How to Turn a Blender Blockout into a Seedance 2.5 Video (7 Steps)

TL;DR: You can guide camera motion and staging in AI video without building finished 3D art. A blockout is a rough layout of untextured grey 3D shapes and basic camera moves.

Turning a Blender blockout into a finished video takes seven steps: install the add-on, log in, block out your scene, export a clay pass, write a text prompt, attach optional reference images, and generate your clip.

You don't need detailed models, complex materials, or final lighting in your Blender file. You set placement and motion in 3D. The AI video model then creates final materials, lighting, and mood over your motion guide.

What you need (Blender 4.2+, an account, the add-on zip)

Before you start, make sure you've got three basic things ready on your computer:

• Blender 4.2 or newer: The add-on uses Blender's modern extension system. We ran our tests on Blender 5.2.1 LTS.
• A Seadanse account: You'll need an active account to link the tool and create video clips.
• The add-on ZIP package: You can download the Blender add-on directly from our tool page.

Keep the ZIP file intact on your hard drive after downloading. Don't unzip it before you install it.

Our test findings in this guide come from eight test submissions across three distinct 5-second, 24 fps test scenes (120 frames each). We tested these on September 10–11, 2026, using Seedance 2.5 at 480p.

One submission tested a prompt without references using a different backend provider (KIE instead of Apimart). These tests help show what the tool does well and where its limits lie, rather than establishing a universal success rate.

Step 1. Install the add-on by dragging the zip onto Blender

Installing the tool takes just a moment. You can install the add-on in two ways in Blender 4.2 or newer.

You can drag the downloaded ZIP file directly from your file manager into the Blender viewport window and confirm the prompt. Alternatively, open Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions, click the top-right menu, and choose Install from Disk.

Installing the extension package through the Install from Disk option in Blender Preferences.

Once it's installed, open the 3D Viewport sidebar by pressing N on your keyboard. Look for the Seadanse tab along the right edge of the viewport. Click it to open the add-on panel.

The sidebar interface contains four main sections:

• Account: Manages your login status and token connection.
• Reference video: Lets you set up and make your local clay pass or load an existing clip.
• Generate video: Handles prompt text, appearance images, model choice, price checks, and job submission.
• Results: Shows completed videos and lets you download them or import them back into Blender.

Step 2. Sign in from the Account section and copy the code into your browser

When you first open the add-on panel, you'll need to link Blender to your account.

Open the Account section in the sidebar panel. Click the sign-in button. The add-on displays a one-time code and opens a browser window.

Paste the displayed code into the browser page and confirm. Once approved, the add-on updates your status right away. You won't need to repeat the browser step for later jobs in that session.

To see how this fits into the bigger picture, read our guide to white-model steps.

Step 3. Block the shot out in grey and keyframe the camera

A blockout (also called a white model or greybox) uses simple shapes like boxes, spheres, and planes to represent characters, props, and rooms.

You don't need clean UV unwrapping, detailed sculpting, or finished materials here. Give your objects simple grey materials. Place shapes where you want subjects to stand, move, or interact.

Simple Grey Shapes + Keyframed Camera -> Exported Clay MP4 -> Seedance Video

Next, pick your active scene camera and keyframe its motion:

• Dolly moves: Push the camera forward or pull it backward in space to draw focus or reveal an environment.
• Lateral glides and tracking: Move the camera sideways along world axes to follow action across a set.
• Pedestal and rise shots: Move the camera upward or downward in space to shift viewing height.
• Pan and tilt: Rotate the camera from a fixed spot to scan across a scene.
• Orbit moves: Move the camera in an arc around a central subject to show different sides.

Keep in mind how camera lenses work. Focal length changes your field of view. Apparent compression when matching framing with a longer lens also requires standing farther away. Focal length alone doesn't alter perspective from a fixed camera position.

According to documented white-model guidance, rough blocking shows where objects sit, staging setups, and camera paths before the AI adds lighting and materials.

A white model is a motion guide, not a guarantee of rigid geometry lock. In our tests, shapes can inflate or morph into final objects as the camera travels.

Step 4. Set Camera, Start, End and FPS, then click Render clay pass

Once your 3D animation looks right in the viewport, export it into a video clip before sending it to the AI.

In the Reference video section of the add-on panel:

1. Pick your active scene camera from the Camera dropdown.
2. Set the Start frame (for example, frame 1).
3. Set the End frame (for example, frame 120).
4. Check your scene FPS (for example, 24 frames per second). A 120-frame clip at 24 fps makes a 5-second video.
5. Choose your clay preview resolution (720p or 1080p).
6. Click Render clay pass.

Blender makes the viewport clip locally on your machine into an MP4 video file. This local export costs no API credits. The add-on strictly sends this video file to the cloud service. It doesn't send raw 3D mesh data or camera coordinates.

If you already have a prepared clip on disk, click the Use existing clip button and pick your MP4 or MOV file. Reference video files must be between 2 and 30 seconds long and stay under 100 MB.

Here's an example from our tests showing a grey reference clip and its resulting video:

In Run 03-r1, the sideways camera glide lines up the butterfly shape, holding that view from frames 85 through 120 in the source. While the broad camera move succeeds, the static source fragments inflate and morph into ceramic wings rather than staying rigid.

Step 5. Describe your finished video in the prompt dialog

Now that your reference video is ready, tell the model what the finished scene should look like.

Under the Generate video section, click Edit prompt to open the prompt window.

Structure your text prompt using clear descriptive parts:

• Subject: What appears in the shot (for example, an explorer, a ceramic sculpture, or a bicycle courier).
• Visible action: What happens during the shot (for example, stepping over a ledge or pedaling past a car).
• Material and texture: How surfaces look (for example, polished copper, white ceramic, or wet asphalt).
• Lighting and mood: The illumination style (for example, warm morning sunlight, gallery spotlights, or rainy dusk).
• Sound (optional): Ambient noise or sound effects you want created with the video (for example, quiet gallery reverb or city traffic).
• Camera words (optional): When you use a moving clay reference, you can omit camera directions. The model derives camera motion directly from your video.

Platform documentation on practical prompt and camera vocabulary notes that shot labels like wide shots, close-ups, macro framing, tracking moves, and orbits help structure scene descriptions.

If you're planning camera motion in your scene, check out our guide on how to keyframe a Seedance 2.5 shot.

Step 6. Add appearance images if the look matters (they cost no extra credits)

If you need specific character designs, brand colors, or surface patterns, use appearance images.

In the Generate video section, click Add appearance images. You can attach up to 30 images in PNG, JPG, or WebP format, up to 30 MB each.

Attaching appearance images costs zero extra credits. They guide the visual style without changing your generation quote.

Using appearance images helps anchor specific visual details:

• Color schemes (like matching a specific blue and red palette).
• Costumes and clothing textures.
• Props, vehicles, or architectural details.

In our cereal bowl test scene, adding an appearance image helped carry over blue wave patterns, red dots, and red-and-blue helicopter coloring. Character placement relative to background rings still shifted slightly.

Check out our full directory of AI video tools to see how image references fit across different production tasks.

Step 7. Pick the model, check the price, then Generate

With your reference video, text prompt, and optional images ready, set your final output options.

1. Model selection: Pick Seedance 2.5 from the model dropdown.
2. Output resolution: Pick 480p, 720p, or 1080p.
3. Duration: Set your desired output duration between 4 and 30 seconds.
4. Check price: Click the Check price button to get a live quote.

The generation quote depends on your reference video length, output duration, and model settings. If you change your frame range, duration, or resolution, click Check price again to refresh the quote before you submit.

Once the quote is confirmed, click Generate.

The add-on submits your job to the Seedance 2.5 generation queue. You can watch progress in the Results section. When it finishes, you can preview the clip, download it to your drive, or import it back into Blender.

Settings that matter (frame range, FPS, output resolution, duration)

To avoid failed jobs or unexpected quotes, make sure your Blender settings match what you want to create.

Local clay export and cloud video generation use separate settings:

When setting up your shot in Blender to Seedance 2.5, make sure your reference duration fits what you plan to create. For example, 120 frames at 24 fps gives a 5-second reference clip. If you request a 5-second generation, your output video container will target that length (often finishing at around 5.04 seconds).

Common mistakes

Watch out for these five common mistakes when working with Blender blockouts:

1. Expecting rigid geometry locking: A blockout acts as a visual guide, not a rigid 3D mesh. In our test with gallery fragments (Run 03-r1), the static shapes inflated and morphed into ceramic wings as the camera moved. Plan your scenes expecting organic visual fill rather than pixel-locked geometry.
2. Writing conflicting camera prompts: If your clay pass moves sideways, don't write "static locked camera" in your prompt text. In our test with conflicting text (Run 05), the camera still moved laterally toward the butterfly alignment, but conflicting words can muddy the visual result.
3. Forgetting to refresh the price quote: If you change your reference clip or output duration, the add-on needs you to check the price again. The Generate button stays greyed out until the quote matches your current settings.
4. Uploading oversized reference files: Reference videos must stay under 100 MB and under 30 seconds. Appearance images must stay under 30 MB each.
5. Confusing reference audio with prompt audio: The add-on doesn't support uploading reference audio files to drive timing. But you can still describe soundscapes and audio cues in your prompt text for native sound generation.

Try it on your own scene (CTA)

Using a simple 3D blockout gives you control over camera moves and staging without hours of detailed modeling.

Set up a basic camera move around simple gray shapes in Blender today. Then use the Blender connection to turn your rough blocking into a finished video clip.

If you want to create video clips directly in your browser without local 3D software, you can also create a Seedance video on our web platform.

Related articles

• Seedance 2.5 White Model Reference Prompt Guide
• How to Control Camera Movement in Seedance 2.5 with a 3D Camera Path
• 6 Things You Can Make with Blender and Seedance 2.5