How to Make AI Videos: Models, Costs and a Beginner Workflow

To make an AI video, plan your shots first, create a still image for each shot, animate those stills with an image-to-video model, then add voice, music and captions in an editor. Starting from images, instead of describing the whole video in one text prompt, gives you far more control over the look and wastes fewer credits while you learn.

How AI video generation works

A video model takes your input and returns one short clip per request, called a generation. Most current models return between a few seconds and half a minute, and many now generate sound in the same pass.

Credits are how most tools charge: each generation costs a number of credits that depends on the model, the length and the resolution. You can give a model four kinds of input.

Anything longer than one clip is an edit. A 30-second video is usually five or six short clips joined together, which is why planning shots matters more than finding a magic prompt.

The top AI video models in October 2026

Video models change monthly, so treat this as a snapshot. Our AI model leaderboard tracks the field as it moves.

Rankings from blind votes tell a different story from launch announcements. In the Artificial Analysis arena, people compare two clips from the same prompt without knowing which model made them.

Scores are only half the decision. Higgsfield's own guidance is a practical tiebreaker: Seedance for realistic human motion, Kling for longer and multi-shot clips, and Wan when you need precise control of the first and last frame.

What AI video costs

You can pay in two ways. A general AI plan, like Google's, includes some video. A creative platform, like Higgsfield or Runway, sells credits that work across many models.

Prices come from the Google AI plans page, Runway pricing and Higgsfield pricing, all checked in October 2026. They change often, and Higgsfield runs frequent promotions.

Credits only mean something once you turn them into clips. Higgsfield's pricing page lists the rate for each model:

If you build with code instead, the same Artificial Analysis table lists API prices for one minute of 1080p video, from $4.80 for MiniMax H3 to $34.12 for Seedance 2.5. Either way, budget for retakes: you will throw away more clips than you keep while you learn.

Make your first 30-second AI video

This is the workflow I use for short brand videos. Each step produces something you can check before you spend more.

Step 1: Write a brief and a shot list

Write one sentence: who the video is for and what they should feel or do afterwards. Then let Claude turn it into shots.

I'm making a [LENGTH]-second vertical video for [AUDIENCE] about [TOPIC].
After watching, they should [FEEL OR DO WHAT].
Write a shot list of [5 OR 6] shots of about 5 seconds each, as a table with these columns:
shot number, what we see, camera move, sound or line of dialogue, duration.
Keep the same main character and location throughout.
Do not put any text inside the shots; I will add captions in the edit.

Step 2: Lock the look with still images

Generate one start frame per shot with an image model such as Nano Banana or GPT Image. Upload the same character and style references every time, so the face and the light match across shots.

Step 3: Animate each still

Upload a start frame, set 720p and a short duration, and describe the motion in a fixed order: subject and action, then setting and light, then camera move, then mood and sound. Higgsfield recommends the same order in its own model guides.

[SUBJECT] [DOES ONE CLEAR ACTION], starting in the first second.
[SETTING], [TIME OF DAY], [LIGHT SOURCE AND DIRECTION].
Camera: [ONE MOVE, FOR EXAMPLE SLOW PUSH-IN AT EYE LEVEL].
Mood: [ONE OR TWO WORDS]. Sound: [TWO OR THREE REAL SOUNDS IN THE SCENE].

When a prompt comes out vague, ask Claude to restructure it before you spend credits:

Step 4: Re-render the keepers

Once a shot looks right at 720p, run the identical prompt at 1080p or 4K. Higher resolutions cost noticeably more, so only final shots get them.

Step 5: Add sound

If your model generates audio, check that the voice, effects and music fit together across clips. If not, add a voice track and music in the edit, using only music you have the rights to use. The AI UGC ads guide covers voice cloning and lip sync in more detail.

Step 6: Edit, caption and label

Join the clips in any editor, add captions, and export 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts or 16:9 for YouTube. The AI tools for content creators guide compares editors and caption tools.

Tips that save credits and retakes

• Draft on fast variants. Use models like Kling 3.0 Turbo or Seedance 2.0 Fast for tests, then switch to the full model for finals.
• Use start and end frames. Giving the model both ends of a shot makes transitions predictable.
• Keep text out of scenes. Models still garble letters, so add titles and captions in the edit.
• One gesture per clip. A 5-second clip handles one clear action well. Two actions usually blur together.
• Save characters as references. On Higgsfield, a saved Element keeps the same face across separate clips.
• Log what worked. Keep each winning prompt with its model, resolution and settings, so the next video starts from proof.

For a hands-on tour of one platform that has most of these models under one account, read the Higgsfield tutorial.

What to do next

Pick a 30-second idea for your own business and write the one-sentence brief tonight. Generate the stills first, animate them at 720p, and only re-render the shots you would actually keep. If you want to follow the whole process on video, from moodboard to final edit, that is what the Creators course covers.