RunwayML is the new game-changer in video editing. What was once only possible with high end computers with huge amounts of storage and RAM, technical ability, and lots of editing time, Runway ML puts in the hands of creators everywhere.
This comprehensive video editing platform offers a range of machine-learning capabilities that streamline the video editing process, making editing videos faster, easier and much more accessible to everyone.
With everything from basic editing to sophisticated post-production, Runway ML is like having your own video editing studio right in your browser.
Join us as we have a look at one of the newest tools for you to add to your AI arsenal.
What is Runway ML?
Runway is a comprehensive video editing software program for every video creator. It uses machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence to enable anyone to edit videos, faster and easier, without coding.
Runway ML aims to make this process easier by providing artists, designers, filmmakers, and for the first time, us regular folks, with a “swiss army knife” of machine learning applications that can be activated with a few clicks.
In just a few minutes, you can upload videos and perform massive modifications, which would otherwise take hours with traditional video editors.
Runway ML Features
Runway ML streamlines the entire video editing process with an assortment of AI-assisted video editing features like, masking, colour correction, composting, generation and VFX. With Runway’s rotoscoping and Inpainting tools, users can quickly and easily turn any video into a green screen and remove unwanted objects for a seamless final product.
For example, let’s say someone accidentally left a coffee cup in a shot of your video (as famously happened in Game of Thrones) and you want to remove it. You could edit it out the traditional way by painting over the can by hand in each frame, or you could run your footage through the machine learning segmentation model, which automatically highlights different objects in each frame to make your job a whole lot easier.
The platform also offers some other pretty impressive AI capabilities, including the ability to automatically track the movement of objects, create new frames to turn low-frame-rate footage into smooth slow-motion videos, and generate AI images from scratch.
Creators can modify their content with the help of a multiband video stream format and can get access to advanced AI-generated analysis and metadata to make the videos more appealing. Runway ML also provides accurate and unique depth maps that make images look more realistic.
Runway ML has an optical flow feature that can identify and select areas for editing through pattern recognition and predictions that helps users understand how the objects are moving with relative motion analysis, all with just a few clicks.
Say you want to turn a video of a human actor into a 3D model. Instead of hiring expensive motion capture equipment, you can use one of the Runway features called “PosetNet” which will create wireframe models of your actor that can then be exported for animation.
Other notable features include real-time previews, the ability to let users edit and export videos in 4K and in different file types, like PNG, and ProRes.
How Can I Use Runway ML?
The beauty of Runway ML is in its ease of use and accessibility. You use Runway ML online, through your browser, so there are no downloads and it does not require the mass amounts of storage of traditional video editing software, freeing up valuable device space.
And because it’s online, you can access your Runway account from anywhere, on any device, including low-powered Chromebooks, for example, that could never handle an onboard video editing program.
Simply go to https://runwayml.com/ and sign up to start using the online editor.
For a simple tutorial on animating images in RunwayML, see our article How to Animate Images in RunwayML.
Runway Pricing
Runway ML is free to create an account and is free to use. With the free edition, you get 1 GB of cloud storage and can create unlimited projects and export your videos at a max quality of 720p.
It should be noted, mind you, that a lot of Runway’s advanced features are not available on the free plan, so as a free user you are limited to basic video editing at high speed.
There are of course premium subscriptions available that enable you access to all of the bells and whistles that Runway ML has to offer, plus more storage space. You can upgrade to a paid account starting from $15 per month.
Runway Pros & Cons
We’re going to go through an at-a-glance sum up of Runway ML’s pros & cons.
Runway Pros
- Machine learning technology automates tedious video editing tasks and streamlines the editing process, basically making video editing faster and easier than it’s ever been.
- The software is entirely online and accessible from any device with internet access, so there is no download and it doesn’t take up any storage space.
- You can use Runway ML on any device. You don’t need an expensive high end computer with a huge CPU and loads of RAM because it’s a web-based program.
- It offers a range of editing features like masking, color correction, compositing, generation, and VFX.
- It has the ability to edit and export videos in 4K, and it can handle files in PNG, ProRes, and other formats.
- Runway ML creates accurate and distinctive depth maps that enhance the realism of images.
- The free version comes standard with 1 GB of storage, can export up to 720p in quality, and there is no limit on the number of projects you can create.
Runway Cons
- It’s not as advanced nor does it have as many features as some of the other high-end video editing software, like Adobe After Effects or DaVinci Resolve.
- There are limited storage and export options with the free version. Requires an upgrade to a paid account for more features and storage.
- Runway does not have as extensive of a community or support network as some of the other more established video editing software programs
- Subscription costs for paid accounts can be relatively expensive, ranging between $15/month for the starter version to $100/month for the Pro Edition.
- The program’s simplicity is a limiting factor. People who want to use AI to do more than just simplify an existing step in their process will need a more powerful program than Runway ML.
Conclusion
With its web-based access and cloud storage, you are no longer bound to a single location or device to edit videos, which also enables teams to work together in real-time from anywhere. Runway ML makes video editing tools accessible to users on any web-connected device, regardless of the size, make or model.
And even though Runway ML is not yet quite as advanced of a video editor as some of the other editing software out there, for what it lacks in features it more than makes up for with its accessibility and ease of use.
Overall, Runway ML provides a pretty comparative alternative for any user that is looking for an accessible and easier to use video editing program.
