| Feature | Problem It Solves | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Gen-4 AI Generation | Slow, costly manual video/image creation and post-production | Quickly generates high-fidelity videos and images from text or images , eliminating complex filming or rendering steps. |
| Reference-Based Generation | Inconsistent characters, objects, and backgrounds in AI outputs | Ensures consistent characters, locations and objects with just 1–3 reference images , saving time on matching assets. |
| Act-Two (Character Animation) | Complex, multi-step animation/mocap pipelines | Animates characters with realistic motion, speech and expression from a single performance video , no motion-capture gear needed. |
| Multi-Motion Brush | Limited control over multiple subjects’ movements in a scene | Lets you apply custom motion and direction to up to five subjects or areas at once , giving fine-grained creative control. |
| Camera Control | Difficult or manual camera movements and shot planning | Intuitively move the virtual camera with direction and intensity settings , enabling dynamic shots without manual keyframes. |
| Generative Audio | Time-consuming voiceover and audio editing | Adds dialogue and voiceovers via text-to-speech, lip-sync, and custom voices , automating narration and character voice work. |
| Custom Styles Model | One-size-fits-all look and feel for AI-generated art | Train your own AI image generators for unique styles, characters and aesthetics , matching brand or creative vision exactly. |
| Image-to-Image & Text-to-Image | Limited editing of existing images or need for fresh designs | Transforms or creates images on demand from text or existing images , speeding up creative workflows and design iterations. |
| AI Video Editing (Aleph) | Tedious manual edits (e.g. object removal, background swaps) | Automates complex video edits like adding/removing objects, generating new angles, and changing lighting with text prompts (legacy tools made easy). |
Runway ML’s suite of AI tools tackles common video and image creation pains by offering intelligent, creative solutions.
Create Professional Videos from Simple Text Prompts
Producing a video typically means scripting, storyboarding, shooting, and editing – a slow, expensive process. Runway’s AI changes the game. Just type in a scene description or upload a reference image and watch Gen-4 work. The platform can “generate consistent characters across endless lighting conditions, locations and treatments” from a single reference image . This means you could type “snowy mountain scene at sunrise with a person in a red jacket” and Runway will craft a stunning video almost instantly. No actor, camera crew, or green screen needed.
Beyond text prompts, Runway lets you refine those ideas on the fly. If you have a visual in mind, drop in even one image or 3D model. Gen-4 AI uses that image as a reference to keep characters and objects looking the same throughout the scene . For example, show it a character photo and Runway will place that character consistently in any setting you describe. This consistency is revolutionary: video creators no longer worry about searching stock footage or juggling multiple takes to get the same actor look every time.
With Runway, concept-to-video happens near real-time. A quick text prompt used to mean a crude prototype or storyboard. Now, Gen-4 produces high-fidelity video frames that match your instructions . You can iterate immediately: tweak the prompt, change a word, and instantly get a new clip. This “rapid exploration” was impossible with old-school tools. Suddenly you can see a dozen versions of a scene in minutes, so you pick the best one before expensive production starts. In short, Runway’s text-to-video AI turns those time-consuming manual steps into an instant creative assistant.
Benefits: Make polished video content in seconds instead of days. Get stable, cinematic outputs from casual text (and image) prompts . Cut out expensive pre-production and still get “production-ready” shots every time.
Generate Consistent Characters and Environments Easily
Video creators often struggle to keep characters or objects looking the same across scenes. If one shot has your hero in blue and the next in green, viewers notice. Runway solves this with Reference-Based Generation. You supply a few images of an actor, character, or object (even selfies or 3D models). Runway’s AI “utilize[s] visual references, combined with instructions, to create new images and videos with consistent styles, subjects, locations and more .”
For instance, imagine placing a superhero in every scene of a film. With Runway, you feed it a picture of that hero; Gen-4 then knows what the hero looks like and keeps them uniform even as scenes change. As the site says, it can “generate consistent characters, locations and objects across scenes” all from a “single reference image” . Suddenly, passing a character from one shot to another doesn’t mean manually color matching or redrawing. It just works.
The problem of retouching or tracking mismatched elements disappears. Whether it’s a flying car or a fantasy creature, Runway keeps them coherent. As one summary puts it, you can now “generate anyone, anywhere, all with just a few images” . You don’t need dozens of costume photos; a couple of shots suffice for Runway to fill in the gaps. This consistency means less time cleaning up footage and more time creating.
Benefits: Maintain visual continuity effortlessly. Say goodbye to tedious frame-by-frame fixes – Runway’s references ensure your characters and settings stay the same even as lighting, angles, and scenes change . This also boosts creative freedom: try crazy new scenes (see below) without losing that signature character or object you need in every take.
Explore Endless Scene Variations Instantly
Sometimes you have an idea but aren’t sure which angle or setting works best. Traditionally you’d film multiple takes or adjust parameters laboriously. Runway cuts that waiting. Its AI lets you quickly “explore every possible iteration” of your scene .
Want to try a summer scene in winter? A day scene at night? Swap out backgrounds or props? Just give the command. The AI will regenerate the video with those changes. Runway even makes it easy to change variables like camera position or lighting with simple text tweaks. This problem–solution approach means: “No more recreating shots from scratch – just describe what you want and AI does the rest.”
For example, if you generated a beach video, you can instantly create a desert version by a quick prompt edit. You’re not limited by the original footage. One filmmaker reported generating short films entirely with Gen-4 to test narrative ideas . And as [12] explains, Runway can “regenerate those elements from multiple perspectives and positions” . In practice, that means getting alternate camera angles or new background passes without reshooting.
Benefits: Rapid prototyping. You iterate ideas at AI speed (minutes instead of days). This keeps creativity high – you can test different moods or camera angles with a click, choosing only the best versions for the final video. The gap between concept and execution literally shrinks.
An AI-generated cinematic scene: a camel in a desert with balloons. This is the kind of imaginative, high-fidelity content Runway’s Gen-4 model can produce from simple prompts, illustrating how any creative vision can be realized.
Animate Characters with Realistic Performances (Act-Two)
Giving life to characters normally means motion-capture suits, digital rigging, and hours of keyframing – all expensive and technical. Runway’s Act-Two changes that. You provide a “driving performance” video of someone acting out a scene plus a still image (or video) of the character you want. Act-Two transfers all the motion, expressions, and even speech, to your character .
This solves a huge pain: trying to match human nuance in animation. According to Runway, Act-Two “can create compelling animations using video and voice performances as inputs” . In other words, you film your actor saying lines and moving naturally (even on a smartphone), and Runway clones that onto any character design. Eye-lines, facial expressions, body gestures – they all carry over, “faithfully represented in the final output” . So a character can smile, frown, or speak just like your actor did, without manual editing.
You don’t need a green-screen or special lights either. Act-Two even adds subtle camera or background motion to make the scene feel real. For example, if your reference video has a handheld shake, the character’s video will too (unless you choose a still image input). The system adjusts things so characters look anchored in the scene. Best of all, this applies to any style or creature. The tech “preserves realistic facial expressions” even if your character’s proportions differ from the actor . That means you could use the same performance to animate a giant robot or a cartoon bird – Act-Two handles it.
Benefits: Instant character animation from simple footage. No mocap suits or 3D software needed. Directors and animators can focus on acting and storytelling while Runway handles the rest. The result: believable performances and dialogue without complex setup, making animation affordable and accessible.
Direct Scene Motion with Smart AI Brushes and Camera Control
Sometimes your shot needs a little extra – like making a plane bank left, or giving a pedestrian a push. Traditional video editing makes you track masks or keyframes manually. Runway’s tools eliminate that effort.
The Multi-Motion Brush lets you click on up to five subjects (or areas) in a frame and assign each its own motion vector . For example, select a car and drag it to go forward, while simultaneously nudging a flag to the right. Runway’s AI re-generates the clip so those specific items move as directed throughout the scene. It’s like giving your own choreographed directions to the AI: “Move these objects like this.” This solves the pain of losing control in generative video. You get detailed finesse – running that classic film trick of directing individual elements – without tedious manual animation.
AI-assisted control of action: with Runway’s camera and motion tools, you could simulate something like a rocket launch scene. Here a figure watches a rocket ignite. Runway makes setting up this dynamic shot easy without a real rocket.
Alongside that, Camera Control means you pick the virtual camera’s motion with simple choices. Want a slow push-in, a pan left, or a dynamic orbit? Choose the direction and intensity, and Runway moves the viewpoint for you . This solves another editing hassle – programming camera keyframes. Now you can plan complex cinematic moves by typing or clicking a direction. For example, to create an action scene (like the rocket launch shown), just tell Runway the camera should tilt up and the rocket should zoom forward. The system blends those in a natural-looking shot.
Benefits: You direct the drama with ease. No more tracking masks by hand or drawing paths. The AI adds realistic environmental motion around your specified objects, so scenes look natural. The result is dynamic, intentional shots – from subtle dolly moves to sweeping aerials – without fuss. This level of control lets creators achieve professional, cinematic looks even without a big crew.
Add Voices and Dialogue Instantly with Generative Audio
Doing voiceovers and dubbing is a major bottleneck. Runway’s Generative Audio answers that by converting text to speech and syncing it to your video. Need someone to say a line in another language? Type it and pick a voice – the AI will add dialogue and voiceovers with text-to-speech, lip sync, and custom voices . It even matches mouth movements to the audio so it looks natural.
This tackles two problems at once: narration and lip-sync. Traditionally, you might find a voice actor, record them in a booth, and manually line it up with video. Runway automates it. For example, create a whimsical character and have it instantly speak from a written script, without hiring a single actor. Or add background chatter and background music on the fly.
Custom Voices let you go further. If you have a brand character or a particular accent, you can train a unique voice model. Then your script will sound consistent across videos. For content teams, that means faster iterations – change a line of script and get a new voiceover automatically, rather than rebooking a session.
Benefits: Cut audio production time dramatically. Storyboarding voice lines becomes instantaneous. Even language localization is simple: just translate your text and generate a matching voice clip. It makes adding commentary and dialogue to video projects as easy as editing text.
Train Your Own AI for Unique Visual Styles
Want your content to have its own look? Runway’s Custom Styles model lets you create a personalized AI. Rather than using a generic style, you upload images or videos in your desired aesthetic. Runway then builds a custom image generator tuned to that style .
Pain: stock AI often looks “one size fits all.” A fantasy designer or brand designer might need a very specific vibe. Solution: This feature solves that by letting teams essentially build a bespoke AI. For example, a company could feed in stills from their brand’s posters or a specific artist’s work. The model learns the colors, shapes, and mood, and then any new images you generate will match that custom identity.
The benefits go beyond appearances. If you have a recurring character or mascot, Custom Styles makes sure the AI always draws it the same way. It solves the inconsistency headache for long projects. And you can even train on your own illustrations or storyboards, effectively automating the style transfer. All without writing code or wrangling a machine learning expert.
Benefits: Unique branding and style control. Your visual language is preserved across all AI outputs. Experiment with different creative directions by training new styles. It’s like having a specialized art team inside your software.
Transform Images Quickly with AI Editing (Image2Image and Text2Image)
Need to tweak an existing image or craft something new from words? Runway has that covered too. The Image-to-Image tool lets you upload a photo and describe changes – e.g., “make it night-time” or “paint it in watercolor style.” In seconds, Runway produces a new image with those edits . This fixes problems like “My shot’s boring” or “Background needs to match” without going to Photoshop. You can refine one photo many times until it fits your vision.
On the other hand, the Text-to-Image tool generates completely fresh images from scratch using only a written prompt . Want a digital billboard design or a custom background? Describe it and see it appear. It solves brainstorming and concept art pains, turning quick words into visuals. This approach is perfect for making storyboards, social posts, or concept scenes before any actual filming.
Together, these tools mean you have an entire image editing suite powered by AI. Replace tedious processes: no more cutting out objects manually or building backgrounds pixel by pixel. The platform literally uses AI to handle those traditionally manual tasks.
Benefits: Instant image creation and editing. Speed up concept work and approvals – show a polished draft instead of vague ideas. Iteration is easy: change the text prompt or input photo and regenerate. It’s an on-demand creative boost for graphics designers and video producers alike.
Remove Backgrounds and Objects Effortlessly with AI
Chroma keying and object clean-up are nightmarish manually. Runway’s AI makes this instant. With just a few clicks, you can cut out objects, people, or backgrounds from video clips . You simply highlight what to keep (or remove) and the tool handles the frame-by-frame magic. This solves the pain of green screens or tedious masking: what used to take hours can be done almost automatically.
For example, the legacy Remove Background tool let you select a subject and swap backgrounds in video . Now Runway is guiding everyone toward even better options. The notice on their docs says these older tools are “no longer being updated” in favor of the new AI models . In short, Runway encourages using Gen-4 and Aleph (below) for superior results.
Similarly, the older Inpainting tool (removing unwanted objects by painting over them) is being replaced by smarter methods. It “automatically remove[s] unwanted objects throughout your clip” thanks to AI , but for the best results, Aleph can handle these tasks with more flexibility (see next section).
Benefits: Immediate background or object removal without the usual headaches. It’s like having a virtual post-production assistant that does matte work automatically. Even complex motions and non-uniform backgrounds are handled seamlessly, letting you focus on creativity instead of tedious edits.
Perform Complex Video Edits with One AI: Runway Aleph
Editing video usually means many tools: one for background, one for color, etc. Runway Aleph changes that by bundling them in a single “video editing model” . Aleph is designed to understand entire scenes and follow natural language commands to edit them. For example, you could ask it to “remove the person on the left” or “add a moving cloud to the sky” and it will produce the updated footage.
In practical terms, Aleph is massively multi-purpose. Runway calls it “state-of-the-art in-context video model” with ability to add/remove objects, generate new camera angles, change lighting, and much more . Imagine filming a skydiver then deciding to alter the scenery; Aleph can swap the daytime sky for dusk, erase stray objects, or shift the viewpoint, all via text prompts. It even takes care of maintaining physics and continuity, thanks to “simulating real world physics” in its design .
This essentially solves every nitty-gritty editing problem. Need stable shots? Aleph can stabilize and reframe. Want style changes? Command it to “make it look like a horror film” and it can adjust color and mood. Want different coverage? Tell it to show the same scene from above. Instead of chain-loading dozens of filters and tracking nodes, you simply say what you want, and Aleph does the complex work under the hood.
Benefits: Vastly simplifies post-production. One model does what used to require specialists. Faster turnaround on edits means projects finish sooner. Creatives gain freedom to experiment even after shooting – literally rewriting scenes in AI instead of costly reshoots. Aleph’s magic lies in letting you “add, remove, and transform objects” and even “generate any angle of a scene” with minimal effort , making once-impossible changes routine.
Scale Creativity with Runway’s API and Enterprise Solutions
For video pros and decision-makers, integrating AI into workflows is key. Runway’s API lets studios and businesses harness all these powerful models in their own software or pipeline . You can embed Gen-4 video generation, image models, or Aleph’s editing capabilities directly into custom apps or services. This solves the problem of siloed tools: your editing suite, content management, or app can call Runway’s AI on demand, keeping teams in their own environment.
For enterprises, that means unlimited scaling. A global ad agency could automate asset creation for campaigns across regions by feeding ad copy into Runway’s models via API. Or a streaming service might use it to localize content (adding voices or altering scenery) across multiple languages and styles. Runway even offers Gen-4 Turbo and Gen-4 Images specifically through its API for supercharged generation speeds.
Beyond tech, Runway supports enterprise needs like single sign-on, team workspaces, and security compliance (so decision-makers can trust the platform with sensitive footage). Plus, Runway partners with big names (like advertising leaders) as API clients , showing it’s battle-tested at scale.
Benefits: Incorporate advanced AI into any video pipeline with minimal development. Tap into Runway’s latest models anywhere, ensuring your tools always use top-of-the-line AI. This future-proofs projects: as Runway updates its models, your integrations get stronger. Ultimately, it saves costs and time by automating tasks that teams might otherwise code or craft themselves.
