I’ve been dabbling with AI video editing tools for the past 6 years. Some of the early builds were a huge pain to use, and some tragic failures with the software cost us weeks of productivity.
But in those instances where it works, It can make transformative impacts in your productivity.
A few examples...
Since 2019, I’ve switched entirely over to text based video editing for my documentary work. How does it work?
I start by feeding my video footage into a text transcription service. The software then uses AI to recognize the language used in the video, then creates a text transcript that I can edit right alongside the video timeline.
Instead of sifting through hours of video footage (like you would fast forward and rewind through a Netflix movie), I instead CTRL-F search through the video transcript like a word doc to track down the clips I need.
In the past I had to take a full day out of a project to master the audio portion of a video documentary. Today, that can take as little as five minutes using some reliable AI audio mastering tools.
Only last year, there were video clips that were unusable because the video quality was too poor. Now, there are AI tools that can quickly ‘repair’ those video clips in incredible ways. Footage can be unblurred or I can even remove some distracting background imagery to keep your focus on the main subject.
AI is commoditizing many of the menial tasks associated with video editing. This is helping me focus more on the storytelling and creativity portion of the work, and can provide us with opportunities to deploy video in new ways.
But what's missing?
Many of the technical challenges associated with video editing have been addressed with AI. The entire industry is being flipped on its head with cloud based video editing tools that are making editing simpler and more collaborative.
A few years ago, I dumped hours of video footage into early builds of Descript. Halfway through my edit, I noticed that the audio wasn't syncing properly with the video. After a ton of back and forth with the support team, I discovered that the software couldn't properly sync video footage with different frame rates. Something I took for granted with Premiere Pro.
When it works, I can edit videos 4x to 10x faster.
When it doesn’t, I have to scrap the rough draft and re-edit the entire video.
These kind of issues can be especially stressful when under a tight delivery timeline.
But I keep coming back, and it keeps getting better.
However, what is really missing is the storytelling aspect. I’d love to see these new AI video companies help users easily craft engaging videos.
I'm not expecting Michael Bay levels of production here. Start simple.
People have been using AI tools for quite sometime to proofread and improve their text-based content.
AI should soon be able to guide new video editors through the process of creating simple compelling videos that people actually want to watch.
These video editing tools are growing increasingly more complex, and it can be a full time job to just learn how to use them.... let alone learn how to edit something interesting to watch.
Source: Deep AI Image Generator. Prompt: 'sharing a great story'
"Beauty without intelligence is like a masterpiece without a soul, captivating at first glance but ultimately devoid of meaning."
ChatGPT
Yes, there are some very serious growing pains associated with using some AI tools. But it shouldn’t stop you from exploring how they can help you in your industry.
These are just some elementary uses, but these tools are rapidly growing more elegant. I'm really excited to see how this space evolves... and how I evolve with it.