Hailuo AI Complete Guide 2026: MiniMax Hailuo 2.3 Chinese Prompt Video Generation Tutorial

Latest update, July 2026: If you follow the AI video generation space, you’ve noticed the biggest shift over the past few months — the rise of Hailuo AI. Developed by MiniMax, the Hailuo 2.3 model ranks #1 overall in VBench’s independent evaluation, leading all competitors across quality, coherence, and smoothness. What really sets it apart is that it’s currently the only AI video tool that excels in both Chinese prompt support and IP short drama production.

This guide covers everything you need in one place: registration, prompt techniques, pricing comparisons, and API access.

1. What is Hailuo AI? The Relationship Between MiniMax and Hailuo

Hailuo AI (海螺AI) is an AI video generation product from MiniMax. MiniMax is an AI startup based in Shanghai, focused on multimodal large language model research and development. They have two product lines: Hailuo AI (a consumer-facing video product) and the MiniMax Open Platform (developer-facing API services).

In short:

• Hailuo AI — A web-based product for general users, accessible after login at hailuoai.com
• MiniMax Open Platform — An API service for developers at platform.minimaxi.com
• Hailuo 2.3 — MiniMax’s latest video generation model, and currently the #1 ranked model on VBench

Hailuo AI’s core positioning is a “high-quality, Chinese-native AI video generation tool.” Compared to tools like Runway, Pika, and Sora that primarily target English-speaking users, Hailuo AI’s native support for Chinese prompts is its most significant differentiator. It also offers unique capabilities in character consistency and continuous scene generation, making it a leading platform for AI short drama production.

In June 2026, Hailuo AI opened to creators across 180 countries and regions worldwide. The free plan generates videos up to 6 seconds long, while the professional plan supports up to 15 seconds. Whether you’re an individual creator or a professional team, there’s a plan for you.

2. Hailuo 2.3 Core Features Explained

Hailuo 2.3 is MiniMax’s most advanced video generation model. Compared to its predecessor Hailuo 2.2, version 2.3 brings significant improvements in motion coherence, image quality, cinematographic expression, and Chinese semantic understanding.

2.1 Text-to-Video

Text-to-video is Hailuo AI’s core feature. You simply type a description, and the AI generates a matching video.

Key parameters:

• Video length: 6 seconds on the free plan, up to 15 seconds on the professional plan
• Resolution: up to 1080p
• Supported styles: realistic, animation, 3D, cinematic, ink wash painting, and more
• Chinese support: native Chinese prompts — no need to translate into English

Start here: Hailuo AI Create Page

2.2 Image-to-Video

Beyond text, you can also upload a reference image and let the AI generate a dynamic video based on it. This is especially useful for:

• Product showcases: Upload product photos and generate dynamic showcase videos with camera movements
• Character animation: Upload character concept art and bring it to life
• Scene extension: Upload a still landscape photo and generate a version with weather changes or camera zoom

2.3 Start/End Frame Control

This is a standout feature in Hailuo 2.3. You can define both the start frame and the end frame of a video, and the AI fills in everything in between.

For example: you have a photo of a character standing at a door (start frame) and a photo of that character sitting on a sofa (end frame). The AI automatically generates the sequence of the character walking from the door to the sofa. This is incredibly useful for short drama production and continuous scenes.

2.4 Chinese Prompt Support

This is Hailuo AI’s biggest advantage over other AI video tools. You don’t need to translate your prompts into English like you would with Runway or Sora — just type directly in Chinese:

A woman in red Hanfu dancing under a cherry blossom tree,
camera orbiting around her, ancient pavilions in the background,
sunlight filtering through petals, warm and dreamy atmosphere, cinematic quality.

Hailuo AI doesn’t just understand Chinese descriptions — it correctly recognizes professional cinematography terms like “camera orbit,” “close-up,” and “wide shot.” This dramatically lowers the barrier for Chinese-speaking users.

2.5 New Multimodal Understanding Capabilities

Hailuo 2.3 enhances its understanding of complex scenes, including:

• Action recognition: Accurately interprets adverbs like “slowly,” “urgently,” and “elegantly”
• Camera angles: Understands descriptions like “overhead shot,” “low-angle shot,” and “first-person perspective”
• Scene style: Supports stylized descriptions like “cyberpunk,” “Miyazaki style,” and “ink wash painting style”
• Lighting: Interprets lighting conditions like “backlit,” “dusk,” and “neon lights”

3. Registration & Usage Guide (Starting from Zero)

3.1 Creating an Account

1. Visit hailuoai.com
2. Click “Register / Log In” in the top-right corner
3. Sign up with your email or Google account
4. After registration, free credits are automatically assigned to your account

Creators in China can also log in directly with a phone number or WeChat — no VPN needed.

3.2 Generating Your First Video

1. After logging in, click “Create” to open the creation page
2. Choose “Text to Video” or “Image to Video”
3. Type your prompt in the input box (Chinese works best)
4. Click the “Generate” button
5. Wait 1–3 minutes (depending on queue length)
6. Preview and download your generated video

Tip: When you’re just starting out, try the “realistic style” first — it has the highest success rate. Animation styles require more precise prompting.

3.3 Free Plan Details

The Hailuo AI free plan includes:

• A limited number of free video generations per day
• Maximum 6 seconds per generation
• Videos include a Hailuo AI watermark (free plan)
• Generation speed is affected by queue times (may be longer during peak hours)

The free plan is perfectly fine for exploring the tool and testing prompts. But if you have ongoing production needs, consider upgrading to a paid subscription.

4. Chinese Prompt Techniques & Best Practices

The prompt is the core of AI video generation. The difference between a good prompt and a bad one can be night and day. Here are techniques backed by extensive practice.

4.1 Basic Template

An effective prompt should include these four elements:

[Subject description] + [Action/movement] + [Environment/background] + [Style/camera]

Example:

An orange cat (subject) lounging on a windowsill, soaking up the sun, lazily yawning (action),
a city street after rain outside the window, sunlight breaking through the clouds (environment),
soft natural cinematic lighting, 36mm lens close-up (style/camera).

4.2 Advanced Techniques

Technique 1: Use Cinematic Language Hailuo AI understands professional cinematography terminology. Using it will dramatically improve your results:

Term	Effect
Dolly in (推镜头)	Camera pushes from wide to close-up, increasing immersion
Orbit / tracking shot	Camera rotates around the subject, creating dynamic movement
Overhead / bird’s-eye view	Shot from above, showing the full scene
Shallow depth of field / bokeh	Sharp subject, blurred background — cinematic feel
Handheld camera feel	Slight camera shake, adding realism
Slow motion / overcranking	Slowed playback, emphasizing detail and atmosphere

Technique 2: Control Emotion and Atmosphere

Wrong: A person walking on the street
Right: A dejected young person walking slowly down a rain-soaked street at night,
       head down, neon lights reflecting in puddles on the ground, a melancholic mood

Hailuo AI has strong understanding of emotional and atmospheric prompts — don’t be afraid to describe the mood you want to convey.

Technique 3: Use Reference Styles

Cyberpunk style, neon lights and holographic billboards, a rainy night,
blue and purple color palette,
visual style reminiscent of Blade Runner 2049

Hailuo AI supports references to well-known films, games, or art styles. Just avoid using specific copyrighted character names.

4.3 Examples to Avoid

Bad Example	Problem	Fixed Version
”A person running”	Too vague, lacks detail	”A young person in athletic wear jogging along a lake in a park at dawn, sunlight filtering through the trees"
"Make a nice video”	No visual description	”A beach at sunset, golden light shimmering on the water, waves gently rolling onto the shore, warm and dreamy"
"Create an animal”	Too abstract	”A white arctic fox leaping through snow, its fluffy tail catching the sunlight, 4K quality”

4.4 Prompt Templates for Different Scenarios

Product Showcase

A [product name] placed in a [setting], camera slowly dolly in from [angle],
[lighting condition], product surface details clearly visible, commercial ad quality

Landscape / Travel

[Location] at [time of day], under [weather conditions], camera slowly moving from [angle],
[special lighting effects], hyper-realistic style, cinematic color grading

Character / Portrait

A [age/gender/features] [character type] who is [action],
wearing [clothing description], in [environment], [emotion/atmosphere], [camera type]

5. Pricing Plans & API Access

5.1 Free vs. Subscription Comparison

Below is the latest pricing as of July 2026. Check hailuoai.com/subscribe for the most up-to-date prices:

Plan	Price	Video Length	Watermark	Queue Priority	Monthly Quota
Free	¥0	Up to 6 seconds	Yes	Normal	Limited
Pro Monthly	~¥139/mo ($19/mo)	Up to 15 seconds	No	Priority	Large quota
Pro Annual	~¥1,399/yr ($199/yr)	Up to 15 seconds	No	Priority	More quota

5.2 API Integration

If you want to integrate Hailuo AI’s video generation into your own applications (like automated content production, SaaS products, game NPC generation, etc.), you can access it through the MiniMax Open Platform API.

Sign up for a developer account at platform.minimaxi.com. The main APIs include:

• Video Generation (video_generation): Text-to-Video and Image-to-Video
• Image Generation (image_generation): Text-to-Image
• Video Editing (video_edit): Frame extension and style transfer

API pricing is token-based:

• Text-to-Video: ~¥0.15–0.35 per generation (depending on resolution and length)
• Image-to-Video: ~¥0.20–0.50 per generation
• Bulk generation comes with discounts

5.3 Token Plan Overview

The MiniMax Open Platform uses a prepaid token model with various monthly and annual packages. Compared to pay-as-you-go, token plans have a lower per-unit cost and are ideal for developers with steady generation needs.

When to choose the API:

• E-commerce automated product video generation
• Content platforms mass-producing short videos
• Indie developers / startups integrating video capabilities
• In-game or in-app video content generation

When to use the web interface directly:

• Occasional use by individual creators
• Testing and exploring prompt effects
• Non-technical users

6. Hailuo 2.3 vs. Kling vs. Seedance 2.0 (Comparison)

The top three Chinese AI video generation platforms are currently Hailuo AI (MiniMax), Kling (Kuaishou), and Seedance (ByteDance). Here’s how they stack up across key dimensions:

Comparison	Hailuo AI 2.3	Kling 3.0	Seedance 2.0
VBench Ranking	🥇 #1 Overall	🥈 #2	🥉 #3
Image Quality	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Motion Coherence	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chinese Understanding	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Max Video Length	15 seconds	15 seconds	12 seconds
IP/Character Consistency	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (strongest)	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
Free Plan Usability	Good (limited free)	Good (limited free)	Good (limited free)
API Availability	Full access	Requires application	Full access
Key Strength	Chinese prompts, IP short dramas	Image-to-video, editing features	Multimodal, commercial maturity

Bottom line:

• If you’re a Chinese creator making short dramas or need IP continuity → choose Hailuo AI
• If you’re a heavy image-to-video user → Kling is your best bet
• If you need mature commercial APIs and multimodal capabilities → Seedance is a solid choice

7. Specialized Use Case: IP Development & AI Short Drama Production

This is currently Hailuo AI’s most unique use case — and its biggest differentiator from competitors.

7.1 Character Consistency

The biggest pain point in AI short drama production is character consistency — the same character looking like different people across scenes. Hailuo AI has specifically optimized for this:

1. Image reference: Upload character concept art as a reference, and the AI maintains the character’s appearance across different scenes
2. Start/end frame linking: Use start frames to lock in character appearance and end frames to control final poses — the AI fills in between
3. Scene continuity: Maintains consistent style and color tone across consecutive scenes to reduce jarring transitions

7.2 Short Drama Production Workflow

Here’s the basic workflow for creating a short drama with Hailuo AI:

Step 1: Define characters → Generate character concept art with Hailuo AI
Step 2: Write the script → Break it down into scene-by-scene storyboards
Step 3: Generate scene by scene → Write a prompt for each storyboard panel
Step 4: Start/end frame control → Use Image-to-Video to maintain character continuity
Step 5: Post-production → Edit scenes together, add voiceover and sound effects

7.3 Practical Example: 3-Minute Fantasy Short Drama

Let’s create an “ancient Chinese fantasy short drama”:

Character: Yuehua Fairy (female, white dress, long hair, ethereal) Scene 1: Fairy dancing among the clouds → Prompt describes dance movements and flowing ribbons Scene 2: Fairy traveling through a bamboo forest → Image reference maintains character appearance Scene 3: Strolling across a moonlit lake surface → End frame controls the water reflection effect

After generating each scene with Hailuo AI, combine them in your editing software, add voiceover and music, and you’ll have a short drama of about 3 minutes.

8. FAQ

Q1: Is Hailuo AI free?

Hailuo AI offers a free version with a limited number of daily video generations, up to 6 seconds per video, with a watermark. For longer, watermark-free videos, you’ll need a paid subscription.

Q2: Does Hailuo AI support English prompts?

Yes, it does. However, Hailuo AI’s greatest strength is its Chinese prompt support — you’ll get the best results writing prompts in Chinese. If you want to use English prompts, we recommend tools that primarily target English-speaking users (like Runway or Pika).

Q3: Can I use generated videos commercially?

Videos generated on the paid plan can be used commercially. Please review Hailuo AI’s Terms of Service for details. Videos generated on the free plan include a watermark — verify the permitted usage before commercial use.

Q4: What is the relationship between Hailuo AI and MiniMax?

Hailuo AI is MiniMax’s consumer-facing video generation product. MiniMax is the company name, Hailuo is the product name, and Hailuo 2.3 is the current video generation model.

Q5: Do I need a VPN to access Hailuo AI in mainland China?

No. Hailuo AI is directly accessible in China. It supports phone number and WeChat registration and login.

Q6: How long does a single generation take?

About 1–3 minutes, depending on queue length. Paid users have priority access and experience shorter wait times.

Q7: What resolution are the generated videos?

Up to 1080p. We recommend selecting the HD mode for the best results.

Q8: What’s the maximum video length on Hailuo AI?

The free plan supports up to 6 seconds per video. The professional plan supports up to 15 seconds. For longer content, you can stitch multiple clips together in post-production.

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Recommended Reading

If you’re interested in more AI video generation content, check out these articles:

• Kling AI 3.0 Complete Guide (2026 Latest) — Detailed competitor comparison
• Seedance 2.0 API Complete Guide — ByteDance’s video generation API explained
• 2026 AI Video Generators Ultimate Comparison — 12 video tools compared side by side
• AI Video Prompt Engineering Guide 2026 — Comprehensive techniques for improving video quality