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Pika, often known as Pika Labs, was one of many first startups to emerge with its personal AI video era mannequin, permitting customers to easily sort in textual content and get video clips in return, elevating $35 million in a Sequence A in November 2023.
However it’s been almost a yr since Pika launched its 1.0 text-to-video AI platform and since that point, many opponents have emerged and/or up to date their fashions to outclass Pika when it comes to realism and the consequences they’re able to, chief amongst them, Runway which is on its Gen-3 Alpha Turbo mannequin and Luma AI which in August debuted its Dream Machine 1.5 AI video mannequin.
However now not: acknowledging its comparatively prolonged (a minimum of for the AI {industry}) interval of quiet, Pika right this moment introduced it’s launching Pika 1.5, an up to date model of its mannequin that gives eye-popping, physics defying particular results or “Pikaffects” that may rework imagery topics into bizarrely malleable variations of themselves.
These animated particular results can be found from a brand new button labeled Pikaeffects, and embody the next pre-sets: Explode it, soften it, crush it, inflate it and “cake-ify it” — the latter of which basically turns your picture topic into the meme movies of extremely real looking prop truffles.
Pika 1.5 will routinely search to determine the topics or objects within the video and apply the corresponding impact, even when it’s not attainable for that topic or object to rework in that method in actuality.
A few of the results — particularly crush it, squish it, and cake-ify — truly insert new props akin to a hydraulic press, human fingers and a knife into the body, but permit them to work together with the objects within the nonetheless picture and thus, ensuing video.
The outcomes are sometimes hilariously incongruous but convincing, with Pikaffects turning all the world right into a playground of convincing but stunning deformations.
Already profitable followers amongst AI video creators and early adopters
Already, AI early adopters and video creators on X are posting unbelievable outcomes and noting that whereas different rival AI video mills have largely all raced to supply growing realism and extra management of the digital “camera” of their platforms, Pika is laudable for pursuing a radically totally different method.
Beginning right this moment, each free and paid customers can entry this new model, unlocking an array of superior options and artistic prospects.
Extra enhancements throughout the board
Pika 1.5 guarantees important enhancements throughout the board, significantly in producing extra highly effective video clips via each image-to-video (i2v) and text-to-video (t2v) workflows.
Customers can now create high-quality, five-second clips, incorporating lifelike actions akin to working, skateboarding, and even flying.
For these trying to make their creations actually cinematic, the platform has added new movement management options, permitting customers to incorporate superior pictures akin to Bullet Time, Vertigo, Dolly Left, and Crane Down.
This makes it simpler to seize dynamic, professional-level footage with no need deep technical experience.
Paid customers can nonetheless use Pika 1.0 and its Lip Sync and AI Sound Results
Whereas Pika 1.5 gives a spread of thrilling new options, paid customers nonetheless have the choice to change between the older Pika 1.0 mannequin and the brand new model.
Options akin to its ElevenLabs-powered Lip Sync, SoundFX, and the power to increase and develop clips stay tied to Pika 1.0 for now.
The platform has additionally made it straightforward to manage digicam movement, kinds, and results instantly inside textual content prompts, providing extra artistic flexibility.
Pricing stays unchanged — however the variety of credit to make a video goes up
The corporate has confirmed that whereas subscription costs stay unchanged, every five-second clip era will now require 15 credit, reflecting the elevated energy and useful resource calls for of the brand new mannequin.
Customers will discover that era occasions are naturally longer for the Pika 1.5 mannequin, although Pikaffects is designed to generate sooner, providing a faster option to discover the brand new capabilities.
Pika is actively encouraging customers to experiment with Pika 1.5 by becoming a member of its neighborhood challenges, the place individuals can win free credit to make use of on the platform. Credit gained via these challenges are absolutely legitimate to be used with the most recent mannequin. Moreover, customers are invited to share their suggestions and report bugs by way of the platform’s suggestions channels, serving to Pika proceed to enhance its instruments.
With the discharge of Pika 1.5, customers now have entry to a extra highly effective mannequin for creating high-quality, dynamic video content material.
The addition of Pikaffects, cinematic pictures, and lifelike actions gives thrilling new prospects for creators, no matter their expertise degree, and is clearly already serving to Pika differentiate itself amid an more and more crowded and aggressive AI video mannequin house.
