Adobe Unveils Preview of Firefly Video AI Model for High-Quality Generations

Adobe is stepping up its game with a new addition to its creative toolkit: the Adobe Firefly Video Model. This is Adobe’s bold entry into the fiercely competitive AI video generation arena. The model is built on the robust foundation of its existing Firefly generative AI still image models. Adobe assures that the model is ethically trained and commercially safe, as it only uses data it owns or has licensed, sourced from contributors to its Adobe Stock service.

However, as reported by VentureBeat last year, some Adobe Stock creators have raised concerns. They argue that while they agreed to terms of service that granted Adobe extensive usage rights to their works, they never anticipated that their works would be used to generate new creations in their styles, potentially competing with their original works in the era of generative AI.

Adobe’s Firefly Video Model is set to launch in beta later this year. The company is offering early access through a waitlist — if you’re interested, you can apply here.

It boasts a range of features including text-to-video, image-to-video, and video editing capabilities, all within the same model. However, generations are capped at up to 5 seconds, as reported by The Verge.

Showcasing High-Quality Examples

Early examples of clips generated by Firefly Video, as posted on Adobe’s blog, demonstrate remarkable quality and adherence to text prompts, all generated in less than 2 minutes.

Take this prompt for instance: “Cinematic closeup and detailed portrait of a reindeer in a snowy forest at sunset. The lighting is cinematic and gorgeous and soft and sun-kissed, with golden backlight and dreamy bokeh and lens flares. The color grade is cinematic and magical.”

Which resulted in this video:

Or this prompt: “Slow-motion fiery volcanic landscape, with lava spewing out of craters. the camera flies through the lava and lava splatters onto the lens. The lighting is cinematic and moody. The color grade is cinematic, dramatic, and high-contrast.”

Which led to:

Implications for Enterprise Decision-Makers

For enterprise decision-makers seeking to leverage AI for creating internal videos for employee training or external videos for marketing campaigns, Adobe’s new commercially safe Firefly Video presents a compelling option.

Adobe provides indemnification for users, promising to defend them against infringement lawsuits and legal actions when using its AI models. However, it’s not yet clear whether Firefly Video will be included in this protection.

Decision-makers will also need to consider the trade-off between waiting for access to Adobe Firefly Video and opting for one of the many other high-quality AI video generators currently available, such as Runway Gen-3 Alpha Turbo or Luma AI’s Dream Machine.

Firefly’s Next Leap Forward

Since the launch of Adobe Firefly in March 2023, Adobe has been integrating new AI features into its widely used Creative Cloud software suite, using the model as a foundation.

Firefly tools are already integrated into popular applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom, providing users with features like Generative Fill, Generative Remove, and Text-to-Template.

According to Adobe, Firefly has been used to generate over 12 billion images and vectors since its launch, making it one of the company’s fastest adopted innovations.

Ashley Still, an Adobe executive leading the project and author of Adobe’s announcement blog post, stated that the company “worked closely with the video editing community to advance the Firefly Video Model.”

“Guided by their feedback and built with creators’ rights in mind, we’re developing new workflows leveraging the model to help editors ideate and explore their creative vision, fill gaps in their timeline and add new elements to existing footage.“

Beyond AI Video Generation

Firefly Video is more than just a tool for generating new videos from text prompts. It also offers AI-powered editing features, including the removal of unwanted objects and the perfection of transitions.

The rise of short-form video content, coupled with increasingly tight production deadlines, has pushed editors and filmmakers to multitask across various disciplines.

Adobe’s Firefly Video Model addresses this by offering tools that enable editors to manage color correction, animation, visual effects, and more, in addition to cutting footage.

Editors can now leverage AI to expedite these processes while maintaining high-quality output, freeing them to focus on creativity.

The model also supports a wide range of creative effects, including generating b-roll, macro shots, and atmospheric elements like fire, smoke, or water that users can layer over prerecorded or animated footage.

One standout feature coming to Premiere Pro later this year is Generative Extend. This function will allow editors to extend video clips, fill gaps in footage, or smooth transitions—helping to match cuts to the pacing of audio and other visual elements.

Adobe demonstrated this capability by showcasing how Generative Extend could hold on a shot longer to perfectly align with a musical crescendo:

Looking Forward: Firefly Video and Adobe’s Future Plans

Adobe views the Firefly Video Model as a key component of its broader strategy to integrate AI into creative workflows. The model is designed to handle a variety of use cases, from generating 2D and 3D animations to creating atmospheric elements like smoke and fire.

Interestingly, Still’s blog post did not mention Adobe’s previously stated plans to add rival AI video models from other companies — such as OpenAI’s Sora and Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha — to its Premiere Pro video editor software. This omission raises questions about whether Adobe is reconsidering its strategy in light of the growing competition in the field.

Adobe believes that these tools will give creators more time to explore new ideas, enhance their projects, and ultimately deliver better results for their clients.

By incorporating generative AI into its suite of video editing tools, Adobe is positioning Firefly Video as an indispensable tool for modern editors—empowering creators to elevate their projects with the help of cutting-edge technology.