been completely flattened. Low - end video outsourcing companies and Taobao shooting bases that used to rely on "information gaps" and "technical barriers" will face a cold winter. Video production may shift from professional outsourcing services to the daily operations of merchants themselves.

Compared with e - commerce, the impact of AI video - generation models on gaming may be relatively limited, but the revolution has already begun quietly.

The cost of world - view demonstration, concept verification, and promotional material videos has decreased exponentially. More projects will be verified and eliminated at an earlier stage.

An insider from a Beijing - based gaming company told All - Weather Tech that the company has launched a small - scale test of Seedance 2.0.

AI video - generation models are also changing the distribution logic of video platforms.

For platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, the videos generated by models such as Seedance 2.0 bring an explosion of content supply, forcing the core competitiveness of platforms to completely shift to the "screening and distribution" mechanism. For example, the winner will be the one whose algorithm can more accurately sift out the gems from the massive amount of AI - generated content and whose commercial conversion efficiency is higher.

In the film and television field, the multi - shot narrative ability of Seedance 2.0 may reshape the production process.

In the past, the birth of a film or television work often followed a strict linear industrial process: a large amount of material was shot first, and then editors made selections and connections in the post - production room to build the narrative logic.

However, in the logic of Seedance 2.0, this boundary is becoming blurred.

In the shooting stage, there is a possibility that future sets can be generated at a low cost by AI models; the model itself has an understanding of camera operation and narrative rhythm, and in fact, the "editing" work is completed simultaneously when the video is generated.

AI no longer just spits out scattered material shots but directly delivers a "finished film" with a coherent spatio - temporal relationship.

This means that the time - consuming post - editing stage in traditional film and television production is at risk of being "dimensionality - reduced" by algorithms.

The future creative process may no longer be "shooting + editing" but "prompt + generation". The function of editors will transform from "operators" to "instruction engineers" or "aesthetic gatekeepers".

Although the videos generated by the current Seedance 2.0 are not 100% perfect, and there is still room for improvement in logical details and pictures, in the context of the technological iteration speed far exceeding market expectations, these problems will not be obstacles in the near future.

3

The "Moat" of IP

The amazing "replication" ability of Seedance 2.0 allows ordinary people to enjoy the pleasure of creation, but it also makes copyright holders feel unprecedented pressure.

Recently, a large number of "secondary creations" and even "parodies" of Stephen Chow's classic movies have gone viral on short - video platforms.

With the computing power of AI video - generation models, Stephen Chow's facial expressions, iconic laughter, and even classic line styles have been replicated by a large number of users at a low cost, and many absurd plots that never happened have been generated.

This quickly caught the attention of Stephen Chow's team.

Stephen Chow's agent, Chen Zhenyu, publicly questioned: "I'd like to ask if these are infringements (especially with the large - scale spread in recent days). I believe the creators have already made a profit. Does a certain platform just turn a blind eye and allow users to generate and publish?"

This question seemingly reveals the copyright anxiety in the AI era, but from a deeper commercial logic perspective, it actually proves the extreme scarcity of top - level IPs in the AI era.

In the future, in the flood of abundant AI - generated content, technology itself will no longer be a barrier because everyone has the same Seedance 2.0 tool.

The real barrier still lies in the hands of IP owners.

It is precisely because the market is flooded with a large number of "high - imitation" Stephen Chows that the irreplaceable nature of the "real Stephen Chow" IP is more prominent.

When the content supply is not only excessive but also "inflated", users' time and attention will become extremely valuable. What can instantly capture users' attention are still those classic IPs that have withstood the test of time and have strong emotional penetration.

In other words, although AI has lowered the production threshold, it has infinitely increased the value of "recognizability".

For IP owners, the future is still bright. IP assets that have been accumulated over the years will no longer just be the targets of infringement but can achieve exponential amplification of commercial value through legitimate authorization and the hands of countless creators with the leverage of AI.

It only took two years from February 2024 when OpenAI launched Sora 1.0, the world's first AI video - generation model supporting the generation of up to 60 - second videos, to the present when ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 can generate 60 - second original audio - narrative blockbusters with multi - modal input.

In this era of rapid technological development, all industries are at a crossroads: the cost at the execution level is being infinitely compressed, and jobs that are repetitive, rely on a large amount of manpower and long working hours will be mercilessly replaced; at the same time, the value of IP and creativity is being infinitely magnified.

When tools become readily available, what determines the height of content will no longer be the ability to use software but whether the vision of the world in one's mind is unique enough.

This article is from the WeChat official account "All - Weather Tech" (ID: iawtmt). Author: Zheng Minfang, Editor: Song He. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.