Photo and video editing application developer Lightricks Ltd. is looking to take generative artificial intelligence to the next level with the launch of a comprehensive text-to-video tool that promises to transform the art of filmmaking.

The new tool, announced today, is called LTX Studio, and it boasts some impressive-sounding capabilities, such as the ability to take text-based prompts and transform them into slick video content in seconds. It goes much further too, providing a suite of editing tools to help budding movie directors customize their AI-generated content to their liking.

Lightricks has a strong background in editing tools, since it’s the creator of popular mobile applications such as Photoleap, Videoleap and Facetune, and it has previously added generative AI capabilities to those tools. Now, it’s applying this expertise to do something far more ambitious, saying LTX Studio can be used to create brief definitions or much longer-form screenplay and stories, without the need for traditional film production techniques.

The company claims LTX Studio encompasses a user-friendly interface for people to outline their story ideas and then refine them with unparalleled control. There are tools for adjusting the look of the AI-generated actors and actresses, creating unique backdrops, editing the characters that appear in its videos and more.

Text-to-video is at the cutting edge of generative AI technology, and Lightricks faces some stiff competition in the space. OpenAI recently announced a new model called Sora that can generate videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user’s prompt. Other competitors include startups such as Pika Labs Inc. and Runway Inc., which specialize in text-to-video.

There are also technology giants such as Meta Platforms Inc., which first launched its Make-A-Video tool in 2022 and recently teased a more advanced model called Emu Video. Stability AI Ltd. and Google LLC are also building similar tools.

However, LTX Studio promises that it will take things up a notch. One of the major challenges in text-to-video generation has been the quality of the videos produced by such models. Until now, it has always been very difficult to make videos that look and feel realistic, and that’s what Lightricks is aiming to change. And that’s where Lightricks history of making editing tools can help, giving users far greater control over the content they create.

When using LTX Studio to create a new video, the very first step involves the user outlining their story idea, including the plot, the characters involved and the setting. LTX Studio will leverage its generative AI algorithms to transform this outline into a rough, visual concept that will serve as the basic foundation of users’ videos.

Once that’s done, users get to play with all kinds of tools to try to achieve something that’s much closer to what they had imagined. Using the Storyboarding tool, they can adjust the basic narrative and character’s scripts, while the Scene Planning tool enables them to edit everything from the basic environment to the random buildings and objects that appear in the film. They can tell it that they want a heavy downpour in a certain scene, for example, and LTX Studio will apply that request in real time.

Then there are additional tools for creating and customizing the specific characters that appear, with users able to change everything from their looks to the clothes they are wearing. They can also adjust the characters’ voice, as well as the camera angle and the sound effects. LTX Studio promises that users will have full control over every element of the films they create.

It remains to be seen how realistic the films created in LTX Studio will actually appear, but the company offered a few examples of what appears to be exceptionally high-quality video footage, such as the clip below:

Lightricks co-founder and Chief Executive Zeev Farbman seems confident that directors and marketers will agree that LTX Studio has the potential to forever transform how movies are made. “The visual stories made by the filmmakers and creators that we selected to first test LTX Studio are deeply inspiring, and demonstrate the powerful capabilities of our new product,” he said.

LTX Studio is currently available in preview with limited capabilities, and Lightricks is encouraging budding filmmakers to sign up to its waitlist ahead of its promised general availability on March 27.

Image: Lightricks