CRITICALFailure Reference

ByteDance Seedance Hand & Finger Artifact — Pre-Generation Risk Reference

Technical Classification

Hand-Anatomy Topology Failure

Hand-Anatomy Topology Failure is one of Seedance's highest-frequency rejection modes. Hands occupy a small fraction of training-data pixels relative to their anatomical complexity. The diffusion model produces statistically plausible but topologically impossible hand structures: 4 or 6 fingers, knuckles bending laterally, fingers fusing into a paddle shape during motion. The failure is especially severe on close-ups and gesture-driven prompts.

How to identify this failure

  • Six fingers visible on one hand at any frame
  • Thumb pointing backward or duplicated
  • Knuckle bending in non-anatomical direction
  • Fingers fusing into single mass during motion
  • Hand orientation flipping between palm and back

Real generation examples

Prompt used

"Hands typing on a laptop keyboard, top-down view"

Failure observed @ 0:02

Fingers fused into single mass at 0:02; right hand showed 6 fingers at 0:04

Prompt used

"Chef chopping vegetables, close-up of hands and knife"

Failure observed @ 0:01

Thumb pointing backward at 0:01; knife handle merged with finger geometry at 0:03

Documentation strength

If you need to escalate

VERY HIGH — Seedance support treats hand failures as a recognised critical mode under their Anatomical Topology escalation category. Refunds routine with timestamped evidence.

AVA is a pre-purchase prevention tool, not a post-purchase recovery tool. Platforms generally do not guarantee credit refunds for output-quality failures; goodwill credits are at each platform's discretion. The strength rating reflects how well-formed your support ticket can be, not a promised outcome.

Prevention + documentation steps

  1. 01

    Score your prompt before you generate

    Run your prompt through AVA's pre-flight scoring against the Hand-Anatomy Topology Failure pattern. Green light = generate. Yellow/red = rewrite using the suggested fix before you commit credits.

  2. 02

    Capture Generation ID + timestamp if it failed anyway

    Find the Generation ID in the URL or share link. Note the exact time when the Hand-Anatomy Topology Failure first appears (e.g. "failure first visible at 1.2s"). Timestamped evidence is significantly stronger than a general complaint.

  3. 03

    Use the correct technical term in your support ticket

    Describe this failure as "Hand-Anatomy Topology Failure". This term maps to a recognised internal workflow in the support system and routes the ticket to the right team.

  4. 04

    Submit via the correct support channel

    Runway has no direct email intake. Pro+ plan: open the in-app AI Assistant (help widget bottom-right of app.runwayml.com), describe the failure with the technical term, attach evidence. Free/Standard plan: human support isn't available — your channel is Discord #community-help with @On Call - Moderators.

Frequently asked questions

Does Seedance refund credits for hand artifacts?

Yes. Submit the Generation ID with the technical term "Hand-Anatomy Topology Failure" and a timestamped screenshot of the impossible geometry. Seedance support refunds documented hand failures consistently.

Why are hand failures so common on Seedance?

Hands are anatomically dense (27 bones per hand, 14 phalanges) but statistically sparse in training data relative to faces. The diffusion loss under-constrains hand topology — the model has not learned to maintain finger count across frames reliably.

How do I avoid hand failures on Seedance?

Frame hands further from camera. Avoid prompts where hand motion is the primary action. Keep clips ≤4 seconds when hands are visible. AVA's pre-flight scanner flags hand-risk prompts before submission.

Score your prompt

Score your prompt against this failure mode in 30 seconds

Paste your prompt and the platform you intend to use. AVA returns a red/yellow/green score against this specific failure mode plus a concrete rewrite if the risk is high.

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Related failures across models

If you’re seeing this failure, you may also encounter these on other models:

Pick a different tool for Seedance failures

Some prompt shapes will keep failing on Seedance. Routing those shots to a different vendor is the cheapest fix.