Grok Imagine 1.5 Video
What is Grok Imagine 1.5 Video?
Grok Imagine 1.5 Video is the official API build of xAI's Grok Imagine 1.5 model, generally available since June 2026. It is image-to-video only: you supply a start_image_url to animate, and the prompt is optional guidance for how it should move. Videos run from 1 to 15 seconds at 480p, 720p, or 1080p, with sound effects, ambience, and dialogue generated in the same pass.
It is the quality route of the family. On the Arena image-to-video board it is the highest-ranked xAI video model and sits ahead of every Veo 3.1 variant. If you need text-to-video, reference images, style presets, or video editing passes like extend and upscale, use Grok Imagine Video, the speed-optimized build of the same model.
Key features of Grok Imagine 1.5 Video
Near the top of the image-to-video Arena
Ranked third on the Arena image-to-video board as of June 2026, ahead of every Veo 3.1 variant and the highest-placed xAI model. Boards move, so read it as a current snapshot.
Sound in the same pass
Sound effects, ambience, and lip-synced dialogue generate with the video and stay timed to the action. No separate audio step and no audio parameter; you direct the sound through the prompt.
Motion that holds its weight
Movement stays consistent across the full length of a video, with fewer warps and more believable weight and momentum than the prior model.
The only route that reaches 1080p
Choose 480p, 720p, or 1080p per generation. Every other Grok Imagine video model stops at 720p, which makes this the one to finish on.
Up to 15 seconds in one call
Enough for a full shot without chaining. When a single pass needs to run longer than that, the speed-optimized build reaches 30 seconds at 720p.
Best for
Product photo to motion ad
Pass a packaging or hero shot as the start image and animate it into a short video with matching sound for paid social.
1080p final cuts
Deliverables that must hold up at full resolution rather than a 720p ceiling.
Talking-portrait video
Animate a still portrait into a moving scene where the subject speaks a line, with dialogue lip-synced to the motion.
Finishing a draft
Explore direction on the speed-optimized build, then re-animate the chosen frame here at 1080p.
Animating a locked frame
When the opening composition is already approved and only the motion is in question.
Longer shots that must hold 1080p
Up to 15 seconds at full resolution, where the speed-optimized build stops at 720p however long the clip.
Use cases
Start with a clean still and let the prompt say what moves and what it sounds like. A cosmetics brand can pass a packaging shot and get a slow orbit with the product locked in frame and a soft ambient bed; a studio can animate a glass render so surfaces ripple and refract. Because the composition arrives fixed in the start image, this route is predictable in a way text-to-video is not: the model is deciding motion and sound, not subject.
A practical split is to draft on Grok Imagine Video and finish here. That build generates from a prompt alone and returns sooner, which suits exploring ideas. Once a frame is right, animate it here at 1080p for the final version.
Limitations
There is no text-to-video on this route; a start image is required. It takes no reference images, no style presets, and no aspect ratio parameter, so the output follows the start image. Negative prompts are ignored, so describe what you want rather than what to avoid. Grok Imagine Video Extend and Grok Imagine Upscale do not accept task IDs from this route; they only work on videos from the speed-optimized build.
Grok Imagine 1.5 Video vs Grok Imagine Video
Both run Grok Imagine 1.5. This is the official API build; the other is a speed-optimized build of the same model, faster in exchange for a small amount of quality. Both generate sound in the same pass.
| Grok Imagine 1.5 Video | Grok Imagine Video | |
|---|---|---|
| Build | Official API | Speed-optimized |
| Text-to-video | No, start image required | Yes |
| Duration | 1–15s | 1–30s |
| Resolution | 480p, 720p, 1080p | 480p, 720p |
| Images | One start_image_url | One start_image_url or 1–7 image_urls, not both |
| Referencing assets | None | @Image1, @Image2 in the prompt |
| Style presets | None | Custom, Spicy, Fun, Normal |
| Extend / Upscale | Not supported | Supported |
| Billing key | xai/grok-imagine-1.5-video | xai/grok-imagine-video |
Pick this route when you have the opening frame and want 1080p. Pick Grok Imagine Video when you need to generate from a prompt, use references, or extend and upscale the result.
API examples
Call Grok Imagine 1.5 Video from any language by POSTing to /v1/tasks. Full parameter docs live at docs.unifically.com/models/video/xai/grok-imagine-1.5-video.
curl -X POST https://api.unifically.com/v1/tasks \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"model": "xai/grok-imagine-1.5-video",
"input": {
"start_image_url": "https://files.unifically.com/your-start-frame.jpg",
"prompt": "Camera slowly zooms in while clouds drift across the sky. AUDIO: soft wind, distant birds",
"duration": 10,
"resolution": "1080p"
}
}'
The prompt is optional. A start image alone is a valid request:
curl -X POST https://api.unifically.com/v1/tasks \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"model": "xai/grok-imagine-1.5-video",
"input": {
"start_image_url": "https://files.unifically.com/your-start-frame.jpg",
"duration": 6,
"resolution": "720p"
}
}'
Successful submission returns a task_id. Poll GET /v1/tasks/<task_id> or set a callback_url on the request to receive the finished video URL.
FAQs
People also ask
It animates a start image into video. This is the official API build of xAI's Grok Imagine 1.5 model, generally available since June 2026, and it is image-to-video only. A start_image_url is required, and the prompt is optional guidance for the motion.
No. A start image is required on this route. For text-to-video, use Grok Imagine Video, the speed-optimized build of the same 1.5 model, which generates from a prompt alone.
Yes. Sound effects, ambience, and dialogue are generated in the same pass as the video and stay timed to the action, with speech lip-synced to the subject. There is no audio parameter. Direct the sound through the prompt, the same way you describe the motion.
One, via start_image_url, used as the source image to animate. This route takes no reference images. For 1 to 7 reference images, use Grok Imagine Video.
From 1 to 15 seconds. For a longer single pass, use the speed-optimized Grok Imagine Video, which reaches 30 seconds.
480p, 720p, or 1080p, set per generation. 1080p is exclusive to this route; every other Grok Imagine video model stops at 720p.
On the Arena image-to-video board it is the highest-placed xAI model and sits ahead of every Veo 3.1 variant, third overall behind Seedance 2.0 and Gemini Omni Flash as of June 2026. Arena boards move, so treat the exact place as a current snapshot.
No. Grok Imagine Video Extend and Grok Imagine Upscale only accept task IDs from Grok Imagine Video, the speed-optimized build. This route is the separate API build and its task IDs are not supported by either.
Same 1.5 model, two builds. This one is the official API build: higher quality, up to 1080p, up to 15 seconds, image-to-video only. Grok Imagine Video is speed-optimized, faster for a small amount of quality, and is the only build with text-to-video, reference images, @ImageN referencing, style presets, extend, and upscale.
Guides and comparisons
Review pricing, limits, and tested outputs before running this model.
