Runwayml API Updates & Release Notes

October 1st, 2026 - Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite (grok_imagine_1_5_lite) is now available on Runway Dev. A faster, lower-cost version of Grok Imagine Video 1.5 for generating videos from text or a start-frame image. Text-to-video takes ratio as width:height sizes across 480p, 720p, and 1080p (for example 848:480, 1280:720, 1904:1072). Image-to-video uses a single first frame (promptImage) with ratio of auto_480p, auto_720p, or auto_1080p; output aspect ratio follows the input image. 1080p is rendered at 720p and upscaled. Durations are 1–15 seconds. Image and audio references are not supported — use grok_imagine_1_5 for those. Billed at 2 credits per second at 480p, 3 at 720p, and 14 at 1080p, plus 1 credit for an image-to-video start frame. Use the text to video and image to video endpoints to get started.

September 12th, 2026 - The hdr_exr_acescg_sequence_1_3 and hdr_exr_acescg_sequence_2_0 outputs of /v1/video_to_hdr are now built from the source plate: the plate brought into ACEScg through the inverse ACES SDR (Rec.709) Output Transform, with the highlight detail Ruby recovers added on top. Read with the stock ACES - ACEScg input transform, the ACES SDR view reproduces the source and the ACES HDR views render the same scene with the recovered highlights. Previously these sequences were the HDR10 picture inverted through the ACES 1000-nit Output Transform, which matched hdr10 in an HDR view but lifted midtones and desaturated the image in any SDR view. The colorimetry.json sidecar now records construction: plate-referenced. Gen-4.5 ACEScg outputs are unchanged.

September 11th, 2026 - Ruby now preserves the alpha channel of a source video on /v1/video_to_hdr. Sources with alpha (ProRes 4444, WebM with alpha, RGBA codecs) are detected automatically; no request parameter is needed. The EXR deliveries (hdr_exr_sequence, hdr_exr_acescg_sequence_1_3, hdr_exr_acescg_sequence_2_0) write the alpha as the A channel, and hdr_prores is delivered as ProRes 4444 regardless of proresProfile, the only tier with an alpha plane. The alpha is passed through unchanged and is not premultiplied. hdr10 and hlg cannot carry alpha and deliver the video without it. Pricing is unchanged.

September 8th, 2026 - OpenAI's GPT Image 2.5 Flare (gpt_image_2_5_flare) and GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (gpt_image_2_5_sunburst) are now available on Runway Dev. Both generate images from a prompt of up to 32,000 characters, accept up to 16 reference images (with optional prompt-referenceable tags), support 30 width:height ratios across 1K, 2K, and 4K tiers plus an auto resolution, and take outputCount from 1–10. quality is low, medium, high (the default), xhigh, or max. Sunburst can return transparent backgrounds with background: "transparent"; Flare supports opaque and auto only. Billed at 1–76 credits per image by quality and resolution, plus 1 credit per reference image per generated image. Use the text to image endpoint to get started.

August 31st, 2026 - HDR outputs can now be delivered as scene-referred ACEScg OpenEXR sequences — in both ACES 1.3 and ACES 2.0 variants, with outputFormat: "hdr_exr_acescg_sequence_1_3" or "hdr_exr_acescg_sequence_2_0" matching your pipeline's config version — on /v1/video_to_hdr and on Gen-4.5 HDR generations. The delivered picture is inverted through the matching ACES Output Transform (Rec.2100 PQ, 1000-nit) into the ACEScg working space, so the frames drop straight into ACES-configured comps: read them with the stock ACES - ACEScg input transform and your ACES viewing pipeline reproduces the delivered picture, with the same zip contract as hdr_exr_sequence (colorimetry and provenance sidecars, audio.wav when the source has audio) and the same 20 / 40 credits-per-second rate as the other HDR profiles.