The Ultimate Video Editing Solution?

eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

Quick Take: Runway AI is a versatile tool that enables creative professionals to produce high-quality videos, images, and audio. It particularly stands out for its robust video production capabilities and a user-friendly interface that appeals to users of all skill levels.

Runway Quick Facts

Our Rating: 4.2/5

Pricing: Free to $76 per month

Key Features:

• AI-powered video generation
• Video editing tools
• Image generation
• Audio generation
• User-friendly interface

Runway AI (or RunwayML) is a robust multimodal system that uses artificial intelligence to generate videos, images, and audio. It offers a suite of features, including text-to-video generation, video editing tools, and special effects, making it a valuable asset for filmmakers, artists, and content creators. The cloud-based platform also features an automated texture creation tool, enabling you to create unique 3D textures you can import into various modeling platforms. Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha model features faster, high-fidelity, controllable video generation, and more extensive customization.

Runway Review: What You Need to Know

Who It’s Best For: Filmmakers, artists, and content creators who need a robust, intuitive AI video generator.

Continue reading to learn more about  Runway AI’s pricing, core features, ease of use, and customer support, or skip ahead to see how I tested and scored the software across six main categories.

Who Should Use Runway AI?

Runway AI is an innovative platform that enables you to use artificial intelligence for video creation and editing. The platform goes beyond standard AI generation tools, offering a unique blend of features like text-to-video generation, advanced editing tools, special effects, and more. The following groups will likely benefit most from this platform:

• Filmmakers Who Need to Streamline Video Production: Runway’s text-to-video generation tool helps filmmakers quickly visualize story ideas and create rough cuts for pre-production planning. Filmmakers can use its technology for background creation, storyboarding, and special effects to produce full-length films. You can also integrate Runway with other design platforms or editing software to create and edit videos easily.
• Artists and Creators Who Want to Create Engaging Content: Artists and creators alike can experiment with Runway’s artistic styles and create stunning digital artwork, videos, and even music videos. Beginners can access Runway’s easy-to-use tools while advanced users can create high-quality videos using special effects and 3D tools.
• Businesses Seeking to Create Impactful Campaigns: Companies and teams needing to launch marketing campaigns can produce eye-catching ads and product demos for a target audience. Runway offers tools for creating videos, doing voiceovers, and producing images, which can be used as marketing assets. Additionally, solopreneurs or startups can purchase its free version or affordable entry-level plan to get started with the platform.

Who Shouldn’t Use Runway AI?

While Runway AI offers a powerful platform for creative video creation, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. The following use cases might not be the best fit for this particular platform:

• Users Who Require Offline Access: While Runway AI is available on the cloud, it currently doesn’t have an offline mode. Users need a stable internet connection to use all its features and download the assets created on the platform. Consider alternative solutions if offline access is important for your video production process.
• Content Creators on a Tight Budget Who Need Mass Production: Runway offers a free tier with limited features and one-time credits you can use to generate images and videos. While it’s a great way to test the software, scaling large content creation might get expensive with higher usage. If you need to generate large volumes of content but have a limited budget, platforms with flat-rate subscriptions might be a better fit.
• Professionals Seeking Industry-Specific AI Tools: Runway boasts many AI features, but it may not be the most specialized solution for specific industries. Users who need advanced medical visualization should consider a dedicated software or plugin.

If you think Runway AI is not the right fit for your business, see our list of the best Runway AI alternatives.

Runway AI’s Pricing

Runway AI offers five subscription tiers, with each plan offering different credit limits and capabilities. The free basic tier is ideal for users looking to explore Runway AI’s tools and content creation features, and gives subscribers 125 one-time credits, which is equivalent to 25 image generations. Paid users get credits that reset every month for various image, video, and audio generations. However, unused credits do not carry over to the following month.

6 Runway AI Key Features

Runway AI is a versatile tool that enables users of all skill levels to generate, edit, and customize high-quality multimedia assets. Six key features make it stand out, including video generation, image generation, output quality, audio generation, editing tools and special effects, and ease of use.

Video Generation

Runway AI’s video generation feature lets users turn their creative visions into stunning videos in just a few clicks. Its text-to-video and image-to-video generation tools let you describe a scenario you want to visualize through text prompts and images. For text-to-video generation, you can simply add the prompt to describe the shot you want and adjust the setting to customize the video to your preference.

For an image-to-video generation, you can upload an image or choose from your assets and add a prompt to produce the video you want. To gain more control over the camera and subjects in your video, you can adjust the camera motion and motion brush to assign specific motions to different parts of your video frame. Runway allows you to download the video locally, extend the clip to make it longer, and enhance it further using custom presents, prompt enhancers, and lip sync. Runway’s straightforward tools eliminate the need for complex storyboarding or traditional filming techniques, making video creation more accessible.

Image Generation

Aside from its outstanding video production capabilities, Runway AI also offers image-generation features and editing tools. Similar to video generation, you can create images from detailed textual descriptions through the text-to-image tool or take existing images and transform them into a different output using the image-to-image feature. After uploading a reference image, simply enter a text prompt and adjust parameters based on your preferences.

For more granular control of your generated images, you can use the advanced settings to adjust the size, style, medium, mood, and prompt weight to fine-tune the output. You can also add elements, replace objects, and manipulate the scenes using various image editing tools.

Output Quality

Runway AI is popular for its ability to generate high-quality videos with its advanced machine-learning algorithms. The platform also allows you to adjust the technical details of the output, enabling you to choose between HD (720p) and QHD (2K) video. Free plan users can access video exports in HD, while paid plan subscribers can generate QHD images, export videos in 4K, and produce full 3D texture options. You can also use the platform to generate stunning and realistic video effects that you can blend with real-world footage. Runway AI’s video quality is detailed and vibrant, showing consistency even with complex prompts.

Although Runway AI stands out for its video production capabilities, it sometimes struggles with accurately portraying some details in generated images. Based on my experience, the images Runway AI generated are vibrant, colorful, and realistic, but there are also errors, such as a cat with six paws, a kid’s distorted face, or uneven shapes. Additionally, some of its images don’t look as realistic compared with its competitors, especially with landscape outputs.

Audio Generation

Runway AI’s audio generation feature includes capabilities for text-to-speech, custom voice models, and lip sync. Users can create soundscapes and generate music that complements their visuals, allowing you to choose different preset voices from 14 languages. To convert text to speech, you can simply type your script, select a voice, and hear a sample before generating. Runway also lets you synchronize scripts or uploaded audio to animate a photo or video through its lip sync feature. This tool supports multiple faces, enabling you to smoothly build engaging character interactions through dialogues.

Editing Tools and Special Effects

Runway also offers a robust suite of editing tools and special effects, allowing you to trim, manipulate, and enhance your videos and images. You can even combine AI-generated elements with your captured footage to create your digital artwork. Runway features tools to help you remove background, expand images, remove and replace objects, and more.

Additionally, you can blend live action Runway’s generative visual effects. Bring the still image that you want to add the visual effects to in Gen 3-Alpha’s image to the video tool and select whether it will be included as the first or last frame. After selecting the frame, you can simply add a text prompt describing the effect to get the shot you want. You can then combine this with the source video to generate the final output or edit further, such as correcting colors or modifying footage.

3D Capture and Texture

Runway AI 3D creation tools also offer an innovative way for users to manipulate and enhance various types of videos. The 3D capture feature allows you to upload three videos from different perspectives, and its result provides you with unlimited camera angles you can play with. You can download the video you generated as a JPEG or OBJ file and use it as an asset for creating a video-to-3D model tool.

Runway AI’s 3D texture tool allows you to generate a texture from a prompt. After typing a prompt, either using a short phrase or a detailed description, you can create a cube with the texture and details. Based on my experience, Runway’s interface for this feature is straightforward, and I was able to generate a 3D texture right away. While the lighting in the cube isn’t always accurate, you can tweak the ambient light and directional light until you’re satisfied with your generated output.

Ease of Use

Runway AI is designed with a clean and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users of all skill levels to navigate the platform and use various tools. Runway AI’s dashboard displays various features that users can easily access, such as generative video, generative audio, text-to-image, lip sync video, frame interpolation, and more. You can also type any keyword related to the tool you’re looking for in the search bar if you’re not sure of the exact feature you need. The main dashboard also provides a clear overview of your projects and assets, allowing you to easily access and manage your work.

Runway AI also incorporates a drag-and-drop interface for a smooth generation process. You can easily upload or drag images to generate a video, apply visual effects, and arrange elements within your projects. Additionally, Runway AI also allows you to make changes to your projects in real time, as you can see the results via preview options.

Customer Support

Users can primarily refer to Runway AI’s Help Center or Runway Academy if they need assistance with their accounts. The Help Center provides documentation, tutorials, tools, and tips, while the Runway Academy offers a vast library of resources to understand the platform’s full suite of creative AI tools through in-depth and step-by-step videos. You can also reach out to the support team for personalized guidance, but product and technical assistance are only available to customers on a Standard plan or higher. Subscribers qualified to access product and technical support can generally expect a response in under three business days.

Runway AI Alternatives

Runway AI is known for its user-friendly interface and powerful generation tools. However, some solutions might be a better fit depending on your needs and budget. Three Runway AI alternatives to consider are VEED, Pictory AI, and Synthesia.io.

VEED

VEED, or Veed.io, is a popular AI video editor for professionals. Marketers, podcasters, social media managers, or educators can use the platform to create videos for various use cases. VEED is particularly outstanding in producing social media videos and offers a wide range of customizable templates optimized for Instagram stories, YouTube shorts, and more. Aside from creating videos for social media, you can also create product demos, testimonials, webinars, and long-form footage using straightforward AI tools. VEED offers a free plan, and its paid plans start at $12 per user, per month billed annually.

While VEED is a versatile tool for creating videos for social media, it has limited advanced features. For an AI video generator with more sophisticated capabilities and enterprise features, consider Synthesia.io.

Pictory

Pictory is an AI video generation platform ideal for content marketing, particularly for creating micro-content, shorter clips, and highlight reels from a long-form material such as blogs, articles, and scripts. Its excellent for its intuitive interface and usability, enabling you to automatically generate snippets and summaries to create more content from a single project. It also offers a vast library of royalty-free stock footage, music, and images you can use for video production. Pictory has four pricing options starting from $19 per month, billed annually.

Pictory is an outstanding option for repurposing content marketing materials, but it doesn’t offer built-in AI avatars. If you prefer an AI video generator with a wide range of AI avatars, look into Synthesia.io.

Synthesia.io

Synthesia.io is an easy-to-use platform created by a London-based generative AI company. This platform allows non-technical users to quickly create and edit professional videos with a wide range of AI avatars. It provides a free plan with a limit of 36 minutes of video per year, and its paid plans start at $18 per month, billed annually. Synthesia offers over 200 stock AI avatars and a library of custom avatars you can use to create videos from educational tutorials, explainer videos, marketing campaigns, and more.

However, Synthesia has some limitations when it comes to speech and audio quality, especially for delivering written scripts into natural-sounding narrations. For an AI video solution that offers robust audio generation features, try VEED.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How I Tested and Evaluated Runway AI

I tested Runway AI as a beginner, experimenting with prompts and various AI tools offered by the platform. I navigated the software, generated images, edited videos, and looked into various special effects to understand the interface. Although I wasn’t able to explore complex editing tools and special effects, I was able to use basic editing tools and features for video production, image generation, and audio creation.

In evaluating Runway AI, I determined six main categories important for individual users and businesses needing a robust multimodal generation tool. I also divided each category into weighted subcategories and assigned an overall score out of five to see how Runway AI fared across six categories.

Evaluation Criteria

I put the highest weight on core features and output quality to help users find a robust and versatile generative AI tool. I also looked into its cost and customization options, followed by ease of use and customer support.

• Core Features (25 Percent): A robust AI multimodal system should offer generative features for creating videos, images, and audio. I also looked into editing tools, collaboration features, data privacy, and security.
• Output Quality (20 Percent): In this category, I evaluated the quality of produced videos and images and considered each generation time.
• Cost (15 Percent): Here, I looked into Runway AI’s free version and pricing structure for month-to-month and annual subscriptions.
• Customization and Integrations (15 Percent): A versatile generation platform should be customizable and accessible for integration. I assessed how you can tailor the AI solution in terms of styles, parameters, objects, and scenes.
• Ease of Use (15 Percent): I tested the platforms and experimented with various tools to understand the interface and have first-hand experience. I also looked into its resources, including tutorial videos, documentation, and step-by-step guides.
• Customer Support (10 Percent): I considered Runway AI’s support solutions via live chat, email, and phone, as well as its onboarding options and active user community.

Bottom Line: Runway AI Review

Runway AI is a robust multimodal system that applies generative AI to create high-quality, detailed, and realistic videos and images. While the platform offers a wide range of features for digital art creation, audio production, and editing, it particularly stands out in video generation. Its intuitive interface, coupled with its advanced AI technology, enables you to create stunning videos that blend lifelike visuals with dynamic storytelling. Runway AI’s image generation might not be the best compared to its rival platforms, but the software sets itself apart in video production by delivering high-quality output and creativity.

Interested in other AI art generators? Read our in-depth review of the best AI art generators for beginners and pros.