The oldest surviving film is believed to be “Roundhay Garden Scene”, created in 1888. Fast-forward to today, and anyone can easily make a video with digital cameras and phones, or generate it using artificial intelligence. This Runway AI review is specifically about one such application. This platform clearly demonstrates that the technology is improving rapidly.
Depending on the model you are using, you may often utilize other applications powered by artificial intelligence. For instance, if you were to use Runway’s AI text-to-video generator, Writesonic and Jasper AI can be useful for outputting high-quality prompts.
That said, if you’re looking for an application that offers a wide array of tools for editing and creating videos or images, I suggest giving this article a read. However, before we dive into this Runway AI review’s pros and cons, let’s familiarize ourselves with the platform first.
Verdict at a glance: Runway AI is a high-quality image and video generator. That said, the application also offers other tools for customizing footage and pictures, including background remover, face blurring, and upscaler. On the other hand, some of the features can be hard to navigate. As a result, Runway AI might not be the best platform for less tech-savvy users.
Pros
- Image-to-video generator
- Background remover feature
- Available free version
- Wide use cases
- Supports both desktop and mobile devices
Cons
- Requires prompt engineering
- Not particularly beginner-friendly
Table of Contents
- 1. What is Runway AI?
- 2. Runway AI Review: PROS
- 2.1. Wide Selection of Tools
- 2.2. Several Model Options
- 2.3. Highly Secure
- 2.4. Various Customization Settings
- 3. Runway AI Reviews: CONS
- 3.1. Steep Learning Curve
- 4. Runway AI Pricing
- 5. How to Use Runway AI?
- 5.1. How to Sign Up on Runway AI?
- 5.2. How to Utilize Runway AI?
- 6. Conclusions
What is Runway AI?
So, what is Runway AI? This platform is a software that utilizes machine learning (ML) algorithms. This enables the software to learn from data and make decisions or predictions without being explicitly programmed[1]. For instance, Runway’s ML AI is trained on images and videos. Therefore, it can be utilized in various fields.
If we were to take a more thorough look at what Runway AI is - it’s an applied AI research company helping shape the next era of using artificial intelligence for creativity. It’s already doing quite well to accomplish this goal. The platform offers various tools to help you express creativity.
This is one of the reasons why people utilize Runway’s AI generator. With the wide variety of features that this platform offers, the boundaries of creation are no longer dependent on expensive equipment, abundant free time, access to sets or actors, or extensive training.
That said, you can find a more detailed explanation of the majority of the application's tools later in this Runway AI review.
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Runway AI Review: PROS
First, I want to highlight the strongest parts of the platform in my Runway AI review. Therefore, let’s begin by taking a look at the various tools the application has to offer.
Wide Selection of Tools
Runway AI offers so many tools that it’s hard to decide where to start. One of the most important ones is probably the video generator. This tool provides polished, high-quality outputs that don’t need any touch-ups and can instantly be shared on social media, YouTube, or any other platform.
If you want to ensure that your footage contains music, one of the standout features of the Runway AI video generator is its ability to automatically sync the clip and audio. However, that’s not all. You can also upload an audio file or record it live to generate a lip sync.
Additionally, there are three main models used for creating videos, one of which is Runway AI Gen-2. This topic will be covered in a separate chapter.
You can also use other platforms like Murf.ai or ElevenLabs to generate a voiceover if you’re not feeling up for the task or if you want to keep your face and voice private.
Another useful Runway AI tool is the image generator. With this feature, users can create pretty much anything they can imagine, although the quality may vary, depending on your prompt. This Runway AI generator for images is also very capable of creating complex physics-based simulations with hyper-realistic renders.
Furthermore, the application also offers features like “Remove Background”, “Erase and Replace”, and “Blur Faces”. These Runway AI tools can be especially useful if you often edit pictures and need to do all of these tasks manually through a platform like Photoshop.
The application has even more features you can use:
- Infinite Image - lets you expand an image with Text-to-Image generation;
- Frame Interpolation - turns a sequence of images into a video;
- Backdrop Remix - gives images an infinite background;
- Super-Slow Motion - turns any video into smooth slow motion;
- Clean Audio - removes unwanted background noises;
- Subtitles - generates subtitles for your video;
- Motion Tracking - follows moving objects in your video.
It’s worth noting that these are not even all of Runway's AI tools. Therefore, feel free to give the platform a look if any of these features caught your eye, especially seeing that there are plenty of others you can use.
Several Model Options
Now, it’s time to give Runway’s AI Gen-2 and other models a proper and thorough examination. First, let’s start with the Gen-1. Even though it’s not the newest model, it still seems to provide quite a lot of advanced settings to improve the quality of the output.
There are three slider bars designed to adjust different parts of the video:
- Structural consistency - higher values make the output more structurally different from the input video. It’s recommended to keep it between 0 and 5;
- Weight - higher values lead to more emphasis on matching the style rather than the input video. Recommended to keep between 7.5 and 12.5;
- Frame consistency - values below 1 decrease consistency across time. On the other hand, values above 1 increase how closely frames relate to prior frames. It is recommended to keep between 1 and 1.25.
In addition, there are other Runway AI Gen-1 video options. The "Compare Wipe" feature does exactly what it sounds like - the software wipes between the original and new video, making it easier to see the results. If you check the “Affect background only” setting, the changes will be applied only to the background, leaving the foreground subject untouched.
There is also an "Affect foreground only" option, where Runway’s AI reviews your video and only changes the foreground subject. The last setting is called "Remove Watermark", but this tool is locked, and you can only access it by purchasing a subscription.
Runway AI Gen-2 is next on the list. This tool has a bit more to offer and also works somewhat differently. With the Gen-1 model, you choose your settings, enter a prompt, and optionally upload an image to help guide the software. Meanwhile, Runway AI Gen-2 only asks the user to provide a prompt, but there is also an option to upload a picture. As a result, it functions more like text-to-video software.
Naturally, Runway AI’s Gen-2 model also has different settings. For instance, the newer version allows users to control the camera angle by adjusting slider bars. In addition, you can play around with the “Motion Brush” tool. This feature lets you paint over an area that you’d like to be moving, for instance, clouds.
Another setting under the Runway AI Gen-2 model is called "Style". With this setting, users can select if they want their output to have a cinematic, abandoned, anime, cartoon, or pixel art look. However, remember that this setting only works without a pre-uploaded image. The last setting for Runway AI’s Gen-2 model is the ability to select an aspect ratio.
Finally, let’s examine, at least at the time of writing, the newest version - Gen-3 Alpha. This model differs from the last two because it was trained on a new infrastructure built for large-scale multimodal training. Runway states that this is a major improvement in fidelity, consistency, and motion over their previous products and a step towards building General World Models.
That said, the Gen-3 Alpha model excels in its ability to generate high-quality video content with various prompt structures. Users can fine-tune outputs by specifying not just the subject and scene, but also camera movements, lighting, and even the transitions between actions. This model allows for generating 720p videos, with options for 5-second or 10-second outputs, depending on the prompt's complexity.
Moreover, this version of the Runway AI video generator includes advanced features like custom style presets and structure transformation sliders. As a result, users receive further control over the outputted video. By adjusting these sliders, you can decide how closely the results should adhere to the structure of the input or vice versa.
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Highly Secure
Another area where this platform shines is safety and security. Runway AI ensures strong data protection for its users, adhering to industry-leading standards. They implement SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, which includes protocols for data encryption, privacy control, and regular security audits[2].
As a result, this helps ensure that data such as videos and images created using tools like the Runway AI video generator remain secure. In addition, encryption is applied to all user data in transit and at rest, which is vital for maintaining privacy.
For users concerned about data access, Runway AI provides strict control over who can view or interact with uploaded content. By default, all information is kept private unless a user manually changes the settings. This can be particularly important for individuals and businesses that use Runway’s AI generator to create confidential content.
Additionally, enterprise users can access additional security configurations, offering them greater flexibility to meet specific requirements and compliance needs as they scale their operations.
The Runway ML AI platform also emphasizes transparency in its data collection policies. They ensure that only necessary statistics are collected, mainly for improving user experience and maintaining the functionality of their services. Therefore, your information has little exposure and limits the data footprint.
Moreover, Runway AI includes multi-factor authentication (MFA) and strict role-based access controls, ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive data.
That said, the platform also conducts frequent security checks to identify and mitigate any potential risks that could impact the privacy of user-generated content, especially for those using high-demand tools like the Runway AI video features.
Various Customization Settings
The last benefit left to discuss in this Runway AI review is the Custom Style Generators and Generative Visual Effects (GVFX) features. These tools are designed to provide users with a flexible and efficient way to create and modify images and videos.
That said, the Custom Style Generators in Runway AI allow you to train your own style models. By uploading a curated set of 15-30 images, users can create a model that reflects a specific visual theme. This can be especially useful for projects requiring consistency. Once the training progress is complete, this style can be applied to various Runway AI tools, such as Text-to-Image or Image-to-Image.
In addition to creating your own model, the platform also offers GVFX, which is an advanced method for blending live-action footage with AI-generated content. Filmmakers and digital artists are some of the people who utilize this feature. GVFX helps them incorporate realistic visual effects without the complexity of traditional VFX techniques.
By exporting a still frame from a video and using it as input for Runway AI’s Text-to-Video or Image-to-Image tool, creators can make effects that match their scene’s lighting, motion, and overall visual tone.
Additionally, color correction and masking tools can further enhance the final output, making Runway AI generator a robust platform for producing polished video effects without needing external VFX software.
These features display how Runway ML AI bridges the gap between concept and execution. Creators can easily explore different artistic directions and styles, whether through training their own custom models or leveraging Runway’s advanced GVFX capabilities.
Lastly, if you're planning on training your own custom models, let me provide you with a quick tip. It's important to assign them unique and descriptive names - like "CustomPortrait" instead of common names such as "Mike". Using a distinctive identifier helps prevent confusion when crafting prompts, ensuring that the AI accurately applies your specific style or subject without mixing it up with existing terms or concepts.
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Runway AI Reviews: CONS
After taking a look at the benefits this platform has to provide, I think it’s best to continue this Runway AI review by looking at the other side of the coin and exploring the drawbacks of this application.
Steep Learning Curve
While testing the application I also read user Runway AI reviews to see what others had to say about this platform. The comments were divided between people who enjoy the software and some who find it difficult to use.
I personally think some of the tools are confusing to utilize. However, keep in mind that’s not the case for every feature on the platform. This issue mainly involves the Runway’s AI Text-to-Video, Image-to-Video, and other similar generators. To be more specific, if you were to access the advanced settings, you could get lost.
That said, this also depends on the model you choose since the Gen-3 version is easier to use compared to older ones.
It’s worth noting that you can also use Runway AI’s video generator on your mobile device. On the other hand, it’s only available on iOS. Therefore, you can’t get it on Android devices.
Additionally, it’s quite hard to get the results you want without prompt engineering. While testing the application, I noticed that for the software to output the outcome you imagine, it takes slight tinkering with the whole description. For this, I would recommend using other software designed to provide writing assistance like Writesonic or Jasper AI.
Overall, the platform offers a pretty intuitive user interface, but some tools are difficult to use due to complicated settings. As a result, it can be challenging to receive high-quality outputs if you are a beginner.
Runway AI Pricing
In this Runway AI review, I have covered all of the platform’s important aspects, models, tools, security, and other functionalities, except for one: the price. That said, before getting into the whole pricing structure, let me mention that the application offers a free plan. Naturally, it does come with some restrictions. Nonetheless, it’s a good option if you only want to test the platform first.
Now, for anyone interested, here is the pricing:
- Standard - $15/month or $144/annually;
- Pro - $35/month or $336/annually;
- Unlimited - $95/month or $912/annually;
- Enterprise - contact the sales team.
The first thing I should note in this Runway AI review about the pricing is that it uses a credit system. For instance, when you initially create an account, you are automatically placed on a free plan. With this subscription, users receive 125 credits, which amounts to 25s of Gen-2, 8s of Gen-1, or 25 image generations.
However, I should mention that users receive this number of tokens just once, and they do not renew, so the usage is pretty limited. Additionally, the free subscription provides outputs with watermarks, exports only in 720p quality, and receives very limited usage for Gen-1,-2, and -3 models.
Furthermore, the Standard plan gets 625 credits per month. With this subscription, you will no longer have watermarks on your generated outputs. Users can also train 1 personal model, receive 100GB assets, and have Runway AI export the images in 2K quality and videos in 4K.
Moreover, the Pro plan provides a monthly credit number of 2250. With this subscription, users receive all of the benefits from the previous ones, can create custom voices for the Lip Sync feature and have 500GB of asset space.
Then, there is the Unlimited plan. This subscription provides an unlimited number of video generations and includes all of the features from the previous subscriptions.
That said, it should be highlighted that the unrestricted generation only works when you’re using the Gen-1,-2, and -3 models in Explore Mode. As a result, generations may take longer, and the number you can run at the same time may be limited based on overall site traffic. Nonetheless, you still receive 2250 credits per month if you need to receive faster output.
Finally, the last plan that needs to be covered in this Runway AI review is the Enterprise. As you can imagine, it’s designed for large teams and organizations that need custom, secure, and robust flexibility at scale. It includes all of the aforementioned features and a few additional ones, such as single sign-on, custom storage, advanced security and compliance.
How to Use Runway AI?
To finish off this Runway AI review, below, you can find a quick step-by-step guide on how to sign up and use the platform’s tools.
How to Sign Up on Runway AI?
Before you can have Runway’s AI review your prompt and receive an output of a generated image or video, you will first need to sign up on the platform.
Step 1: Visit the Runway AI homepage and then click on the [Get Started] button.
Step 2: Then, you should see a sign-up window, which will provide you with 4 options: you can continue with Google and Apple, log in via SSO, short for single sign-on, which is used if your workplace has purchased the services of Runway AI, and the last one is to enter your email manually.
Step 3: If you choose to continue by entering your email address manually, you will also need to verify your email. Other options don’t have this step.
After completing these steps, as mentioned above in this Runway AI review, you will receive 125 credits, which you can use to try out the platform.
How to Utilize Runway AI?
After you sign up, naturally, the next step is to give the platform a shot. To do so, follow these steps:
Step 1: Press the [All Tools] button on the navigation bar, which should be on the left side of your screen. You will see all of the offered tools, including Runway AI’s Text-to-Video and other generators.
Step 2: I personally decided to try out the Generative Video feature with the Gen-3 Alpha tool. It’s worth mentioning that you can select a specific model by pressing on the dropdown menu in the top left corner.
Step 3: Keep in mind that each model has different settings. Hence, if you selected a different version, the following step might not match. That said, if you chose the Gen-3 Alpha model, you will need to enter a prompt and upload an image or video.
Lastly, after you’ve completed your prompts and settings, you can press the blue [Generate] button, after which Runway’s AI will review your request and provide you with an output.
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Conclusions
So, there you have it, my Runway AI review has come to an end. If you read the article from start to finish, you should now be able to decide if it’s the right choice for your needs. There are many advantages to using Runway AI. However, there are also some drawbacks, such as a steep learning curve.
Don’t forget that you can utilize this software with other applications like Writesonic or Jasper AI to help you with prompt engineering and increase the overall quality of your outputs. In addition, both of the platforms offer free trials, so don’t hesitate to give them a try.
That said, I hope this Runway AI review was helpful and you were able to find everything you wanted to know about this application. Lastly, if this platform doesn’t seem to meet your needs, remember that there are plenty of other AI-powered image and video generators available on the market.
The content published on this website is not aimed to give any kind of financial, investment, trading, or any other form of advice. BitDegree.org does not endorse or suggest you to buy or use any kind of AI tool. Before making financial investment decisions, do consult your financial advisor.
Scientific References
1. J. Bell.: 'What Is Machine Learning?';
2. W. Wang., S. M. Sadjadi., N. Rishe.: 'A Survey of Major Cybersecurity Compliance Frameworks'.