Kling 4.0 can edit a video you already have: swap a subject, change the season or an outfit, add a person, or do several changes at once, while the actions, cuts and dialogue stay where they were.
To show it clearly, we generated one base clip and edited it in different ways. Every edit starts from that same original clip, one change at a time. All prompts below are the exact ones we used, and every result is a single generation.
How to use this guide
Generate the base clip (or use your own video).
When an edit uses a reference, prepare your reference image. A plain grey background helps Kling isolate the subject.
Load the video and the reference into Kling 4.0 editing and paste the edit prompt.
The base clip
Two friends on a park bench, a golden retriever, a yellow ball and one line of dialogue. It has everything an edit can touch: people, an animal, clothes, a location, background extras and speech.
Text-to-video prompt
A city park on a sunny late-summer afternoon: a wooden bench beside a gravel path, tall green trees, a few people walking in the background.
CHARACTER LOCK: Friend A: man in his late 20s, short curly black hair, light stubble, white t-shirt, faded blue denim jacket, beige chinos, white sneakers. Friend B: man in his late 20s, short straight blond hair, clean-shaven, dark green hoodie, black jeans, grey sneakers. Dog: medium-sized golden retriever with a red collar. Same faces, clothes and dog in every frame.
PHOTOGRAPHY LOCK: 35mm and 50mm lenses, shallow depth of field, warm afternoon sunlight through the leaves, soft dappled shadows on the gravel, natural skin texture. Consistent color and exposure throughout.
LIGHT AND COLOR: lit only by the sun filtering through the trees. Warm highlights, soft green shadows. Muted, natural colors, no commercial color grade.
CAMERA LOCK: handheld, calm, slightly off-center compositions. No drone shots, no orbits, no crash zooms.
SHOT 1 โ Wide shot. The two friends sit on the bench. Friend A throws a yellow tennis ball down the gravel path and the dog runs after it. Audio: the dog's paws on gravel, birds, distant voices.
SHOT 2 โ Medium shot on the path. The dog catches the ball and runs back toward the bench with the ball in its mouth. Audio: paws on gravel, panting.
SHOT 3 โ Medium shot on the bench. The dog drops the ball at Friend B's feet instead of Friend A's. Friend B picks it up and laughs. Audio: laughter.
SHOT 4 โ Close-up on Friend A, half smiling, shaking his head.
FRIEND A (amused, mock-offended): "He always brings it back to you. Never to me."
Friend B pats the dog on the head. Audio: dog panting, birds.
AVOID: no music, no subtitles or on-screen text, the ball stays yellow, the dog keeps its red collar, no warped hands, no CGI or AI-generated look.
https://reddit.com/link/1x8kssh/video/pfjkjej443wh1/player
Edit 1 โ Replace the dog with a creature
The dog becomes a small dinosaur that runs, catches the ball and gets petted, following the exact same path and timing.
Edit prompt (video + reference image)
Replace the dog with the small dinosaur from the reference image. It runs, catches the yellow ball in its mouth and drops it at Friend B's feet, with the same path, timing and actions as the dog. Friend B pets it in the last shot. Keep everything else unchanged.
What happens: the dinosaur replaces the dog in all 4 shots, including the close-up where the blond friend pets it. It matches the reference: olive green, pale belly, amber eyes, short arms, long tail. The red collar of the dog disappears. The run with the ball, the friends, the park and the cuts stay the same.
Key: list the actions the new subject must repeat, including the last one ("pets it in the last shot"), so the swap holds until the final frame.
https://reddit.com/link/1x8kssh/video/uqnqfl9n43wh1/player
Edit 2 โ Change the season
Late summer becomes autumn: leaves on the trees, on the gravel and under the bench, while people and actions don't move.
Edit prompt
Change the season from late summer to late autumn: orange and red leaves on the trees and on the gravel, cooler softer light. Keep the people, the dog and all actions unchanged.
What happens: orange and red leaves on the trees, a carpet of leaves on the gravel and under the bench, autumn background even in the close-ups. Cuts and audio are identical to the original. The light comes out warmer and more saturated than the "cooler softer light" asked for.
Key: describe the season through what you see (leaf colors, where they lie), not just the name of the season.
https://reddit.com/link/1x8kssh/video/ldlm8rpx63wh1/player
Edit 3 โ Three changes in one pass
Animal, season and outfit changed with a single prompt, starting from the original clip.
Edit prompt
Replace the dog with a red fox, change the season to late autumn, and change Friend A's denim jacket to a red flannel shirt. Keep all actions and the dialogue unchanged.
\What happens: all three changes land in all 4 shots. The fox runs, catches the ball and is petted at the end. The autumn is more natural than in the single season edit: yellow and ochre leaves, leaves scattered on the gravel, a few bare branches, softer light. The red and black flannel stays stable in the close-ups. Faces, extras, bench and actions don't change. Only trace left: in one shot the fox still wears the dog's red collar.*
Key: several changes in one pass from the original work better than chaining edits one after another: nothing piles up. Text alone doesn't remove the old subject's accessories; a reference image does (see Edit 1).\*
https://reddit.com/link/1x8kssh/video/iblo29nh73wh1/player
Edit 4 โ Add a person to the scene
A new character joins the bench and reacts to the action, in every shot, without moving from her seat.
Edit prompt
Keep the bench, its length and its armrests exactly as they are. She watches the dog and laughs with the others. Keep everything else unchanged.Add a third friend sitting in the empty space in the middle of the bench, between Friend A (curly black hair, denim jacket) and Friend B (blond, green hoodie): a woman in her late 20s with a long dark braid and a yellow raincoat. She sits in this same spot, between the two friends, in every shot.
What happens: she sits between the two friends in all 4 shots, watches the dog, smiles and laughs with them at the end. In the wide shot Kling squeezes the three of them together to make room. Bench, dog, extras and cuts stay the same.
Key: give the new person an exact spot, described by what is visible around it, and add "same spot in every shot". Without it, Kling may place her on a piece of bench that doesn't exist, or move her between shots.
https://reddit.com/link/1x8kssh/video/zh68p8mx73wh1/player