How to Make an AI Curly Hair Video (Woolly Volume, Loose Waves, Tight Coils)

To make an AI curly hair video on VdoBloom, upload one clear photo of the person’s head and hair to the Curly Hair tab, pick one of three curl templates — Woolly Volume, Loose Waves or Tight Coils — and generate; on the default Runway Gen-3 model at 720p and 5 seconds it costs 10 credits, which is exactly what a new free account starts with. The result is a short video, not a still: the new curls have root lift, shine and bounce as the head moves, while the face stays the face you uploaded.

What the Curly Hair effect honestly does

This is a hair replacement, not a filter. The effect sends your photo to a video model with a prompt that asks it to rebuild the hair as tight coils or waves — dense root volume, woolly texture, per-strand shine — while explicitly holding facial identity, skin tone and lighting consistent. The app’s own note on the tab says it plainly: upload one photo, AI adds dramatic, realistic curly hair with volume and bounce, and it works best with a clear view of the head and hair.

Two honest limits are worth knowing before you spend a credit. First, hair is the part of a portrait that AI video models redraw most aggressively, so a hairline or a parting can shift slightly even with the identity lock in the prompt. Second, because the output is a video, the curls have to move — if your source photo has motion blur or a cropped crown, the model has less structure to build bounce from and the curls can look pasted on. Neither is fatal; both are fixed by the photo you choose.

If the photo is of a real person who is not you, you must have that person’s consent before generating or sharing a video of them.

The photo that actually works

• Head fully in frame with space above it. The model needs room to add volume. A tight crop that ends at the hairline gives the curls nowhere to grow.
• Even, soft light. Curl definition is read from highlights. Harsh direct sun blows out the crown and you lose the coil texture that makes this effect convincing.
• Front or three-quarter angle. Profile shots work but give the model only one side of the hair to reason about.
• A plain background. Busy backgrounds behind flyaway strands are where edge artefacts show up.
• Short or straight starting hair is fine. You do not need existing curls — going from a sleek blowout to tight coils is the most dramatic version of this effect.

The three curl templates

Template	What it renders	Best for
Woolly Volume	Explosive voluminous curls, sheep-wool-like texture, dramatic root lift and density, a bouncy head of curls	The maximum-impact version; the one people share
Loose Waves	Lush loose waves and defined curls, added volume at the roots, natural movement and shine	A believable everyday look, or testing a perm before you book one
Tight Coils	Tight springy coils, full curl coverage, rich texture and natural luster, volume from root to tip	Natural-texture looks and the most defined curl pattern

Every template prompt carries the same preservation clause — face shape, features, identity and skin tone unchanged — so switching between them changes the curl pattern, not the person. Picking a template overwrites the prompt box, so choose your template first and then edit the text if you want to add a detail such as hair colour or a specific length.

What it costs in credits

Curly Hair is a direct effect, which means your photo goes straight to whichever video model you choose — and the tab offers the full image-to-video roster rather than a short list. The credit cost is therefore the standard cost of that model at the resolution and duration you pick. One credit is $0.05 on the Lite plan ($15 for 300 credits), so the dollar figures below are exact.

Model	Tier	Credits	Cost	What you get
Runway Gen-3 (tab default)	720p, 5s	10	$0.50	The cheapest honest run; covered by the 10 free signup credits
Runway Gen-3	1080p, 5s	20	$1.00	Sharper curl edges — the upgrade that matters most for hair
Runway Gen-3	1080p, 10s	30	$1.50	Twice the runtime for the bounce to read
Kling V2.5 Turbo	5s (fixed quality)	40	$2.00	Strongest motion realism on hair physics
PixVerse V5.5	1080p, 5s	45	$2.25	Stylised, high-contrast curl rendering
PixVerse V6	720p, 5s (9 credits per second)	45	$2.25	Per-second billing, so 1-second tests are possible
Vidu Q3 Turbo	1080p, 5s	30	$1.50	Clean mid-price 1080p option

PixVerse V6 is the only one of these billed per second rather than per tier: 5 credits per second at 360p, 7 at 540p, 9 at 720p and 18 at 1080p. That makes it the cheapest way to sanity-check a photo — a single 1-second 360p run is 5 credits — before you commit to a full-length render on a pricier model.

The exact steps

1. Open the Curly Hair tab.
2. Upload one photo under Upload Your Photo. One image only — this effect does not take a second reference.
3. Click a template: Woolly Volume, Loose Waves or Tight Coils. The prompt box fills with that template’s text.
4. Optionally edit the prompt. Add colour or length at the end and leave the preservation clause about face shape and identity untouched.
5. Pick your model, resolution and duration. Leave it on Runway Gen-3 at 720p and 5 seconds for the 10-credit run.
6. Generate. Watch the queue rather than resubmitting — a second submit is a second charge.
7. Download. On a paid plan the download is watermark-free with commercial rights; see how the watermark rule works.

Prompting tips that change the output

Name the curl pattern, not the vibe. Tight springy coils, loose beachy waves and dense woolly volume all produce different geometry. Gorgeous curly hair produces whatever the model feels like.

Say where the volume lives. Root lift, density at the crown and volume from root to tip are the phrases the built-in templates use, and they work because they tell the model which part of the head to expand.

Do not delete the identity clause. Preserve facial identity, skin tone and lighting consistency is what keeps the output recognisable. Users who rewrite the whole prompt from scratch are the ones who report that the face changed.

Add colour last. Appending honey-blonde highlights or deep auburn to the end of a template prompt is reliable. Leading with a colour tends to make the model prioritise the tint over the curl structure.

When to pick a different effect

If the hair you already have is fine and you only want it to move, the Hair Flip tab is the better tool — it animates existing hair rather than replacing it, which is always more faithful. If what you actually want is a full styled look rather than just a hairstyle, Outfit Reveal handles the clothing side. And if you want the new hair shown off in motion at full length, Fashion Walk gives you a full-body runway result instead of a head-and-shoulders one.

Model choice matters more than prompt choice here. Hair is a motion problem, and Runway Gen-3 is the value pick at 10 credits while Kling V2.5 Turbo at 40 credits is the one to reach for when the curls have to genuinely bounce. Full plan and credit-pack pricing is on the pricing page — one-time packs start at $2.49 for 75 credits and never expire.

Frequently asked questions

How much does one curly hair video cost?

10 credits on the default Runway Gen-3 at 720p for 5 seconds, which is $0.50 at the Lite rate of $0.05 per credit. New accounts get 10 free credits with no card, so your first one is free.

Does it change my face?

It should not. Every built-in template prompt includes an explicit instruction to preserve face shape, features, identity and skin tone. Small drift is possible, and it is most likely when you replace the whole prompt with your own text or upload a low-resolution photo.

Can I use a photo of someone else?

Only with that person’s consent. Generating or sharing a video built from someone else’s photo without their permission is not acceptable use.

Can I choose the curl colour?

Yes. Pick a template first, then append the colour to the end of the prompt text. The template’s curl geometry and identity-preservation wording stay in place.

Do I get a watermark?

Free-tier downloads carry a watermark. Paid plans download watermark-free with commercial rights, at the same credit cost per generation.

Which model handles curls best?

Kling V2.5 Turbo at 40 credits for 5 seconds gives the most convincing hair physics. Runway Gen-3 at 10 credits is the right place to start, and PixVerse V6 at 5 credits for a 1-second 360p test is the cheapest way to check a photo before committing.