User documentation

Kino turns an idea into a short video with sound. You write what should happen, add pictures, videos or audio if you want, and Kino makes the video. One account and one balance of credits work on your phone and on a computer.

New accounts start with 50 free credits, enough to try it right away. Every video shows its price before it starts, and a video that fails costs nothing.

Your first video in four steps

1. Open Create and make sure Kino Agent is selected.
2. Write what should happen, who is there and what we hear. One or two sentences are enough.
3. Press Generate. Kino shows the length and the price; press Go to start.
4. Follow the progress card. When the video is ready it plays in place and is saved in My media.

Prefer a guided walkthrough? Read the tutorial.

Kino Agent plans the whole scene for you: the action, the camera, the dialogue and the sound. You write one message and Kino goes straight to making the video. There is no plan to approve.

Add pictures, videos or audio

The attach button next to the text box offers Add actor from library, Import photo, Import video, Import audio and Create photo with AI. Kino looks at everything you attach and decides how to use it. Mention people and things by name in your text so Kino knows who is who. See References.

The small controls under the text box

• Fast: faster delivery for Standard videos, at a higher price. Only shown when it is available. See Fast.
• Automatic duration: Kino picks the length that fits your idea. Turn it off to choose the length yourself.
• Advanced: format, resolution, style, one continuous shot, story development, speech, soundtrack and scene. Every option starts on Follow my request, so you only change what matters to you. See Duration, format and settings.

Length and price before you start

With automatic length on, pressing Generate shows a small bubble such as About 8 s · 40 credits (the numbers are only an example). Press Go to make the video at that length and price, or Change to pick another length. Nothing is spent until you press Go.

While it works

A card appears right away and stays with your request. It first says Preparing your video… while Kino writes the scene, then Generating your video… while the video is made. You can close the page; the video keeps going and is saved in My media. If Kino needs one more detail from you, the card says so.

Manual is for when you want to decide everything yourself. There is no agent: what you write and choose is exactly what Kino makes. Pick one of three ways to start:

Then set the length, the format and the resolution, check the price and press Generate video. Manual can also make still pictures: switch to Create image.

Kino has two quality modes. You choose one with the quality button at the top of the screen, and it applies to every video you make until you change it.

• Standard: good quality for everyday videos, ideas and quick tests. Videos from 5 to 15 seconds. The lower price.
• Studio: our most realistic videos, for films and ads. Videos from 4 to 30 seconds, longer continuations and many more references (up to 30 pictures, 10 videos and 10 audio clips). It costs more credits per second, and the exact price is always shown before you start.

1. Press the quality button in the top bar.
2. Read what each mode offers and press Use Studio or Use Standard.
3. The screen changes color in Studio so you always know which mode you are in.

If a video is longer than the new mode allows, Kino shortens it to the maximum and tells you. If you do not see the quality button, Studio is not available on your account yet.

Fast

Fast delivers a Standard video much sooner, at double the credits. It does not raise the quality, and you can still make a sharper version later. It is not available in Studio.

Studio and pictures of people

Studio works with AI characters. Characters you create in Kino work for everyone; AI characters made in other tools need a paid plan and a confirmed email. Real photos of people work only in Standard, and public figures are refused. Details are in Pictures of people in Studio.

Write the way you would describe a moment to a friend: who is there, where they are, what they do and what you hear. A few habits help a lot:

• Start with one clear action. “Starting on the dry pool deck, she jumps into the water” works better than “she goes into the pool”.
• Put spoken words in quotes and say who speaks: Ana smiles and says: “Come here!” Kino speaks the language you write in.
• Use the names of your characters, props and places exactly as they are saved, so Kino matches them to your pictures.
• Say what you hear: silence, street noise, soft piano, a full soundtrack. If nobody should talk, write “no speech”.
• Camera directions are optional. Plain words work best: stays still, comes closer, follows him, cuts to her reaction.
• On-screen text: if you do not want captions or words in the picture, say so.

Kino keeps your words as you wrote them. With story development on, it may add details you left open; your own words, names and restrictions always win.

Save the people, things and places you use often, then reuse them in any video. People live in Cast; things are Props and places are Scenery. On the phone, open My media and pick the tab you need. On a computer, use Cast, Props and Scenery in the bar on the left.

Create a character

1. In Cast, press Add.
2. Give the character a name and a short description of how they look.
3. Add up to two photos of the same person, or press Create photo with AI to make one from a description. A clear photo of the face works best.
4. Use the character from the attach menu (Add actor from library) or with Use in a video.

Versions

A character can have several looks. When you pick a character for a video, open Versions to choose which photos to use. Your saved character stays as it is.

Import my AI actors

Already made characters in another AI tool? Bring many of them in at once. Each picture becomes one character, named after its file (for example, red_hair-queen.png becomes “red hair queen”). You can rename them later.

1. In Cast, press Import my AI actors.
2. Drop or choose up to 20 pictures at a time, each up to 90 MB.
3. Tick the box that confirms you have the rights to every picture. It reads: “I have the right to use the image of the people in this photo, or they are AI-generated characters I created.”
4. Press the import button (for example Import 3 actors) and wait until each picture says Added.

Only pictures that need your attention get a note:

• Looks like a public figure. Not imported. Pictures of public figures are never imported.
• Looks like a real photo. Use it in Standard only. It is saved, but only works in Standard.
• A note about size or shape means the picture is saved for Standard but does not meet the Studio picture rules below.
• We will check this picture when you use it in Studio.

Pictures of people in Studio

• Characters you create in Kino from a description work in Studio for everyone.
• AI characters from other tools work in Studio on a paid plan with a confirmed email address (or a Google sign-in).
• Real photos of people work only in Standard. Studio shows: This looks like a real photo. Studio works with AI characters. Use Standard for real photos, or create your character in Kino.
• Public figures are refused.
• The first time a picture of people is used in Studio, Kino asks you to confirm your rights before it shows the price.

Studio also needs each picture to be:

• a common picture file: JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF or GIF;
• under 30 MB;
• more than 300 pixels and less than 6000 pixels on each side;
• not extremely tall or wide: at most about two and a half times as wide as it is tall, or the other way round.

The first time you use a character in Studio, Kino prepares it, so that video can wait a little longer before it starts. Later videos start normally.

Props and scenery

Props are things you want to look the same every time: a product, a car, a mascot. Scenery are places: a kitchen, a street, a stage. Press Add prop or Add scenery, add a name and a picture, and use it in a video like a character. Each one keeps its Versions, so an older look is never lost.

A reference is anything you attach to show Kino what you mean: a picture of a person, a product or a place, a video clip, or an audio clip such as a voice or a song.

Animate a picture, or use it as a reference

• Animate: the video starts exactly like your picture and then things move. Describe only what happens next.
• Reference: the picture shows who or what appears, and your text decides the place, clothes and action. Describe the new scene.

Kino Agent chooses for you; to decide yourself, use Use the images as in Advanced. In Manual, pick Animate photo or Character.

How many references

• Standard: up to 9 pictures, 3 videos and 3 audio clips.
• Studio: up to 30 pictures, 10 videos and 10 audio clips. In Studio, references are part of the price.

The counter next to the attach button shows how many pictures you have and how many fit. Over the limit, Kino asks you to remove some before sending.

No picture? Make one

Create photo with AI makes a picture from a description, ready to use as a character or as the first moment of a video. Pictures cost credits too, shown before you start.

• Duration: 5 to 15 seconds in Standard, 4 to 30 seconds in Studio. Longer costs more. With Automatic duration on, Kino picks it and shows it before you start.
• Format: Portrait for phones and stories, Landscape for screens, or Square. On Automatic, cinematic scenes use landscape and other videos use portrait, unless your request says otherwise. A finished video cannot be turned.
• Resolution: videos are made at a fast standard size. A sharper 2K or 4K version takes longer; you can also make it later from the finished video (see Sharper versions).

In Kino Agent the other choices live in Advanced:

• Style, Keep one continuous shot, Develop the story
• Speech (Include speech or No speech), Suggested soundtrack
• Use the images as and Scenery

Your choices there win over what Kino would pick on its own. In Manual, every setting is on screen.

Every video and picture you make is saved in My media, newest first. Videos still in progress show where they are; finished ones play in place.

• Send to Kino Agent: start again from the same request and change what you want. The original stays as it is.
• Download (or Share on the phone): one good-quality MP4 file, no formats to choose. Paid plans download without the Kino watermark.
• Delete removes a video for good and frees its storage.

Videos also carry their quality mode, so you can tell Standard and Studio videos apart.

Extend a video

1. Open the video in My media and choose Extend this video.
2. Write what happens next. The new part continues from the end of the video.
3. Check the price and start. The longer video is saved as a new version.

In Studio, continuations can be longer, and part of the original video counts toward the price.

Edit a video

To change the story, use Send to Kino Agent and say what to change; Kino makes a new video. If your account has the editor, Open in Kino Editor lets you select a moment and use Edit this part or Change this whole part to describe a change.

Resolution and sharper final videos

Videos are first made at about 768p in Standard and 720p in Studio. That keeps them fast and affordable. For your final version, use Super resolution to upscale it to 2K or 4K. It adds detail and makes faces cleaner: in Standard videos, small flaws in teeth, lips, eyes and glasses are much reduced at 2K.

Tip: make your edits and extensions first, then upscale the final video. The price is shown before you start.

Sharper versions (2K and 4K)

On a finished video, choose Generate 2K version or Generate 4K version. The price is shown on the option before you choose it, and you are charged only if it succeeds. 4K takes longer, around 15 to 30 minutes for a short video. Studio videos offer 4K.

Kino Scribe is Kino's subtitle tool for any video you have (same account, same credits). Open it from Tools > Subtitles Creator in the bar on the left. It is built for a computer screen.

1. Upload a video.
2. Press Add Subtitles with Kino AI. Kino detects the language and writes timed subtitles, priced per minute.
3. Fix, split, merge or move any line, and choose a style: plain lines, or each word lighting up.
4. Export a video with the subtitles in it, or a subtitle file to use in another editor.

Everything in Kino is priced in credits. The exact price of each video, picture, extension or sharper version is shown before you start; money only appears at checkout.

You pay only for what works

• The price is reserved when you start and charged only when the result is ready.
• A video that fails costs nothing, and the reserved credits come back.
• Stopping a video yourself (Abort this render) charges only the part already made, never more than the price you saw.

Plans

Kino has these plans: Free, Basic, Pro and Max. Paid plans add credits every month, let you make more videos at the same time and download without a watermark. Prices, monthly credits and everything each plan includes are on the Plans page.

• Plan credits renew each month and are used first. Unused plan credits do not carry over.
• Credits you buy never expire.
• Buy credits or change plan from Subscribe in the bar at the bottomyour account menu in the top right. Payments are handled by Stripe; from Brazil you pay in reais. We never see your card number.

Refunds and the full rules are in the Terms of Service and the Refund Policy.

• Your uploads: only upload pictures, videos and audio you have the rights to use, including the face and voice of anyone in them.
• Real people: never make videos of a real person without their permission, never impersonate anyone, and never upload public figures.
• Content rules: adult themes that are not explicit are allowed. Explicit sexual content, anything sexual involving minors, and intimate content without consent are prohibited. The full list is in the Content Policy.
• AI label: Studio videos carry a note inside the file that says they were made with AI in Kino. Do not remove it to make a video look real.

Read the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy for the details. To report a problem, write to support@getkino.io.

The price does not show

You may see Could not check the video price. Try again. or Price unavailable. Something changed while Kino was checking, or the connection dropped. Tap it to check again. If a picture shows people in Studio, confirm your rights first; the price appears after that.

A picture was refused

The message says why. Public figures are never accepted. In Studio, real photos of people are refused (use Standard), and pictures must meet the Studio picture rules. If a picture is refused while a video is being made, try another picture or remove it; you are not charged.

Studio does not accept my character

Check three things: the picture is an AI character, not a real photo; your plan is a paid one; your email is confirmed. Characters you create in Kino from a description always work.

I ran out of credits

Kino opens a window where you can buy credits or move to a bigger plan, then continue where you stopped. Nothing is charged for the video that did not start.

My first Studio video is slow to start

The first time a character is used in Studio, Kino prepares it. Studio videos can also wait in line when many people are making videos. The card shows where your video is.

Why was a video not charged?

Because it failed or never started. Kino only charges for results you receive, so the reserved credits went back to your balance.

Kino asks me to wait before starting another video

Each plan can make a set number of videos at the same time. Wait for one to finish, or see the Plans page for plans that make more at once.

Your Profile tabYour account menu, the circle in the top right, holds your account, your credit balance and a history of every credit that came in or went out. You can switch the language between English and Portuguese there at any time.

Delete account permanently deletes your projects, videos, pictures, uploads, prompts and settings, and your name, email, password and connected logins. Any subscription is cancelled right away. We keep nothing that identifies you, except records the law requires (payment records, and the record of rights you confirmed for pictures of people). You confirm by typing your email address, and it cannot be undone.

• Tutorial: step-by-step lessons for your first video and your first Studio scene.
• Email: support@getkino.io for anything, including a video that came out wrong or a billing question. Tell us which video and we will look at it.
• Policies: Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Refund Policy, Content Policy.