How to Create AI Videos: Complete 15-Step Guide for 2025

In 2025, AI video creation has transformed from science fiction to practical reality. Industry leader PJ Ace and his team completed a 25-minute TV episode using pure AI tools in just 3 months, reduced commercial production costs from $500,000 to $500, and now routinely deliver high-quality ads within a week. This revolution is reshaping the entire film and advertising industry.

This guide walks you through a complete 15-step AI video production workflow, covering everything from scriptwriting to final output. Whether you're a content creation beginner or experienced producer, this systematic approach will help you quickly master AI video creation while dramatically reducing production costs and time.

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Why AI Video Creation Matters in 2025

The demand for AI-generated video is growing exponentially. Social platforms like TikTok and Instagram see video content demand increase 300% annually, yet traditional production costs keep most small and medium brands away. AI video tools have completely changed this landscape:

• 99% cost reduction: Traditional ad production requires $100,000-500,000, AI tools need only hundreds

• 90% faster production: Compressed from months to days or even hours

• Lower creative barriers: No professional equipment or teams needed - individuals can produce professional-grade work

By 2025, AI video tools have reached high maturity. Veo 3 generates cinema-quality 4-6 second clips, Kling 2.1 excels in motion continuity, and Runway's Act One achieves perfect lip-sync. The combination of these tools makes complete film production entirely achievable through AI.

Phase 1: Pre-Production (Steps 1-3)

Step 1: Script and Story Outline

Use ChatGPT or Gemini to generate initial script frameworks, then manually refine plot and dialogue. Organize story timelines and shot sequences in Google Sheets, and collect visual references in Figma. Generate 3-5 different script versions with AI and choose the most compelling one.

Step 2: Historical Research and Character Development

Design comprehensive character profiles including appearance (hairstyle, clothing, skin tone, eye color), personality traits, and standardized prompt templates for each major character. PJ Ace managed 67 characters and 12 costume combinations in his 25-minute Bible series using color-coded spreadsheets to track character details and ensure consistency across different shots.

Step 3: Visual Style and Prompt Testing

Test visual styles in image models before generating videos. Try different art styles (realistic, anime, cinematic, vintage film), shot types (close-up, medium, wide, aerial), and lighting effects (soft light, hard light, golden hour, night scene) in Midjourney or Imagen 3. Generate 20-30 test images to establish a unified visual tone for your entire project.

Phase 2: Tool Configuration (Steps 4-5)

Step 4: Automated Shot List Generation

Use Gemini or ChatGPT to automatically generate shot lists from scripts. Each shot should include scene number, shot type, character actions, scene details, and camera movement. PJ Ace's Shotlist Generator can create 50-100 shot descriptions for a 5-minute video, dramatically improving production efficiency.

Step 5: Train Custom GPT

For efficient team collaboration, train a custom GPT to quickly convert plain text into video generation prompt formats. This GPT should understand your brand's visual style, automatically add technical parameters like shot types and lighting, and maintain character description consistency.

Phase 3: Image and Video Generation (Steps 6-9)

Step 6-7: Image Generation and Enhancement

Generate high-resolution keyframe images using Imagen 3 or Midjourney. These can serve as static shots, video reference images, or animatic storyboards. Optimize AI-generated images with tools like Photoshop Generative Fill for local fixes, Kontext for adding real objects, and Topaz Gigapixel or Magnific AI for super-resolution upscaling.

Step 8: Text-to-Video Generation

This is the core workflow step. Here's a comparison of mainstream tools:

Prompt Writing Golden Rule: A complete video generation prompt should include 5 core elements: shot type, character appearance, actions, scene, and camera movement.

Example Veo 3 prompt (from PJ Ace's viral video):

"POV handheld selfie on a snowy battlefield, a Stormtrooper in white armor holds the camera, talking to himself while another Stormtrooper in the background builds a snowman, shaky cam, cinematic, film grain"

Pro tip: Generate 2-3 versions of the same shot and select the best footage. PJ Ace generated 5 versions per shot for his Kalshi ad, selecting the 15 most outstanding clips.

Step 9: Character Consistency Management

Maintaining character appearance consistency is the biggest challenge in multi-shot projects. PJ Ace's solution: Build character profile spreadsheets with standard reference images for each character, use color coding to track costume changes, record optimal prompts for each model (Veo/Kling/Runway), and flag features prone to variation (eye color, hairstyle) requiring special attention.

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Phase 4: Voice and Audio (Steps 10-11)

Step 10: Voiceover and Lip-Sync

Professional voiceover elevates video quality significantly. Option A: Use ElevenLabs to generate various voiceover styles with voice cloning and emotion control. Option B: Record human performances or professional voice actors, then use Runway Act One or HeyGen to sync AI-generated character lip movements with audio.

Step 11: Music and Sound Effects

Music and sound effects comprise 50% of video experience. Use Suno AI to generate custom background music with style specifications (epic/relaxed/suspenseful), or leverage GarageBand's free music library for quick editing. Add subtle Foley effects (footsteps, ambient sounds, action effects) using Freesound.org or Adobe Audition sound libraries.

Phase 5: Post-Production (Steps 12-15)

Step 12-13: Editing and Color Grading

Assemble all clips in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve. For pacing: ads/short videos use 1-2 second shots for fast rhythm, narrative films use 3-5 second shots for viewer contemplation. Use 90% hard cuts for professional feel, reserving dissolves for time jumps or emotional transitions.

Color grading is key to making AI-generated videos look "cinematic." Use preset LUTs to quickly establish tone, reduce highlights and saturation to avoid "plastic" appearance, add film grain for texture, and optionally add lens flares or vignettes. PJ Ace used this color grading workflow in the Grok 4 promo to achieve Hollywood-level visual effects from AI-generated footage.

Step 14-15: Iteration and Final Review

Don't rush to publish after completion - conduct multiple review rounds. Check story logic coherence, character appearance consistency, audio-visual sync, pacing issues, and brand message clarity. Test with 5-10 representative users, record when they stop watching, verify core message understanding, and adjust editing or regenerate problematic shots based on feedback.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overly simple prompts: "A girl walking in forest" yields mediocre results. Include shot type, character appearance, actions, lighting, and camera movement.

• Wrong tool selection: Use Veo 3 for wide shots and complex camera movements, Kling for action scenes, and Runway for character close-ups. Choose tools based on shot requirements.

• Ignoring aspect ratios: TikTok/Instagram Reels need 9:16 vertical, YouTube/ads need 16:9 horizontal, Instagram feed needs 1:1 square. Specify correct ratios when generating to avoid post-crop quality loss.

• Character consistency breakdown: Use spreadsheet tracking from Step 9 to monitor visual traits for each character.

• Over-relying on AI, neglecting creativity: AI is a tool, not a replacement. Scripts, emotional design, and pacing control still require human direction.

Pro Tips from PJ Ace

• Batch generation, select the best: Don't expect perfect footage in one try. Generate 3-5 versions per critical shot and choose the best.

• HeyGen for batch UGC production: Need large volumes of user-generated content style videos? Use HeyGen AI Studio to create virtual presenters, input scripts for automatic "real person" explanation videos, and test different opening hooks for rapid iteration.

• Reference image upload feature: Veo 3's "Frames to Video" lets you upload reference images to generate videos of characters speaking or performing actions - extremely useful for product demos and brand virtual spokespersons.

• Midjourney excels at anime styles: For anime, 2D, or artistic style projects, Midjourney Video is the top choice with video quality far exceeding other tools.

• Low-cost creative testing: Traditional ads require hundreds of thousands for trial and error; AI tools let you test 10 different concepts for hundreds of dollars. Generate 3-5 different 15-second ad styles, run small-scale tests (Facebook/TikTok ads), analyze completion and click rates, then scale the best-performing version.

Conclusion: The AI Video Era Has Arrived

AI video creation is no longer distant future - it's a skill every content creator, brand, and business should master in 2025. This 15-step workflow has been validated by PJ Ace and numerous creators, efficiently producing everything from 25-minute series to 15-second viral clips, brand commercials to personal vlogs.

Key takeaways: Pre-production (Steps 1-3) lays the foundation for success. Tool configuration (Steps 4-5) improves collaboration efficiency. Core generation (Steps 6-9) requires flexible use of Veo 3/Kling/Runway while maintaining character consistency. Audio production (Steps 10-11) comprises 50% of experience and cannot be neglected. Post-production optimization (Steps 12-15) elevates work from "AI-generated" to "professionally produced."

Most importantly, don't be intimidated by technical details. Start with a small project (30-60 second short video) to practice and optimize as you go. AI tools iterate extremely fast - skills learned today create value tomorrow.

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