Animations are one of the most effective tools in marketing and advertising.
They stand out for their incredible effectiveness in attracting attention and communicating content in an attractive way, creating a lasting image in the memory of the audience. The new tool will be great for the marketing industry.
What is Pika Labs?
Pika Labs is an AI-based tool that allows you to create impactful animations using a short description or image. The platform has already attracted the attention of about half a million users, generating several million videos a week.
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How do I use Pika Labs?
To start creating video with Pika, you will need to sign in through a Google or Discord account on the platform’s website. Once you register, you will be placed on a waiting list. It’s worth noting, however, that the wait doesn’t last very long. Within minutes of registering, Pika Labs sends an email confirming full access to Pika 1.0. Currently, we still have the option to use the platform on Discord, while we strongly recommend generating animations directly on the Pika Labs website – it’s easier and more intuitive. This is the way we will describe in the following article.
Is Pika Labs free?
Using the free version of the platform, we receive 30 credits per day. To generate one 3-second video, we need 10 credits. So, the free version allows us to create 3 watermarked videos per day.
Pika Labs offers three types of paid plans: STANDARD, UNLIMIED and PRO. By purchasing one of them we get the ability to create videos without a watermark. Interestingly, the PRO version allows commercial use of the generated videos. It is worth mentioning that all paid plans give you the possibility to generate videos of up to 15 seconds, not 3, as in the free version.
The exact prices of the plans can be found on the Pika Labs website.
Creating animations from text
In order to generate an animation from scratch, we enter the prompt at the bottom of the screen by clicking on the area with the words “Describe your story.” Before submitting the prompt, it is a good idea to add the appropriate parameters, which I will describe later in the article.
The key to creating an animation to your liking is to create an appropriate prompt. When writing the prompt, it is worth focusing on the following structure:
Type, Style, Scene, Action, Modulation
Style: Comedy, Action, Style of (filmmaker)
Scene: Where does the action take place? Who appears in the video?
Action: What is happening in the frame?
Modulation: Are there any additional effects in the frame?
Prompt: Astronaut sitting at control board with blinking lights, cinematic
prompt: A mesmerizing vaporwave synthwave style futuristic street car race speeds in the bustling neon-lit streets of California. Awash in cyberpunk allure, vibrant red neon glows against the sleek, ultramodern cars as they glide by. Every detail is crisp and meticulously detailed, while the high contrast and cinematic composition add a sense of grandeur to this photorealistic image.
Creating an animation from a photo
We can also create an animation based on a photo by typing a prompt and attaching a photo. The static image is transformed into a video. As in the previous case, we can refine the animation by editing the prompt.
As for the prompt, it can be a bit more limited than when generating a video from scratch. Since the photo we use determines the style and atmosphere of the animation, we need to focus primarily on the action to come.
In this case, it is a good idea to use graphics generated in other platforms that use AI, such as Midjourney.
camera: zoom out
Transforming animation
Pika Labs has also introduced the ability to transform an already existing animation, not necessarily generated on the platform. We can add interesting effects even to a video we shot ourselves. To do this, just as with an animation from a photo, we upload a video and enter a command describing what we want to happen in it.
Parameters
Parameters are an important part of the prompt, thanks to them we can set technical expectations for the animation. By clicking on the slider icon located below the place for entering the prompt, we will see such parameters as:
- Negative prompt – Allows us to specify the elements that we do not want in our animation. It is useful to add information that will allow the algorithm to improve the quality of the image to some extent. E.g. -neg morphing, erratic fluctuation in motion, noisy, bad quality, distorted, pixelated, poorly drawn, blurry, grainy, low resolution, oversaturated, lack of detail, inconsistent lighting, error, still. The above set of words is a certain base, which can be freely edited depending on the case.
- Seed – allows you to determine the density of grain, or noise visible at high sensitivities. High values are reminiscent of the blur effect, great for vintage-style video.
- Consistency with the text – In this case we can specify the scale of similarity. The higher it is, the more the algorithm adapts the animation to our description. The recommended value is 8-24, the default is 12.
Motion control
The platform allows you to control the movement of the camera in the animation. To do so, we click the camera icon, located right next to the slider icon. We can easily control the perspective by clicking the appropriate buttons.
In this section we also have the ability to adjust the amount of motion in the animation. The higher the value, the more movement in our video. We can adjust it on a scale of 1-4. The default value is 1.
Video options
Pika Labs also allows you to adjust the video format. Clicking on the rectangle icon next to the previous options opens a window where we can choose the appropriate size.
We can perform the operation after the video has already been created by clicking the “Expand Canvas” button.
In the same window we also choose the number of frames per second in the video. The higher the value, the smoother the animation looks. The optimal value is 8-24 fps. The default value is 24 fps.
Editing the generated video
The “reprompt” button is another useful tool. It opens a new window, allowing users to make changes or correct errors in the original prompt. The function is particularly useful for testing different ideas without having to re-enter all the settings.
If you don’t get a satisfactory result, it’s worth using the “retry” function, which generates the animation once again without changing the prompt.
You may also find the “modify region” function useful, which allows you to make changes to a specific area of the animation you have selected.
Using the paid version, we can extend the duration of the video by clicking the “add 4s” button.
As you can see, the tool allows a lot of video personalization. It is worth experimenting to achieve excellent and often surprising results.
Pika Labs – pros and cons
A big advantage of Pika Labs is its ease of use, which makes the tool user-friendly even for people who are new to artificial intelligence technology. By accessing various parameters, we can adjust the operation of the algorithm to obtain the desired results.
The disadvantage of the tool is the rather low quality of the animation. It can be improved by entering the appropriate commands or by using tools that use AI to improve the quality of images (e.g. Topaz Labs), but the results will not always be satisfactory.
Pika Labs in marketing
Although the current quality of animation and watermarking can be an obstacle to its direct use in marketing campaigns, the tool is invaluable in the work of an advertising agency. It allows initial animated versions of materials, such as commercials, to be created quickly and with minimal effort. It allows agencies to effectively visualise campaign concepts, giving clients a glimpse of what their advertising might look like in practice. This accelerates the creative and decision-making process. Pika Labs saves time and resources, which is invaluable in a dynamic advertising environment.
Pika Labs – FAQ
What is Pika Labs?
Answer: Pika Labs is an AI-based tool that enables the creation of animations using a short description or an image.
How do I create an animation using Pika Labs?
Answer: To create an animation, you will need to sign in through a Google or Discord account on the platform’s website. Use a prompt to generate an animation from scratch or attach a photo to transform it into a video. You can refine the animation by editing the prompt.
What are the key parameters I can use in Pika Labs to customize my animation?
Answer: Key parameters include FPS (frames per second), MOTION (amount of movement), GS (similarity scale), NEG (elements to exclude), AR (aspect ratio), and SEED (grain effect). These parameters help define the technical aspects and style of the animation.
What are the pros and cons of using Pika Labs?
Answer: Pros include its ease of use and the ability to quickly visualize campaign concepts, which is beneficial in advertising. However, the cons are the relatively low quality of animations and the presence of a watermark.
Can Pika Labs be used effectively in marketing?
Answer: Despite its current limitations in animation quality and watermarking, Pika Labs is invaluable in an advertising agency setting. It allows for the rapid creation of initial animated versions of materials, aiding in visualizing campaign concepts and speeding up the creative and decision-making process.
