Runway, headquartered in New York, is a generative AI startup that enables individuals and businesses to create videos in different styles. Recently, it has updated its Gen-2 base model with a new tool called Muti Motion Brush, which allows creators to add multiple directions and types of motion to their AI video creations.

This is a pioneering feature for a commercially available AI video project: all other competing products on the market only add motion to the entire image or selected highlights using AI, rather than multiple regions.

This product builds upon the Motion Brush feature, which was first introduced in November 2023 and allowed creators to add only one type of motion to their videos at a time.

Muti Motion Brush was previewed earlier this year through Runway's Creative Partners Program, which rewarded selected advanced users with unlimited plans and access to pre-release features. However, it is now available to every user of Gen-2, providing over 30 tools for creative video makers.

This move strengthens the product's position in the rapidly growing creative AI market, which also includes players like Pika Labs and Leonardo AI.

What can be expected from Muti Motion Brush?

The idea behind Muti Motion Brush is simple: to give users better control over the AI videos they generate by allowing them to add independent motion to their selected regions.

This can be anything from facial movements to the direction of clouds in the sky.

Users first upload a still image as a reference and then "paint" it using a digital brush controlled by their computer cursor.

They then use slider controls in Runway's web interface to select the direction and intensity (strength) of the motion to be applied to the painted parts of the image, with independent control over brushes of various colors.

Users can adjust horizontal, vertical, and near/far sliders to define the direction of the motion - left/right, up/down, or near/far - and then click save.

"Each slider is controlled by a decimal value ranging from -10 to +10. You can manually input the values, drag the text box left or right, or use the slider. If you need to reset everything, click the 'Clear' button to reset everything to 0," explains Runway on its website.

Continued improvements in Gen-2 control

The introduction of Muti Motion Brush enhances the toolkit provided by Runway for controlling Gen-2 model video outputs.

Gen-2 was initially launched in March 2023, introducing text, video, and image-based generation and serving as a significant upgrade to the Gen-1, which only supported video-based outputs.

However, in its initial stage, it could only generate clips of up to four seconds. This changed in August when the company added the ability to extend clips to 18 seconds.

It also introduced additional features such as "Director Mode," which allows users to select the direction and intensity/speed of camera movements in the generated videos, as well as options to choose the style of the video to be generated - from 3D cartoons and renderings to movies and advertisements.

In the AI-driven video generation field, Runway competes with players like Pika Labs, which recently launched its web platform Pika 1.0 for video generation, and Stability AI's stable video diffusion model.

The company also offers a text-to-image tool, competing with products like Midjourney and DALL-E 3. However, it is important to note that while the outputs of these tools have improved over time, they are still not perfect and may generate blurry, incomplete, or inconsistent images/videos.