AI video production means using generative models to create some or all of the moving images in a commercial, then finishing them with conventional editing, sound and colour. It can suit a brand that needs concept-led, stylised or highly varied footage without a full shoot. It does not remove the need for a clear brief, human creative judgement or careful checks on rights and accuracy.
This guide explains the workflow, where AI video tends to fit, what to settle on rights and disclosure, and how to brief a studio well.
What AI video production actually is
The term covers a spectrum. At one end, a team generates every shot from text prompts or reference images. At the other, a conventional shoot uses AI for one task, such as extending a background, creating a pickup shot or producing animatics. Most commercial work sits in the middle, mixing generated shots, real footage, graphics and audio.
The tools change quickly. As one example, Google’s developer documentation at the time of writing (November 2026) describes a video model that produces clips of up to 15 seconds with native audio and accepts text, image and video inputs (Google AI Studio documentation). Clip length is a useful reminder: a finished commercial is assembled from many short generations, not produced in one pass.
A typical workflow, step by step
Whatever tools are used, a sound process looks much like any commercial production, with extra checkpoints where the model can drift.
- Brief. The objective, audience, key message, mandatory claims, placements and running lengths. Include what must not appear.
- Script and storyboard. Write the sequence shot by shot before generating anything. Boards or a rough animatic expose pacing problems cheaply. See how to storyboard a commercial for the method.
- Reference gathering. Collect real product photos, brand colours, logo files, lighting and style references. Models respond better to specific references than to adjectives.
- Generation. Short clips are generated in batches, with many attempts per shot. Selection is a real creative job.
- Edit. Choose takes, build rhythm and cut to length. Fix continuity problems by choosing different takes or cutting around them.
- Sound. Voiceover, music, effects and mix. Even when a model produces audio, a dedicated sound pass usually raises the finish.
- Grade and finishing. Match colour across clips that came from different generations, add real logos, type and packshots as graphics rather than generated pixels, and export for each placement.
- Review and sign-off. Check against the brief, against product facts and against your legal and platform requirements before anything goes live.
Where it suits, and where it does not
AI video tends to fit when the idea is stylised or conceptual, when the world depicted would be costly or impossible to film, when you need many variants of one idea, or when you want to test creative directions before committing to a full production.
It is a weaker fit when exact product appearance is critical, when the commercial depends on a real person’s authentic performance or testimonial, or when you need consistent characters over long, complex sequences. The limitations of AI video in commercial production are worth reading before you commit, and the comparison with traditional filming sets out when to film, generate or combine both.
Rights and intellectual property basics
This is general information, not legal advice. Get professional advice for anything with real exposure.
Ownership of purely generated footage is an open question. In the United States, the Copyright Office’s position is that prompts alone do not make someone an author (US Copyright Office). Australia has not settled the point: greater certainty on AI-generated material is listed among the government’s copyright policy priorities (IP Australia). The practical response is contractual: agree in writing what you own, what you license and what the studio warrants. The limitations article covers the training-data debate and its implications in more depth.
Contracts should cover: which party owns or licenses the final film and the human-made elements, which tools and licences were used, what warranties the studio gives on clearance, and who owns the project files and prompts. For music, voices and any likeness of a real person, get explicit permission and written licences. For more on licences, see international content licensing.
Accuracy and disclosure
Under the Australian Consumer Law, images and descriptions of what a business offers must be accurate and based on reasonable grounds, and it makes no difference whether the business intended to mislead (ACCC). An AI-generated product that looks better than the real thing is a risk, however it was made.
Each platform also sets its own disclosure rules for realistic synthetic media, and they are updated often. YouTube’s policy, for example, distinguishes realistic altered content, which needs disclosure, from clearly fantastical or animated visuals, which do not (YouTube Help). Build a disclosure decision into the review stage of every campaign rather than leaving it to whoever uploads the file.
How to brief a studio
A good brief makes AI production faster and cheaper to review. Include:
- The business objective and how success will be measured.
- Audience, placements and required lengths and aspect ratios.
- Mandatory claims, legal lines and anything the film must not show.
- Real assets: product photography, logos, fonts, colours, existing film.
- Tone references, with what you like about each.
- Approval stages and who signs off at each.
- Your disclosure approach and rights requirements.
Ask the studio how it handles consistency, how many revision rounds are planned, how real products are kept accurate and what it delivers (final files, project files, licences).
Frequently asked questions
Do we need to show our own footage or photos?
It helps a great deal. Real packshots, logos, brand colours and any existing film give the studio something concrete to match, and they reduce rounds of revision. For product-led work, real references are close to essential. See AI product videos.
Is AI video only for large brands?
No, but the question is fit, not size. A smaller business with a clear concept and a defined placement can use the same workflow. For short placements, start with the 15-second ad guide to see how tight a good brief can be.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact is a Brisbane-based creative technology studio. Its Studio produces AI commercials and product films, brand films and trailers, short-form and social video, post-production, and voice and sound. If you are weighing AI video for a campaign, contact us to talk it through, or see the Studio page.
Sources
- Gemini API video generation documentation, Google AI Studio
- Copyright Office Issues Part 2 of Artificial Intelligence Report, US Copyright Office
- Key copyright policy priorities, IP Australia
- False or misleading claims, ACCC
- Disclosing use of altered or synthetic content, YouTube Help
