Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping creators build their dream toolkit for video ideation, storyboarding and production.
Instead of getting bogged down by repetitive tasks, creators can leverage AI to automate workflows, spark fresh ideas and convey visual concepts to stakeholders.
The result? Faster project turnarounds without sacrificing quality or creativity.
Many AI tools are already being used to improve storyboarding, but here we’re taking OpenAI’s Sora, Lightricks’ LTX Studio, and Krock.io’s Storyboard AI and putting them through their paces so that hopefully, by the end of this roundup, you’ll have a better idea of your options.
Sora
Sora is OpenAI’s text-to-video tool, designed to create imaginative video scenes from text instructions. It allows users to generate videos, and as of its public release in December 2024, the maximum duration is 20 seconds.
Users can select resolutions up to 1080p from various aspect ratios, including widescreen, vertical, and square.
Initially, Sora was available only to OpenAI’s “Red Teamers” (a group of trusted experts) and a small selection of visual artists, designers, and filmmakers for testing and feedback.
However, it has since been made available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, with some limitations based on regional regulations. For example, it’s currently not accessible in the EU, Switzerland, or the UK due to compliance issues.
Most of the buzz surrounding Sora stems from the amazing photorealistic video rendering capabilities of its underlying model, but the Sora web app also offers a basic storyboarding tool.
Key Features
- Text-to-video visualization: Sora transforms text prompts into engaging video scenes, making storyboarding faster and more dynamic.
- Multimodal inputs: Combine text, images, and existing video snippets to create or refine visual content. This is great for experimentation and blending, adding depth and creativity to storyboards.
- Consistency in characters and styles: Sora uses advanced algorithms to maintain a cohesive narrative flow and aesthetic. Minimizing visual artifacts and ensuring smooth transitions between frames—even in complex scenes—creates polished results. The tool handles intricate details, such as multiple characters, precise movements, and realistic depictions of subjects and backgrounds. In other words, beyond simply following prompts, Sora has a strong understanding of real-world context and object relationships, bringing scenes to life with accuracy and depth. However, while it excels in generating individual scenes, it doesn’t support project-wide continuity or granular visual refinements.
- Scene composition and framing: Sora optimizes the arrangement and framing of subjects within individual storyboard frames or video scenes.
- Variable durations and resolutions: Generate short clips or single-frame visuals in customizable formats, ideal for detailed and professional storyboards.
Pros
- Sora makes it easy to create storyboards by managing complex, interwoven plots, multiple characters, and dynamic interactions. This enables creators to design sophisticated short videos with layered narratives.
- With innovative text-to-video conversion, Sora delivers top-quality visuals. For example, check out this clip of Wooly Mammoths approaching in a snowy scene.
Cons
- Storyboarding isn’t Sora’s primary use case. While it can assist with storyboarding, Sora is better suited for dynamic scene creation or experimentation rather than managing detailed, project-wide storyboards.
- Sora lacks granular control and advanced editing features, which can sometimes compromise image quality. For example, users can’t adjust precise lighting, textures, or character positioning. Additionally, correcting specific frames or sections to fix artifacts or inconsistencies is challenging.
- Sora doesn’t support collaborative workflows or ensure seamless continuity across a project, which may be a drawback for larger teams or detailed projects.
- Sora acknowledges that the current model struggles with “complex physics,” meaning the generated videos might display unnatural or unrealistic motion or interactions, making scenes look less polished.
- Crafting effective prompts requires practice and experimentation.
LTX Studio
LTX Studio is a powerful all-in-one AI platform designed by Lightricks to simplify every step of the video creation process, covering concept development, editing, and execution. It offers tools tailored for all experience levels, including individual creators, businesses, and seasoned professionals, offering unmatched flexibility and accessibility.
What sets LTX Studio apart is its ability to automate complex tasks like script-to-storyboard conversion and character design while offering precise creative controls for style, settings, and mood. This blend of automation and customization saves valuable time and ensures polished, professional-grade results for compelling storytelling.
LTX Studio uses best-in-class AI models for generating visuals, integrating with Flux for creating reference stills and Lightricks’ own open-source LTXV model for creating video clips.
Key Features
- Script-to-storyboard transformation: LTX Studio allows users to take a simple idea or a complete script and transform it into a detailed storyboard, facilitating a seamless transition from concept to visual narrative.
- Customizable storyboards: Users can build their project piece by piece, controlling style, setting, and mood to align with their creative vision.
- Character casting and consistency: Users can shape characters to match their vision and maintain consistency in every frame, scene and shot, ensuring uniformity throughout the project.
- Frame refinement tools: LTX Studio offers total control over each frame, including features like natural movement creation, camera motion keyframes, canvas drawing for frame adjustments, and object replacement capabilities.
- Pitch deck generator: The platform can automatically generate a polished deck designed to sell your idea, including a compelling overview, character profiles, and mood boards, eliminating the need for design skills or templates.
Pros
- Tailored for professional teams, LTX Studio offers a robust suite of features, including an AI storyboard generator and script-to-video capabilities.
- Users can easily adjust style, setting, and mood to match their creative vision on a project-wide basis.
- LTX Studio enables precise camera trajectory adjustments and natural motion creation, allowing smooth scene transitions that enhance storytelling.
- Users can manually adjust frames by sketching elements for the AI to render, seamlessly inserting or erasing elements to refine scenes.
- Users can use settings and motion capture to create characters with realistic facial expressions, for example, smiles, frowns, and other nuanced expressions, to ensure your visuals look natural.
- Collaborate with team members through live editing. Upcoming features include instant in-app comments and revision suggestions.
- With plans starting at just $8/month and a free plan available, LTX Studio offers cost-effective access to its innovative tools.
Cons
- The learning curve may be a bit of a process for complete newbies.
- While it’s excellent for creating pitches that can be developed into projects, LTX Studio isn’t yet advanced enough to produce fully polished videos ready for public release.
Krock Storyboard AI
Krock is an all-in-one, automated platform designed to streamline creative workflows. One of its standout features is an AI-powered storyboard generator that allows users to easily create detailed storyboards using text or CSV files.
Tailored for individuals, creative agencies, and marketing teams, Krock supports every stage of the process, helping users develop initial concepts and refine final deliverables while efficiently managing storyboard projects. While it doesn’t generate actual video footage as part of these storyboards, the collaboration features and other modules on offer in the wider Krock suite make it easy for teams to plan for shoots.
Key Features
- User-friendly interface: Krock’s intuitive design lets users easily customize frames with fields like action, camera, lighting, and notes, ensuring storyboards fit their project’s specific needs.
- AI-powered storyboard generation: Users can import text descriptions from CSV files and choose from various visual styles, making it easy to align the storyboard’s aesthetic with the project’s vision.
- Collaboration tools: Team members can provide visual feedback directly on video files, images, multi-page PDFs, and more, ensuring everyone stays aligned.
- Customizable presets: Quickly create new projects with presets designed to match your production processes, saving time and streamlining workflows.
- Display options: View storyboards in grid or table layouts, zoom in for detailed shots, or zoom out to see the entire sequence, depending on your preference.
- Version control: Compare multiple storyboard versions using overlay and auto-compare modes to detect visual differences, maintain consistency, and refine your work.
- Export and sharing features: Export storyboards as PDF or CSV files for easy sharing and collaboration.
Pros
- Krock’s interface is easy to navigate, ensuring a smooth storyboarding experience.
- Krock’s frame-specific comments and real-time updates make teamwork seamless.
- The flexible viewing options make it easy to focus on detailed shots or view the entire storyboard sequence.
- Krock integrates seamlessly with its full toolbox, combining storyboarding with features like video and online proofing. This integration ensures complete control over the creative process while keeping your projects organized.
- Krock offers affordable options with four subscription plans, starting at just $24/month when paid annually, making it accessible for teams of all sizes and budgets.
Cons
- The free trial is only seven days, which may feel limiting for users exploring the platform.
- Some users mention a need for more integrations to enhance workflows.
- The AI is great at turning notes into stills that look like traditional hand-drawn storyboard frames, but many creative teams interested in leveraging AI are keen to generate actual AI video footage.
- Advanced features might take some time for teams to adjust to as they get familiar with Krock’s tools and interface.
Elevate Your Storyboarding with the Right AI Tool
The three platforms discussed each bring their unique strengths to the table, empowering video makers to streamline their storyboarding workflows while focusing on the artistic aspects of their work.
Krock stands out with its intuitive, user-friendly interface, making it easy for teams and individuals to navigate and customize storyboards.
In contrast, Sora excels in text-to-video visualization, offering a fast and straightforward way to transform ideas into dynamic visuals.
However, LTX Studio takes the lead for creators who prioritize precision and professional-quality results. Its advanced AI algorithms and versatile feature set make it the top choice for crafting polished, production-ready storyboards.
That’s all from us—over to you! Which storyboarding tool caught your eye?
