The best AI tools for video production — 2024

With the recent boom in AI, there’s been an influx of AI-powered tools aimed at streamlining and improving the video production process. These tools aren’t designed to replace the production process but to help filmmakers create the best possible videos in less time.

Whether you’re looking to enhance your video’s image quality or streamline your editing process, we’ll run through the best AI tools for video production currently available.

The Editors’ Choice award recognizes exceptional video production equipment, software and services. These products must help videographers be more effective storytellers while being affordable, easy to use and dependable. The products must also deliver a superior user experience.

Video noise reduction

Topaz Labs

Topaz Lab offers a ton of AI-powered tools to enhance the production workflow. However, one of its standout tools is its denoise capabilities. Powered by Topaz Lab’s Video Ai 5, Topaz Labs can take a video with visible noise and drastically reduce its noise levels. A common issue with denoise AI tools is that while they are able to remove noise, it’s at the cost of image detail. But, according to Topaz Lab, its Video Ai 5 is trained with millions of video frames, so it can understand the difference between noise and detail. Additionally, its denoise Nyx AI Model can remove noise and fix compression artifacts from 4K video with high ISO settings. So, if you’re shooting in low light, you can capture more detailed images with low noise when using a high ISO setting.

Right now, Topaz Lab offers the best denoise tool on the market, even surpassing Adobe’s denoise tool.

Top features:

• Multiple AI models are available
• Batch processing capability
• User-friendly interface
• Detail preservation techniques
• Supports various video formats

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Generative image

Midjourney

When it comes to text-to-image AI generators, Midjourney and DALL-E are often regarded as the two best. Both of them have their strengths and quirks. Some say that DALL-E is able to generate more realistic images, but overall, Midjounery is a much more powerful tool for creators. You’re able to control your image’s aspect ratio, as well as what seed it starts with, or even use an image as a reference point. Overall, Midjourney is a great tool for pre-visualizing your scenes.

While DALL-E is an excellent image generator, Midjouney is just as excellent and edges out the victory here.

Top features:

• Text-to-image generation
• Artistic style options
• Background removal
• Object recognition
• Multi-prompt support
• Improved language processing

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Video upscaling

Topaz Labs

Appearing again on this list, Topaz Labs is once again a leading product in the AI space — this time for video upscaling. A common issue other upscaling tools run into is motion artifacts. The technique these tools use results in a shimmering or flickering effect. This ultimately affects the image quality of your videos. Topaz Labs can impressively upscale your videos to up to 8K while also reducing the number of artifacts created during processing.

While the tool is a bit expensive and processes jobs slowly, Topaz Video AI’s results speak for themselves. Ultimately, Topaz Video AI focuses on deinterlacing, upscaling and motion interpolation when upscaling video. Its technique is quite impressive and is good enough to use in a professional setting. For this reason, Topaz Labs is the best AI tool to use for upscaling your videos.

Top features:

• Upscale to 8K
• AI-powered stabilization
• Frame interpolation
• Noise reduction
• Artifact removal
• Batch processing capability
• Slow motion generation

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Photo editing

Generative fill in Photoshop

There are a lot of image generators out there that offer some customization. However, Photoshop’s generative fill is by far the most impressive. You can take an existing image and use the generative fill tool to make whatever edits you want to a photo by simply typing out a prompt. Want to remove wandering tourists in your vacation photos? All you have to do is highlight the people and ask Photoshop to remove them. Photoshop will then automatically fill in the area to make the removal seamless.

And the best part is that Adobe has trained its AI models ethically. According to Adobe, only content to which it has the rights has been used to train its models, unlike so many other AI models.

Top features:

• Text-based content generation
• Reference image uploads
• Generate similar variations
• Expand canvas seamlessly
• Quick concept exploration

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Video repurposing

Opus Clip

With the boom of TikTok-style short videos, it’s only natural for videographers to want to turn their long-form videos into short-form content. But instead of taking hours editing their videos to fit into the vertical format, videographers can use Opus Pro. There are already a number of long-form to short-form video tools out there, but none of them compare to Opus Clip. Free to use at its base tier, Opus Clip can automatically detect the best parts of your video, edit it to fit the vertical format and offer suggestions on which ones you should use.

It’s an incredible tool that anyone who wants to make both long-form and short-form content a part of their content strategy should use.

Top features:

• Creates viral shorts
• Automatic highlight extraction
• Animated captions added
• B-roll integration
• Customizable brand templates
• Multiple aspect ratios
• Social media scheduling
• Team collaboration features
• Virality score generation
• Free and paid plans

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Voice cloning

Speechify

Right now, Speechify is the leading tool for voice cloning. It needs only 30 seconds of a voice to produce an accurate clone of the speaker. Once Speechify has a voice cloned, you can type out what you want the voice to say, and Speechify will create a downloadable voiceover. Additionally, you can clone your voice in over 40 languages and retain the rights to the voice you clone.

Speechify’s ability to clone voices is quite impressive. So, if you’re looking into voice cloning, we’d recommend you try Speechify first.

Top features:

• Built-in voice recording
• Commercial usage rights available

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Transcription/translation (text)

Descript

Descript is a highly versatile editor that does more than transcription/translation. However, its transcription/translation abilities are worth celebrating on their own. To start, Descript can automatically transcribe audio to text with high accuracy. According to Descript, it can transcribe with 95 percent accuracy and can create transcriptions, captions, subtitles and text files. Plus, you can edit everything it transcribes in a Word doc.

At its base tier, you can start using Descript for free. You are limited to one transcription per month. If you want more transcription hours, you will have to upgrade to Descript’s Hobbyist or Creator tiers for $12 and $24, respectively. Still, it’s worth the investment if you need to transcribe hours of videos per month.

Top features:

• Translation
• Transcription
• Text-based editing
• Podcast editing
• AI Clip Selection
• AI Speech

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Translation (audio/video)

HeyGen

The more languages your videos are available in, the wider your video’s reach will be. Today, there are a few AI tools that can translate your videos into different languages, but HeyGen delivers near-perfect voice recreation. You can translate your video into multiple languages with just one click. For example, if you upload a video with a speaker speaking English, you can translate that file into Spanish and Japanese.

After translating, you can make edits to the translation to make sure that the translation is accurate. With how easy it is to use HeyGen, and the fact you can make edits to the translation, it’s the best AI translation tool for video audio right now.

Top features:

• AI Voices
• AI Avatar
• Video Translation

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Soundtrack generator

Mubert

Up until now, when videographers needed a soundtrack for their video, they had limited options. Often, they would either have to purchase a license to use a soundtrack or compose their own soundtrack if they have the capability (or hire someone who does). However, with the rise of AI, videographers can now use AI to create a video soundtrack with just a few clicks. From our testing, Mubert came out on top when it comes to AI soundtrack generators. One of the major benefits of Mubert is the number of tracks you can generate on its free track. You can generate up to 25 tracks per month, which is much more than other competitors, like Suno, which only offers six songs per month and doesn’t let you download the track.

You can generate songs based on genre, mood or even text prompts. For its great free track, it’s a great option to use for videographers looking to get a few tracks for their videos. Plus, you can get paid whenever people license your creations, so it could prove to be a great side hustle as well.

Top features:

• Text to music
• Image to music

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Audio noise reduction

Descript

Some of the more widely used AI tools in the videographer industry are ones that remove background noise. These tools can literally save a recording plagued with unwanted ambient background noise. Descript has an exceptional AI-powered tool that can remove background noise and distracting ambient sounds and music. Additionally, it can enhance the recorded voices after removing the background noise.

So, work that would take hours in the editing room can be done almost instantly in Descript. It’s a great option for removing background noise while also simultaneously enhancing your voice recording.

Top features:

• Studio Sound
• Ducking adjustments

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Background removal

Adobe Express

Adobe Express isn’t the only background remover out there. There are plenty of them out there. Even Adobe offers an AI tool within Premiere Pro that can remove backgrounds. However, where Adobe Express really shines is that it delivers impressive results for completely free. You have access to its tools, like background removal, as well as adding text and elements, for free. You can then later the video file and remove the white background in your video editor.

With all its tools and the quality it delivers, we recommend trying out Adobe Express if you need to remove backgrounds from your videos.

Top features:

• Remove background tool
• 720p, 1080p and 4K resolution download

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Text-to-speech voice-over

ElevenLabs

The best aspect of ElevenLabs doesn’t come from its ability to generate a realistic voice. That’s not to say that Voice.ai doesn’t generate realistic voices (it does most of the time). What excites us about ElevenLabs is its number of voices and how well the majority of them sound. You start out with a 10,000-character quota per month, which gets you about 10 minutes of voiceover. This may work for some, but if you need more, you can upgrade to 30,000 characters for $5 per month.

A major highlight of ElevenLabs is the ability to create your own custom voice and add it to your account’s voice library. It’s a powerful tool that can create professional-level voiceovers that you can tweak to your liking.

Top features:

• Text to speech
• Speech to speech
• Voice library
• Voice creator
• Clone video creator
• Voiceover Studio
• Dubbing Studio

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How to buy AI tools for video production

If you are open to using AI tools in your production, then there are many out there to choose from. Admittedly, with the massive boom of AI tools, it can be difficult to decide which ones to use. Not to mention which ones are ethical to use.

Here, we will go over the checklist you should run through when choosing an AI tool for your production.

What constitutes an AI-powered tool?

So, what are AI tools, and what makes a tool AI-powered? An AI-powered tool is generally defined as a software application that uses artificial intelligence to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. In terms of video production, an AI-powered tool refers to software or applications that integrate artificial intelligence technologies to automate, enhance or streamline various aspects of creating and editing videos.

Machine learning over time

Additionally, many AI-powered tools use machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data and improve their performance over time. For example, when image generators output content, you can tell the tool that you approve of its output or want it to make changes. Based on your input, it will learn what your style is and will adjust its output based on that. This is one of the key aspects of AI-power tools. AI tools can modify their behavior based on new information. This makes them incredibly capable of handling complex tasks throughout the video production process.

Types of AI tools for video production

AI tools to improve your video’s image quality

AI-powered tools have proven to be quite effective in enhancing video image quality. Everything from resolution upscaling, noise reduction and improving color accuracy all fall under this category. These tools use algorithms to analyze and optimize every frame.

Voice recording AI tools

Another area of video production AI is being integrated into is audio. Right now, AI is being used to remove unwanted background noise and even clone voices for various applications. Most of these tools are used during post-production since AI can separate speech from noisy backgrounds or add voiceovers. However, voice cloning tools can be used during the recording process as well.

Speech recognition and translation

AI-driven speech recognition tools convert spoken language into text and can automate captioning and subtitling. Further, these tools can translate spoken content into other languages. This makes it possible to offer multiple language versions of the same video without extensive manual effort.

Graphics/image generation tools

When people think of AI generation, they often think of AI image generators like Midjourney or DALL-E. These tools have most directly impacted photography, but they’ve also had an impact on video production. For filmmakers and content creators, AI image generators can help brainstorm scenes and can even act as a means of creating storyboards. Taking ideas from text to a visual reference can really help the creative process, whether the references are used or not.

Soundtrack tools

AI is making its way into the composing scene as well. AI-powered music composition tools can generate original music scores that you can customize to the emotional tone and pacing of your video. The main draw of this kind of tool is that it provides an avenue for creators of all levels to have access to professional-level soundtracks.

AI editing tools

Editing is another area where AI tools excel. Being able to do automated video editing and background removal, AI is making the editing process more efficient and saving editors time in the long run. AI can quickly edit videos by arranging clips in a coherent sequence or syncing clips with music.

Things to consider when deciding which AI tools to use

Ease of use

AI technology behind the curtain can be quite complicated, but thankfully, many of these tools have been designed to be easy to use, even for beginners. Oftentimes, it’s as easy as dragging and dropping a video clip or audio file. Still, when choosing to invest in a tool, you should always ensure it’s efficient for you to use. Take advantage of any free trials if they are offered before subscribing to a tool. Right now, most tools will offer a free trial period.

Future-proofing

AI technology is constantly improving and evolving. AI has improved exponentially in just a few years, and it will only continue. So, if you are going to invest in an AI-powered tool, it’s best to put money into a tool that will keep up with the rest of the tools out there. This is imperative if you’re buying a perpetual license as opposed to a subscription, as you can cancel your subscription if there’s a better tool out there. But, with how fast AI is improving, it’s always best to ask yourself before buying a tool if it will be useful to you for the foreseeable future.

Pricing

It goes without saying that you need to shop around and compare prices. With how saturated the AI market is right now, all the tools vary in price. So, before you commit to a tool, check a similar tool to make sure you aren’t overpaying.

AI tools usually offer different paid tiers. Purchase the tier that you currently need to avoid overpaying. If you decide that you need to upgrade, you can also do that at a later date.

Ethical considerations

When deciding to integrate AI into your workflow, you want to consider what data the tool’s AI algorithm was trained on. Quite a few AI companies have been criticized for bypassing creators’s copyrights and training their algorithms on content they didn’t have permission to use. Not only is it the ethical thing to do, it’s can also keep you out of legal issues.

Final thoughts

The market for AI-generated videos is exploding and reshaping the workflows of video editing and production as we know it. In a short period of time, artificial intelligence has raised the bar on technology for video creation by speeding up the tedious process of editing, audio enhancement, captioning, transcription and even auto-reframing. Ultimately, the introduction of AI into the video production process has cut down on production time and made the entire process more efficient for videographers. While these tools have caused many to worry about the prospects of AI and the industry, they have also shown many benefits to videographers and editors.