AI generated videos are the next tool for content marketers and creators to add to their toolbox. The real possibilities have not been explored. Today, I will show you the process used by our agency to combine Leonardo AI, ChatGPT, and Google Veo for a steam punk inspired YouTube Shorts Video. This is more of a passion project for marketing videos.
Google Vertex AI Veo 2 model proves that it has what it takes to create epic jump cut or B-roll video scenes for any video. It’s not as hard as you think. So I outlined my process. With about four hours of work from prompt refinement to video editing, Google Veo 2 created
AI Tools To Create Videos Using Google Veo 2
Google AI Studio was used to create some of the steampunk-inspired videos. However, Google AI Studio has a quota on the number of videos you can produce. Prompt refine is the key to reducing the cost of video generation.
Our process started with a basic prompt: African American woman epic battle with a dragon on a fiery mountain with comet balls raining down.
Next, we asked ChatGPT to refine the prompt (prompt refined three times): Enhance this prompt for Leonardo AI. Add magic elements, make it cinematic, and Dark fantasy surrealism. African American woman epic battle with a dragon on a fiery mountain with comet balls raining down
Then we moved to prompt refinement: A powerful African American woman, cloaked in enchanted obsidian armor etched with glowing ancient runes, stands at the edge of a fiery, crumbling mountain. Behind her, molten lava rivers twist like serpents, casting an eerie red glow into the storm-filled sky. She wields a celestial staff made of starlight and bone, pulsing with arcane energy. In front of her, an enormous dragon with midnight-black scales and glowing ember eyes unleashes a roar that splits the clouds. The sky is alive with chaos—fiery comet balls rain down from a cracked heavenscape, trailing ghostly light and smoke. Reality bends around her as magic swirls through the air, warping gravity and summoning phantom spirits of ancient warriors. This is an epic final battle between darkness and light, captured in cinematic dark fantasy surrealism—moody lighting, dramatic composition, hyper-detailed textures, and a mystical, dreamlike atmosphere.
We used the first refined prompt in Leonardo AI to to get an inspirational image. We used Leonardo Kino XL model to generate a realistic looking image.
Image Produced By Leonardo AI
Refined Prompts Using ChatGPT
Move on to ChatGPT and upload the images in a chat. Ask ChatGPT to create an image prompt based on the following information
Original Prompt: I need to optimize a prompt to create a video. Assist with optimizing the prompt.Subject Context Action Style Camera motion Composition Ambiance.
Refined prompt #1: Assist me with filling this information in about creating videos.
- Subject: You can also describe the subjects and backgrounds you want, such as “cityscape”, “nature”, “vehicles”, or “animals.
- Context
- Action
- Style
- Camera motion
- Camera positioning and movement: Control the camera’s location and movement using terms like “eye level”, “high angle”, “worms eye”, “dolly shot”, “zoom shot”, “pan shot,” and “tracking shot*”.
- Ambiance.
- Shot composition: Specify the framing and number of subjects in the shot (e.g., “single shot”, “two shot”, “over-the-shoulder shot”).
- Focus and lens effects: Use terms like “shallow focus”, “deep focus”, “soft focus”, “macro lens”, and “wide-angle lens” to achieve specific visual effects.
- Overall style and subject: Guide creative direction by specifying styles like “sci-fi”, “romantic comedy”, “action movie” or “animation”.
Refined prompt #2
• Context
• Action
• Style
• Camera motion
• Camera positioning and movement: Control the camera’s location and movement using terms like “eye level”, “high angle”, “worms eye”, “dolly shot”, “zoom shot”, “pan shot,” and “tracking shot*”.
• Ambiance.
• Shot composition: Specify the framing and number of subjects in the shot (e.g., “single shot”, “two shot”, “over-the-shoulder shot”).
• Focus and lens effects: Use terms like “shallow focus”, “deep focus”, “soft focus”, “macro lens”, and “wide-angle lens” to achieve specific visual effects.
• Overall style and subject: Guide creative direction by specifying styles like “sci-fi”, “romantic comedy”, “action movie” or “animation”. A powerful African American woman, cloaked in enchanted obsidian armor etched with glowing ancient runes, stands at the edge of a fiery, crumbling mountain. Behind her, molten lava rivers twist like serpents, casting an eerie red glow into the storm-filled sky. She wields a celestial staff made of starlight and bone, pulsing with arcane energy. In front of her, an enormous dragon with midnight-black scales and glowing ember eyes unleashes a roar that splits the clouds. The sky is alive with chaos—fiery comet balls rain down from a cracked heavenscape, trailing ghostly light and smoke. Reality bends around her as magic swirls through the air, warping gravity and summoning phantom spirits of ancient warriors. This is an epic final battle between darkness and light, captured in cinematic dark fantasy surrealism—moody lighting, dramatic composition, hyper-detailed textures, and a mystical, dreamlike atmosphere.
Refined Prompt #3 From ChatGPT:
Subject:
A powerful African American woman stands defiantly at the edge of a volcanic cliff in a crumbling, fiery mountain landscape. She wears enchanted obsidian armor etched with glowing ancient runes. In front of her looms a colossal dragon with midnight-black scales, ember-glowing eyes, and smoke curling from its nostrils. Rivers of molten lava twist behind her like serpents beneath a blood-red, storm-filled sky.
Context:
The scene depicts the climactic final battle between dark and light forces in a dark fantasy realm where magic has fractured reality. The woman is a celestial guardian; the dragon is an ancient force of destruction summoned from beyond the veil of time. Magic swirls around them, bending gravity and summoning ghostly ancestral spirits.
Action:
The woman raises a celestial staff made of starlight and bone, which pulses with arcane energy. The dragon roars, splitting the sky with thunder and shaking the mountain. Meteor-like comets rain from a cracked heavenscape. Energy radiates in pulses as the woman channels ancient power in preparation for one final strike.
Style:
Cinematic dark fantasy surrealism.
Hyper-detailed textures, magical realism, ethereal VFX (light trails, fire particles, arcane sigils).
Influenced by Game of Thrones, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Dark Crystal.
Color palette: obsidian black, crimson, glowing gold, ghostly blue.
Camera Motion:
- Opening tracking shot across a scorched battlefield toward the heroine
- Slow dolly-in shot as the staff ignites with celestial power
- Quick pan and tilt upward as the dragon roars, revealing meteor showers
- 360-degree orbital shot around the woman and dragon as reality distorts
Camera Positioning and Movement:
- Start with a high-angle wide shot to show the scale of destruction
- Switch to eye-level shot as the woman takes her stand
- Use a low-angle shot to emphasize the size of the dragon
- Brief worm’s-eye shot to intensify the power of the celestial staff
Ambiance:
Ominous, electrifying, mythic.
Crackling lava, echoing dragon roars, ethereal whispers of ancient spirits, swirling arcane wind.
Lighting is dramatic—sharp contrasts with deep shadows and glowing magical highlights.
Flames flicker in slow motion as if time is distorting.
Shot Composition:
- Two-shot with the woman and dragon facing off
- Use over-the-shoulder shots for emotional power moments
- Wide establishing shots to show the collapsing environment
- Close-up on the runes glowing across her armor and staff
Focus and Lens Effects:
- Shallow focus to highlight character emotion in close-ups
- Deep focus for environment-revealing wide shots
- Soft focus with magical glow effects for ethereal visuals
- Wide-angle lens to exaggerate the towering landscape and mythic scale
Overall Style and Subject:
- Genre: Epic dark fantasy with surreal, dreamlike elements
- Visual Style: Cinematic, painterly realism with fantasy VFX
- Theme: Heroism, ancient power, the final clash between elemental forces
Let me know when you’re ready to upload the dragon image so I can incorporate visual features (e.g. wing structure, skin detail, lighting style) into the prompt for even greater fidelity.
Fourth Tweaked ChatGPT Prompt to use with Google Veo 2
Subject:
A powerful African American woman fights a dragon at the edge of a volcanic cliff in a crumbling, fiery mountain landscape. She wears enchanted obsidian armor etched with glowing ancient runes. The colossal dragon looms with midnight-black scales, ember-glowing eyes, and smoke curling from its nostrils. Rivers of molten lava twist around her like serpents beneath a blood-red, storm-filled sky.
Context: The scene depicts the climactic final battle between dark and light forces in a dark fantasy realm where magic has fractured reality. The woman is a celestial guardian; the dragon is an ancient force of destruction summoned from beyond the veil of time. Magic swirls around them, bending gravity and summoning ghostly ancestral spirits.
Action: The woman raises a celestial staff made of starlight and bone, which pulses with arcane energy. The dragon roars, splitting the sky with thunder and shaking the mountain. Meteor-like comets rain from a cracked heavenscape. Energy radiates in pulses as the woman channels ancient power in preparation for one final strike.
Style: Cinematic dark fantasy surrealism. Hyper-detailed textures, magical realism, ethereal VFX (light trails, fire particles, arcane sigils). Influenced by Game of Thrones, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Dark Crystal.
Color palette: obsidian black, crimson, glowing gold, ghostly blue.
Camera Motion: Opening tracking shot across a scorched battlefield toward the heroine. Slow dolly-in shot as the staff ignites with celestial power. Quick pan and tilt upward as the dragon roars, revealing meteor showers. 360-degree orbital shot around the woman and dragon as reality distorts
Camera Positioning and Movement: Start with a high-angle wide shot to show the scale of destruction. Switch to eye-level shot as the woman takes her stand. Use a low-angle shot to emphasize the size of the dragon. Brief worm’s-eye shot to intensify the power of the celestial staff
Ambiance: Ominous, electrifying, mythic. Crackling lava, echoing dragon roars, ethereal whispers of ancient spirits, swirling arcane wind. Lighting is dramatic—sharp contrasts with deep shadows and glowing magical highlights. Flames flicker in slow motion as if time is distorting.
Shot Composition:
Two-shot with the woman and dragon facing off
Use over-the-shoulder shots for emotional power moments
Wide establishing shots to show the collapsing environment
Close-up on the runes glowing across her armor and staff
Focus and Lens Effects:
Shallow focus to highlight character emotion in close-ups
Deep focus for environment-revealing wide shots
Soft focus with magical glow effects for ethereal visuals
Wide-angle lens to exaggerate the towering landscape and mythic scale
Overall Style and Subject:
Genre: Epic dark fantasy with surreal, dreamlike elements
Visual Style: Cinematic, painterly realism with fantasy VFX
Theme: Heroism, ancient power, the final clash between elemental forces
Final Video AI Generated Video
We entered this prompt into Google Veo 2 in Google Cloud Vertex AI Media Studio.
Here is a bonus video:
How much does it cost to generate images with Google Veo 2?
For our AI video with Google Veo 2 using Google Cloud Vertex AI Studio -Media Studio, we spent a total of $32 on creating 8 videos that were not part of this experiment. The videos are stored in a Google Cloud Bucket, which is NOT factored into the $32 AI video generation cost.
Cost-effectiveness of generating videos with Google Veo 2. It costs $.35 per second of video to create with this model. It can get pretty expensive to generate video content at this rate. In Google Vertex AiI, you can create a max of four (4) videos with eight (8) seconds each. That’s 32 seconds X 35 cents each for a total of $11.20 or $2.80 per video. This maybe cost effective for small b-roll or jump cut scenes, but not an entire video production.
Can Google Veo 2 be used to create YouTube shorts? Yes, but at a significant cost per video. You may not re-coup the cost. You still have to factor in the video editing cost.
Can Google Veo Be used for long-form video content? Due to the prohibitive cost associated with generating video with this AI video model, finding alternatives is suggested.
What are some limitations with Google Veo 2?
- Google Veo 2 only allows one image upload to use as inspiration for the video.
- Advance prompting will be required to reduce the cost incurred for video production with Veo 2.
- Google Veo 2 can run in Google AI Studio, but has quotas and limitations.
- Aspect rations are limited to 16:9 or 9:16.
- Frame rates in Google AI studio limited to 24 fps.
- Resolution in Google AI Studio limited to 720p.
- Using Google Vertex AI Veo 2 API can be an uncontrolled billing nightmare without cost constraints applied.
- Google Veo 2 in Google Vertex AI Media Studio only saves prompt history for 24 hours. Then Veo deletes the videos. You must save the videos to Google Cloud Storage Bucket if using the console. You may be able to store the videos on your local drive or other cloud solution if using Google Veo 2 REST API.
- If you store all of the videos in Google Cloud Storage buckets and require bulk download then you will have to use gsutils on the command line or other solution to bulk download all the videos.
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