AI Video Creation Guide

AI Video Creation Guide

by Maggie Smoczynski

Creating videos can seem overwhelming, especially for newcomers to the craft. However, thanks to recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), the landscape of content creation has become more accessible than ever before. In the past, filmmaking required expensive equipment, a crew, actors, props, and various other resources. Unless you were part of a company or had connections in the industry, bringing your ideas to life seemed nearly impossible. With the emergence of AI, the world of video creation is now at your fingertips, quite literally. Platforms like Runway, ElevenLabs, and SoundRaw empower you to transform your ideas into videos within seconds and piece them together in a matter of hours. Admittedly, the current technology may result in videos that have an uncanny valley feel, but that can also add a unique touch of fun. Today, I'm here to guide you through the basic steps of creating your own video using artificial intelligence. Dedicate some time to this process, and you'll acquire skills that will serve you well throughout your content creation journey. Moreover, these tools are constantly advancing, and soon, you'll be able to produce studio-quality content from the comfort of your home and with minimal expense.

Every content creation endeavor begins with an idea. This idea can originate solely from you, or you can enlist the help of generative AI (I highly recommend ChatGPT). If you already have an idea, try inputting it into ChatGPT and ask it to create a script and storyboard prompts for a 30-second commercial, encompassing your concept in 7 shots. Engage in a conversation with ChatGPT and iterate on the script until you're satisfied. If you don't have a specific idea in mind, you can ask ChatGPT to generate a few ideas for you and then develop a script and storyboard based on one of those ideas. Keep in mind that AI programs like Runway struggle with generating coherent text, so it's best to focus on wordless shot descriptions for the storyboard.

The order in which you gather and generate your content may vary. Personally, I tend to be spontaneous with my editing, often getting inspired while piecing everything together. However, everyone has a unique creative process and editing style.

Once you have finalized your script and storyboard prompts, head over to Runway's Gen-2 "Text to Video" tool. Here, you can begin generating your videos based on the prompts. Keep in mind that the current capabilities of the tool may limit your control over the output, resulting in unconventional-looking clips that may not align precisely with your initial vision [Edit as of Dec. 2023: Users can now preview still shots before choosing to generate clips, but the movement may still generate differently than you'd expect.] Embrace these abstract generations during the editing process. Generate each shot, download the clips, and store them in a location that's easily accessible, such as your desktop or a dedicated project folder.

After generating all the necessary shots, proceed to generate narrations using ElevenLabs' "Prime Voice AI" tool [Edit as of Dec. 2023: now called "Speech Synthesis."] This platform offers seamless narration generation with high-quality voices. Simply input your script and choose the desired AI voice from the dropdown menu. You can listen to your text in 20+ different voices. If your script involves multiple narrators, input their lines separately along with the corresponding chosen voice. Once you're satisfied with each narration, download the audio files, and place them in the same location as your video clips.

Now, it's time to upload all the newly generated media into your preferred editing software. DaVinci Resolve is a popular choice due to its advanced capabilities and availability as a free tool, but keep in mind that it has a learning curve. I recommend watching a basic tutorial video to familiarize yourself with the software and searching for solutions online whenever you encounter difficulties. Once you've imported the media into the "Media Pool," place each video clip in the timeline according to the script and add the corresponding sound clips beneath them. Adjust the length of each clip to match the narration, which may involve changing the speed of the clip.

Next, identify the necessary sound effects for each scene and download them from platforms like FreeSound. Integrate these sound effects into your timeline. To generate music for your video, head over to SoundRaw. Here, you can specify your video's length, mood, theme, desired genre of music, tempo, and instruments. After listening to the generated music, select the best match and adjust the energy throughout the song to align with each scene of your video.

Now, add your chosen music to the timeline and continue refining your video until it reaches perfection. Incorporate transitions, balance the audio levels, and ensure the timing of each clip and audio segment is precise. If your video requires a logo, I recommend using the AI platform LOGO, which provides a simple and free process. Once you're satisfied with the final result, export your video!

Optionally, you can create a thumbnail for your video using AI. DALL·E 2 allows you to add a reference image from your video alongside written text describing what you want to be generated. To transform the image into a landscape orientation, select your preferred generation, click "Edit image," then "Add generation frame." Make sure part of the square is positioned on the generated image, as this will expand the image accordingly. Type in your desired expansion, click "Generate," and choose your favorite image.

Congratulations! You now possess the knowledge to create your own video using my favorite AI platforms. Take this opportunity to experiment and don't get discouraged along the way. Editing can be challenging, especially if you're new to it. Remember, it took me a considerable amount of time to reach this point, and I'm still not perfect. Give it a try, and most importantly, enjoy the process. I wish you the best of luck!

If you found this article enjoyable, you might also appreciate my  10 Tips for a Seamless AI Video Creation Process. This piece is crafted to assist you in streamlining your workflow, refining your AI-generated video, and enhancing the overall viewing experience.

Tools:

ChatGPT - https://chat.openai.com/  

Runway - https://runwayml.com/  

ElevenLabs - https://beta.elevenlabs.io/  

FreeSound - https://freesound.org/  

SoundRaw - https://soundraw.io/  

LOGO - https://logo.com/  

DaVinci Resolve - https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve  

DALL·E 2 - https://labs.openai.com/