Earlier this year, Google announced a new AI-powered video creation app, ‘Google Vids’ within the Google Workspace suite, meant to assist you in quickly creating internal video content and the result is almost like a PowerPoint presentation on steroids.
At the time, Google said it would begin testing the feature in June. However, the company is currently testing the application with a select group of trusted testers in Google Workspace Labs, despite a few keen-eyed Workspace Labs users who have spotted that the app is now live and fully functional.
How it works
While you can start a video project from scratch, Google Vids has a Gemini AI integration that does the hard work for you. The list of things the AI can do on your behalf is extensive — it can create slides, write a script, find relevant stock footage from Shutterstock, and generally storyboard the entire video.
You can edit the video by adding or removing elements like slides, text fields, images, and recordings before exporting it as an MP4 file. Compared to Google Docs where the AI-powered Help me Write feature is tucked away to the side, Vids puts a Gemini prompt front and center.
Opening a new project presents you with a text field where you can describe the video’s themes or goals in a few sentences. You can also tell the AI to use documents from your Google Drive. Alternatively, you can skip the AI integration and start with one of the pre-existing templates.
Observations from some trusted testers
Users have commented that the AI’s attempts are quite basic at the moment, so it’s not a completely automated experience. However, the app should improve in the coming weeks before Google Vids rolls out to paying Google Workspace users.
A section of users alleviated that they didn’t spot the AI-powered voiceover feature Google demonstrated on stage back in April. Google in response advised users to still sign up for access to Workspace Labs and try out Vids for free.
The whole experience is reminiscent of iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, give or take some features. In other words, Google Vids will work well enough for short and throwaway videos that one would likely only use once at school or work. And thanks to the Gemini integration, creating these videos won’t take as long.