Text-to-video AI turns a written description into moving footage — no camera, no stock library, no timeline editing. You describe the shot, pick a model, and get a clip back in minutes. AI Lumineer runs 84 generation models behind one prompt box, including Veo 3.1, Sora 2, Kling 3.0, and Seedance 2.0, so you can run the same prompt through different engines and keep the take that works.
This page covers one workflow only: prompt in, video out. If you want the full toolset — animating still images, upscaling, extending clips — that lives on the AI video generator overview. Here you'll find a working prompt formula, real prompts with the results they produce, and the current text-to-video model lineup, classified by what each one is actually good at.
You can test everything below with 100 free credits, no card required.
How Text-to-Video Works on AI Lumineer
The workflow is three steps:
- 1Write your prompt. Plain English, one shot per prompt (unless the model supports multi-shot — more on that below). 30–80 words is the useful range: enough detail to constrain the model, not so much that instructions contradict each other.
- 2Pick a model. Every model card in the playground shows its max clip length, resolution, whether it generates native audio, and the exact credit cost before you hit generate. No surprise billing mid-project.
- 3Generate and iterate. Most clips render in one to a few minutes depending on the model and resolution. Keep the prompt, swap the model, and compare — that side-by-side iteration is the practical advantage of having 17 models in one place instead of five subscriptions.
The Prompt Formula: Subject + Action + Camera + Style + Light
Every strong text-to-video prompt answers five questions. Weak prompts answer one or two and leave the model to improvise the rest — which is where generic, mushy output comes from.
- Subject — who or what is on screen, with concrete attributes. Not "a woman" but "a woman in her late 20s in a mustard raincoat."
- Action — what happens during the clip. Video models need a verb. A prompt with no action produces a slow zoom on a static scene.
- Camera — shot type and movement: "handheld close-up," "slow drone push-in," "static wide shot," "tracking shot at ground level." This is the single highest-leverage block most beginners skip.
- Style — the visual reference frame: "shot on 35mm film," "Pixar-style 3D animation," "gritty documentary," "1980s VHS."
- Light — time of day and light quality: "golden hour backlight," "harsh fluorescent overhead," "single candle in a dark room."
Weak vs. strong, same idea
Weak: a dog running on a beach
Strong: A golden retriever sprinting through shallow surf, water droplets kicking up behind each stride, low tracking shot at the dog's eye level, shot on 35mm film with visible grain, golden hour backlight with mild lens flare.
The weak version generates a dog on a beach — framing, lighting, and mood are lottery tickets. The strong version specifies all five blocks, so what you get back is close to what you saw in your head, and re-rolls stay consistent enough to build a sequence.
For a deeper model-specific version of this formula, see the Seedance 2.0 prompt guide — Seedance responds to shot-list syntax that other models ignore.
Three Real Prompts and What They Produce
1. UGC-style product clip → Veo 3.1
Handheld selfie-style video: a woman in her late 20s in a bright kitchen
holds a matte-black water bottle up to the camera and says "okay, this
actually keeps ice for two days." Natural morning window light, subtle
camera shake, casual vlog energy.Result: an 8-second clip with native, lip-synced speech — Veo 3.1 generates the voice line from the quoted dialogue, no separate TTS pass. This prompt pattern is the backbone of AI-generated UGC ads: swap the product, the line, and the setting, keep the structure.
2. Cinematic establishing shot → Kling 3.0
Aerial drone shot pushing slowly forward over a Norwegian fjord at dawn,
low fog hugging the water, a lone red sailboat cutting a thin wake,
cold blue palette with one warm accent, 24fps cinematic motion blur.Result: up to 10 seconds at 1080p with convincing water physics and stable camera motion — the two things Kling 3.0 handles better than most of the field. The "one warm accent" instruction is a reliable trick for composition control across models.
3. Multi-shot noir sequence → Seedance 2.0
Shot 1: a detective in a wet trench coat enters a neon-lit alley at night.
Shot 2: close-up of a matchbook turning in his gloved hand.
Shot 3: wide shot as he looks up at a flickering hotel sign.
Film noir, hard shadows, rain reflections, anamorphic lens.Result: a single clip with three distinct cuts and consistent character, wardrobe, and grading across shots. Seedance 2.0 is currently the model to reach for when the deliverable is a sequence rather than a single shot — most other models will fuse a multi-shot prompt into one confused take.
Text-to-Video Models on AI Lumineer, Classified
Specs below are per-model maximums in text-to-video mode; exact credit cost per generation is displayed in the playground before you run anything.
| Model | Max clip length | Max resolution | Native audio | Strongest at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veo 3.1 | 8s | 1080p | Yes — speech + SFX | Dialogue, lip-sync, UGC realism |
| Sora 2 | 15s | 1080p | Yes | Physics, complex scene logic |
| Kling 3.0 | 10s | 1080p | Yes | Motion, action, camera moves |
| Seedance 2.0 | 10s, multi-shot | 1080p | Yes | Cut sequences, shot consistency |
| Hailuo 2.3 | 10s | 1080p | No | Stylized and anime motion |
| Wan 2.5 | 10s | 1080p | Yes | Cheap drafts, high-volume iteration |
Which one should you pick?
- Talking humans or ad-style clips: Veo 3.1 first. It's also the practical answer if you came here after Sora 2's free tier was removed in January 2026 — full comparison on the Sora 2 alternative page.
- Action, sports, anything with fast motion: Kling 3.0. Note that Kling's own app caps free usage at a daily credit allowance that a single 1080p generation can exhaust; on AI Lumineer it draws from the same credit pool as everything else.
- Sequences with cuts: Seedance 2.0, and write your prompt as a numbered shot list.
- Drafting cheaply before a final render: Wan 2.5 for exploration, then re-run the winning prompt on a premium model. This two-pass habit routinely halves credit spend on finished work.
What It Costs
- Free: 100 credits at signup, no card required — enough to run the same prompt through several models and compare.
- Starter — $19/month: monthly credits for personal projects and learning.
- Creator — $69/month: more credits plus a commercial license, the minimum plan if clips go into client work, ads, or monetized channels.
- Studio — $199/month: highest credit volume plus API access for teams generating at pipeline scale.
- Credit packs from $9: one-time top-ups that never expire — no subscription required, no monthly reset pressure.
Full breakdown on the pricing page.
Text-to-Video vs. Image-to-Video
Text-to-video generates everything from the prompt alone — fastest path from idea to footage, best when you don't have a visual starting point. Image-to-video starts from a picture you supply and animates it, which gives you exact control over the first frame: your product photo, your character design, your brand colors. In practice most production workflows combine both — generate or upload a keyframe, then animate it. That workflow has its own dedicated page: image to video.
FAQ
What is text to video AI?
Text-to-video AI is software that generates original video footage from a written description. You type a prompt describing the subject, action, camera, style, and lighting, and a generative model renders a short clip — typically 5 to 15 seconds at up to 1080p. Current models such as Veo 3.1, Sora 2, Kling 3.0, and Seedance 2.0 can also generate synchronized audio, including spoken dialogue.
Which text-to-video model should I use in 2026?
It depends on the shot. Veo 3.1 leads for talking humans and lip-synced dialogue, Kling 3.0 for fast motion and dynamic camera work, Seedance 2.0 for multi-shot sequences with consistent characters, and Wan 2.5 for cheap draft iterations. AI Lumineer hosts all 17 models under one credit pool, so the practical approach is to run one prompt through two or three models and keep the best take.
How long can AI-generated videos be?
Most text-to-video models generate clips between 5 and 15 seconds per run: Veo 3.1 tops out at 8 seconds, Kling 3.0 and Seedance 2.0 at 10, and Sora 2 at 15. Longer videos are made by generating multiple clips and cutting them together, or by using extension features that continue a clip from its last frame. Seedance 2.0 can also place multiple distinct shots inside a single generation.
Can I use AI-generated videos commercially?
On AI Lumineer, commercial usage rights are included from the Creator plan ($69/month) upward, covering client work, ads, and monetized content. The free 100 credits and the Starter plan ($19/month) are intended for personal and evaluation use. Always check the licensing terms of the specific plan you're on before publishing paid work.
Is there a free text to video AI without a credit card?
Yes — AI Lumineer gives every new account 100 free credits with no credit card required. Those credits work across all 84 hosted models, including premium ones like Veo 3.1 and Sora 2, so you can compare engines before paying anything. If you need more, one-time credit packs start at $9 and never expire.
How do I write a good text-to-video prompt?
Cover five blocks in one prompt: Subject (who or what, with concrete details), Action (the verb — what happens during the clip), Camera (shot type and movement), Style (a visual reference like "35mm film" or "3D animation"), and Light (time of day and light quality). Aim for 30–80 words, describe one shot per prompt on single-shot models, and put dialogue in quotation marks for models with native speech like Veo 3.1.