What is Kling O1? A Complete Guide to the Next-Level AI Video Model

December 9, 2025

When Kuaishou announced its Kling Omni Launch Week, the AIGC community immediately took notice. The highlight of the event was the debut of Kling O1 (Omni One), a new unified multimodal video foundation model designed to challenge Google’s Veo 3.1, Runway Gen-3 Alpha, and even OpenAI’s Sora in controllability, cinematic consistency, and shot-level precision.

Kling O1 is not just another upgrade. Kling O1 is a next-generation multimodal video generation model capable of converting text, images, and video references into high-fidelity, highly controllable cinematic video.

It relies on a unified multimodal architecture and a visual-language framework (often described as MVL), enabling it to:

Generate videos from text (T2V)
Animate still images (I2V)
Transform existing footage (V2V)
Extend shots with continuous motion
Edit scenes while preserving character identity
Apply camera-motion or style references

Instead of isolated tools for isolated tasks, Kling O1 acts as a single AI video engine for all stages of production.

Core Technical Features of Kling O1

Unified Multimodal Architecture

While most models treat text, images, or video as separate pipelines, Kling O1 processes them together inside one large video foundation model. This enables:

Multi-input prompting (text + image + video simultaneously)
Consistent character identity across shots
Seamless blend of motion, composition, and style
More accurate visual reasoning (via multimodal visual language)

This foundation gives O1 more coherence, predictability, and stylistic control than earlier Kling models.

Director-Level Camera and Motion Control

Kling O1 aims to replicate how real filmmakers think. It supports highly specific shot-level instructions such as:

“Track backward slowly as the character walks forward”
“Match the handheld camera feel of the reference video”
“Switch to golden-hour lighting and reduce background clutter”

This level of camera motion control, scene control, and cinematic consistency is one of O1’s defining features — and one of the strongest differentiators vs. Veo and previous Kling versions.

Start-Frame and End-Frame Conditioning

A favorite among story creators:

Define the exact first frame
Define the exact last frame
Force the model to animate between the two

This enables structured transitions, predictable storytelling, and precise multi-shot continuity. It's also extremely useful for:

Motion graphics
Concept art animation
Scene transitions
Loopable animations

“@ Reference Syntax”:

A New Language for Controllable Video Generation

One of the most groundbreaking features of Kling O1 is its @ reference syntax, a structured, declarative way to link prompt instructions to specific images, objects, characters, or entire video clips.

At its core, the @ syntax allows you to explicitly bind creative intent to specific visual assets. Instead of hoping the model interprets your description correctly, you tell Kling O1 exactly what each asset represents and how it should influence the generation.

How to Use Kling O1 @ Reference Syntax

You can assign roles to multiple assets using tags such as:

@image1, @image2, @image3 — characters, props, style boards
@video1 — motion reference, camera pacing, scene flow
@element1–4 — modular components like heads, outfits, objects

Inside the prompt, you simply reference them:

“Use the headphones from @image1 and place them on the person in @image2.”
“Adopt the camera language from @video1, but render the environment in the style of @image3.”
“Keep identity consistent with @image4, but change the outfit to match @image2.”
“Extend @video1 by generating the next shot with the same motion energy.”

What Can Kling O1 Do?

Kling O1 supports the full spectrum of video-generation tasks:

Text-to-Video

Generate cinematic scenes directly from natural-language prompts.

Image-to-Video

Animate still images, bring characters or concept art to life.

Video-to-Video Transformation

Reshoot or restyle existing footage while maintaining camera motion and composition.

Shot Extension / Scene Continuation

Automatically generate the “next shot” with consistent motion and identity.

In-Place Editing

Modify lighting, replace backgrounds, adjust objects, or alter character details without rebuilding the entire scene.

Kling O1 vs Older Kling Versions

Feature	Kling 2.x	Kling O1 (Omni One)
Architecture	Multiple task-specific models	Unified multimodal model
Inputs	Text or image	Text + image + video
Control	Limited camera control	Full director-level control
Consistency	Improved but unstable in long shots	Long-shot identity & motion consistency
Editing	Basic	Comprehensive scene editing
Shot extension	Limited	Native continuous shot generation
Reference syntax	No	Full @reference grammar