AI Video Generation and Editing
Using AI for the video work where it is genuinely strong — editing, versioning, localisation and short generated sequences — and being straight about where generation still cannot hold continuity or take direction.
Video generation produces remarkable short clips and struggles with the things production actually needs: a character who looks the same in shot four as in shot one, a specific product held a specific way, a director's note applied without regenerating everything. Knowing which side of that line your brief sits on decides the whole approach.
AI video work covers two distinct capabilities: generation, which creates new footage from text or images and currently suits short sequences; and AI-assisted editing, which accelerates work on footage you already have — cutting, versioning, reframing, localisation, background replacement and search across a library.
What works now, and what does not
| Task | Maturity | Practical note |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and assembly assistance | Strong | Rough cuts, selects, silence removal, transcript-driven editing |
| Versioning and reformatting | Strong | Many aspect ratios and durations from one master |
| Localisation with lip sync | Good | Consent required for the performer; see voice cloning |
| Search across a footage library | Strong | Find the shot by describing it; see video analytics |
| Background replacement and clean-up | Good | Reliable for controlled shots, harder with fine detail |
| Short generated sequences | Usable | Seconds, not minutes; b-roll, abstract, establishing |
| Character continuity across shots | Weak | Do not plan a narrative around it yet |
| Precise direction of generated action | Weak | Iteration is regeneration, not adjustment |
Most of the value is in editing, not generation
Organisations arrive asking about generation and leave with a versioning and localisation pipeline, because that is where the time actually goes. A single master turned into forty market and format variants is a larger, more reliable saving than any generated sequence.
Rights and disclosure
Performers, always with consent
Any use of a real performer's likeness, voice or performance — including lip-sync localisation and reframing that alters how they appear — needs documented consent for that specific use, and we check whether existing contracts actually cover AI processing rather than assuming they do. Older contracts frequently do not.
Footage and music licensing
Whether the licences on your existing footage and music permit AI processing, derivative works and the territories you intend to use them in. This is a common gap in libraries assembled before these questions existed.
Marking generated content
Platform policies and, where applicable, the EU AI Act's duty to mark AI-generated content. We implement marking as part of the pipeline rather than as a manual step somebody forgets under deadline.
What we decline
Video depicting a real identifiable person saying or doing something they did not, in any framing. Generated footage presented as authentic documentary or news of real events. Anything designed to be mistaken for a real recording of a real person. These are refused regardless of the stated purpose.
What we build
- An honest capability assessment against your actual briefs — which are achievable now, which need conventional production, and which should wait.
- An editing and versioning pipeline for the volume work: masters to variants, formats, durations and markets.
- Localisation with subtitling, dubbing and lip sync where the performer consent is in place. See voice cloning and dubbing.
- Library search so existing footage is findable by description rather than by filename.
- Generated sequences where they fit — b-roll, establishing shots, abstract and background material — with the limits documented.
- Brand and quality review, with the specific failure modes named, plus provenance and marking built into the output.
How the engagement runs
Briefs are assessed against real capability before anything is promised.
Assessment and rights
Briefs tested against current capability; performer consent, footage and music licensing established.
Pipeline design
Editing, versioning, localisation and library search designed around your actual output volume.
Build
Pipeline implemented with brand review, provenance and content marking built in.
Production trial
Real briefs run through it; quality, turnaround and failure modes measured.
Handover
Team trained, review standard and rights checklist handed over.
What you receive
A working video pipeline for the volume work, with generation used only where it holds up.
Capability assessment
Your real briefs mapped to what is achievable now, what needs conventional production, and what should wait.
Editing and versioning pipeline
Masters to formats, durations and market variants.
Localisation
Subtitling, dubbing and lip sync where performer consent is documented.
Library search
Footage findable by description rather than filename.
Generated sequence workflow
Where generation fits, with its limits documented.
Rights, marking and review
Consent checklist, content marking in the pipeline, and a named-failure review standard.
Is this the right engagement?
Worth being direct. AI Video Generation and Editing is the wrong spend in some situations, and those are listed rather than buried.
Good fit if
- Video output is limited by editing and versioning capacity.
- The same content must ship in many formats, durations and languages.
- A large footage library is effectively unsearchable.
- Short generated sequences would fill a real gap in b-roll or backgrounds.
- Rights and marking around AI video are unresolved.
Choose something else if
- You need narrative video with consistent characters across shots.
- The brief needs precise direction over generated action.
- You want video of a real person saying something they did not say.
- The requirement is analysing video rather than making it. See video analytics.
Frequently asked questions
Marked up with FAQPage schema so these answers can surface directly in search results and inside AI assistant responses.
Can AI generate our advert?
Short sequences, yes — b-roll, establishing shots, abstract and background material of a few seconds. Full narrative advertising with consistent characters, precise product handling and directed action is not reliably achievable yet, and we will say so rather than take the brief and disappoint you at the edit.
Where does AI video actually save time today?
In editing and versioning rather than generation. Transcript-driven editing, rough cuts, turning one master into many formats and durations, localisation and making a footage library searchable — these are mature and they are where the hours go. Most clients arrive asking about generation and get most of their value here.
Can you dub our videos into other languages?
Yes, including lip sync, provided the performer has given documented consent for that specific use — and we check whether existing contracts actually cover AI processing, because older ones frequently do not. See voice cloning and dubbing.
Do we have to label AI-generated video?
In many contexts yes — platform policies require it and the EU AI Act imposes duties to mark AI-generated content. We build marking into the pipeline rather than leaving it as a manual step, because manual steps get skipped under deadline.
Will you make a video of a real person saying something?
No. Video depicting a real identifiable person saying or doing something they did not is refused in any framing, as is generated footage presented as authentic documentary or news. Localisation of a performer's own words with their consent is a different thing and one we do.
Often paired with this
Most clients combine two or three engagements from the Creative and Media AI pillar. These are the ones that most often run immediately before or after.
AI Voice Cloning and Dubbing
Synthetic voice and dubbing on documented, revocable consent — with verification, watermarking and a refusal list.
Read more →Digital Humans and AI Avatars
Presenters and avatars on documented likeness consent, always disclosed, with the uncanny valley taken seriously.
Read more →AI Image and Brand Asset Generation
A documented visual system, rights cleared before production, and provenance recorded on every asset.
Read more →Is this the right engagement?
Tell us what you are trying to build. If a different service fits better, or if you do not need us at all, we will say so.