How to Choose an AI Video Workflow for Different Goals

Pick the workflow by what must stay fixed. If nothing must match, use text to video. If a product, face or scene must look exact, start from an image. If you need a person talking, use a presenter tool. If several shots must tell one story, plan a storyboard first and render shot by shot.

Quick facts

• Six workflows cover almost every goal: text to video, image to video, effect templates, talking presenters, character replacement and storyboard-to-video.
• Cheap test clips: Hailuo 2.3 standard is 15 credits for 6 seconds at 768p; Seedance 2 Fast is 24 credits for 5 seconds at 480p.
• Higher-end clips: Veo 3 Fast is 25 credits per clip and Veo 3 Quality is 100.
• Stills for image to video: Nano Banana is 6 credits per image.
• Billing: pay per use, no subscription, credits never expire, many models in one place. 10 credits on sign-up.

Open Text to Video

Start with three questions.

Before opening any tool, answer these:

1. What has to look exact? A product label, a real person, a logo, a location. Anything exact needs an image or video input.
2. Is it one shot or a sequence? One shot is a single generation. A sequence needs the same character and style across shots.
3. Does someone speak to the camera? Speech with lip sync needs a presenter or avatar tool, not a general video model.

The answers point to one of the six workflows below.

The six workflows at a glance

Goal: social posts and YouTube Shorts

For a quick vertical post, an effect template is the fastest path: one photo in, a finished clip out. For original content, generate a still in 9:16 with the AI image generator, then animate it with image to video. Starting from a still lets you fix the look for a few credits before spending on video. Try a 9:16 still on Nano Banana (6 credits).

For a whole channel, the faceless YouTube video generator bundles script, voice and visuals. Our YouTube Short guide covers length, hooks and captions.

Goal: product videos and ads

The product must look right in every frame, so never start from text alone. Use a clean product photo as the first frame in image to video, or use a purpose-built tool: 360 product video for a turntable shot, UGC ad maker for a creator-style ad, or AI ad maker for a finished spot.

Try a product-shot prompt on Hailuo 2.3 Standard with your own product photo (15 credits for 6 seconds).

Keep camera moves slow and simple. Fast orbits are where labels warp. See the UGC ads workflow for a full ad build.

Goal: tutorials, explainers and talking heads

If a person needs to speak, use the AI presenter or talking avatar with a script and a voice from text to speech. Keep each segment short and cut between the presenter and screen footage. Viewers forgive a simple setup; they do not forgive a 3-minute unbroken avatar shot.

Goal: stories, dramas and multi-shot pieces

A story needs the same character in every shot. Plan it first: the storyboard generator turns a script into frames, and each frame becomes the first frame of an image-to-video shot. That keeps faces and outfits steady. Our guide to consistent AI characters across episodes goes deeper.

Budget for it. A 30-second piece made of six 5-second shots is six video generations plus the stills, and you will redo some shots.

Goal: copying a movement or dance

When the motion already exists in a video, do not describe it in a prompt. Use character replacement: a photo plus the reference clip. P-Video Replace starts at 2.4 credits per second at 720p, for clips up to 30 seconds. Only use photos of yourself or of people who agreed.

Common mistakes when picking a workflow

Most wasted credits come from using the right model with the wrong workflow. Watch for these:

• Prompting a product from text. The model invents a bottle that looks close but wrong. Start from your product photo instead.
• Describing a dance in words. No prompt matches a real routine beat for beat. Use a reference video and character replacement.
• One long generation for a story. Most models cap a single clip at a few seconds and lose the character when asked for too much. Split it into shots.
• Final-quality renders for every test. Test at 480p or with a cheaper model, then render once at full quality.
• Making a talking head with a general video model. Lip sync from a presenter tool is steadier than a prompt that says "she talks to camera".
• Skipping audio planning. Decide early whether you need a voice, music or both. A presenter script sets shot lengths, and music sets the cut points.

A useful test: if you have rerolled the same shot four times and it is still wrong, the problem is usually the workflow, not the prompt. Step back and change the input type.

Another one: write down what a finished video needs before you start. For a 30-second ad, that might be a hook shot, two product shots, a person reacting and an end card. Each line on that list maps to one workflow from the table above, and each one can use a different model. A cheap model for the reaction shot and a stronger one for the hero product shot often look better together than one model forced to do everything.

Keep the stills you generate along the way. A good first frame can be reused for a second take, a different aspect ratio or a thumbnail, and it costs far less than another video generation.

How to do it on VdoBloom: a test-then-finish routine

1. Write one sentence for the goal and answer the three questions above.
2. Pick the workflow from the table.
3. Make the cheapest useful test, for example this prompt on Seedance 2 Fast: a 6-credit Nano Banana still, or a 480p Seedance 2 Fast clip for 24 credits.
4. Fix the prompt or input until the test is right. Change one thing per try.
5. Render the final with the model and resolution you need, for example Veo 3 Quality for a hero shot.
6. Finish with the video upscaler, music from the AI music generator, or captions from the caption generator.

Start from an image in Image to Video

Plan a multi-shot video in the Storyboard Generator

FAQ

Is text to video or image to video better?

Image to video, whenever something must look a certain way. Text to video is fine for mood shots and early ideas.

Which model should I start with?

A cheap one for tests: Hailuo 2.3 standard or Seedance 2 Fast. Move to Veo, Kling or Seedance 2.5 for the final when you know the shot works.

How many credits does a short ad take?

It depends on shots and model. Four 5-second Seedance 2 Fast shots at 720p are 200 credits before retries. Tests at 480p cut that roughly in half.

Can I mix workflows in one video?

Yes, and most good pieces do: a presenter intro, image-to-video product shots and a text-to-video background, joined in the AI video editor.

What if my goal fits two workflows?

Pick the one that fixes your hardest requirement. If the product must look exact and a person must talk, build the product shots with image to video and the talking part with a presenter, then join them.

Do I need a subscription to try these?

No. Buy credits when you need them; they never expire.

Related reading: using Kling, Veo and Hailuo with one login and image-to-video best practices.