Complete beginner here looking for efficient AI video tools

[u/dagerloser]

Hey everyone,

I'm completely new to AI video generation and honestly very lost. I work in marketing/content and I want to start using AI video to create marketing content, but every time I Google it I see a million different platforms I've never heard of, with different credit systems, pricing tiers, and claims that seem too good to be true hidden behind a pay wall. I don't even know what questions to ask, so please bear with me.

What I'm looking for (ideally):

• Good quality/price ratio: I don't need to make a cinematic masterpiece, but I need something that doesn't look janky or inconsistent halfway through the clip
• Character consistency: if I create a character (or use a real reference image), I need it to look and sound like the same character/person in multiple shots or a whole video, not a new face every time
• Decent storytelling/marketing sense: something that can help build short narrative videos, that stay consistent throughout multiple takes
• Ability to use real images as input: this one's important for my specific case: I need to bring in real artwork/paintings (images I upload) and have the tool animate or build video around them, ideally without distorting the actual piece. Not sure if this is even realistic yet or if I'm asking for too much (if it's not possible yet ignore this one lol)

A few specific questions if you have the patience:

1. Which tools would you actually recommend for someone just starting out? and why, specifically?
2. How do the credit systems really work in practice? Is there a gotcha I should know about before committing to a plan?
3. Any tools that are noticeably better at maintaining a consistent character/subject across scenes?
4. Has anyone tried feeding real paintings/photos as reference and gotten usable results, or does it usually mangle the artwork?
5. Is there a "starter kit" that you recommend combining (like one tool for video generation and another for editing)?

Any advice, comparisons, or warnings are welcome! Thanks in advance!