How to Enhance AI Generated Video: Fix Artifacts from Sora, Kling & More

AI video generators like Sora, Kling, Runway Gen-3, Pika, and Google Veo are genuinely impressive. But let’s be honest — the raw output usually isn’t ready for prime time. You get flickering textures, soft details, weird hand movements, and resolution that looks great in a thumbnail but falls apart on a full-screen display. The good news? You can enhance AI generated video significantly with the right post-processing workflow.

Common Problems in AI Generated Video

Before you enhance AI generated video, it helps to understand what you’re dealing with. Different generators have different weaknesses, but these issues show up across the board:

Temporal Inconsistency (Flickering)

This is the big one. Frame-to-frame, textures and details shift slightly. A brick wall might shimmer. Hair might change pattern between frames. It’s subtle in some generators (Sora handles this relatively well) and obvious in others. Your brain picks up on it instantly — it’s what makes AI video feel “off.”

Soft Details and Low Resolution

Most AI generators output at 720p or 1080p, and even that resolution is often softer than native camera footage at the same pixel count. Fine textures like fabric weaves, grass, or skin pores tend to be smoothed out. When you try to use this footage in a 4K project, the softness becomes really obvious.

Compression Artifacts

AI generators apply compression to the output to keep file sizes manageable and delivery fast. This adds another layer of quality loss on top of the inherent softness. You’ll see banding in gradients, blocking in dark areas, and mushy details in complex scenes.

Morphing and Distortion

Hands with six fingers. Text that warps. Objects that slowly change shape. These are generation artifacts that no amount of post-processing will fully fix — but enhancement can at least make the parts that are correct look sharper and more polished.

The Enhancement Workflow: Step by Step

Here’s the process I recommend to enhance AI generated video effectively. The order matters — doing these steps out of sequence can amplify problems instead of fixing them.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Raw Output

Watch the AI-generated clip at full screen. Ask yourself:

• Is the motion smooth, or is there visible flickering?
• Are there obvious distortion errors (wrong fingers, warping objects) that would need to be cut or masked?
• Is the overall composition and framing what you wanted?

If the clip has major structural problems (objects appearing and disappearing, severe morphing), it’s usually better to regenerate with a different prompt or seed rather than try to fix it in post. Enhancement works best on footage that’s fundamentally solid but just needs polish.

Step 2: AI Upscaling

This is where the biggest visual improvement happens. Upload your AI-generated clip to an AI video enhancer that’s designed to handle these specific artifacts. A good enhancer will:

• Upscale to 2x or 4x resolution, adding genuine detail to those soft textures
• Reduce frame-to-frame flickering through temporal processing
• Clean up compression artifacts from the generator’s output

For clips under 15 seconds (which is most AI-generated video), the Short Video HD tool gives you the highest per-frame quality. For longer clips from Sora or Kling that can go up to a minute, use the standard video enhancer.

Step 3: Color and Exposure Adjustment

AI generators tend to produce slightly flat, desaturated output. After upscaling, bring the clip into any video editor (even free ones like CapCut or DaVinci Resolve) and:

• Bump saturation by 10-15% — not more, or it’ll look fake
• Add a gentle S-curve to contrast for more depth
• Adjust white balance if the scene feels too cool or too warm

Don’t go heavy on the color grading. AI video already has an “artificial” quality, and over-processing makes it more obvious, not less.

Step 4: Audio (If Applicable)

If your AI video has a soundtrack or voiceover added separately, make sure the audio quality matches the enhanced visual. A crystal-clear 4K video with muddy audio is jarring. Use an audio noise remover on voice tracks if needed.

Step 5: Export Settings

When exporting your enhanced AI generated video, use these settings for best results:

• Codec: H.265 (HEVC) for best quality-to-size ratio, or H.264 for maximum compatibility
• Bitrate: 20-50 Mbps for 4K, 10-20 Mbps for 1080p
• Frame rate: Match the original (usually 24fps for AI video)

Generator-Specific Tips to Enhance AI Generated Video

Sora (OpenAI)

Sora’s output is among the best in terms of temporal consistency, but it often produces slightly washed-out colors and soft details at longer durations. Focus your enhancement on upscaling and color correction rather than deflickering.

Kling (Kuaishou)

Kling handles motion well but sometimes produces noticeable compression artifacts, especially in fast-moving scenes. AI upscaling helps a lot here because it cleans up those artifacts while adding resolution.

Runway Gen-3

Runway tends to produce more stylized output. Enhancement works great for sharpening details, but be careful with color adjustments — the stylized look is often intentional and overcorrecting can fight against it.

Pika

Pika’s output is often shorter and more stylized. The main issue is usually resolution — upscaling from the 720p output to 4K makes a huge difference for using Pika clips in larger projects.

Google Veo

Veo produces good resolution but can have subtle temporal flickering in detailed backgrounds. Enhancement with temporal processing helps smooth this out.

Prompt Tips for Better Base Output

The best enhancement starts with the best possible source material. Before you enhance AI generated video, try to get better raw output:

• Be specific about lighting — “Soft diffused natural light” gives cleaner results than relying on the model’s default lighting
• Avoid extreme motion — Slow camera movements and minimal subject motion produce sharper frames
• Specify resolution in the prompt — If the generator supports it, request the highest available resolution
• Keep scenes simple — Fewer objects and simpler backgrounds mean less for the model to get wrong
• Use negative prompts — If supported, exclude “blurry,” “noisy,” “low quality”

What Enhancement Can and Can’t Fix

Let’s set realistic expectations when you enhance AI generated video:

• Can fix: Soft details, low resolution, mild flickering, compression artifacts, flat colors
• Can’t fix: Six-fingered hands, objects that morph or disappear, physically impossible motion, text that warps
• Partially helps: Moderate flickering (reduces but may not eliminate), slight motion blur, minor color inconsistencies

The Practical Workflow

For most people creating content with AI video generators, here’s the realistic workflow:

1. Generate multiple takes. Pick the best one structurally.
2. Enhance AI generated video with AI upscaling to add detail and clean up artifacts.
3. Do minimal color correction. Don’t overdo it.
4. If combining with real footage, match the color temperature and grain level so it blends naturally.
5. Export at high bitrate. Don’t undo your enhancement work with aggressive compression.

The gap between raw AI video and polished output is closing fast, but post-processing still makes a visible difference. A 30-second Sora clip that looks “pretty good” at 1080p can look genuinely impressive at 4K after proper enhancement. Try it with free credits and see the difference for yourself.