Moonvalley, the AI startup behind Marey, a high-quality video generator trained exclusively on licensed content, has just put the product in general release. The credits-based subscription pricing ranges from $15 to $150 per month. In addition to ethical training on 1080p native video, Marey also takes a non-traditional approach on its user interface, eschewing prompts for what it says is a more creatively intuitive process. “Directors need precise control over every creative decision, plus legal confidence for commercial use. Today we’re delivering both,” says Moonvalley CEO and co-founder Naeem Talukdar.

Talukdar says Moonvalley built Marey because “the industry told us existing AI video tools don’t work for serious production,” detailing in a news announcement how the model delivers up to five seconds of sharp footage at 24 fps in aspect ratios from widescreen to vertical.

Features include Trajectory Control for precise object movement, Camera Control for cinematic storytelling, Motion Transfer to adapt performance across scenes, Pose Transfer for nuanced performances, and Inpainting.

Talukdar demonstrated for TechCrunch how Marey “lets you shift the camera trajectory with your mouse: He integrated a pan and slide zoom to a video of a woman on a train in the Rockies by simply dragging his cursor” and said “Marey could achieve near-360-degree camera motion and obey instructions to create footage as if it was shot from a handheld camera or dolly.”

Following a beta period for Marey that began in March and involved canvasing chosen filmmakers and agencies for input, Moonvalley has, concurrent with that model’s release, opened invitational beta access to Voyager, a proprietary platform that “unlocks Marey’s full capabilities” for studio-caliber workflows.

In addition, “an enterprise version is also available for partners using proprietary IP,” writes PetaPixel, noting that the products were “developed with direct input from filmmakers through its in-house studio Asteria.”

In June, the  company hired VFX veteran Ed Ulbrich as head of strategic growth and partnerships. Ulbrich —  executive producer of VFX on “Titanic” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — told IndieWire Marey’s combination of ethical training and production friendly features is “lightning in a bottle.”

“There might be great data scientists gifted with crafting the perfect prompts, but what it needs are intuitive designs and GUIs that will ‘de-mystify’ AI for creative types to start turning the knobs and get something brilliant,” IndieWire wrote of Ulbrich’s view.

As for the AI companies being sued over “stolen pixels,” Ulbrich told IndieWire “there’s not anybody I know saying, hey, we’ll try it … Copyright matters.”

Last month, Disney and NBCUniversal teamed up to sue Midjourney for unauthorized use of protected content, as reported by The New York Times.