Correction, 2026-10-02: this page gave a Nano Banana Pro generation time in the connector walkthrough, but the connector can't run Nano Banana Pro; the example now uses Seedream 5 Pro, which it does run. The tool table now says that Nano Banana through the connector is Nano Banana Classic and that Kling and Veo always generate with sound and have no length setting, and it adds three things that were missing: the Smart edit tool (33 credits), Hailuo H3 Max Camera Controls and Pruna p-video 2 Pro. We added the limit of 10 generations in progress at once per 8frame account, updated the Claude setup steps to Anthropic's help page as checked on 2026-10-02, and removed a comparison with the cost of a traditional shoot that had no source.
Correction, 2026-10-01: an earlier version of this page said custom connectors need a paid Claude plan (Anthropic offers them on every plan, one connector on Free), quoted connector prices from the canvas rather than from the connector (Kling through the connector is Kling v3 Standard at 86 credits, image-to-video only; Nano Banana is the 6-credit model), put a five-clip test at under $2.50 (it is about $4.50) and gave a Nano Banana Pro time of 8 seconds (the measured median is 37). It also gave the connector's FLUX.2 [pro] edit a flat 7 credits; it bills by input plus output megapixels, about 7 for a 1 MP image and more for larger ones. Prices and tools below are read from the 8frame connector's own configuration.
By the end of this guide you'll be typing "animate this product photo into a 5-second clip with a slow push-in" into Claude and getting a real clip back, generated by the same providers you'd use on the 8frame canvas. Claude writes and refines the brief, 8frame runs the generation, and the result comes back into your chat.
The mechanism is the 8frame MCP server. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets an AI assistant call external tools, and 8frame runs a live MCP server that exposes image generation and editing, background removal, upscaling, video and music. Once it's connected, Claude can drive all of it. This guide walks the setup, what each tool runs and costs, three prompts, and the limits worth knowing.
TL;DR
- Any Claude plan works. Custom connectors are on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise; Free allows one, and on Team and Enterprise an Owner or Primary Owner adds it
- Server URL:
https://mcp.8frame.co/mcp - Credits come from your 8frame account at the connector's prices, with no separate MCP fee
- The connector has fewer settings than the canvas. Kling runs as Kling v3 Standard, needs a start image and always has sound (86 credits for 5 s); Veo always runs 8 s with sound and defaults to Veo 3.1 Standard (448) unless you ask for Fast or Lite; Nano Banana is Nano Banana Classic (6 credits)
- Limits: a daily credit cap on connector requests, and up to 10 generations in progress at once per 8frame account
- Video upscaling does not exist on 8frame; the upscalers work on images
What the connector runs, and what it costs
Each connector tool maps to one model family, with the settings the connector exposes. Credits per run, read from the connector's configuration on 2026-10-02; a credit is about $0.01 at pack rate.
| Connector tool | Runs | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana | Nano Banana Classic, generate or edit (no Pro or 2) | 6 |
| Qwen Image 3 | generate or edit | 6 at 1K, 11 at 2K |
| Seedream | Seedream 5 Pro | 7 |
| FLUX.2 | FLUX.2 [pro] generate; FLUX.2 [pro] edit | 5; edit about 7 for a 1 MP image, more for larger ones |
| Imagen | Imagen 4 | 4 to 12 |
| Grok Image | Grok Imagine 2.0, generate or edit | 6 to 15 (default 9) |
| Reve | text to image | 34 |
| Midjourney | 4 images per run | 28 |
| Remove background | transparent PNG | 12 |
| Upscale (basic) | Clarity, or BRIA 2x / 4x | 13, or 6 |
| Upscale | Topaz | 11 and up, by output size |
| Smart edit | instruction edit, square 1024 x 1024 output | 33 |
| Kling | Kling v3 Standard, image to video only (start image required), always with sound, no length setting | 86 for 5 s |
| Veo | Veo 3.1 Standard (default), Fast or Lite; always 8 s with sound, no length or sound setting | Standard 448, Fast 168, Lite 54 |
| Seedance | Seedance 2.5 at 720p, no length setting | billed at its 8-second default, about 250 |
| Gemini | Gemini Omni Flash, sound always on, 3 to 10 s | 51 to 169 |
| Wan | Wan 3.0 from a start image (default 1080p), plus 3.0 Prime, 2.5 and 2.7 VideoEdit | 95 for 5 s at 1080p |
| Hailuo | Hailuo H3 (2K), H3 Max Turbo, or H3 Max Camera Controls (needs a start image) | 88 for 5 s; Turbo 17 to 54; Camera Controls 34 to 108 |
| Grok | Grok Imagine video, sound always on, 1 to 15 s | 48 for 5 s at 720p |
| Pruna | p-video (default), p-video Draft, or p-video 2 Pro | 14 or 4 for 5 s at 720p; 2 Pro 14 to 51 |
| Creatify Boreal | video with sound, 1 to 20 s | 7 for 5 s at 720p |
| Music | ElevenLabs Music; MiniMax Music | 81 per started minute; from 3 |
Two defaults matter for cost. Veo through the connector starts on Veo 3.1 Standard, the most expensive tier, and always runs 8 seconds with sound, so say "Veo 3.1 Lite" or "Veo 3.1 Fast" in your request if you want 54 or 168 instead of 448. Nano Banana through the connector is Nano Banana Classic, the 6-credit model; Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2 are on the canvas.
Step 1: Open Connectors in Claude
On an individual plan, go to Customize > Connectors in Claude, click + Add, then Add custom connector. Per Anthropic's help centre (checked 2026-10-02), custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, and Free users are limited to one custom connector. On Team, only an Owner or Primary Owner can add one for the organization (on Enterprise, also people with a custom role that includes Manage access to Libraries); members then find it under Customize > Connectors and click Connect.
Step 2: Add the 8frame server
Give the connector a name (for example, 8frame) and paste the server URL:
Click Continue, review the sign-in settings Claude detected, click Continue again, then Add. You sign in to your 8frame account to connect, so generations are billed to your credits. To use it in a conversation, switch it on from the + button in the chat box, under Connectors. There is a walkthrough at 8frame.co/mcp if you want the reference page open while you set up.
Step 3: Write the brief in plain language
You don't need to format the prompt yourself. Describe the shot the way you'd describe it to a director, and let Claude expand it into what the models want: subject, action, camera, lighting, mood. If you already know your Veo 3.1 prompt structure, hand Claude a fully specified prompt and it will pass it through.
Name the model when cost matters: the tools differ by an order of magnitude in price. If you don't, the connector's "pick a model" tools ask you to choose, with each model's credit cost in the list, in clients that support that kind of prompt; otherwise they ask you to name a model.
A useful pattern is to iterate in text before you spend a generation. Ask Claude for three prompt variations, pick one, then tell it to generate. The creative direction happens in a medium that costs nothing.
Step 4: Generate, review, refine
Tell Claude to generate. It calls the 8frame tool, waits for the result and returns a link to the file. Measured on 8frame, a Seedream 5 Pro image takes a median of about two minutes and a 5-second Kling v3 Standard clip about a minute; Seedance clips take several minutes (how long AI video generation takes). If a generation is still running after 10 minutes, the connector hands back a task ID and Claude checks on it later instead of waiting.
For anything client-facing, review at full size before you use it. Frame-level problems (a warped label, an off hand, a lighting mismatch) are easy to miss in a chat thumbnail.
Three example prompts
1. Product still, then motion.
"Generate a photorealistic product still with Nano Banana: a matte-black insulated water bottle standing on wet dark stone, soft overcast light, shallow depth of field, condensation on the metal. Then animate it with Kling into a 5-second clip with a slow push-in and drifting steam."
The still costs 6 credits and becomes the start image Kling needs; the clip is 86 with sound. Total: 92 credits, about $0.92.
2. UGC-style hook shot from text.
"Make a vertical clip with Veo 3.1 Lite, handheld phone look, a person's hand picking up a skincare jar off a bathroom counter in morning light, natural and slightly imperfect framing. 9:16."
This is a UGC opener. Kling cannot take it through the connector, because Kling there needs a start image, so name a text-to-video model. The connector's Veo tool has no length setting and runs the 8-second default: 54 credits with sound on Lite, so four variations for a hook test are 216 credits. Shorter Veo clips (4 or 6 seconds) are on the canvas.
3. Edit an existing still.
"Take the last still and change the background to a sunlit kitchen counter, keep the product identical, then upscale the result 4x."
Claude calls the edit tool with your instruction (FLUX.2 [pro] edit is about 7 credits for a 1 MP image and more for larger ones, around 36 for a 12 MP phone photo), then an upscaler: BRIA 4x at 6 credits or Topaz from 11. Check that the product came through unchanged before you use the result. This works on images only.
Cost math: a five-clip test set
Say you want to test five hook variations for a paid social ad before committing to a hero production. One Nano Banana still to anchor the product is 6 credits, five Kling v3 Standard clips from it are 430, and a Topaz upscale on the winning frame starts at 11. About 447 credits, roughly $4.50 at pack rate.
The connector does not change that math; it changes where you do the thinking. You can reason about the concept and generate in the same window.
Limits worth knowing
Fine control lives on the canvas. The connector exposes a subset of each model's settings: Kling v3 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Seedance 2.0 and the length and resolution pickers of several models are canvas-only. For precise composition, many reference images, or a reusable multi-step workflow, open the canvas.
There is a daily credit cap on connector requests, as a safety limit on spend that an assistant triggers. Generations on the canvas are not affected.
Up to 10 generations can be in progress at once per 8frame account, on every plan, and that count includes generations started on the canvas. A request beyond that is refused until one finishes, so ask Claude for a batch in groups of up to 10.
Review before you ship. Nothing auto-publishes. Treat the chat output as a draft until you've seen it at full size.
FAQ
Do I need a paid Claude plan to use 8frame in Claude? No. Per Anthropic's help centre, custom connectors work on every Claude plan; Free is limited to one custom connector. Generation itself is paid in 8frame credits.
How much does an AI video from Claude cost? The connector's prices: 86 credits for a 5-second Kling v3 Standard clip with sound, 54 for an 8-second Veo 3.1 Lite clip with sound, 448 for Veo 3.1 Standard, 4 for a 5-second Pruna p-video Draft clip.
Why did my Veo clip from Claude cost 448 credits? The connector's Veo tool starts on Veo 3.1 Standard. Ask for Veo 3.1 Lite (54 for 8 s with sound) or Fast (168).
Can Claude upscale a video to 4K through 8frame? No. 8frame has no video upscaler; the connector's upscalers work on images.
How many clips can Claude generate at once through 8frame? Up to 10 generations can be in progress at once per 8frame account, counting the ones on the canvas. Connector requests also have a daily credit cap.
Sources
- Custom connector plans, limits and setup path: Anthropic, Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP, checked 2026-10-02
- Connector tools, models, settings, defaults and prices: 8frame MCP server configuration, read 2026-10-02
- FLUX.2 [pro] edit billing by input plus output megapixels: 8frame backend tool registry, FLUX_KONTEXT pricing branch and calculateFlux2Cost, read 2026-10-02
- Limit of 10 generations in progress per account: 8frame backend task service, read 2026-10-02
- Generation times: 8frame production data, read-only, medians over 120 days to 2026-09-30
Related workflows
If you want the same thing inside your code editor instead of the Claude app, AI video in Cursor and Claude Code via MCP covers the developer setup. If you're building an autonomous system rather than prompting by hand, how to add video generation to your AI agent shows how the same MCP server becomes an agent's generation tool.
Setup details are at 8frame.co/mcp.
Try it without signing up: the 8frame canvas opens on a real board. The canvas is free and unlimited; generation is paid from $19/month.