Adobe Inc. is revamping the video creation capabilities within its Firefly suite of artificial intelligence models.

In a major update to its AI video generation tool, it’s adding more powerful editing capabilities and precise motion controls, along with video upscaling in Firefly Boards. In addition, it’s announcing the full beta launch of Firefly video editor, which is being pitched as a new “creative assembly space” for generative AI storytelling.

The updates were unveiled along with a limited-time promotion. The company is offering users unlimited access to both Firefly’s video generation model and all of its image-generation models for all current subscribers.

For professional video creators, the addition of more precise editing tools is probably the biggest deal with today’s update. Adobe said it’s adding new “prompt-to-edit” controls to its AI video generator that enables creators to make precision refinements to any video they generate.

Adobe explained it’s trying to tackle a common problem with AI video generation. For instance, someone might generate a video of a coffee shop that looks just the way they want, except for some random object that appears on a table that seems to spoil the vision they had in mind. Normally, they’d have to regenerate the entire clip to fix this, but in doing so, they could end up with an entirely different, less-than-ideal scene.

With the new tools, users can now generate a video and “surgically remove” the things they don’t like using Runway AI Inc.’s Aleph video model. All they have to do is enter a prompt, such as “remove the person on the left side of the frame” or “change the sky to overcast.” They can also enter commands such as “zoom in slightly on the main subject,” Adobe said. The changes will immediately be applied to the existing video, as if users are truly directing the scene, rather than just having to regenerate everything from scratch and hope it comes out better.

As well as the precise edits, Adobe is adding a feature called camera motion reference workflow, which allows users to upload a start frame reference image, as well as a video that shows the camera motion they intend to recreate. The model will then generate both the scene and the desired cinematic movements. Adobe said it’s hoping to save creators hours of time spent on trial and error as they struggle to get their videos looking exactly the way they want.

Video upscaling

For creators hoping to generate slicker, more professional-looking videos, the new Topaz Astra tool in Firefly Boards may be just what they were looking for in an AI video generator. Firefly Boards is an AI-native software workspace for creators to explore, iterate and collaborate in real time, and Topaz Astra is being made available there first of all.

It’s essentially an upscaling tool that allows users to transform low-resolution clips into 1080p or 4K quality, making them sharp enough to share publicly. Adobe said it can also help in restoring older, lower-quality video footage by enhancing the clarity and detail to make them appear as if they were shot using modern camera equipment.

In addition, Firefly Boards is getting some new models in the shape of FLUX.2, the most advanced image-generation model from Black Forest Labs Inc., providing photorealistic detail and advanced text rendering, along with support for up to four reference images at once. The company said FLUX.2 is available now in Firefly Boards, as well as Photoshop and the Firefly Text-to-Image module.

In-browser video generation

Firefly’s video editor is a browser-based video-generation tool that allows creators to get to work on any device, without downloading any of Adobe’s full applications. Available in public beta now, it supports complete video generation and editing, and allows users to add music tracks and other visuals to their footage and shape them on a lightweight, multitrack timeline.

Subscribers will be able to enjoy unlimited access to Adobe’s new video generation tools for a limited time thanks to the company’s latest promotion, which runs until Jan. 15. As part of the offer, customers who are subscribed to Firefly Pro, Firefly Premium, or the 7,000-credit and 50,000-credit personal plans will benefit from unlimited image and video generations in the Adobe Firefly application.

The promotion spans every model available in Firefly, including Adobe’s own and third-party offerings like the new FLUX.2, Google LLC’s Nano Banana and OpenAI Group PBC’s GPT-Image model.

Images: Adobe