Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More
Pika, also known as Pika Labs, was one of the first startups to emerge with its own AI video generation model, allowing users to simply type in text and get video clips in return, raising $35 million in a Series A in November 2023.
But it’s been nearly a year since Pika launched its 1.0 text-to-video AI platform and since that time, many competitors have emerged and/or updated their models to outclass Pika in terms of realism and the effects they’re capable of, chief among them, Runway which is on its Gen-3 Alpha Turbo model and Luma AI which in August debuted its Dream Machine 1.5 AI video model.
But no longer: acknowledging its relatively lengthy (at least for the AI industry) period of quiet, Pika today announced it is launching Pika 1.5, an updated version of its model that offers eye-popping, physics defying special effects or “Pikaffects” that can transform imagery subjects into bizarrely malleable versions of themselves.
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/lOEVZIRygx— Pika (@pika_labs) October 1, 2024
These animated special effects are available from a new button labeled Pikaeffects, and include the following pre-sets: Explode it, melt it, crush it, inflate it and “cake-ify it” — the latter of which essentially turns your image subject into the meme videos of highly realistic prop cakes.
Pika 1.5 will automatically seek to identify the subjects or objects in the video and apply the corresponding effect, even if it’s not possible for that subject or object to transform in that way in reality.
Some of the effects — namely crush it, squish it, and cake-ify — actually insert new props such as a hydraulic press, human hands and a knife into the frame, yet allow them to interact with the objects in the still image and thus, resulting video.
Been waiting for this moment for so long, I have a whole folder of great clips I generated during our 1.5 testing and demo production, can’t wait to share with you all some great prompts and visuals for Pika 1.5. @pika_labs 1. I …