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How Kino works

A short, simple guide to making your first video. No experience needed.

What is Kino

Kino turns a written idea into a short AI video, about five to fifteen seconds long, complete with sound. Type what you want to see, and Kino generates the picture and the audio to match.

Create your first video

Making your first video takes three steps.

  1. Describe what you want to see in the Create box.
  2. Add a photo if you want Kino to use it as a reference or a starting frame. This step is optional.
  3. Tap Generate video and watch your video come together.

New accounts start with free credits, so you can try this right away.

The Create screen with a video idea typed in and the Generate video button under it.

Animate a photo

Add a photo and Kino treats it as the very first frame of your video, then continues the motion from there. Describe what happens next, like a person turning to smile or the camera slowly pulling back, rather than a new scene or a different angle. The photo is your starting point; the prompt is everything that happens after it.

The Animate photo screen with a start photo added and a description of what happens next.

Write better prompts

New to writing prompts? Keep it simple: describe one scene, one continuous action, and what you would see and hear if you were there. You don't need special words, just a clear picture in a sentence or two.

A few things that help

  • Keep the camera to ONE continuous move. Asking for a cut, a new angle, or a scene change usually reads as jarring instead of cinematic.
  • Describe what your subject DOES, not just how they look. Action carries the shot.
  • Added a photo of a person? Describe them in a close-up. Faces get soft or distorted in wide shots.
  • Direct the sound too. Say what you hear, from quiet room tone to a full musical score.
  • Say what you want to see rather than what you don't, except for on-screen text: if you don't want captions or subtitles, say so directly.

Direct the camera

A few camera moves work especially well. Try naming ONE per prompt.

  • Push in

    The camera slowly pushes in on her face.

  • Pull back

    The camera pulls back to reveal the empty street.

  • Pan

    The camera pans right to follow the car.

  • Tilt

    The camera tilts up from his feet to his face.

  • Tracking shot

    The camera tracks beside him as he walks.

  • Pedestal up

    The camera rises slowly, keeping her in frame.

  • Static / handheld

    The camera holds steady, with a slight handheld shake.

Example prompts

Copy one of these and swap in your own idea.

Text to video

A lone samurai walks through drifting cherry blossoms at dawn, mist over the stone path, camera tracking beside him. He stops and whispers: "Today it ends." Low taiko drums, wind through the trees…

One continuous camera move, a spoken line, and a music cue, all in one clear scene.

Animate a photo

She turns toward the camera and laughs, wind lifting her hair. Slow push-in…

It only describes what happens next and how the camera moves, since the photo already sets the scene.

Continuous action beats requested cuts
Weak

A woman walks on the beach. Cut to her looking at the sunset. Cut to a close-up of her smiling.

Strong

A woman walks along the beach at sunset, the camera tracking beside her. She slows, turns toward the sunset, and smiles softly as the light catches her face.

The second version is one continuous shot instead of three requested cuts, which is what Kino renders best.

Quality and 2K

Kino can generate in standard HD or in sharper 2K. 2K looks crisper, especially on faces and fine detail, and it costs more credits than HD.

Credits

Every video that comes out uses some of your credits. If one fails, you are not charged for it, so it is always safe to try again.

Want the full reference for every field and feature? Read the documentation