To be sincere, my relationship with AI video mills has been a little bit of a love-hate state of affairs. I like the magic of typing a immediate and seeing a world come to life. However I hate the glitches—the morphing faces, the bizarre artifacts, and the frustration of making an attempt to crop a widescreen video for TikTok solely to lose crucial a part of the shot.
If you’re a creator like me, you understand precisely what I’m speaking about.
However at present, Google may need simply solved my largest complications. They simply dropped Veo 3.1, and let me let you know, this isn’t only a minor patch. It’s a whole overhaul centered on two issues we desperately wanted: Vertical Video and Consistency.
I’ve been digging into the discharge notes and the demos, and right here is why I feel this replace is a pivotal second for AI filmmaking.
Lastly! Native Vertical Video (9:16)
For the final 12 months, each time I generated an AI video, it was virtually at all times in a cinematic 16:9 facet ratio. That appears nice on a monitor, however it’s horrible for the cellphone display screen. I’d spend hours making an attempt to reframe pictures for Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, typically ruining the composition.
Veo 3.1 modifications the sport by supporting native vertical technology.
This implies the AI understands the vertical body from the beginning. It composes the shot for a smartphone display screen, making certain your topic is centered and the motion occurs the place individuals can truly see it.
No extra cropping: You get full decision in 9:16.Direct Integration: Google is placing this straight into YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app.Gemini Entry: You’ll be able to play with this straight contained in the Gemini app.
From my perspective, that is Google flexing its ecosystem muscle. By placing this device proper the place creators stay (YouTube), they’re decreasing the barrier to entry massively.
The Holy Grail: Character & Object Consistency
That is the half that acquired me essentially the most excited. The most important drawback with AI video has at all times been hallucination. You generate a personality in a single shot, and within the subsequent shot, they appear to be a totally totally different individual. Their garments change, their face warps—it breaks the immersion.
Google claims Veo 3.1 has cracked the code on Reference Picture Consistency.
Right here is the way it works: You add a reference picture of a personality or an object, and the mannequin understands that this particular factor wants to remain the identical throughout totally different generated clips.
What does this imply for us?
True Storytelling: We will lastly make coherent brief movies the place the protagonist seems to be the identical in Scene A and Scene B.Asset Reusability: You need to use the identical background texture or prop throughout a number of movies.Pure Motion: The replace reportedly improves facial expressions and physique language, making characters really feel much less like robots and extra like actors.
I haven’t examined the bounds of this but, but when it really works in addition to the demos present, we’re shifting from “cool tech demos” to “precise film manufacturing.”
4K Decision: Going Professional
Let’s discuss high quality. Till just lately, most AI video was a blurry mess, barely satisfactory at 720p.
Veo 3.1 introduces 1080p and 4K upscaling assist.
That is essential. If you’re knowledgeable editor or engaged on a high-end undertaking, you possibly can’t use low-res footage. By providing 4K, Google is signaling that Veo isn’t only a toy for memes; it’s a device for manufacturing homes.
Nevertheless, there’s a catch. It appears the high-end 4K options are primarily being rolled out by way of Vertex AI and the Gemini API. This targets builders and enterprise customers first, however it’ll inevitably trickle right down to the remainder of us.
Why This Issues (My Take)
I’ve been watching the AI video wars intently—Sora, Runway, Kling, and now Veo.
What makes Veo 3.1 attention-grabbing to me isn’t simply the uncooked energy; it’s the workflow. Google understands {that a} cool video is ineffective for those who can’t management the story. By specializing in consistency and vertical codecs, they’re fixing the precise ache factors of creators, not simply displaying off analysis.
We’re getting into an period the place your “digicam” is only a textual content field, and your “actors” are generated from a single picture. It’s terrifying, thrilling, and completely fascinating unexpectedly.
Remaining Ideas
The hole between “imagining” a scene and “seeing” it on a display screen is closing quicker than I ever predicted. Veo 3.1 proves that 2026 goes to be the 12 months of AI Storytelling, not simply AI clips.
I’m planning to check this out on my subsequent YouTube Brief to see if the vertical technology holds as much as the hype.
I wish to ask you: As these instruments get higher at mimicking actuality and maintaining characters constant, do you suppose we are going to see the primary absolutely AI-generated blockbuster film this 12 months, or are we nonetheless years away from that?
Let me know your predictions within the feedback!
