Welcome to the 2024 Edition of the #30DayAIChallenge. This year, we’ll be focusing on making Generative AI more accessible for all. So follow along and give each challenge a try yourself, plus share your own thoughts and experiments with a community of like-minded learners and tinkerers!*
Week 1‘s theme is “Enter The Matrix, Creativity Reloaded“, focused on what you can do personally to tap into your creative spark, plus bring ideas to life.
Today’s Challenge: Use AI To Create Compelling Videos
Video content absolutely dominates the digital landscape, captivating audiences across social media, educational platforms, and entertainment websites. As we dive into Day 6 of our #30DayAIChallenge, we’re exploring how Generative AI tools can revolutionize the process of creating engaging and compelling video content. Whether you’re looking to produce educational content, entertainment, or promotional videos, AI offers a plethora of tools to make video creation more accessible, efficient, and creative.
How Beginners Can Approach This Challenge
Creating videos with AI might sound daunting, but it’s more accessible than you think! Here’s how beginners can get started:
- Choose the Right AI Tool: Depending on your objective, start with user-friendly platforms like RunwayML, Pika, Kaiber, Lumen5, or Descript. These tools offer intuitive interfaces and AI-powered features like auto-editing, text-to-video, and voice synthesis.
- Start Small: Begin with a short project, like a 1-minute video. Use AI to generate or enhance visual elements, create scripts, or even add a synthetic voiceover.
- Experiment with Templates: Many AI video tools provide templates that you can customize. This is a great way to learn about video structure and pacing.
- Focus on a Single Aspect: Whether it’s AI-driven animations, AI-written scripts, or AI-enhanced editing, focusing on one element at a time can help you grasp the capabilities of AI in video production.
- Watch Out for Quality: AI-generated content can sometimes be hit or miss. Review your video for any oddities in voiceover, transitions, or visual elements.
Some Previous Stories With Practical Examples:
Let’s Try It Step By Step:
For today’s challenge, let’s try creating two very simple and short video clips using popular tools like Runway and Pika to see what we get. The premise…a 3D animation shot showing someone walking down the road in the countryside.
The first, simplest try is using RunwayML, using text to video. I simply put in our text prompt above into the tool, selected ‘3D Cartoon’ for the style and hit generate, to create a 4sec video clip.
Here’s the 4sec video output:
As you can see, the text to video model does a decent job of creating something, though the motion isn’t perfect.
If you want to up the ante, you can get a lot more stylistic control by uploading an image you create using other tools (see our previous post on creating AI images) and then specifying how you’d like the camera to move and which elements of the image to animate. In the example below, I created the image using Midjourney and then used RunwayML, specifying a camera zoom in motion, plus using the Motion Brush to mark the person, the clouds and grass so they can move in different ways.
Here’s the video output from this technique:
For a quick comparison, I did the same thing with Pika Labs:
And here’s what I got…not too bad, but given the higher value for movement, it doesn’t do a great job with the person (who seems to disappear a bit).
AI Video creation at the moment does require a fair bit of experimentation and patience. Kaiber, for example, offers some other interesting options…here’s an older (slightly trippy) video I created last year using this platform:
Advanced Techniques for Expert Users
For those with more experience, AI video creation can take your content to the next level:
- Combine Multiple AI Tools: Use specialized AI tools for different aspects of video production. For example, combine AI-generated scripts, new tools for realistic avatars, and AI-driven special effects.
- Custom AI Models: Advanced users can train custom AI models with platforms like TensorFlow or PyTorch to create unique video effects, animations, or even generate new video content based on specific datasets.
- Interactive Videos: Use AI to create interactive video content where viewers can choose their own adventure or interact with the video in real-time.
- Ethical Considerations: As you push the boundaries of AI in video creation, consider the ethical implications of deepfakes, copyright, and consent.
Remember, these tools are still evolving so this is the worst it will be. We saw image generation take a massive leap forward in less than a year…and the same thing will happen with AI video generation soon. A great example of this is OpenAI’s demo of Sora recently, which shows a big leap forward in terms of quality and realism (see the demo reel below):
Not to be outdone, Alibaba demoed EMO recently too, which can transform a simple picture into a video avatar that talks or sings, complete with genuine (or at least believable) emotions.
Wrap Up
The video production landscape is undergoing a transformative change due to Generative AI. For beginners, the journey into AI-powered video creation opens up a world of creativity and efficiency, making it easier than ever to produce compelling content. For experts, the possibilities are nearly limitless, offering new horizons in personalized and interactive video experiences. As technology evolves, we can anticipate even more sophisticated tools that further democratize video production, making professional-quality videos accessible to all.
Of course, it goes without saying that we need to be careful that this tech gets used the right way. While the advantages of AI in video production are clear, it’s crucial to address the associated risks, such as the potential for misinformation through deepfakes, privacy concerns, and copyright issues. To mitigate these risks, creators and platforms must adopt responsible practices, such as:
- Transparency: Clearly disclosing when AI has been used to create or alter video content, especially if it involves synthetic representations of real people.
- Ethical Guidelines: Adhering to ethical guidelines that prevent the misuse of AI in creating deceptive or harmful content.
- Copyright Respect: Ensuring that AI-generated content respects copyright laws and intellectual property rights, using only licensed materials or original content.
- Education and Awareness: Educating both creators and viewers about the capabilities and limitations of AI video technology, fostering an informed community that can critically assess AI-generated content.
- Continual Monitoring: Actively monitoring and updating policies and tools to address new challenges and ethical considerations as AI technology evolves.
By addressing these risks head-on and promoting a culture of responsibility and innovation, we can harness the power of AI to enrich our visual storytelling without sacrificing ethics or quality.
Hope you found today’s challenge interesting. Look forward to hearing about your own experiences…leave a comment and let us know, or tag your Facebook, Twitter / X or LinkedIn post with #30DayAIChallenge so others can find it too.
Till tomorrow…
*Please note: Participation in the 30 Day AI Challenge is at your own discretion and responsibility. Always ensure that no sensitive personal information, confidential, or proprietary company data is shared. Adhere to all applicable local laws and company policies. Enjoy exploring AI responsibly!
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