- AI isn’t close to replacing traditional video production, but AI-assisted production is already mainstream.
- AI is most useful when creating shorter videos and to speed up specific parts of the production process.
- AI technology will continue to improve and become more accessible, providing marketers more avenues to create and experiment with video production.
Let’s say you need some social media shorts or ads to promote a new product. You only need a few. Just to test out the market response. You can go to the bother of screening video production agencies, spending money to hire one, spending money to produce the video, and hoping their output works for you.
Or, you can use AI.
AI has indisputably revolutionized video production to the extent that while AI production isn’t mainstream, AI-assisted production certainly is.
If you’re looking to create videos using AI and want to know just what is possible with the technology, here’s your definitive guide.
Understanding AI Video Creation
AI video creation essentially means using artificial intelligence to produce or assist in producing a video. More to the point, it means using one of the many AI video generator tools now available to create a video.
It’s worth noting that the technology is nowhere near ready to completely replace traditional video production across. However, if you’re looking to speed up the production process or, better yet, to create animated videos, AI can be a big help.
Types of AI Video Generators
There are a few different types of video generators available. Depending on what your goal is and the inspiration you’re starting with, one or the other may be better suited for you.
1. Text-to-Video Generators
This is where you provide a textual prompt into the video generator. Something like “a woman drinking an espresso at an artisanal cafe.” The AI uses this to create a short video that matches the prompt.
2. Image-to-Video Generators
These generators use a reference image in addition to a prompt to produce a video. Supplying the image gives you more control over the aesthetics of the resulting video.
3. Video-to-Video Generators
You can provide a video, either as a reference point or ask the generator to modify that video or change it to create the result you’re looking for.
What’s the Catch?
There are certainly issues in using AI to create a usable, publish-worthy video. These tend to limit the utility of AI in modern video use cases.
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Video Length
For starters, most free or freemium AI generators can only produce 5-10 second videos. Commercial generators will typically offer anywhere between 20-60 second videos. So, if you’re looking to produce a two-minute video, you’re going to have to create individual clips using sequential prompts and then stitch them together.
While this works very well for short promos or ads, it can become unwieldy when you have a longer video and near impossible to make work for something like a feature-length movie or episode.
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Consistency
There are AI generators you can use to create videos as long as 20 minutes, even. However, the problem with them, and with AI video production in general, is consistency. Sometimes you might get outstanding scenes that blow you away, and on other occasions, you might see completely distorted visuals. You might see characters that look quite different from scene to scene or even see them sprouting extra arms or heads.
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Live-Action vs Animation
Generally speaking, it’s more of a challenge to create live-action videos with AI. These efforts can sometimes result in the oversaturated hues and surrealistic characters that were characteristic of early AI technology.
However, these same qualities tend to work very well when generating animated videos. This is especially the case if you’re using AI to assist with making animated videos. For instance, you could take pre-developed character assets and keyframes and use an image-to-video generator to animate each shot. You could also use AI for inspiration to create the initial assets for your video and then animate using traditional animation tools.
Ideal Use Cases for AI In Video Production
Even though AI isn’t a like-for-like substitute for traditional production, it can significantly speed up the process. The idea is to use relevant tools during different parts of the production process to save time and effort.
1. Conceptualization and Scripting
Generative AI tools can be a big help when you’re looking to create videos. They’re great for inspiration and conceptualizing video ideas. You can also use them to develop compelling first drafts for your scripts.
2. Storyboarding
Storyboarding is an important part of the production process in that it gives you a framework for the video, helps secure client and team buy-ins, and gives you a starting point for your visual assets. AI can parse your scripts and instantly generate previews and even help ideate with different camera angles and so on. This can save you a ton of time and effort when creating a video.
3. Scene Assembly
AI can help not just create a video, but also put together filmed footage. You can use AI to automatically detect scene transitions. Instead of spending hours or days manually scrubbing through footage, AI can automatically sort it into organized, usable segments.
4. Video Editing
AI can help eliminate imperfections or inconsistencies in your footage. Whether it’s some shaky camera work, awkward silences, or simply bad footage, AI can identify those moments and edit them out.
5. Voiceover and Audio Editing
AI is remarkably effective at generating quality voiceovers using text-to-speech tools. It’s also an excellent tool to achieve stable audio with features like sound balancing, noise reduction, and audio leveling.
6. Localization
AI can be a powerful tool to create localized video content. You can use it to dub voiceovers in different languages, transcribe a video, and create subtitles in different languages, saving hours of manual labor and cost.
7. Animation
Animation is one area where AI can help produce a fully functional, publish-worthy video from start to finish. Whether you’re looking to create an explainer video, a trailer for an animated movie, or anything similar, AI can do the job for you.
Cost Comparison Vs Traditional Production
AI can certainly prove faster and cheaper than manual methods to create a video when applied to large-scale repetitive projects. Pricing differs from tool to tool.
- Veo 3.1: The Google AI Ultra plan is offered at $250 per month. This allows you to make around 20 high-quality videos a month and comes with storage and some other features.
- Runway Gen‑4: Runway offers a few different subscription plans ranging from free to $240 per month, with additional pay‑per‑use API costs depending on the video generation features used.
Depending on the quality and quantity of the videos you need to create, there are different plans to meet your AI video production needs. Failed or trial iterations can eat into your cost as well. However, this is certainly far cheaper than the cost of manual production, which depending on the video, can be anywhere from $2,000 to over $5,000 per video.
At Chamber Media, our expertise with AI allows us to cut production costs by up to 90% and deliver results in as little as a third of the time it would normally take.
Future Trends
AI is destined to become a key part of the video production process with improved features, results, and accessibility as the technology progresses.
1. Improved Workflow Optimization
As AI models continue to learn and develop, they will get better at assisting in video production workflows. This includes better features for systematic testing footage, both during filming and in post production, to help automate and identify areas for improvement.
2. Character and Visual Consistency
While consistency has been an issue when it comes to using AI to create videos, future models are expected to get better at this. Producers can expect AI character libraries that function much like cast databases — with searchable and reusable assets for future projects.
3. Widely Accessible Tools
AI is more or less guaranteed to become cheaper and more universally accessible for creators. This will allow for continued experimentation and more options for non-professional video producers.
4. Increased Transparency
As it becomes harder to distinguish between AI and conventionally-produced footage, you can expect more transparency about the source of any video. You may even see industry regulation mandating the disclosure of AI involvement of AI in any video.
Partner With Experts In AI Video Production
Looking for proven ROI on AI video creation? Chamber Media has you covered. We have an industry-leading production team with deep expertise in using AI to create high-quality videos. We’ve created over 300,000 video ads that have generated over $1BN for our clients. Reach out to us for a chat today.
Being about 60% right brain and 40% left, I break down problems analytically and solve them creatively. I like people more than numbers, but research more than gut reactions. I am a digital marketer, film writer and director, creative strategist, and entrepreneur. I am also a co-founder of Chamber Media, which was acquired by a private equity firm in 2021.