Three steps
- Festive shot. Turn an ordinary photo into a New Year or holiday portrait.
- Animation. The video model adds movement: a smile, falling snow, twinkling garlands.
- Sound. Speech, music or holiday ambience. Models with sound generate it together with the video.
Step 1. Festive shot
If you already have a suitable photo, skip this step. If not, upload an ordinary portrait to Nano Banana Pro and describe the festive look:
Keep the face and features of the person in the photo unchanged. Cosy New Year portrait at home, red knitted sweater, a mug of cocoa, a Christmas tree with warm lights in the background. Format 9:16.
Choose the format for the platform right away: 9:16 for messengers and stories, 16:9 for a screen. 12 New Year ideas with prompts: New Year AI photoshoot.
Step 2. Animation
Upload the shot to a video model in «from photo» mode (image-to-video). On KADR there is the «Animate photo» mode for this.
Which model to choose:
| Model | When to use | 6 s, 1080p, with sound |
|---|---|---|
| Veo 3.1 Lite | simple animation, atmosphere, inexpensive | ~84 rub. |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | better light and detail, speech | ~126 rub. |
| Kling v3 | a real person in close-up, facial expressions, speech | ~168 rub. |
| Veo 3.1 | maximum quality, speech | ~417 rub. |
Prices on KADR, October 2026. This is not a public offer.
The animation rule: the less movement, the better the face holds. A smile, a head turn, a wave of the hand work. Dancing and running in close-up often break the likeness.
Step 3. Sound and speech
Models with sound generate it from the description in the prompt. There are three options.
Ambience: «crackling fireplace, quiet New Year melody, clinking glasses».
Speech: a short phrase in quotation marks, and the character will say it: «says to the camera: «Happy New Year, Mom!»». The line can be in Russian too («С Новым годом, мама!»), but in Russian the lips match the speech worse than in English, so keep the phrase short, 3 to 6 words.
Music on top: generate the video without speech and add a track and text in a video editor. This makes a long greeting easier.
More about talking characters: AI avatar and talking head.
Ready prompts
New Year, smile and snow:
The person in the photo smiles softly and waves at the camera, snow falls outside the window, the Christmas tree garlands twinkle. Static camera. Sound: quiet New Year melody, crackling fireplace.
New Year with a greeting:
The person in the photo looks into the camera, smiles and says: «Happy New Year! Wishing you happiness!». Warm garland light, slow camera push-in. Sound: quiet background music.
The spoken line can be written in Russian if the greeting is for a Russian-speaking audience.
Birthday:
The person in the photo blows out the candles on a cake, confetti flies around, everyone laughs. Slow push-in. Sound: applause, cheerful shouts.
Old family photo:
The people in the photo slightly turn their heads and smile, light natural movement, the camera is still. Sound: quiet warm melody.
Not sure about the wording? The «Improve» button on KADR will rewrite the prompt and suggest a model.
If the model refuses
A refusal is almost always about moderation: a realistic face, a child in the frame, a famous person. Seedance filters real faces more strictly than others, Kling is more relaxed about them. Change the model before rewriting the prompt. And a rule: make greetings with your own photos or photos of people who do not mind. You cannot use celebrities’ voices and faces: AI voice cloning.
How much a whole greeting costs
| Option | What it includes | Approx. |
|---|---|---|
| Simple | the photo as is + Veo 3.1 Lite, 6 s | ~84 rub. |
| With a festive shot | Nano Banana Pro + Veo 3.1 Fast, 6 s | ~150 rub. |
| With a real person speaking | Nano Banana Pro + Kling v3, 6 s | ~190 rub. |
| Long, 3 scenes | 3 Nano Banana Pro shots + 3 Veo 3.1 Fast clips | ~455 rub. |
To account for failed attempts, multiply by 1.5 to 2. How to animate a photo in detail: how to animate a photo with AI.
In short
An AI video greeting is made from a single photo: a festive shot in Nano Banana Pro, animation in Kling v3 or Veo 3.1, sound and a short line right in the prompt. A 6-second clip with sound costs from 84 rubles. Keep the movement minimal and the phrase short, and the face and speech will look natural.
