Beginners guide to ai video generators
With AI video generators, you can quickly create short video clips, often up to a few seconds long, using just text descriptions or images. These tools are perfect for creating visuals for presentations, concept art, stock-style footage, or even clips to include in real video productions.
In this section of the guide, we’ll give a short introduction to what’s currently possible with AI video generation, how it works, and what to expect.
There are two main ways to generate video with AI: you can start from a text prompt or from an image. These are often referred to as text-to-video (text prompting) and image prompting (text-to-image).
Text prompting
Text prompting
Text prompting means you write a description of what you want to see, using natural language. It’s the most common and beginner-friendly approach.
✅ Pros:
- Easy to get started
- Fast and flexible
- Great for generating creative, surprising results
⚠️ Cons:
- Less control over exact appearance
- Hard to maintain character consistency across shots
- Results can be unpredictable depending on the wording
Medium close-up cinematic shot of a female astronaut wearing a helmet, standing in a Martian desert with peach-colored desert light, in the style of the film The Martian, 4k
Image prompting
Image Prompting
Image prompting means you upload an image as a visual reference, either for style, composition, or the subject. Some tools let you combine this with a text prompt.
✅ Pros:
- More visual control
- Better for consistency (e.g. using the same character or environment)
- Ideal for turning illustrations, concept art or photos into motion
⚠️ Cons:
- Requires a suitable source image
- Still limited by how the AI interprets your input
- Some tools support only basic image guidance
Cost & time tip:
Generating video is typically more expensive and time-consuming than generating static images. Especially with text-to-video, it can take multiple attempts to get satisfying results, small changes in wording can lead to drastically different outputs.
If you’re testing ideas or aiming for consistency in characters or style, it’s often better to start with still images using image prompting (text-to-image). Once you’re happy with the look and feel, you can move on to full video prompts, saving both time and credits.
⚠️ Note: As text-to-video models continue to improve, this tip may become less important in the future.
The prompt is the heart of your AI-generated video. It tells the system what you want to see from the setting and subject to the style, movement, and atmosphere. A strong, clear prompt can make the difference between a vague blur and a visually stunning result.
Note: Each AI video tool interprets prompts differently. What works well in Runway might give very different results in Pika or Kaiber. This guide offers general prompting tips that should work across most platforms, but don’t be afraid to experiment and tweak your wording depending on the tool you’re using.
Standard prompt structure
Most AI video generators work best when you use a clear and structured prompt. Here’s a basic formula you can use as a starting point for nearly any tool:
Camera type or angle
e.g., “close-up,” “drone shot,” “wide-angle,” “POV”
Subject
e.g., “a samurai,” “a robot dog,” “a futuristic car”
Action or motion
e.g., “walking through fire,” “hovering,” “turning its head slowly”
Environment / setting
e.g., “in a neon-lit alley,” “on a snowy mountain,” “in outer space”
Lighting or atmosphere
e.g., “at sunset,” “with soft shadows,” “under stormy skies”
Style or medium
e.g., “cinematic,” “anime style,” “claymation,” “hyperrealistic”
Extra (optional)
e.g., “4K resolution,” “film grain,” “slow motion,” “shot on 35mm”
[Camera type or angle] + [Subject] + [Action or motion] + [Environment / setting] + [Lighting or atmosphere] + [Style or medium] + (optional) [Extra details like resolution or tone]
Cinematic tracking shot of a woman in a red cloak walking through a foggy forest at dawn, soft lighting, dramatic atmosphere, fantasy concept art style, 4K resolution
Prompt building blocks cheat sheet
- Close-up
- Extreme close-up
- Medium shot
- Wide shot
- Over-the-shoulder
- POV (point of view)
- Tracking shot
- Dolly zoom
- Drone shot
- Crane shot
- 360-degree shot
- Tilt-up / Tilt-down
- Pan left / Pan right
- Handheld camera
- Static shot
- Time-lapse
- Slow motion
- First-person shot
- Top-down view
- Side view
- Walking
- Running
- Sitting
- Standing still
- Turning head
- Looking around
- Waving
- Pointing
- Smiling
- Crying
- Talking
- Typing
- Holding an object
- Jumping
- Hugging
- Fighting
- Dancing
- Climbing
- Swimming
- Falling
- Floating
- Rotating
- Shaking
- Crashing
- Melting
- Transforming
- Exploding
- Growing
- Disintegrating
- Morphing
(use in combination with subject or action)
- Approaching
- Zooming in
- Zooming out
- Panning across
- Orbiting around
- Flying over
- Following subject
- Pulling away
- Revealing
- Leaves blowing
- Waves crashing
- Rain falling
- Snow drifting
- Clouds moving
- Fire flickering
- Dust rising
- Fog rolling in
- Lightning flashing
- Shadows shifting
- Natural light
- Golden hour
- Backlit
- Soft lighting
- High contrast lighting
- Volumetric light
- Flickering light
- Spotlight
- Neon glow
- Candlelit
- Moody lighting
- Foggy / misty
- Rainy / stormy
- Snowfall
- Dust particles
- Nighttime
- Dawn / dusk
- Overcast sky
- Sunset glow
- Underwater haze
- Cinematic
- Realistic
- Photorealistic
- Minimalist
- Hyperrealism
- Flat design
- 2D animation
- 3D animation
- Stop motion
- Claymation
- Anime style
- Pixel art
- Oil painting
- Watercolor
- Sketch / pencil drawing
- VHS / retro style
- Film noir
- Concept art
- Cyberpunk / steampunk / dieselpunk
- Low poly / stylized
- In the style of the film [name movie]
- Directed by [name director]
- 4K / 8K resolution
- HD / 1080p
- Film grain
- Motion blur
- Shallow depth of field
- Bokeh background
- High framerate
- Crisp detail
- Soft focus
- Glitch effect
- Anamorphic lens
- Shot on 35mm
- Slow motion
- Loopable
The prompt is the heart of your AI-generated video. It tells the system what you want to see from the setting and subject to the style, movement, and atmosphere. A strong, clear prompt can make the difference between a vague blur and a visually stunning result.
1. Maintain Consistency Across Shots
AI tools often struggle to keep characters, colors, or settings the same between clips. You can reduce visual drift with these tricks:
- Use reference images if the tool supports image prompting, this helps anchor visual style or character design.
- Stick to the same core prompt structure when generating multiple clips in a series.
- Repeat key descriptors across prompts (e.g. “red jacket,” “misty mountains,” “evening light”).
- For multi-shot projects: treat AI video like a storyboard, generate one consistent shot per scene.
- Stick to one visual tone throughtout. Testing different style keywords before committing to a full series
2. Be Specific, but Not Overloaded
Long, overly complex prompts can confuse the model. Aim for clarity over quantity:
- Focus on key elements: who, what, where, when, and how.
- Leave out unnecessary adjectives that may conflict (e.g. “bright and dark and glowing”).
- Try multiple variations of the same prompt to see what works best.
3. Use Short Clip Lengths
Most tools perform best with short video durations (4–8 seconds). Longer clips often lead to:
- Incoherent motion
- Visual artifacts like melting or flickering
- Sudden style changes or frame drops
📢Generate short scenes and combine them later in a video editor for more control.
4. Experiment and Iterate
AI video generation still involves some trial and error. Don’t rely on one result, generate 3–5 versions with slight prompt variations, then choose the best.
💡Tip: Keep a simple spreadsheet or notes with prompt versions and tool settings. It helps when you want to recreate or fine-tune a result later.
5. Post-Processing makes a big difference
Even basic editing can improve AI-generated video clips:
- Use stabilization to reduce camera jitter
- Add color correction for consistency
- Overlay text, music, or transitions for a polished look
- Upscale with AI tools (e.g. Topaz Video Enhance AI) if needed