Runway

Definition

Runway is an AI video and creative-tools company whose Gen-series generative video models turn text or image prompts into short video clips, alongside a broader suite of AI-assisted editing, motion, and visual-effects tools for filmmakers and creators.

Overview

Runway was founded in 2018 and initially built browser-based AI editing tools for green-screen removal, motion tracking, and object segmentation before becoming widely known for its Gen-series generative video models. Gen-1, released in 2023, could restyle existing video using a reference image or prompt, and Gen-2 extended this to generating video clips from text alone, putting Runway at the forefront of the emerging text-to-video category alongside newer entrants like Sora and Kling AI. Later Gen-3 and subsequent models improved motion consistency, prompt adherence, and clip length, and Runway has continued layering practical filmmaking tools — such as camera control, motion brushes, and lip-sync — on top of its core generative models. Runway also positions itself as a research lab, having contributed to the original work behind Stable Diffusion. Beyond generation, Runway's platform includes traditional AI-assisted editing features, making it used by both individual creators experimenting with generative video and professional studios incorporating AI into visual-effects and post-production pipelines.

Key Features

• Text-to-video and image-to-video generation via the Gen-series models
• AI-assisted video editing tools: green-screen removal, motion tracking, inpainting
• Camera motion and control tools for directing generated video
• Lip-sync and other post-production AI features
• Browser-based editor requiring no local rendering hardware
• API access for developers to integrate video generation into products
• Iterative research lineage tracing back to early diffusion model work

Use Cases

Frequently Asked Questions

Related in AI Tools