Runway ML: AI video generator Gen-4 released

Runway ML released its Gen-4 AI video generator, the New York City-based company announced. The model generates clips of five or 10 seconds at 24 frames per second in resolutions including 1280 by 720 pixels for a 16:9 aspect ratio. Prompts are limited to 1,000 characters. The company said Gen-4 can precisely generate characters, locations and objects across scenes while maintaining coherent environments and consistent style and lighting. It can also animate characters in uploaded reference images consistently. Previous versions, Gen-2 and Gen-3, struggled with changing people and objects over the course of a video and merging fingers, limbs and objects. According to a report by 404 Media citing a former employee, training data for Gen-3 came from YouTube videos and pirated films downloaded via proxy servers. Runway ML offers a free trial with 125 credits and watermarked videos. The cheapest subscription costs 10.83 euros per month for 625 credits. Gen-4 generation costs 12 credits per second, or 60 credits for a five-second clip.