Runway AI Video - Convert Your Idea into a Dynamic Video

What is the Runway tool

Runway is a web-based AI platform that immediately converts a user's thoughts into visually stimulating media. The new era tools fit Runway perfectly, thus simplifying the process for artists to convert text prompts, reference images, or even videos into high-resolution videos, photos, and animations with ease. The platform also allows users to transition from the mind to the hand quickly by fast versioning, maintaining character registration, and cinematic control, while eliminating complex equipment or expertise.

To illustrate, you might do so by telling a story, exploring various creative moods, and then assigning character animations that evoke emotions. Runway Gen-3 and Gen-4 are made to give you production-ready results in real-time. Tools like text-to-video and image-to-video, alongside character animation, elevate Runway's creative workflows to new heights.

Key features of Runway

Runway AI appears as a comprehensive AI-powered creative suite, whose primary function is to provide creators with user-friendly tools for producing high-quality videos based on text or image inputs. Just by checking out Runway's features, you can be sure that you will be able to make cinematic animations, expressive character performances, or stunning visual effects without any hurdles. The following are the main features that characterize the platform:

• Text-to-video generation (Gen-3 Alpha): Type in a detailed text prompt and create visually engaging videos with authentic motion, film-like angles, and smooth transitions. Perfect for storytelling, commercials, or idea depiction.
• Image to video (Gen-3 Alpha & Gen-4): Choose an image that will serve as the initial frame, and direct video production with prompts that emphasize movement and camera work. Gen-4 extends this even further with high fidelity and creative control.
• Expressive character generation (Act-One): Fusing a character image with a driving video to generate animated character performances that are stylized, without the need for mocaps or rigging.
• Multi-model support: Select from various generative models tailored to your requirements—speed, quality, or cost efficiency. Gen-3 Turbo gives you quicker results with less credit usage, while Gen-4 grants you the most advanced output.
• Camera control and multi-motion brush: Adjust your video with precise camera movements and control the motion of multiple objects in a scene—perfect for visual narrative directing.
• Video customization tools: Built-in tools enable you to extend, reverse, trim, retime, or even add camera shake effects to your video. Upscale to 4K or reframe to different aspect ratios according to your use case.
• Generative audio and lip sync: Use text-to-speech for voiceovers, lip sync audio, and even make new voices for yourself—ideal for dialog-driven content.

What's new in the Runway Gen-3 & Gen-4

Runway's AI video creation algorithms, namely Gen-3 Alpha and Gen-4, represent significant leaps in cinematic realism, creative freedom, and reliability. Gen-3 Alpha, launched in June 2024, presents a new and robust engine trained on images and videos that facilitates smooth movement, photorealistic humans, and precise execution of cinematic shots. It excels at comprehending complex prompts and delivering engaging scenes with charming gestures, subtle temporal changes, and advanced safety features, including content moderation and provenance tagging.

Runway Gen-4 is a natural continuation of this platform, pushing visual narration further by empowering consistent characters, objects, and environments not only in a single scene but in multiple ones, with only a reference image. It permits multi-angle scene coverage, preserves cinematic style and mood, and it is the first to bring physics-aware video generation into the game for correct motion and interaction. Additionally, with the effortless incorporation of generative visual effects (GVFX) and production quality, Gen-4 unlocks new potential and empowers creators to generate logically coherent and impactful video content without the need for re-adjusting or thinking about traditional VFX pipelines.

How to generate an AI video using Runway

STEP 1
1. Visit the official website

Go to runwayml.com and either log into your existing account or sign up for a new one. Creating an account is free and gives you access to the dashboard where all AI video tools are located.

STEP 2
1. Access the dashboard and start a new project

Once you're signed in, you'll be taken to your main dashboard. Click on the "Generate Video" button, which will open the video generation interface where you can begin your creative process.

STEP 3
1. Choose the AI model to use

Runway currently offers two powerful models, Gen-4 and Gen-4 Turbo. Gen-4 produces cinematic and realistic videos with more detail, while Gen-4 Turbo offers faster rendering for quick outputs. Select the model that suits your goal.

STEP 4
1. Upload an image and write your text prompt

You can also supply an image asset that Runway can utilize as a visual base or a reference. Then, enter a text prompt to define the scene or animation you want to generate. Runway will carry out this prompt to illustrate your idea. The duration of the clip (e.g., 5s or 10s) and the aspect ratio (e.g., 16:9, 9:16, or square) may be chosen depending on the place where you want to upload the video, such as YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram.

STEP 5
1. Generate the video

After you have prepared your inputs, press the "Generate" button. The AI will start working on your request, and in a matter of seconds or minutes (depending on the model and length), your video will appear and be shown on the screen.

STEP 6
1. Download your final video

Once the generation is finished, tap the download button at the bottom right side of the video preview. It is also possible to save the video in MP4 format, which has the best quality, or if you like, you can use the GIF format, which is an animated image.

Although the Runway video generator is perfect for producing top-notch AI videos, it cannot customize the video after its creation. This is why many people opt for CapCut, a strong alternative that allows them to not only create but also revise videos without any hassle.

Powerful alternative: Create and edit AI videos all in one with CapCut

CapCut is an efficient, single, comprehensive desktop video editor for producing and modifying AI videos, ideal for creators who need both speed and control. Utilizing the AI video maker, you can create appealing content instantly; the script to video feature allows for the easy conversion of your written concepts into visual narratives, and its AI text to video, along with the image to video tools, enables you to animate your still images with cinematic movement. Regardless of whether you're creating social media clips or professional content, CapCut makes the entire journey simple and adaptable from start to finish. Try CapCut today and bring your AI video ideas to life.

Key features

• Instant AI video: CapCut's AI video maker allows you to generate a video with stunning images by entering a script and selecting a style.
• Image to video: CapCut's AI media feature supports users to generate a video from an image and a text prompt, with different models for choosing from, including Seedance and Video G4.0.
• Script to video: Implemented scene creation, visual, and sound. Your written scripts will be turned vividly and convincingly into a video with CapCut's script to video feature.
• AI video templates: CapCut provides some AI video templates with different topics, and users can apply them to generate a new video in seconds.
• Customization tools: You can adjust your generated videos within a large variety of filters, video transitions, effects, fonts, and audio options that best represent your creative vision.

Method 1: Generate a video using the AI video maker

STEP 1
1. Access AI video maker

Launch the CapCut desktop application and sign in. On the main dashboard, click on "AI video maker" to open the video creation workspace.

STEP 2
1. Enter text prompt

Go to the "Instant AI video" section and enter a descriptive text prompt that explains the video that you want the AI to create. Additionally, you can select a style for the video (e.g., Realistic Film, Movie, Cartoon 3D) and adjust the aspect ratio to suit your content (16:9, 9:16, etc.).

STEP 3
1. Edit the generated video

Once the AI video is generated, you can edit the video with "Script," "Scenes," "Elements," and "Music." If you want more editing, like stickers, filters, and so on, click "Edit more" to access the video editing timeline.

STEP 4
1. Export AI video

When your edits are complete, click the "Export" button. Choose the desired resolution and file format, CapCut supports high-quality MP4 exports by default. Save it to your device and you're done.

Method 2: Convert an image to a video using the AI video feature

STEP 1
1. Access the image to video feature

Launch the CapCut desktop app and go to "Media > AI media > AI video > Image to video". Select a picture from your computer, enter a text prompt, choose an AI model, and specify the video length. The AI will produce a new visual by mixing the image and the text of your story.

STEP 2
1. Edit the generated video

After the AI finishes image-to-video conversion, improve your video with CapCut's built-in instruments. Put in text, overlays, audio, effects, or transitions to make it attractive to the eye and consistent with your brand.

STEP 3
1. Export the video

Press "Export" to complete your project. Select "Resolution" as 8K and "Format" as MP4 to download the file to your computer, and then share or publish it.

Method 3: Convert text to a video using the script-to-video feature

STEP 1
1. Enter a text prompt

Using the "Script to video" feature, type the text you want, set Smart Generation mode, and click "Generate video". CapCut will effortlessly convert your script into a video.

STEP 2
1. Edit the generated video

After you have completed the video, you can also enhance it further with CapCut's editing features. Interweave the shots with energetic "Transitions" to be sure they flow smoothly. Employ "Filters" to create a certain mood, or if you want to go in a different direction, also think about "Effects" that can help you get the audience's focus. In addition, the "Audio" facilities give you the possibility to enhance the video with music, sound effects, and voiceover.

STEP 3
1. Export the video

Once editing is complete, click "Export" to save your AI-generated video in your desired format and resolution.

Which AI video generator should you pick

Conclusion

Runway's AI video generator, specifically with its Gen-3 and Gen-4 models, has definitely given creators the ability to convert just a few prompts into amazing cinematic videos. On one hand, it offers great generation capabilities, while on the other hand, its post-production editing tools are still quite restricted. Therefore, CapCut, which is a potent multi-purpose alternative, fills that gap. Through CapCut, you have the possibility not only to create AI videos but also to do instant professional-level editing of them. It doesn't matter if you are producing business or personal content, using both tools together or going over to CapCut will give you more options and freer hands in terms of creativity.

FAQs

Is it legal to use the Runway video generator for business?

Yes, you can use Runway-generated videos for business purposes, provided you adhere to their terms of service and content usage rights. However, Runway lacks video editing tools and may not meet the commercial needs of videos well, so you can consider using CapCut, which allows you to generate commercial videos and optimize them with various editing tools.

Does AI video support automatic synthesis of voice, subtitles, and background music?

Definitely. CapCut has intelligent automation capabilities that enable effortless video production. Its AI is capable of generating voiceovers automatically from a written script, providing correct subtitles in different languages, and also feeding or choosing a background track in line with the video's vibe. These functions not only facilitate the editing process but also improve the quality of the final product.

Can I edit the video that is generated by the Runway Gen-3 AI video generator?

Yes, of course. CapCut gives you the opportunity to make full changes even after a video has been created using its AI tools. You can cut clips, move parts around, insert transitions, change colors and effects, put on stickers, modulate audio, and correct subtitles. This pliability becomes very effective when it comes to adapting and perfecting your video created by AI for any social media or event.