AI Video is getting UNREAL... (GEN 4)

Runway just released Gen 4, their newest AI video generation model, which promises significant advancements in quality and control. Wes Roth reviews Gen 4, starting with Runway's announcement highlighting 'world consistency' – the ability to maintain consistent characters, objects, and environments across multiple shots for better storytelling. They also showcased integrating real objects into AI scenes and improved physics understanding. Wes then shares results from numerous unedited experiments. He found Gen 4 is often stunningly good, particularly at maintaining character likeness from still images and animating them realistically. Key features highlighted by Runway include Gen 4 being their most powerful model yet, achieving world consistency, allowing direction of subjects, integrating real objects into AI worlds, understanding physics, acting as a creative partner, and enabling creative combinations of elements. It's available to paid users, with scene references coming. Runway demonstrated capabilities with short films like "The Lonely Little Flame." Wes's tests included image-to-video and text-to-video generations. His initial tests showed impressive fidelity (e.g., a tattooed man animated from a Midjourney image) but also issues like characters walking on air or complex camera/action instructions being misinterpreted. He tested animating Midjourney images without text prompts, finding this is where Gen 4 'shines,' bringing many characters to life 'phenomenally' (e.g., a space robot nun, a pencil sketch cat transforming). Some image animations were less successful (e.g., jerky movement, style changes, a poor horse jump). Camera control tests showed difficulty following precise text commands but often produced excellent shots nonetheless. Character action tests were mixed; some were perfect (cat taking off sunglasses), others good approximations (cat hiding knife), and some failed (cat picking claw). A style consistency test failed to maintain the input image's artistic style despite generating a visually great scene. A standout success was animating a pilot in a cockpit through clouds, which Wes called 'absolutely terrific' due to its realism. Wes's final take is that he's 'very happy' with Gen 4, especially its character consistency and high visual quality. Weaknesses include complex instructions and maintaining specific styles. He sees AI video improving rapidly and believes Runway is targeting professional studios, raising questions about AI's role in future filmmaking. His tip is to use simpler prompts focusing on subject, camera, scene motion, and style.