How to turn a song into an AI music video with HeyBop.ai (step by step)

This guide follows one video from start to finish in HeyBop's AI music video generator, from preparing the track to exporting it for each platform.

Step 1 — Prepare the song

HeyBop takes MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC and OGG files: up to 50 MB on the create page, which works without an account, and up to 200 MB in the studio once you've signed up. Any source works as long as you hold the rights, including a Suno export.

• Upload the final master. The video is cut to the beat grid of the file you upload, and that file is the soundtrack. Change the song's length or arrangement afterwards and the cuts won't match.
• Know where your hook is. HeyBop finds it too; knowing your own answer helps you judge the short versions.
• No song yet? Music Lab makes a full song with vocals from a prompt or your own lyrics for 40 credits, and there are free starter tracks made for HeyBop.

Step 2 — Pick a look, a cast and Sing along

Open the create page in any modern browser, on desktop or phone; you don't need an account to start. Three creative choices shape the video:

• A look. There are 12: Cinematic, Anime, Lo-fi, Neon City, Surreal, Nature, Abstract, Retro VHS, 3D Render, Documentary, Noir and K-Pop Stage. Each adds tuned prompt terms to every scene, and you can override it on any single scene. Choose for the song's mood, not the flashiest thumbnail.
• A cast (optional). Up to three characters — people, pets or mascots — each from up to three photos; a character sheet counts as one photo. Photos of a person use reference-to-video so the face stays the same from shot to shot.
• Sing along (optional). Adds performance shots in which a character sings the song to camera, lip-synced to the vocals.

Without a cast, a continuity bible — character, wardrobe, palette, lens, light and world — still keeps the shots consistent.

Step 3 — Make my video, or go scene by scene

Make my video is the one-click route: choose a 12-second hook video, a 30-second video, a 1-minute short or the full song, and HeyBop runs everything through to the final cut. The step-by-step route goes storyboard → edit scenes → generate → render. The storyboard costs 10 credits and clips are charged as they're generated, so you can read and rewrite every scene's prompt before paying for any of them.

Use one click for hooks, teasers and first drafts. Use the storyboard route for a full-length video, or whenever you already have specific images in mind.

Step 4 — What happens while it renders

HeyBop's AI director works in four stages:

1. Listen. It analyses tempo, beats and onsets, the sections (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro) and where the hook hits. This beat grid is the source of truth for everything after it.
2. Shot list. It writes a storyboard against the beat grid: one scene per slot, as 6- or 10-second clips, each with its own prompt, camera move and duration. With a character, a character sheet and a still for each scene are painted first.
3. Shoot. An AI video model generates every scene. You never pick a model: on Standard, hero shots — opener, chorus drop, closer, hook — go to the top engine and ordinary shots to a fast engine.
4. Cut. Clips are trimmed to the beat grid and cut on the beat, with bigger, faster shots in the choruses and room in the quiet parts. A colour grade for the look, plus grain and a vignette, runs over the whole cut, and your song is the soundtrack.

A 12-second hook video or a 30-second video is usually ready in about 3–5 minutes; a full song usually takes 5–10, since every scene is generated separately. HeyBop emails you when it's ready, so you can close the tab. Failed or moderated generations are refunded automatically.

Step 5 — Fix a scene, add captions, export

Watch the whole video once before changing anything. Every scene is its own card: rewrite its prompt or regenerate just that scene for the price of one clip, and the rest of the video, the cut and the sync stay as they are. If the framing is right but the motion is off, regenerate; if the framing is wrong, rewrite first. The prompting guide covers scene prompts and camera moves.

Lyric captions are optional, timed to the vocals and come in several styles. Read them through once before you export.

Every export is an MP4 (H.264): 9:16 at 1080×1920 for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, 16:9 at 1920×1080 for YouTube, and 1:1 (1080×1080) or 4:5 (1080×1350) for feeds. Extra formats of the same video are 10 credits each, and the 15-second hook teaser — the strongest 15 seconds of the chorus — is always free. Paid plans export 1080P without a watermark and include commercial use; the Free plan exports 720P with a small watermark, for personal use. The guide to TikTok, Reels and Shorts covers what to post where.

What it costs

One credit is about $0.01, and every button shows its price before you click. A video costs a 10-credit storyboard, its clips and a 20-credit render:

• Per clip (6 s / 10 s): Lite 40 / 65, Standard 60 / 100 (the default), Best 90 / 150. With a person from a photo: 90 / 150 on Lite and Standard, 130 / 220 on Best.
• A 30-second video on Standard: 5 × 60 + 10 + 20 = 330 credits, exactly the 330 trial credits the Free plan gives you once, with no card.
• A 3-minute video: about 870–1,230 credits (≈ $8.70–12.30) on Lite, 1,290–1,830 (≈ $12.90–18.30) on Standard and 1,920–2,730 on Best. The low end assumes the usual chorus reprises — on songs of 75 seconds or more, a repeated chorus can replay its first shots with a variation, for free — and the high end is every slot a fresh shot.

Plans run from Pro at $9.99 a month (800 credits, about five hook videos) to Studio at $79 (10,000, about five full videos); credit packs start at $7.99 for 500 and never expire. How credits work has the full breakdown.

Checklist

• The final master (MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC or OGG) and the rights to it.
• One look; optionally a cast of up to three characters, up to three sharp photos each.
• A length: hook, 30 seconds, 1 minute or the full song.
• Every scene watched once; only the misses regenerated.
• Captions checked; the first format exported, plus the free teaser.