Text-to-video

Text-to-video tools generate a video clip from a written description, and many can also animate a still image.

In practice: You describe the scene, camera movement and style, and the tool produces a short clip, usually a few seconds long. Longer videos are made by generating and joining several clips. Some tools add voice, music and subtitles on top.

Why it matters when picking a tool

Clip length, consistency of people and objects between shots, and cost per second are the main differences. Generation is usually priced in credits and gets expensive quickly. For explainer or marketing videos, avatar and template-based tools are often more predictable than open generation.