New York-based Runway AI has introduced a sophisticated video model called Aleph that can perform a wide range of edits from text prompts — adding, removing and transforming objects; generating various angles on a scene; or modifying style and lighting, among other things. Aimed at streamlining post-production, Runway calls Aleph an “in-context video model,” meaning it is designed to work with existing visual material rather than generating imagery from scratch. Using Aleph puts storytellers just a prompt or two from turning that wide shot into an extreme close-up, or adding a new “next shot,” providing what Runway calls “endless coverage.”

“Aleph can also clean up scenes by removing smoke or reflections, add elements like fireworks or crowds, and even change the setting by adding rain or shifting the time of day,” writes The Decoder, adding that “the lighting adjusts automatically to match the new look.”

Describing what sounds like a veritable magic lamp for filmmakers, The Decoder lists additional Aleph features such as “transforming characters, changing their age (‘Make her as a child’), recoloring objects, and generating green screen effects,” and notes “it can even transfer motion from live video onto static images.”

A Runway research post provides examples of Aleph’s capabilities. In the Help Center, the company explains that the model is “rolling out in phases” and is currently available only to those with enterprise and Creative Partners Program accounts.

The Help Center also lists specs and access instructions, recommending Aleph be used in Chat Mode (as opposed to Tool Mode) “because it acts as a creative partner.”

“The feature set reads like a post-production wish list,” writes CineD, noting Runway’s assurance that Aleph can handle “everything from camera angle generation to complex VFX work” using real footage, suggesting this is an AI product that “could actually be useful for filmmakers.”

“The system can apparently maintain scene consistency” throughout the generated coverage options, CineD reports, suggesting Aleph’s camera angle transformations “could revolutionize coverage acquisition.”

As demoed in a YouTube video, Aleph can change a profile view of someone looking out of a window into a frontal image looking in through the glass by typing the prompt “Show me a different angle of this video,” PetaPixel explains.

There will no doubt be some fine-tuning required. Aleph replaces a moving car with a horse-drawn carriage that is oddly bifurcated into two buggies. But typing in an additional prompt or two may be viewed as a small price for such convenience.

“It is easy to see filmmakers might be tempted to use Aleph rather than reshoot a scene,” says PetaPixel.