AI B-Roll Generator: Create Stock-Style Video Clips From Text
June 22, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026 · 9 min read
An AI B-roll generator turns a one-line shot description into a short clip you can cut under narration — up to 15 seconds on AI Growth Kit. It's good at generic, atmospheric shots (establishing views, textures, abstract backgrounds, product-style close-ups) and bad at anything that must show a real event, legible text or your actual product. A 5-second clip costs 50 credits, $1.23–$2.25 depending on how you buy them, and you keep the rights to what you generate — which, as explained below, is not the same as holding a copyright.
Generate it, shoot it, or license it?
Use AI for shots that support a point rather than prove one:
- A generic place or mood: a coastal town at sunrise, rain on a window, an office at night.
- A look stock libraries don't have: your brand colors, a specific camera move, or one idea in several variations.
- Backgrounds for titles and text overlays.
Shoot it yourself or license stock when the clip has to be literally true:
- A real, named place or event — or generate it and disclose it (see below).
- Your actual product, packaging or app screen.
- Anything viewers must read: text, numbers, charts.
- The same person or object across several shots; each text-to-video generation starts from scratch.
The shot formula
Write a shot, not a story: subject + setting + camera move + lighting + mood. Every phrase should map to something visible, so the model isn't left guessing the camera or the light.
Leave duration, aspect ratio and resolution out of the prompt. In the AI Video Generator they're separate controls — up to 15 seconds; 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3 or 3:4; 720p or 1080p, each narrowed to what the chosen model renders — and the credit cost follows the duration you set. Pick the ratio for where the clip will run before you generate (16:9 for YouTube and landing pages, 9:16 for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, 1:1 for square feed ads): cropping a 16:9 clip to 9:16 afterwards throws away about two-thirds of the frame.
Prompts by shot type
These are starting prompts to try, not results we're showing you: output varies by model and from one attempt to the next. Each comes with settings, its cost at 10 credits per second, and what separates a keeper from a reject, so you can judge your own takes quickly.
1. Establishing shot
Slow aerial drone shot gliding over a quiet coastal town at sunrise, pastel rooftops, calm sea, soft golden light, steady forward motion, cinematic travel-film look
Settings: 16:9 · 6 s · 1080p → 60 credits. Keep it if the horizon stays level and the camera never lurches or stops. Reject it if buildings reshape as the camera passes or signs show garbled letters. Leave real town names out unless you plan to label the clip (see the disclosure note below).
2. Product-style close-up
Macro close-up of a matte ceramic coffee mug on a walnut table, thin steam rising, slow orbit around the mug, soft window light from the left, shallow depth of field, minimal premium look
Settings: 1:1 or 16:9 · 5 s → 50 credits. Keep it if the mug and its handle hold their shape through the whole orbit. Reject it if the handle wanders or the steam jumps between frames. Use it for mood: a text prompt can't know what your real product or packaging looks like, so film or photograph the real thing.
3. Hands at work
Close-up of hands kneading bread dough on a floured wooden counter, flour dust in the air, slow push-in, warm kitchen light, cozy documentary style
Settings: 16:9 · 4 s → 40 credits. Keep it if the fingers stay consistent and the dough deforms believably. Reject it if fingers merge or multiply, or the dough passes through the hands. Scrub the hands frame by frame; if a take fails there, reframe so they are partly out of frame or out of focus rather than rerolling the same prompt.
4. Workspace and screens
Over-the-shoulder shot of a laptop on a desk in a bright modern office, the screen showing soft out-of-focus abstract charts, slow sideways slide, cool daylight, calm focused mood
Settings: 16:9 · 5 s → 50 credits. Keep it if the screen reads as “some dashboard” with nothing legible. Reject it if it shows almost-real letters or numbers, which look like mistakes. If viewers need to read the screen, record your real screen instead.
5. Texture cutaway
Extreme close-up of raindrops running down a window at night, blurred city lights behind the glass, slow rack focus, moody blue and amber tones
Settings: 9:16 for Shorts and Reels, or 16:9 · 5 s → 50 credits. Keep it if the drops run downward at a steady pace. Reject it if drops reverse direction or the lights behind the glass flicker.
6. Abstract background
Slow-moving abstract gradient of deep purple and teal light, soft particles drifting upward, smooth continuous motion, clean minimal background with empty space in the center for text
Settings: 16:9 · 8 s → 80 credits. Keep it if there are no flashes or sudden jumps, so a title can sit on top. Reject it if it flickers. Don't expect a seamless loop; crossfade the ends in your editor if you need one.
7. City atmosphere
High-angle wide shot of a busy city crosswalk at dusk, pedestrians as small silhouettes, car light trails, slow tilt down, cool cinematic tones
Settings: 16:9 · 6 s → 60 credits. Keep it if people stay small and anonymous. Reject it if figures merge into each other or cars pass through one another. A realistic street scene is exactly the kind of clip YouTube expects you to label.
What each clip costs
Every model in the Video Generator costs 10 credits per second at either resolution. What a credit costs depends on how you buy it (prices on our pricing page as of September 30, 2026):
| Clip length | Credits | Starter Pack ($9 for 200) | Power Pack ($59 for 1,800) | Pro plan ($49/month for 2,000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 s | 40 | $1.80 | $1.31 | $0.98 |
| 5 s | 50 | $2.25 | $1.64 | $1.23 |
| 6 s | 60 | $2.70 | $1.97 | $1.47 |
| 8 s | 80 | $3.60 | $2.62 | $1.96 |
| 15 s (maximum) | 150 | $6.75 | $4.92 | $3.68 |
The seven shots above total 39 seconds. With two takes each that's 78 seconds × 10 = 780 credits: 780 × ($59 ÷ 1,800) = $25.57 at the Power Pack rate, or 780 × $0.0245 = $19.11 at the Pro plan rate. To spend less on drafts, generate at the 3-second minimum (30 credits) to check framing and style, then render the final length. A take that works but runs short can be continued with Video Extend — 4–15 more seconds with Seedance 2.0, at 10 credits per added second — instead of regenerated.
Is it cheaper than stock? Not when the shot already exists. As of September 2026, Pexels footage is free, and Storyblocks' Unlimited All Access plan is $30 a month billed annually for unlimited HD, 4K and 8K downloads. Generate when no library has the shot, when it has to match your brand, or when you need variations of one idea.
Rights and licensing
- On AI Growth Kit, you keep the rights to your outputs. Section 6 of our Terms of Service says you “retain all rights, title, and interest” in the output files generated for you. The Terms add no separate commercial-use restriction; the Acceptable Use Policy governs what you may create, such as content that infringes someone else's copyright or trademark.
- Other generators tie commercial use to the plan. As of November 2026, Pika includes a commercial license on every paid plan, Starter ($10/month) included, but not on its free plan, and Kling's FAQ grants commercial use to paid subscribers, not its free plan. Check the tier before a clip goes into an ad.
- Your rights aren't a copyright. In its January 2025 report, the U.S. Copyright Office concluded that prompts alone don't make you the author and that purely AI-generated material isn't protected by copyright, while human selection, arrangement and modification can be. You can use the clip, but you may have nothing to enforce if someone copies the raw footage. Your protectable work is what you add: the script, the narration, and how you select and arrange the clips.
- Stock comes with a license, not ownership, and the license has limits. As of September 2026: Adobe Stock's “Editorial use only” assets may not be used for “advertisements, promotions, endorsements, advertorials, commercial blogs, merchandise”. Pexels footage is free to use, including in ads, with no attribution required, but you can't imply that the people or brands shown endorse your product, or sell unaltered copies. Storyblocks' individual and small-business licenses stop covering new projects once your subscription ends; work made before then stays covered.
- Label realistic clips. As of September 2026, YouTube requires creators to disclose realistic altered or synthetic content. One of its own examples is “AI generated extra footage of a real place, like a video of a surfer in Maui for a promotional travel video.” Clearly unrealistic content, like its example of someone riding a unicorn through a fantastical world, doesn't need the label. If your AI B-roll could pass for real footage, turn the disclosure on.
A workflow that keeps costs down
- Write the script first, then mark every spot where the viewer needs a visual break.
- Set the aspect ratio for the destination before you generate anything.
- Draft each shot at 3 seconds; render the final length once the framing works.
- Cap each shot at two or three takes. If the third misses, rewrite the prompt instead of rerolling it.
- Cut the keepers into your edit, add captions and music, and upscale only the clips that made the final cut.
Try it
Open the AI Video Generator, paste one of the prompts above and set the duration; the button shows the credit cost before you generate. For what AI video costs across Veo, Kling, Seedance and Runway, see How Much Does AI Video Generation Cost in 2026?, and for more on writing shot prompts, How to Write AI Video Prompts.