How to Make an AI Cigar Smoking Video on VdoBloom (10 Credits)

To make an AI cigar smoking video on VdoBloom, open the Cigar Smoking effect at /dashboard/video-creation/cigar-smoking/, upload one clear photo of yourself, pick one of the three templates — CEO Office, Private Lounge or Rooftop Sunset — and generate. On the default Runway Gen-3 model at 720p for 5 seconds it costs 10 credits, which is $0.50, and the first one is covered by the 10 free credits every new account gets.

The cigar smoking effect is one of the most requested power-look animations on the platform, and one of the easiest to get wrong. This guide covers what the effect honestly does, which photo gives the best result, what each of the three built-in templates actually prompts, the exact credit cost on every model you can choose, and the steps in order.

What the cigar smoking effect actually does

It is an image-to-video effect. You give it one still photo of a person; the model animates that still into a short clip in an executive setting, adds a cigar to the hand, and generates smoke motion. The wording in the product is deliberately narrow: a polished, CEO-style cigar smoking video. It is a mood transformation, not a scene rebuild.

Two honest limitations. First, the model is inventing the cigar, the smoke and usually part of the wardrobe and room — it is not compositing a real object into your photo, so the hand and the cigar tip are the two places where a bad generation shows itself. Second, likeness holds best at 5 seconds; the longer you push a single clip, the more room the model has to drift from your face.

The effect panel carries an adults-only note for a reason: it depicts tobacco use. Generate it for yourself or for someone who has agreed to it — if the photo is of a real person, you must have that person’s consent before you animate them, and that applies to a colleague or a client just as much as a stranger. Do not use it to imply that a real, identifiable person endorses a tobacco brand.

The photo that works best

The effect is generous about backgrounds and strict about the subject. What works:

• Waist-up or chest-up framing. The model needs to see a hand or at least the shoulders to place the cigar plausibly. A tight head crop forces it to invent an arm.
• Even light on the face. Harsh single-side shadow gets amplified by the cinematic lighting the prompt asks for, and the far side of the face can smear.
• A neutral or slight expression. Wide smiles fight the relaxed-authority tone of the default prompt and often morph mid-clip.
• Unobstructed hands, if visible. Hands in pockets are fine — the model will bring one forward — but a hand already holding a phone or a glass usually turns into a mess.

Avoid sunglasses, heavy motion blur, group shots where the model has to guess who the subject is, and photos already tinted orange, which fight the amber lounge grade.

The three templates, and what they prompt

CEO Office — an executive office power look. It prompts a sharp suit, a luxury executive office, the subject sitting or standing with the cigar held confidently, subtle smoke and dramatic window light. This is the one to pick for a founder intro or a profile hero clip.

Private Lounge — an upscale lounge atmosphere. The prompt asks for a dim upscale lounge, cigar in hand, a slow exhale of smoke, warm amber lighting and leather and wood textures. It produces the most visible smoke of the three, because the exhale is written into the prompt explicitly and the dark backdrop makes smoke read. Pick this one if the smoke is the point.

Rooftop Sunset — a city skyline backdrop. Golden-hour rooftop, CEO-style outfit, elegant smoke trails, wind in the coat. It has the most motion of the three, because the wind gives the model something to animate besides the smoke. It is also the least forgiving on likeness for exactly the same reason.

You can ignore all three and type your own prompt. The default text in the box — confident pose, premium dark suit, cigar held with relaxed authority, subtle smoke wisps, upscale office or lounge lighting, cinematic shallow depth of field, photorealistic quality — is a skeleton to edit rather than replace. Keep the phrases “photorealistic quality” and “cinematic shallow depth of field”; they are doing real work on the output grade.

Exact credit costs by model

The Cigar Smoking tab is a direct image-to-video effect, so it opens the full image-to-video model roster rather than a short list. These are the real per-generation prices. One credit is $0.05, on the basis that the $15/month Lite plan carries 300 credits.

Model	Resolution / duration	Credits	Cost	Best for
Runway Gen-3 (default)	720p / 5s	10	$0.50	Cheapest usable test — fits the free 10 credits
Runway Gen-3	1080p / 5s	20	$1.00	The everyday pick once the photo is proven
Runway Gen-3	1080p / 10s	30	$1.50	A longer hold on the exhale
Vidu Q2 Turbo	720p / 5s	18	$0.90	Fast turnaround, optional background music
PixVerse v5	1080p / 5s	32	$1.60	Best effect polish and smoke texture
PixVerse v5	1080p / 8s	50	$2.50	A full inhale-and-exhale beat
Kling V2.5 Turbo	5s (fixed quality)	40	$2.00	Strongest facial likeness retention
Kling V2.5 Turbo	10s (fixed quality)	80	$4.00	A long single take with no cuts
LTX-2 Fast	1080p / 6s	20	$1.00	Cheap 1080p with generated audio

Runway Gen-3 runs 5s or 10s at 720p or 1080p across five aspect ratios. Kling V2.5 Turbo exposes duration only — no quality or aspect-ratio control — which is why it is a flat 40 or 80 credits. PixVerse v5 gives 5s or 8s at 720p or 1080p. Vidu Q2 Turbo gives 4s, 5s or 8s. Full spec sheets live on the Runway Gen-3 page, Kling V2.5 Turbo, PixVerse v5 and Vidu Q2 Turbo.

The steps

1. Go to the Cigar Smoking effect.
2. Upload one photo under Upload Your Photo.
3. Pick a template. Each shows a preview clip, so watch the preview before you spend anything.
4. Leave the model on Runway Gen-3 at 720p / 5s for the first attempt. Ten credits is the cheapest way to learn whether your photo works.
5. Edit the prompt only if the template is close but not right — change the room or the wardrobe, leave the quality phrases alone.
6. Generate, then watch the hand and the cigar tip first. If either is wrong, the fix is a different photo, not a longer prompt.
7. Once a photo proves itself, re-run it on PixVerse v5 at 1080p or Kling V2.5 Turbo for the version you actually publish.

A worked example

A founder wants a 5-second clip for a launch post. She uploads a chest-up photo, picks Private Lounge, and generates on Runway Gen-3 at 720p / 5s for 10 credits. The smoke is good but the cigar sits oddly low in frame. She swaps to a photo where her forearm is visible, re-runs the same 10-credit test, and the hand lands correctly. She then runs that photo once on PixVerse v5 at 1080p / 5s for 32 credits. Total spend: 52 credits, $2.60, and the two cheap tests did the real work.

Free accounts get a watermark on downloads; any paid plan removes it and adds commercial rights — see watermark-free downloads and pricing, where credit packs start at $2.49 for 75 credits that never expire.

Frequently asked questions

How much does one AI cigar smoking video cost?

Ten credits, or $0.50, on the default Runway Gen-3 at 720p for 5 seconds. That is inside the 10 free credits a new account gets, so the first one costs nothing. Published-quality runs land between 32 and 50 credits ($1.60 to $2.50).

Which model gives the best cigar smoke?

PixVerse v5 at 1080p, because effect polish is what that model is tuned for, and the Private Lounge template writes the exhale into the prompt so there is more smoke to render. Kling V2.5 Turbo wins instead if holding the face steady matters more than the smoke.

Can I use a photo of someone else?

Only with that person’s explicit permission. The effect depicts tobacco use and attaches it to a recognisable face, so consent is not optional, and you should never imply a real person endorses a brand.

Why does the hand look wrong?

Almost always the source photo. Hands that are cropped out, blurred, or already holding something give the model nothing to anchor on. Re-crop so a forearm is visible and try again at 10 credits before changing anything else.

Can I make it longer than 10 seconds?

Not in one generation here — Runway Gen-3 and Kling V2.5 Turbo both cap at 10 seconds on this tab. Generate two or three clips and cut them together; likeness holds better across short takes than inside one long one.