How can video creators utilize and benefit from AI?

New, high-profile AI tool releases and upcoming announcements prove the first wave of exciting generative video solutions is far from over. Ideas and techniques that were previously unimaginable are bursting out of creator studios every day. In such a moment, visual content creators are left wondering how to put their best foot forward.

The individual's capacity to create astonishing visuals is expanding all the time. Platforms such as Midjourney or ChatGPT make drafting ideas fun and efficient. Meanwhile, fine-tuned tools like Adobe Firefly or Descript can boost your technical skills, helping you take your craft to a new level.

Both specialist and consumer-grade AI solutions can help you with tough or repetitive tasks such as scriptwriting, editing, and subtitling. Naturally, each tool has its own learning curve and fits into new workflows depending on the context. But mastering them leaves you more time to focus on the unique value that you bring to a brief, be that your visual conception, your brand insight, or the charisma you emanate in front of the camera.

In theory, sellers can use AI tools to pass on this added value to their buyers. But buyers, in turn, have a new set of expectations. They still want affordable, quality visual content, but they may benefit from a seller who can walk them through what that even means in the age of AI video. Overall, learning about these new AI tools and exploring their possibilities can prove a rewarding way to step ahead.

Improved workflows and results

A new set of visual creation tools has landed and are evolving constantly. They're designed to make creative tasks easier. Whether you're a new entrant or a weathered industry veteran, AI is not just an opportunity to be taken but a skill to be mastered. Here are some changes to incorporate into your professional video practice.

Enhancing efficiency with AI tools

Time is money. Using AI can loosen the bottlenecks that traditionally slow a project's process. Developing more efficient workflows frees time to take on additional briefs or complete higher-grade work, commanding higher fees. 

Many corporate and educational videos require a script that covers certain ground in a set time, with limited need for literary finesse. Video creators can use a freemium tool like ChatGPT to write a screenplay in minutes. Meanwhile, Midjourney now allows you to use the same characters across images, which is perfect for making quick storyboards for client approval, or generating consistent-looking characters and imagery to animate across multiple scenes or videos. Check out this breakdown of ChatGPT prompts to help you work efficiently, including a guide to writing scripts for TikTok. Or check out Midlibrary for help learning Midjourney style and formatting prompts.

The production stage also becomes more efficient as moving sequences can be generated with text-to-video software and refined using Content-aware Fill and Object Removal through tools like RunwayML or Adobe After Effects — reducing the cost and coordination of shoots and re-shoots. Text-to-sound tools also save further time and money while reducing the delays associated with working with a big team across multiple locations and studios.

Another tool to use is Descript, which allows you to edit text-heavy videos (such as interviews or speeches) by editing the transcript rather than the motion footage. Adobe Sense also automates a range of post-production tasks, from scene detection and transitions to audio ducking and color matching. You can send the client a quick but professional-looking rough cut for approval, after which you may finesse the edit by hand. No more waiting around.

Getting creative with AI video generation 

AI video generation tools vary widely in their workflow, ease of use, and sophistication of output. It is essential to choose the right one for the task, taking into account client needs, budget, and skill set. Simpler tools, such as Pictory or Invideo, have stock footage libraries and will automatically cut in between your human-made or AI-generated footage. Simple text-to-video services such as Synthesia can also ease the creation of simple, avatar-fronted presentation videos — ideal for learning contexts or transforming newsletters into videos.

However, it is also increasingly common to generate short motion clips using text-to-video tools such as Runway, Pica, and Wonder Dynamics. You begin with a text prompt or source image and, depending on the platform, adjustable parameters such as camera movement. Or you can draw or generate images and animate them with a tool like AnimatedDiff, combining them with text-to-video footage and adding sound with text-to-speech, sound effects, and music. Adobe AI facilitates animated lip-syncing, and the major text-to-video services are also improving their lip-sync capabilities. Creators may then refine their materials with AI scaling tools, adding detail and sharpening the image as it rises in definition.

AI techniques like these can be used separately or across an end-to-end AI pipeline to pick up the slack if your regular workflow depends heavily on a particular type of content. You might try using it to generate atmospheric inserts for interview scenes or to add production value to your commercial work by incorporating images and sequences that would be impossible to achieve with your resources using traditional means. But it is already feasible and increasingly common to create almost entirely AI-generated sequences and videos.

Staying up to date on AI video trends and developments 

Websites such as VentureBeat, MIT Technology Review, and Wired cover major AI developments, while newsletters such as The Rundown and Superhuman offer daily summaries. Commentators like Eryk Salvaggio offer a more nuanced approach, balancing enthusiasm and expertise with critical thinking.

The biggest news in 2024 is OpenAI's reveal of Sora, its text-to-video generation software. Sora promises to be capable of longer, higher-quality, and more consistent footage and to finally do for video what DALL-E 2 and Midjourney did for images. When Sora is released to the public, creators must double down on their visual grammar and creative ingenuity to differentiate themselves from the pack.

For now, most use cases of AI for video work involve using a service such as Synthesia or HeyGen to transform text into an AI avatar talking to "camera." Common, but more complex uses include completing certain tasks more efficiently or inserting, correcting, and removing individual elements of a moving image.

But more advanced AI filmmakers are already taking the art to the next level: producing previously unimaginable imagery and even full commercials and music videos, innovating sophisticated workflows and hacks based on the techniques mentioned above.

Where AI video goes next will depend in part on the efficacy of the new tools and workflows that emerge — but also on the ingenuity of creators who can offer new, exciting, and more efficient AI-powered video services to their clients.

Additional resources

At Fiverr, we've put together a wealth of resources to help sellers power up:

• Our beginner's guide to the background and essential ideas behind the use of artificial intelligence in business.
• A deeper look at some of the terms and technologies you may have heard about. 
• A rundown of the best AI video generators as they stand right now. 
• The seven best AI video editing platforms you might consider using.

Whether or not you plan to integrate it into your video content practice, AI video is now part of the landscape. Keeping up with emerging tools and capabilities is essential to any creative's professional development. That means there's a lot of learning to do, but also that you're not alone. You can always reach out to fellow sellers on Fiverr to collaborate or to pay for a fast primer on a facet of AI video creation you're struggling to learn.

It's a bold new world, but we're creating it together.