Making a Splash with Generative AI for Video

​Author: Michael Richter

Introduction:
 
In today's digital age, video content has become a cornerstone of effective communication, marketing, and storytelling. As the demand for video content continues to soar, so does the need for efficient and innovative video production methods. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) steps in, offering a game-changing approach to video production. With all the available AI tools, it can be a bit overwhelming for any marketer so I decided to apply my product marketing in enterprise software and executive producer experience to create a comprehensive guide. We’ll delve into the advantages and benefits of using AI in the video production process, explore some of the challenges and concerns it poses, and showcase real-world examples of AI in action, particularly in the context of live-action videos.
 
Advantages, Benefits and Practical Tips when using AI in Video Production:
 
1. **Efficiency and Speed:**
   - AI can rapidly generate ideas, scripts, and storyboards, streamlining the conceptualization phase and saving valuable time.
   - Automated video production tools can create videos within minutes or hours, drastically reducing production timelines.
Tip: Aligning a great idea with your business objective and gaining consensus from multiple stakeholders requires human involvement.
 
2. **Cost Reduction:**
   - AI-powered video production tools can either replace or assist human video editors and writers, resulting in significant cost savings.
   - AI can optimize budget allocation for expenses like music licensing and stock footage, ensuring cost-effective production.
Tip: Of course, videos can be made quickly and cheaply, but quality over quantity is preferable and there is no substitute for business knowledge and experience to vet it against real world scenarios. It’s also important to orchestrate the launch of your video and invest in the publishing and distribution channels to ensure optimal performance.
 
3. **Content Diversity:**
   - AI can generate a wide range of video content, catering to diverse audiences and platforms. This includes explainer videos, promotional clips, and much more.
Tip: And this can be done fast!  The beauty of AI is in the iteration process wherein you can create multiple variations for stakeholders to select from.
 
4. **Quality Enhancement:**
   - AI improves video quality by automatically correcting colors, stabilizing shaky footage, and enhancing audio, ensuring a polished final product.
Tip: This is often an added step in traditional video production. It can save time and costs.
 
5. **Personalization:**
   - AI-driven content can be tailored to individual viewer preferences, enhancing viewer engagement and relevance.
Tip: Don’t lose sight of the reason for creating a video asset. I always say if a viewer smiles, cries, or has an ‘aha’ moment at the end of the video, then you have achieved success.
 
6. **Scalability:**
   - AI enables the rapid scaling of video production to meet increasing demand without the need for substantial human resources.
Tip: Move faster, be more cost effective, focus on the creative, all enabling a higher quality and volume of video assets.
 
7. **Consistency:**
   - AI ensures consistent branding and messaging across videos, maintaining a cohesive brand identity.
 
8. **Licensing and Copyright Compliance:**
   - AI assists in automatically managing music and stock footage licensing, reducing the risk of copyright violations and legal issues.
Tip: When evaluating video editing applications, check whether licensed music or stock footage is built into the service versus working with multiple stock houses.
 
9. **Distribution Optimization:**
   - AI algorithms analyze data to identify optimal times, of platforms, and demographics for video distribution on social media and other channels.
Tip: Centralized social media distribution platforms are a great way to reformat, adjust length, and distribute content to a wider audience.  
 
10. **Performance Measurement:**
    - AI analytics tools offer in-depth insights into video performance, including views, engagement, click-through rates, and more.
    - Predictive analytics help optimize future video content based on performance data.
Tip: Use a social media distribution platform to centralize analytics versus checking every single channel and consolidating metrics manually.
 
11. **Automated Archiving:**
    - AI-powered digital asset management systems efficiently organize, tag, and archive videos, simplifying content retrieval and repurposing.
Tip: Master Asset Management systems are become more comprehensive with script writing, editing, collaboration, and asset management all built into one platform.
 
12. **Enhanced Creativity:**
    - AI suggests creative ideas and visual effects, sparking innovation and experimentation in video production.
Tip: And most importantly, good ideas that hit the mark take time. Focus on quality of an idea over quantity first and foremost, then add the bells and whistles.
 
13. **Language Translation and Localization:**
    - AI can automatically translate and localize videos for international audiences, expanding reach and engagement.
Tip: There are multiple tools that not only can help with your master script and source of truth content and can provide you with multiple formats including SRT files used for captioning in multiple languages. AI-generated scripts continue to improve, but it’s highly recommended to have human-reviewed captions for your master, at a minimum, and preferably for each language. AI can do the majority of the work, but technical terms, proper nouns, or with different pronunciations may result in inaccurate captions when generated by AI.
 
14. **Accessibility:**
    - AI generates closed captions and subtitles, making videos accessible to a broader audience, including individuals with disabilities and by language.
Tip: Consider what you are missing by not translating or adding captions.
 
15. **Continuous Improvement:**
    - Machine learning algorithms learn from audience feedback and performance data, enabling creators to refine video production strategies over time.
Tip: Lifelong learning are words to live by and with the fast pace of technology development, you can never keep up with it all so develop a system of resources that you find useful to stay informed.
 
Challenges and Concerns of Using Generative AI in Video Production:
 
While the advantages of using AI in video production are clear, several challenges and concerns merit consideration. Most of these are related to how people deal with change. Some will embrace it and figure things out, others will downplay it and continue doing things based on their comfort level, and others will wait and see and put one toe in the water.
 
1. **Quality and Creativity Concerns:** Some worry that AI may struggle to match the creativity, storytelling, and artistic sensibilities of human video producers.
Tip: And this is why experienced video producers need to be involved. I would add that relevancy to the business objective needs to be addressed.
 
2. **Lack of Customization:** AI-generated videos may appear generic or template-based, potentially limiting the ability to create highly customized content aligned with a brand's unique vision.
Tip: It’s very easy to create massive quantities of videos but the goal is to generate a positive response or action and this requires not only customization but vision and creativity.
 
3. **Trust and Control:** Resistance to relinquishing control over the video production process to AI algorithms can be a barrier. Concerns include errors, misinterpretations, and content misalignment with brand values.
Tip: These are human concerns versus technology concerns.
 
4. **Integration Challenges:** Integrating AI tools into existing video production workflows and software can be challenging, potentially disrupting established processes.
Tip: I don’t find this to be any different than working with current processes and technology tools. In fact, AI can streamline your processes by consolidating multiple functions into one app.
 
5. **Cost Considerations:** While AI can reduce production costs in some aspects, there may be upfront costs associated with acquiring and implementing AI tools, which can concern smaller businesses and individual creators.
Tip: This is a perception, but not a barrier. Replacing legacy systems is the real issue here.
 
6. **Copyright and Legal Issues:** The legality of using AI to generate content, especially regarding licensing stock footage, music, or copyrighted materials, can be a significant concern.
Tip: This can easily be resolved by proper evaluation of the AI tools and licensing agreements. Many tools have incorporated licensing of stock into the app.
 
7. **Perceived Job Displacement:** There's a fear that AI integration may lead to job displacement within the industry, prompting worries about job security.
Tip: Change is inevitable. AI is here. Fear can sometimes hold people back from making changes.
 
8. **Learning Curve:** Learning to use AI-powered video production tools effectively may require time and training, leading to reluctance due to perceived complexity.
Tip: Lifelong learning is a way of being and continuous learning is part of that. Nothing is static anymore, especially in the world of tech.
 
9. **Ethical Concerns:** The use of AI, particularly in deepfake technology, raises ethical questions surrounding misinformation, manipulation, and privacy.
Tip: This is a real concern and producers and organizations should put guardrails in place based on legal constructs and ethical values.
 
10. **Quality Control:** Ensuring consistent and high-quality output from AI tools can be challenging and may require vigilant oversight to avoid variations in content quality.
Tip: Back to #1! And this is why experienced video producers need to be involved. I would add that relevancy to the business objective needs to be addressed.
 
 
Real-World Applications of AI in Live-Action Videos:
 
To showcase the real-world potential of AI in live-action video production, here are five AI applications tailored for creating live-action videos:
 
1. **InVideo:** InVideo is a versatile tool that facilitates live-action video editing and production. It offers features like video trimming, transitions, text overlays, and seamless integration of live-action licensed footage and music. This video which is a companion asset to this blog article was produced using InVideo.
 
2. **Lumen5:** While known for text-based video creation, Lumen5 is adaptable for producing live-action videos by seamlessly incorporating live-action footage and images into video projects.
 
3. **Promo by Slidely:** Promo offers a wide array of video templates, including those designed specifically for live-action videos. Users can easily customize these templates with their live-action footage, text, and music.
 
4. **Wave.video:** Wave.video empowers users to edit and customize live-action videos. It provides features for trimming, adding text, and seamlessly blending live-action footage into marketing and promotional videos.
 
5. **Renderforest:** Renderforest offers a variety of video templates for diverse purposes, including live-action videos. Users can leverage the platform to create and personalize live-action videos for marketing campaigns, corporate presentations, and more.
 
Conclusion:
 
Generative AI tools are revolutionizing video production, offering numerous advantages and benefits that range from efficiency and cost reduction to enhanced creativity and accessibility. While challenges and concerns exist, these can often be mitigated through education, training, and thoughtful integration of AI into existing workflows.
 
Moreover, AI's application in live-action videos demonstrates its versatility and potential to augment traditional video production methods. As technology continues to evolve, embracing AI in video production opens up exciting possibilities for content creators and businesses, ultimately enabling them to produce engaging, high-quality videos efficiently and at scale.