Kling AI Video: Complete Guide to Features, Prompts, and Workflows

Kling AI has rapidly established itself as one of the most capable AI video generation models available in 2026. Developed by Kuaishou -- China's second-largest short-video platform with over 700 million monthly active users -- Kling brings a unique perspective to AI video creation. While Western-developed models like Sora and Veo have dominated headlines, Kling has quietly built a generation pipeline that excels in areas where other models struggle: natural human motion, consistent character identity across scenes, and native audio synthesis.

This complete guide covers everything you need to know about Kling AI video generation. We walk through the model's evolution from version 1.0 to the current Kling 2.6, break down every major feature, provide 15+ ready-to-use example prompts, explain camera movement and style vocabulary, compare Kling's strengths and weaknesses against competing models, and show you how to access Kling through AdCreate's multi-model system alongside Veo 3.1, Sora 2, Wan 2.5, and Runway Gen-4.

What Is Kling AI?

Kling AI is a text-to-video and image-to-video generation model created by Kuaishou Technology, the company behind the Kuaishou (Kwai) short-video app. Kuaishou launched Kling in June 2024, and the model has gone through several significant upgrades since then.

What makes Kling distinct from competitors is Kuaishou's deep expertise in short-form video content. The company processes billions of short video clips daily on its platform, giving its AI research team access to an enormous and diverse training dataset of real-world video content. This training foundation shows in Kling's output -- the model produces video that feels native to social media, with natural motion dynamics, realistic lighting shifts, and movement patterns that mirror the kind of content that performs on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

Kling is available through Kuaishou's own platform (KlingAI.com), through API access for developers, and through multi-model platforms like AdCreate's AI ad generator that integrate Kling alongside other leading video models.

Kling Version History: From 1.0 to 2.6

Understanding Kling's evolution helps you appreciate where the model stands today and what each version brought to the table.

Kling 1.0 (June 2024)

The original release introduced Kling as a serious competitor in AI video generation. Key capabilities at launch included 1080p resolution output, up to 2 minutes of video duration (significantly longer than competitors at the time), and a 3D spatiotemporal joint attention mechanism that produced more physically plausible motion than earlier diffusion-based video models. Kling 1.0 demonstrated that Chinese AI labs could compete directly with OpenAI, Google, and Runway in video generation quality.

Kling 1.5 (October 2024)

This update improved motion fidelity and introduced better text rendering in generated videos. Video coherence over longer durations improved noticeably, with fewer instances of character drift, background mutation, and the "melting" artifacts that plagued longer AI video clips. Kling 1.5 also expanded the model's ability to handle complex multi-subject scenes.

Kling 2.0 (February 2025)

A major architecture upgrade that brought Kling into direct competition with the top-tier Western models. Key improvements included dramatically better human motion (walking, running, dancing, hand gestures), improved facial expression generation, better consistency in multi-shot video sequences, and enhanced text-to-video prompt comprehension for complex scene descriptions.

Kling 2.5 (August 2025)

Kling 2.5 introduced native audio generation -- the model could produce synchronized sound effects, ambient audio, and even basic music that matched the visual content. This was a significant differentiator, as most competing models still required separate audio generation tools. The update also brought improved motion control, allowing users to specify camera movements and subject trajectories with greater precision.

Kling 2.6 (Current Version)

The latest release as of early 2026, Kling 2.6 represents the model's most polished iteration. Key features include:

• Enhanced native audio: Higher-quality audio synthesis with better lip-sync for speaking characters
• Advanced motion control: Granular control over camera paths, subject movement, and scene dynamics
• Character consistency: Improved ability to maintain character identity across generated clips
• Higher resolution output: Support for up to 4K resolution in professional mode
• Speed improvements: 2-3x faster generation compared to Kling 2.0
• Better physics simulation: More realistic cloth dynamics, fluid motion, hair movement, and particle effects

Key Features of Kling 2.6

Let us break down the features that matter most for practical video creation.

Text-to-Video Generation

Kling's text-to-video engine converts written descriptions into video clips. The model excels at interpreting detailed scene descriptions and translating them into coherent visual sequences. Unlike some models that require highly structured prompts, Kling handles natural language descriptions well and can infer visual details that are not explicitly stated.

Generation options include:

• Duration: 5 seconds, 10 seconds, or extended clips up to 30 seconds (with quality trade-offs on longer durations)
• Resolution: 720p (fast), 1080p (standard), 4K (professional)
• Aspect ratios: 16:9 (landscape), 9:16 (vertical/mobile), 1:1 (square), 4:5 (Instagram feed)
• Mode: Standard (faster, good for iteration) and Professional (slower, highest quality)

Image-to-Video Generation

Kling's image-to-video capability is among the strongest in the industry. You provide a reference image, and Kling animates it with motion, camera movement, and environmental dynamics. This feature is particularly powerful for product advertising, where you start with existing product photography and need to transform static images into engaging video content.

Image-to-video works especially well for:

• Animating product photos with subtle environmental motion
• Bringing lifestyle photography to life with natural movement
• Creating video content from illustrations and graphic designs
• Generating motion from architectural renders and interior design images

Native Audio Generation

One of Kling's most distinctive features is built-in audio generation. While most AI video models produce silent output that requires separate audio tooling, Kling 2.6 generates synchronized audio as part of the video creation process. This includes:

• Ambient sound: Environment-appropriate background audio (city noise, nature sounds, indoor ambiance)
• Sound effects: Action-matched effects (footsteps, door closing, object impacts)
• Speech synthesis: Generated dialogue with lip-sync for speaking characters
• Music: Basic background music that matches the mood and pacing of the video

The audio quality is not yet at the level of dedicated audio generation tools, but it provides a usable starting point that eliminates the need for a completely separate audio workflow.

Motion Control

Kling 2.6 offers three levels of motion control:

1. Prompt-based motion: Describe movement in your text prompt, and the model interprets it (e.g., "the camera slowly pans left as the subject walks toward the camera")
2. Camera presets: Select from predefined camera movements (pan, tilt, zoom, orbit, dolly, crane, tracking shot)
3. Trajectory control: Draw or define specific motion paths for the camera and/or subjects within the frame

Character Consistency

Maintaining a consistent character across multiple video clips is one of the hardest challenges in AI video generation. Kling 2.6 addresses this with reference image anchoring -- you provide a face or character reference image, and the model maintains that identity across generated clips. This is essential for creating multi-scene ad narratives or serial content where the same character appears throughout.

Prompting Best Practices for Kling AI

The quality of your Kling output depends heavily on how you write your prompts. Here are the principles that produce the best results.

Prompt Structure

Kling responds best to prompts organized in this order:

1. Subject and action: Who or what is in the scene, and what are they doing?
2. Setting and environment: Where does this take place?
3. Lighting and mood: What is the visual atmosphere?
4. Camera movement: How does the camera move through the scene?
5. Style and aesthetic: What visual style should the output follow?

Key Principles

Be specific about motion. Kling handles motion descriptions well, so specify exactly what moves and how. Instead of "a woman in a park," write "a woman in a red dress walking slowly along a tree-lined path, her dress swaying gently in a light breeze."

Describe lighting conditions. Kling produces dramatically different output based on lighting descriptions. "Golden hour sunlight casting long shadows" produces very different results from "overcast diffused natural light" or "dramatic studio lighting with a single key light from the left."

Specify the camera. Always include a camera description. Kling defaults to a static wide shot if no camera direction is given. Adding "slow dolly in" or "tracking shot following the subject" immediately makes output more cinematic and engaging.

Use cinematic vocabulary. Terms like "shallow depth of field," "anamorphic lens," "rack focus," "steadicam," and "crane shot" are understood by Kling and significantly influence output quality.

Control the pacing. Words like "slowly," "suddenly," "gradually," and "quickly" affect how Kling paces motion within the generated clip.

15+ Example Prompts for Kling AI

Here are ready-to-use prompts organized by use case.

Product Advertisement Prompts

1. Skincare product hero shot:
"A luxury glass serum bottle sits on a wet marble surface. Water droplets slowly roll down the bottle's surface. Soft studio lighting reflects off the glass, creating subtle caustic light patterns on the marble. Slow 180-degree orbit shot around the product. Shallow depth of field with soft bokeh in the background. Premium cosmetic commercial aesthetic."

2. Sneaker reveal:
"A pair of white sneakers with neon green accents on a rotating platform against a black background. Dramatic rim lighting highlights the shoe's silhouette. The platform rotates slowly as the camera tilts upward from sole to top. Dust particles float in the backlight. Cinematic product photography style."

3. Food product close-up:
"Extreme close-up of honey slowly pouring over a stack of golden pancakes. Steam rises gently. Macro lens, shallow depth of field. Warm morning kitchen lighting from a window on the left. The honey catches the light as it flows. Slow motion at 120fps look. Professional food photography."

Lifestyle and Brand Content Prompts

4. Morning routine scene:
"A young woman in a minimalist Scandinavian apartment pours coffee from a French press. Morning sunlight streams through sheer curtains, casting soft shadows across a wooden table. Camera slowly pushes in from medium shot to close-up on the coffee being poured. Warm color grading, film grain, intimate documentary feel."

5. Fitness brand content:
"An athletic man performs a box jump in a concrete gym with industrial lighting. Sweat visible on his arms. Camera at low angle looking up, slight slow-motion effect. Dramatic sidelight creating strong contrast. Gritty, high-contrast color grade. Action sports cinematography."

6. Travel lifestyle:
"Aerial drone shot slowly descending toward a woman standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking a turquoise ocean at golden hour. Her hair and loose white linen clothing blow in the wind. The camera starts wide and gradually tightens to a medium shot. Warm cinematic color grading with teal shadows."

Social Media Ad Prompts

7. App launch promo:
"A smartphone floating in space against a gradient purple-to-blue background. The phone screen displays a colorful app interface. Holographic UI elements float out from the screen into 3D space. The camera orbits slowly around the phone. Clean, modern tech commercial style with subtle lens flares."

8. Fashion e-commerce:
"A woman in a flowing emerald green silk dress walks confidently down a long marble hallway. The dress flows and catches the light with each step. Natural light pours in from tall windows on the right. Tracking shot following from the front. Editorial fashion film style, slight slow motion."

9. Real estate showcase:
"A sweeping interior shot of a modern luxury living room. The camera starts at the entrance doorway and slowly dollies forward through the room, revealing floor-to-ceiling windows with a city skyline view at sunset. Warm interior lighting contrasts with the blue-hour exterior. Architectural visualization style."

Creative and Artistic Prompts

10. Abstract brand intro:
"Thick streams of gold and deep blue paint collide in slow motion against a pure white background. The paints twist and spiral around each other, creating marbled patterns. Macro photography with extreme shallow depth of field. Smooth slow motion. Abstract art direction."

11. Seasonal transition:
"A single tree in the center of a field transforms from full green summer foliage to orange-red autumn colors. Leaves begin to fall gently. Time-lapse style with smooth transition. The camera holds static on a wide shot. Golden afternoon light. Nature documentary cinematography."

12. Underwater product:
"A luxury watch sinks slowly through crystal-clear water. Bubbles trail behind it. Caustic light patterns dance across the watch face. The camera follows the watch downward in a slow vertical tracking shot. Deep blue water with shafts of sunlight from above. Underwater commercial photography."

Avatar and Character Prompts

13. Spokesperson delivery:
"A confident woman in her 30s with short dark hair, wearing a navy blazer, speaks directly to camera in a modern office setting. She gestures naturally with her hands while talking. Medium close-up shot with shallow depth of field. Soft studio lighting. Professional corporate video style."

14. Tutorial presenter:
"A friendly man in his 20s wearing a casual t-shirt sits at a desk with a laptop. He looks at the camera and explains something enthusiastically, pointing at his laptop screen. Over-the-shoulder camera angle. Natural daylight from a window. YouTube creator aesthetic."

15. Customer testimonial style:
"A middle-aged woman sitting in a cozy living room with warm lamplight, speaking naturally to camera as if sharing a personal experience. She smiles and uses natural hand gestures. Handheld camera feel with slight movement. Warm, inviting color grade. Authentic UGC style."

Advanced Combination Prompts

16. Split-screen comparison:
"Split-screen showing a before and after comparison. Left side: a dull, overcast garden with wilting flowers. Right side: the same garden in vibrant bloom with bright sunlight. A dividing line slowly wipes from left to right, revealing the transformation. Clean commercial style."

17. Multi-element product scene:
"A flat-lay arrangement of skincare products -- cleanser, toner, serum, and moisturizer -- arranged on a marble surface. One by one, each product gently rises and repositions itself in order of use. The camera looks straight down. Soft, even lighting. Satisfying product organization video style."

Camera Movement Vocabulary for Kling

Kling understands a wide range of camera movement terminology. Use these terms to precisely control how the camera behaves in your generated video.

Horizontal Movements

• Pan left/right: Camera rotates horizontally on a fixed point
• Tracking shot left/right: Camera physically moves sideways alongside the subject
• Dolly left/right: Same as tracking, emphasizing smooth lateral movement

Depth Movements

• Dolly in/push in: Camera moves closer to the subject
• Dolly out/pull back: Camera moves away from the subject
• Zoom in/zoom out: Lens zooms without camera movement (different visual feel than dolly)

Vertical Movements

• Tilt up/down: Camera rotates vertically on a fixed point
• Crane up/down: Camera physically rises or descends
• Pedestal up/down: Camera moves straight up or down without tilting

Complex Movements

• Orbit/arc: Camera circles around the subject
• Steadicam: Smooth handheld-style following movement
• Drone shot: Elevated perspective with aerial movement characteristics
• Rack focus: Shifts focus from foreground to background (or vice versa)
• Dutch angle: Tilted camera creating a diagonal horizon line

Style Vocabulary

These style terms influence the overall visual quality:

• Cinematic: Film-like quality with shallow depth of field and color grading
• Documentary: Natural, observational camera feel
• Commercial: Clean, polished, product-focused visuals
• Editorial: Fashion and lifestyle photography style
• Anamorphic: Wide aspect ratio with characteristic lens flares and oval bokeh
• Handheld: Slight camera shake for authenticity
• Slow motion: Reduced playback speed emphasizing details
• Time-lapse: Accelerated time showing change over longer periods
• Macro: Extreme close-up revealing fine details
• Film grain: Analog texture overlay for vintage or cinematic feel

Kling vs. Other Models: Strengths and Weaknesses

No single AI video model is best at everything. Understanding where Kling excels and where it falls short helps you choose the right model for each project.

Where Kling Excels

Human motion and dancing: Kling produces some of the most natural human movement of any AI video model. Walking, dancing, hand gestures, and full-body motion are consistently more fluid and physically plausible than most competitors. This comes from Kuaishou's massive dataset of short-form human performance content.

Native audio generation: Kling's built-in audio is a genuine workflow advantage. While the audio quality is not studio-grade, having synchronized sound effects, ambient audio, and basic speech without a separate tool saves significant production time.

Character consistency: Kling's reference image anchoring produces stronger character consistency across clips than most competitors, making it well-suited for multi-scene narratives and serial content.

Social media native content: Videos generated by Kling tend to feel native to social platforms -- the motion pacing, framing, and visual style align well with what performs on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.

Cost efficiency: Kling's pricing is generally lower than Sora and Veo for comparable quality, making it attractive for high-volume content production.

Where Kling Has Limitations

Photorealistic environments: For highly detailed architectural, landscape, or environmental scenes, Veo 3.1 and Sora 2 tend to produce more photorealistic results. Kling sometimes introduces subtle stylization in complex backgrounds.

Text rendering: While improved in 2.6, Kling still occasionally struggles with legible text within generated video. Runway Gen-4 and Veo 3.1 currently lead in text rendering accuracy.

Very long durations: Beyond 10 seconds, Kling's coherence degrades more noticeably than some competitors. For extended scenes, generating shorter clips and compositing may produce better results.

Fine motor details: Very detailed hand movements, finger counting, and small object manipulation remain challenging, though this is an industry-wide limitation.

Using Kling Through AdCreate's Multi-Model System

One of the biggest advantages of working with Kling through a multi-model platform like AdCreate is the ability to choose the best model for each specific shot or use case, rather than being locked into a single model's strengths and limitations.

How Multi-Model Generation Works

AdCreate integrates Kling 2.6 alongside four other leading AI video models: Veo 3.1 from Google, Sora 2 from OpenAI, Wan 2.5, and Runway Gen-4. When you create a video ad, you can:

1. Select a specific model based on the type of content you need
2. Generate the same prompt across multiple models and compare outputs
3. Mix models within a single project -- use Kling for character shots, Veo for environments, Runway for motion graphics
4. Let AdCreate's AI recommend the optimal model based on your prompt content

When to Choose Kling in AdCreate

Within AdCreate's multi-model system, select Kling 2.6 when your project needs:

• Talking head or spokesperson video (pair with Persona AI talking avatars for 100+ avatar options in 40+ languages)
• Dancing, fitness, or high-motion human content
• Social media native content for TikTok, Reels, or Shorts
• Content with synchronized audio
• UGC-style testimonial and review content
• High-volume production where cost efficiency matters

Combining Kling with AdCreate Features

Ad Wizard + Kling: Use AdCreate's Ad Wizard templates (50+ templates) to structure your ad concept, then generate the video with Kling for optimal human motion and social-native feel.

Trend Scout + Kling: Use AdCreate's Trend Scout to identify trending ad formats and visual styles, then generate trend-adapted content with Kling's social-native output quality.

AI Toolbox + Kling: Leverage the AI Toolbox (16+ tools including script writer, hook generator, and caption creator) to develop your creative concepts, then bring them to life with Kling's generation engine.

Text-to-Video + Kling: Write your scene descriptions and generate directly through AdCreate's text-to-video pipeline with Kling selected as your generation model.

Commercial Use and Licensing

Understanding the commercial licensing terms for Kling-generated content is critical for advertising use.

Kling's Commercial Terms

As of early 2026, Kling's commercial licensing works as follows:

• Paid plan users receive full commercial usage rights for generated content
• Free tier users have limited commercial rights -- generated content may be used for personal projects but not for paid advertising or resale
• API users receive commercial rights as specified in their API agreement
• Content generated through third-party platforms (like AdCreate) inherits the commercial terms of that platform, which typically include full commercial rights for paid subscribers

Important Considerations for Advertisers

• Always use a paid plan or platform when generating content for commercial advertising
• Kling-generated content can be used in paid social ads, website content, email marketing, and digital advertising
• Review Kuaishou's terms of service periodically, as AI licensing terms evolve frequently
• When using Kling through AdCreate, commercial rights are included with all paid plans -- you own the content you generate

Advanced Techniques

Reference Image Workflows

For maximum control over Kling's output, use reference images strategically:

1. Character reference: Upload a face or full-body photo to anchor character identity across multiple generated clips
2. Style reference: Provide an image that represents your desired visual style -- Kling will match the color grading, lighting approach, and compositional style
3. Product reference: Upload product photos and use image-to-video to animate them while maintaining product accuracy
4. Scene reference: Provide a photograph of a real location, and use it as the foundation for your generated scene

Style Transfer Techniques

Kling supports style transfer through prompt engineering:

• Film era emulation: "Shot on 35mm Kodak Portra 400" or "1970s Technicolor" or "Early 2000s digital camcorder"
• Director-style references: "In the visual style of Wes Anderson" or "Christopher Nolan-style IMAX cinematography"
• Art movement application: "Impressionist painting come to life" or "Art Deco visual design"
• Platform-native styles: "TikTok creator aesthetic" or "Instagram Story style" or "YouTube thumbnail come to life"

Multi-Clip Storytelling

For ads that require multiple connected scenes:

1. Plan your full shot list before generating any clips
2. Use the same character reference image across all generations
3. Maintain consistent style vocabulary in all prompts
4. Generate clips in story order, referencing visual elements from earlier clips in later prompts
5. Use AdCreate's editing tools to assemble clips with transitions and text overlays

Iterative Refinement

Kling's generation is not always perfect on the first attempt. Use this iteration workflow:

1. First pass: Generate with your full prompt to see the model's interpretation
2. Adjust specificity: If the output misses key elements, add more specific descriptions for those elements
3. Remove distractions: If the model adds unwanted elements, use negative prompting or simplify your prompt
4. Refine motion: If camera or subject motion is not right, be more explicit about speed, direction, and timing
5. Final generation: Run at highest quality settings once you have a prompt that consistently produces good results

Kling AI for Specific Ad Formats

Vertical Video Ads (TikTok, Reels, Shorts)

Kling's 9:16 vertical output is among the best in the industry for social-first advertising. Set aspect ratio to 9:16 and use these guidelines:

• Frame subjects in the center-third to account for platform UI overlays
• Keep important visual elements away from the top 15% and bottom 20% of the frame
• Use "handheld" or "slight camera movement" for authentic social feel
• Include "TikTok style" or "Instagram Reels aesthetic" in your style direction

Product Demo Videos

Kling handles product demonstrations well, especially for physical products:

• Start with a high-quality product photo and use image-to-video
• Add "product commercial" and "premium lighting" to your style direction
• Use orbit or turntable camera movements to showcase all angles
• Include environmental context (the product in use, in a setting, in someone's hand)

Testimonial and UGC-Style Ads

This is where Kling's human motion strength really shines:

• Combine Kling's generation with AdCreate's Persona AI for photorealistic talking-head content
• Use "authentic," "natural lighting," and "casual setting" in prompts
• Specify "speaks directly to camera" for testimonial-style delivery
• Add subtle imperfections: "slight handheld camera movement," "natural room audio"

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kling AI free to use?

Kling offers a limited free tier that provides a small number of daily generations at standard quality. For professional and commercial use, paid plans are required. If you need Kling for advertising, accessing it through AdCreate's platform is often more cost-effective than a standalone Kling subscription, since AdCreate bundles Kling 2.6 with four other leading models, 100+ AI avatars, 50+ ad templates, and a full suite of 16+ AI creative tools.

What resolution does Kling 2.6 support?

Kling 2.6 supports generation at 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolution. Standard mode generates at 720p or 1080p quickly for iteration, while Professional mode supports up to 4K for final output. For social media advertising, 1080p is the practical standard -- it meets platform requirements without unnecessary file sizes.

How long can Kling AI videos be?

Kling 2.6 supports single-generation clips of 5, 10, or up to 30 seconds. Quality and coherence are strongest at 5-10 seconds. For longer content, generating multiple shorter clips and assembling them in an editor produces significantly better results than pushing single-generation duration limits.

Can Kling generate realistic human faces and bodies?

Kling is among the strongest models for human generation. Faces, body proportions, natural movement, and realistic skin texture are consistently high quality. The model handles diverse body types, ages, and ethnicities well. However, like all current AI video models, very fine details like individual finger movements and complex hand interactions remain challenging.

How does Kling compare to Sora for advertising?

Kling and Sora each have distinct strengths. Kling excels at human motion, social-native content, and cost-efficient high-volume production. Sora 2 tends to produce more cinematic, film-quality output with stronger environmental detail. For social media advertising, Kling's output often requires less post-processing. For brand-building cinematic content, Sora may have an edge. Through AdCreate's multi-model system, you can use both models and select the best output for each specific project.

What file formats does Kling output?

Kling generates video in MP4 format with H.264 encoding, which is compatible with all major social media platforms, video editors, and advertising platforms. When generated with native audio, the audio is embedded in the MP4 file.

Can I use Kling-generated content in paid ads on Meta, Google, and TikTok?

Yes -- content generated through paid Kling plans or through platforms like AdCreate carries full commercial rights. You can use the output in paid advertising campaigns across all major ad platforms including Meta Ads, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, and programmatic platforms. Always ensure you are on a commercial-use plan.

Does Kling support batch generation?

Kling's API supports batch generation, allowing you to submit multiple prompts and receive results asynchronously. Through AdCreate, batch generation is integrated into the Ad Wizard workflow -- you can generate multiple ad variations from a single brief, testing different models, styles, and formats simultaneously.

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Kling 2.6 is one of the most capable AI video models available for advertising in 2026, and its strengths in human motion, native audio, and social-native content make it a natural fit for performance marketing. Through AdCreate's multi-model platform, you can access Kling alongside Veo 3.1, Sora 2, Wan 2.5, and Runway Gen-4 -- choosing the best model for every shot, every format, and every campaign. Start generating with 50 free credits today.