AI video creator Pika Labs has joined the recent rush of new and upgraded tools by releasing Pika 1.5, a revamped model with a bunch of new features. These visual effects, or “Pikaffects,” as the company refers to them, come about a year after the initial debut of Pika 1.0. The timing of the release, right after rival models like Runway Gen-3, Hotshot, and Luma Labs’ Dream Machine 1.5, suggests the competition to dominate AI videos is far from over, even as people await a wider release of OpenAI‘s Sora model.
Pika 1.5 ups the photorealism and gives more camera control to users, with some pretty impressive results. But the Pikaffects are definitely the showstopper tools, with bizarre changes to physics that seem to blend into the reality of the video even if they would be impossible to film in real life. A new button in the Pika interface opens up the list of options for what to do with objects in the video. So, you might want to see a dog inflate like a balloon and float away, see a castle melt like butter, watch a sandwich get crushed, a car explode, or a kitten get squished. You can do all of the above using buttons with the respective verbs on them. It doesn’t happen out of nowhere, either. The buttons cause hands to come in and squish the cat, or a hydraulic press to crush the sandwich.
The most bizarre button will take an object and “Cake-ify it,” meaning that the subject becomes a cake that looks like something else, a la the popular meme and TV show. As with the other Pikaffects, the cake-ify option leads to someone with a knife cutting into the object to reveal it is cake. All of the object identification is automatic, so you don’t need to spend a lot of time manually editing the effect into place, as seen in the video below.
Sry, we forgot our password.PIKA 1.5 IS HERE.With more realistic movement, big screen shots, and mind-blowing Pikaffects that break the laws of physics, there’s more to love about Pika than ever before.Try it. pic.twitter.com/lOEVZIRygxOctober 1, 2024
Pika Power
Pikaffects aren’t the only upgrade made possible on Pika 1.5. The five-second video clips are much better at realistic motion on foot and in vehicles. The motion update extends to the camera too, with new controls letting you simulate The Matrix films’ Bullet Time effect, along with getting the camera to Crane Down, Dolly Left, and Pan Swipe. These updates aim to give creators more control over their videos, helping them achieve a professional, cinematic look without the need for deep technical knowledge.
Pika’s efforts are impressive, but the company faces a mushrooming number of rivals, with existing competitors eager to offer their own take on AI video-making. Still, Pikaffects are an unexpected addition to the variety available and may help Pika Labs carve out a distinct niche.
If you want to try out Pika 1.5, it’s available to both free and paid Pika users, with limits on the free tier. You can also switch back to Pika 1.0 if you want. The older version has its own special features not yet available in the new model, such as the AI Sound Effects and Lip Sync features. If you subscribe you’ll get more access to all of the models and their features, but while the subscription prices are the same, the credit cost for a clip has risen to 15 credits. You can buy more or earn credit prizes through Pika’s community challenges.
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