Building Veo3.im — Lessons from Creating an AI Video Generation Platfo

As developers, we often come across a tool we wish existed — and sometimes, we go ahead and build it ourselves. That’s what happened with Veo3.im, a side project I built to explore high-quality AI video generation.

Veo3.im allows users to generate 1080p videos from text prompts, supporting vertical, horizontal, and square formats, suitable for platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, or even horizontal video ads.

But behind the scenes, building this involved a lot more than calling a fancy API. Here’s what I learned — both technically and strategically — while building and launching this project as a solo dev.

✅ The Why — What Problem Was I Solving?

Most AI video tools today fall into one of these buckets:

Too slow (generation takes 10–30 minutes)
Too expensive (minimum $30+ per month)
Too limited (single aspect ratio, no customization)

As more creators move to short-form and mobile-friendly content, there's a gap for a lightweight, fast, flexible tool that delivers usable video content with minimal friction — and that’s where Veo3.im comes in.

🛠️ Tech Stack Overview

Veo3.im is not an LLM project in disguise — it's more like a video rendering engine stitched together with AI glue.

Frontend:

Next.js (for server-side rendering and performance)
TailwindCSS (for quick iterations and responsiveness)

Backend:

Node.js with WebSockets to handle async rendering feedback
FFmpeg clusters for distributed video rendering
Custom prompt-engineering logic to optimize for different video styles

AI APIs:

Integrated with 3rd-party generative tools like Dreamina, Pika Labs, RunwayML (abstracted via a service layer)
Internal models for facial consistency and transition smoothing

Storage & Delivery:

Supabase for user/auth/session management
Cloudflare R2 for cost-efficient video delivery CDN

Payments:

Stripe for one-time purchases and membership subscriptions

📉 What Went Wrong (aka Lessons Learned)

1. Prompt Engineering Is the Real MVP

Rendering a believable 15-second clip depends 80% on the prompt. Motion design, outfit transitions, facial angles — if not carefully defined, you get glitchy, inconsistent, or completely random results. I had to build a system that auto-adjusts prompts for character continuity and smooth edits.

2. Most Users Don’t Care About "AI"

Developers love talking about models and architectures. End users don’t. The homepage originally emphasized the AI tech stack… no one read it. Once I shifted to use-case-driven demos (e.g., “create an outfit transformation video”), engagement went up 4x.

3. Moderation Is a Must-Have, Not a “Later” Feature

If you let users submit prompts + generate images or video, some will push limits. From day one, I had to build:

NSFW filtering
Copyright detection for uploaded images
Blocking system for abusive prompt patterns

4. High-Quality Generation ≠ Scalable By Default

Rendering a 1080p video (even just 15 seconds) costs resources. I underestimated GPU load and bandwidth usage early on. Solution: I introduced a $9.90 starter pack for early users to test, combined with pay-as-you-go usage credits.

🌟 Key Features of Veo3.im

Multi-format support: vertical (9:16), horizontal (16:9), square (1:1)
Prompt-based storytelling with chained actions and character changes
Fast generation: ~2–5 minutes per clip
Reference image input (users can upload a keyframe to guide output)
Designed for commercial use: creators, freelancers, marketers

📌 Future Roadmap

✂️ Template system for pre-defined scene flows (ads, explainers, effects)
🧠 Prompt sharing hub for community collaboration
📈 Real-time rendering previews + timeline-based editor (under dev)

🧠 Developer-to-Developer Reflections

I know many here are exploring GenAI tooling, dev tools, or creator platforms. Here are a few things I’d love your thoughts on:

How are you optimizing prompt flows in creative applications?
What trade-offs have you found around freemium vs usage-based pricing?
Any experience building early-mover content communities around niche tools?

If you're curious, you can try it out at 👉 https://veo3.im

Happy to answer questions about the tech stack, deployment setup, or even just brainstorm video UX ideas. Thanks for reading!

🎥 Building Veo3.im — An AI Video Generation Platform for Creators (With Lessons Learned)