Longcat Distilled
Meituan's open-source, uncensored video generation model — unified architecture for text-to-video and image-to-video with efficient long-duration output.
Overview
What is Longcat Distilled
Longcat Distilled is a distilled version of Meituan's LongCat-Video, an open-source 13.6B-parameter video generation model. It supports text-to-video and image-to-video tasks with a unified Diffusion Transformer architecture, optimized for efficient inference and long-duration clips up to 30 seconds at 720p resolution.
Running it privately on Venice
Running on Venice, Longcat Distilled generates video without storing your prompts or profiling your usage — true zero retention. As an open, uncensored model, it enables permissionless creativity across both text-to-video and image-to-video workflows, with no personal data tied to generations. You maintain full sovereignty over inputs and outputs.
Assessment
Strengths and limitations
- Unified model for multiple video tasks: text-to-video, image-to-video, and video-continuation — simplifies deployment and reduces model sprawl.
- Efficient coarse-to-fine generation strategy enables fast 720p video output within minutes, even at longer durations.
- Strong temporal coherence and subject stability in generated clips, ideal for long-duration animation.
- Open-source under MIT license: fully self-hostable, modifiable, and commercially usable without restrictions.
- Uncensored and permissionless: runs on Venice with no content filtering or user profiling.
- No audio generation: output is video-only, limiting use in multimedia storytelling or lip-syncing scenarios.
- Limited to 720p resolution: lacks native 4K or higher output available in some competing models.
- Distilled variants trade sampling steps for speed, which may reduce fine detail fidelity compared to full LongCat-Video.
Samples
Sample outputs
Generated on Venice with our standard prompt suite — the same prompts we run through every model of this type, so you can judge it like-for-like.
A slow tracking shot through a rain-soaked Tokyo street at night, neon reflecting in puddles, steam rising from a food cart, a person with a translucent umbrella, shallow depth of field, teal-and-orange grade, smooth steady camera
Capabilities
What it supports
- Text to video
- Image to video
- Reference to video
- Native audio generation
Variants
Longcat Distilled model variants
Longcat Distilled runs on Venice as 2 variants of the same underlying model. Pick by what you're starting from: a written prompt, a still image, reference images, or an existing clip. Each variant is its own model id on the API; the generation quality is the same across the family.
| Variant | What it is | Clip lengths | Resolutions | Aspect ratios | Audio | Model ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text to Videoflagship | Generate a clip from a written prompt | 5s – 30s | 720p | 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 | longcat-distilled-text-to-video | |
| Image to Video | Animate a still image into motion | 5s – 30s | 720p | — | longcat-distilled-image-to-video |
Capability data comes straight from the Venice model API and refreshes with every catalog ingest. The specs and pricing on this page are captured from the flagship variant; pass the model id of the variant you want to the API.
Longcat Distilled Text to Video
Generate a clip from a written prompt. Supports clips of 5s – 30s, 720p output, 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 aspect ratios.
longcat-distilled-text-to-videoLongcat Distilled Image to Video
Animate a still image into motion. Supports clips of 5s – 30s, 720p output.
longcat-distilled-image-to-videoSpecifications
Datasheet
- Maker
- Meituan
- Released
- October 25, 2025
- Architecture
- Diffusion Transformer (DiT)
- Parameters
- 13.6B
- Resolutions
- 720p
- Clip lengths
- 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s
- Mode
- text-to-video
- Aspect ratios
- 16:9, 9:16, 1:1
- Audio
- No
- Privacy on Venice
- Private — zero retention
- Available on Venice since
- Dec 2025
- License
- MIT License
API
Call it from your code
Venice exposes this model through the REST API. Queue a generation with the model id.
curl https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/video/queue \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $VENICE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "longcat-distilled-text-to-video",
"prompt": "Aerial drone shot over a misty mountain valley at golden hour"
}'
# Use the returned queue_id with https://api.venice.ai/api/v1/video/retrieve.
# Call /video/complete after downloading if needed.Pricing
What it costs on Venice
Pay per clip on Venice — price scales with resolution and duration (5s–30s), from $0.09.
New Venice accounts include a free daily allowance and 500 welcome credits — no credit card required.
Alternatives
How it compares
| Model | Max resolution | Strongest at | Open weights | Price (Venice) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longcat Distilled | 720p | Long-duration coherence | Yes | from $0.09 |
| Wan 2.7 | 1080p | High-res realism | Yes | from $0.55 |
| Kling O3 Pro | 2K | Cinematic quality | No | from $0.46 |
| Vidu Q3 | 1080p | Text accuracy | No | from $0.27 |
Open, uncensored, and efficient — ideal for developers and creators wanting full control.
Use cases
What it is good for
- 01Animating still images into social media clips using image-to-video.
- 02Generating short product demonstration videos from text prompts.
- 03Creating long-duration, temporally stable animations for digital storytelling.
- 04Developers building open, privacy-first video generation pipelines.
- 05Content creators needing uncensored, commercially safe video assets.
Prompting
Getting better results
For image-to-video, include clear motion cues like 'slow zoom' or 'pan left' to guide animation.
Use precise timing references (e.g., '5-second clip') to align with available durations.
Leverage aspect ratio control (16:9, 9:16, 1:1) for platform-specific content — TikTok, YouTube, Instagram.
Start with shorter clips (5s–10s) for faster iteration before scaling to 30s.
Version history
Full 13.6B-parameter foundation model.
Distilled for faster inference, on Venice since Dec 2025.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Longcat Distilled is a distilled version of Meituan's LongCat-Video model, optimized for fast, efficient video generation. It supports both text-to-video and image-to-video tasks using a unified Diffusion Transformer architecture, with strong performance in long-duration clips up to 30 seconds.
On Venice, Longcat Distilled starts at $0.09 per clip, with pricing scaling based on resolution and duration. A 720p, 5-second clip costs $0.09, while longer or higher-resolution variants cost more.
Yes. Longcat Distilled is open-source under the permissive MIT license, with model weights publicly available. You can use, modify, and deploy it commercially without restrictions.
No, Longcat Distilled is a video generation model and does not support tool use, function calling, or external API integration. Its capabilities are limited to generating video from text or image inputs.
Longcat Distilled generates video at 720p resolution across all variants. It supports aspect ratios of 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1, making it suitable for social media, mobile, and desktop platforms.
No. Longcat Distilled produces video-only output. Audio must be added in post-processing or through third-party tools.
Yes. The variant 'longcat-distilled-image-to-video' specifically animates still images into motion. You provide a reference image and a motion prompt, and the model generates a 5s–30s clip based on it.
The maximum clip length is 30 seconds. This applies to both text-to-video and image-to-video variants, with options for 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, and 30s durations.
Longcat Distilled excels in long-duration temporal coherence and open licensing, while Wan 2.7 offers higher 1080p resolution and stronger photorealism. Choose Longcat for open, uncensored workflows; Wan 2.7 for higher fidelity when resolution matters more than openness.
Run Longcat Distilled privately
No prompt logging. No data used for training.