What is Pictory AI? The Ultimate Guide to Using this Best-in-class AI Video Creator

Have you ever found yourself with fantastic ideas and long-form content but lacking the skills, time or budget to create highly shareable and engaging videos to promote them?

I certainly have, and in my search for the perfect video creation software I found Pictory – an AI-powered video editing and creation tool that has been an absolute gamechanger!

In this ultimate guide, you’ll learn exactly what Pictory is, why their industry-leading AI and automation blow competitors out of the water and how anyone (even non-technical people like me with zero video skills!) can use it to transform blog posts and long-form content into traffic-driving videos in minutes.

We’ll cover topics like:

• What is Pictory?
• Pictory’s game-changing AI features for creating videos
• How to sign up for Pictory and start a risk-free trial
• Step-by-step guide to using Pictory to create 3 video projects in under 10 minutes each
• Example use-cases showing how to use Pictory’s AI to create videos from scripts, blog posts, long-form videos and more
• Pictory subscription pricing plans
• How Pictory compares to alternative video creators
• Frequently asked questions about Pictory

And plenty more!

So whether you’re a marketer, YouTuber, blogger or entrepreneur who wants to use the power of AI to make killer videos that drive traffic and sales, this guide has you covered.

Let’s dive in!

What is Pictory?

Pictory is an AI-powered SaaS platform for video creation and editing.

Put simply, it enables anyone to leverage artificial intelligence to:

• Create high-quality videos from text scripts, blog posts and more
• Edit lengthy videos by cutting out filler content
• Create short branded video snippets from long-form recordings like webinars and zoom calls
• Add captions and subtitles to video content

The software was created by Anthropic, one of the leading AI startups from Silicon Valley best known for creating Claude – one of the world’s most advanced conversational AI chatbots.

Pictory helps solve the traditional challenges of a manual video production processes – namely that it’s incredibly time consuming, technically challenging, and expensive.

Their AI video software handles these heavy-lifting tasks to make video creation fast, affordable and accessible to everyone.

And unlike hiring a production agency or using a freelancer, Pictory enables you to remain in full creative control – simply provide the raw inputs like a script or blog post and let the AI do the hard work!

The best part?

No technical skills, expensive equipment or video production experience is required. Pictory’s AI handles everything for you automatically.

Some of Pictory’s stand-out AI features include:

AI-powered video creation from text

Turn text from scripts, blog posts, long-form content and more into professional videos using AI automatically

AI voiceover technology

Use Pictory’s lifelike AI voices to auto-narrate your video or easily record your own voiceover

Cutting-edge video editing

Pictory’s natural language processing allows you to edit videos using text rather than complex timelines and software

Auto text summarization

Automatically create short summaries and trailers by extracting key snippets from long recordings

Auto captions & subtitles

Add captions and subtitles to videos automatically using AI – translated into 18 languages!

The Pictory slogan sums it up perfectly:

“No video skills. Just results.”

And as someone who is passionate about creating video content but lacks any technical ability, this is music to my ears!

I can simply provide Pictory with my script or blog post and allow the powerful AI software take care of the entire video creation process automatically to produce stunning videos I can be proud to publish.

And that leads nicely onto the next section…

Sign Up for A Pictory Free Trial

The best way to understand the capabilities of Pictory is to try it out for yourself.

The good news is signing up is quick and easy. Just head to Pictory.ai and enter your name and email address.

Unlike some other services, Pictory does not require a credit card to start your trial.

Once signed up you can immediately start using the platform to create 3 video projects, each up to 10 minutes long.

For someone like myself with lots of ideas but struggle to produce the videos, this free trial is invaluable.

It allows me to really put Pictory through its paces to see first-hand if it’s the right AI video software for my needs before committing to a paid plan.

I also love that Pictory clearly shows pricing upfront so you can evaluate if the tool makes financial sense for the volumes of video you to produce each month.

Many free trials actually make it quite difficult to work this out or force you to enter payment details before getting access which I hate.

So if you’re looking for an honest, no-strings attached way to test out Pictory’s AI-powered video creation capabilities, head here to sign up for a free trial now.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Using Pictory

As soon as you log in to Pictory, their clean, modern interface welcomes you.

I personally find it very intuitive with all the main features clearly laid out in a sidebar.

But for those unfamiliar with the platform, here is a handy walkthrough of getting started:

1. Select your input

The first step is providing the raw input for Pictory’s AI to process.

Their video creation process accepts:

• Text scripts – simply paste or upload your text transcript
• Blog posts – enter the URL to transform articles into video automatically
• Video uploads – upload recordings like webinars to edit into highlights or summarize

I often use Pictory to convert my blog articles into videos.

So I’ll select Blog Post, enter my article URL and click submit.

Seconds later Pictory scans the content and provides a text summary along with suggested images and video clips to visualize the key points. Very cool!

2. Review and refine the AI’s suggestions

Next, I can review the text summary and media suggestions Pictory’s AI selected and refine them if needed.

Their AI does an amazing job at grasping context and selecting relevant visuals.

But occasionally I may tweak the summary by adding or removing sentences or swap the images/footage for alternatives that better represent my brand.

Again, super quick thanks to Pictory’s clean text-first editing interface.

There’s no wrestling with complicated video timelines or layers like traditional software.

3. Customize branding

Now onto the fun stuff – making the video my own using custom branding assets!

I upload my logo and select my brand’s font styles, colors and add my preferred intro/outro slides.

For voiceover, I tried Pictory’s AI voices which sound incredibly realistic. But my audience seems to engage better with videos featuring my own voice.

So I use Pictory’s studio-quality voice recording feature to easily add my own narration.

Finally, I select Background music from Pictory’s huge library to complete the professional production.

4. Export your completed video masterpiece!

The last step is hitting the magic “Generate Video” button!

I watch a short preview to check everything looks good, then download my professional-quality video ready to publish.

And just like that I have transformed my blog article into a traffic-driving video asset using AI, without any of the traditional headache or costs!

While this example focused on blogging, I follow the same simple process to create videos from text including long-form transcripts, podcasts, webinars and more.

Thanks to Pictory’s AI doing the heavy lifting, my entire 4 step video creation process takes ~15 minutes from start to finish irrespective of whether my raw input is 500 words or a 2 hour recording!

Honestly, I have been blown away by how quick and easy it is. Just try it out for yourself during the free trial!

Use Case #1 – Convert Blog Posts to Videos Using AI

As referenced in the step-by-step guide, one of my favorite Pictory use-cases is transforming my blog articles into videos to publish across platforms like YouTube.

The problem I faced was despite creating very detailed and lengthy blog content packed with value, it rarely performed well in terms of traffic or leads.

Frankly, 4000+ word articles feel like homework for most readers nowadays. People’s time is limited and attention spans are short.

So while I didn’t want to simply regurgitate my posts as a script, I needed a way to adapt the content for video formats my audience clearly favors.

Unfortunately I had zero skills with any video editing software and hiring a freelancer to produce each video was not financially sustainable.

Enter Pictory AI! Their software allows me to take my blog articles and automatically:

• Summarize the key points from my full article into a short engaging video transcript
• Enhance the text by adding graphics, b-roll video footage and animations to highlight the key points using AI
• Brand the finished video with my logo, preferred fonts/colors, intro, background music and professional voiceover

This lets me take a comprehensive 3000+ word blog and transform it into a 5-7minute professional video perfect for platforms like YouTube.

And because Pictory is AI-powered I can create 5-10x videos in the time it would have taken to edit just one manually!

As a result traffic and engagement on my blog and related socials has skyrocketed. So I cannot recommend Pictory highly enough for fellow bloggers looking to adapt their content into video formats.

Use Case #2 – Create AI Voiceover Videos from Text Transcripts

Another brilliant use for Pictory I have found is creating videos with custom AI voiceovers using just text transcripts or scripts.

As most YouTubers know, writing a great script is just the first step to an engaging video. You still need to spend hours recording and editing voiceovers which is where many abandon the process.

Particularly if like me you lack access to a fancy home studio and audio/visual editing skills!

Pictory solves this headache by offering a huge range of AI voices and accents I simply select to auto-generate a voiceover from my transcript with perfect clarity.

It sounds incredibly natural rather than the robotic text-to-speech technologies you may be familiar with.

I can then use Pictory’s built-in tools customize the look and feel with graphics, animations, music etc to create a high quality, brand-consistent video.

And because everything including the recording studio and video editing happens automatically using AI, I can produce an unlimited amount of video content in record time without any technical skills!

This means I finally have a scalable and time-efficient way to produce regular videos for my audience rather than the usual once a month if I was lucky.

So whether you want to create simple talking head videos, full animated productions, training resources or more – Pictory’s AI voice tech is ideal.

Give it a try using their free trial today!

Use Case #3 – Create Short Trailer Videos Using AI Summarization

We all know trailers and “sneak peek” highlight videos are a brilliant way to entice people to engage with our long-form content.

When promoting a webinar, YouTube livestream or podcast episode I always share a short preview video to generate buzz and registrations.

But reviewing hours of raw recordings to select key highlights and producing a slickly edited video trailer is a hugely time intensive task.

Once again Pictory solves this thanks to its advanced artificial intelligence.

Their AI summarization functionality automatically:

• Analyzes transcripts of my webinars etc to detect sections of highest significance based on wording signals and audio cues using machine learning
• Snippets out those short key highlights and stitches them into a fluid trailer video
• Adds my branded intro, outro, watermark, graphics and more for a professional look to entice viewers

And best of all I can produce these high-quality trailers in just minutes without any manual editing using Pictory’s AI!

As a result I have seen upticks in livestream registration rates, higher post-event view counts on my recordings and plenty more organic word-of-mouth due to sharing the trailers on social media.

So if you currently spend hours painstakingly reviewing and cutting videos to share highlights I cannot recommend Pictory’s artificial intelligence enough!

Who is Pictory Best Suited to?

Hopefully, the use cases and examples above have clearly illustrated exactly how Pictory makes video creation simple, automated and accessible for anyone.

However to help decide if the software is right for your specific needs, here are the main personas who can benefit tremendously from incorporating Pictory into their workflows:

YouTubers & Influencers

Grow your authority and following faster by using Pictory AI to transform your scripts into videos quickly, affordably and at scale.

Bloggers

Repurpose blog articles into traffic-driving videos optimized for platforms like YouTube without any technical skills.

Entrepreneurs & Marketers

Produce professional explainer and marketing videos in minutes not months by leveraging artificial intelligence.

Educators & Coaches

Record your workshops or courses easily then use Pictory to edit into bite-sized lessons, share teaser trailers and more.

Agencies & Consultants

Amaze clients by delivering branded videos at speed and scale without expanding your team.

Podcasters

Save hours trying to repurpose long form audio recordings into shareable video highlights and trailers using AI

As you can see Pictory offers immense value whether creating videos from scratch or to repurpose existing materials.

I wholeheartedly believe video creation and editing is being revolutionized by artificial intelligence much like translation, search and other fields before it.

Pictory sits firmly at the forefront of this revolution so I highly recommend every content creator check them out!

Pictory Pricing Plans Breakdown

As a quick reminder, you can try Pictory completely free for 14 days which includes creating up to 3 video projects without even needing to enter payment details.

But should to decide to continue beyond the trial, Pictory offers a few subscription packages suitable for all needs and budgets.

Let’s break those pricing plans down:

Free Plan

Ideal for new users to trial Pictory, the free plan allows you to make 3 videos up to 10 minutes each in length. All of Pictory’s AI features are included.

Starter Plan

• $23 per month billed monthly
• $19 per month when billed annually
• 1 user
• 30 videos per month
• 36 AI voices
• 2 million stock clips and images
• 5,000 music tracks

Pro Plan

• $47 per month billed monthly
• $39 per month billed annually
• 1 user
• 60 videos per month
• 51 Hyper-realistic AI voices from ElevenLabs
• 12 million premium stock clips
• 10,000 music tracks

Teams Plan

• $119 per month billed monthly
• $99 per month billed annually
• 3 users
• 90 videos per month
• 51 Hyper-realistic AI voices from ElevenLabs
• 12 million premium stock clips
• 15,000 music tracks
• Collaboration tools
• API access

One thing that may seem unclear at first is how Pictory calculates the number of videos allowed per month.

This actually refers to the total length of videos you can produce each month.

So for example under the Pro plan allowing 60 videos, you could generate:

• 60 videos that are 1-minute long each = 60 minutes total
• 30 videos that are 2-minutes long each = 60 minutes total

Hopefully that makes sense! Just remember it’s the combined duration that matters, not the absolute number of videos.

If like me you end up loving Pictory and need to produce more than your plan’s allowance, additional videos can easily be purchased in-app as you scale up.

But even for prolific content producers like myself, I have found the 60 minutes per month included on the Pro plan sufficient for my needs.

Especially when you consider that’s over 35 videos when following best practices of

Compare Pictory Against Alternatives

When evaluating if Pictory met my needs, I thoroughly tested some of the popular alternative AI and non-AI based video creation platforms available.

Below I have summarised some of Pictory’s main competitors and how they stack up.

Traditional Video Editing Software

Tools like Adobe Premiere Pro allow full creative flexibility when editing video but come with an incredibly steep learning curve.

The technical skills and time investment required makes them unrealistic for non-video professionals attempting to repurpose content.

Pictory’s AI handles the heavy lifting so anyone can make great videos in minutes. Much more accessible and affordable!

Basic Video Makers (Biteable, Animoto etc)

Cheap video apps like Biteable are OK for quick social videos but lack critical features like video summarization, voiceovers and content creation.

They also can’t brand videos professionally or repurpose long-form content.

Pictory automates the end-to-end video production pipeline eliminating the traditional manual constraints.

Kapwing

Kapwing as an online editor offers lots of filters and effects for remixing video clips but no ability to actually create videos from scratch like Pictory.

It also lacks critical AI features like automatated voiceovers, translations and summarization.

Overall better for quick social snippets rather than professional video production needed for most businesses and creators.

Clipchamp

Acquired by Microsoft, Clipchamp offers basic video creation and editing functionality but with limited stock media options and no video-specific AI abilities.

It still requires extensive manual work compared to Pictory’s automation. Better suited to minor touch ups vs producing videos start-to-finish.

The reality I discovered is no other video software compares to the AI-automation Pictory offers for creating professional video content specifically from long-form text sources.

It remains in a class of its own for anyone needing to transform scripts, blog posts, recordings and more into shareable videos quickly, affordably and without technical skill or effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Lastly I wanted to quickly answer some of the most common questions I had and found others do as well when evaluating Pictory:

Does Pictory offer a free version?

Yes! Pictory allows all new users to create up to 3 videos without entering payment details to test the platform.

What content sources can I turn into videos?

Pictory works with transcripts, blog posts, pre-recorded audio/video and more. Currently it does not accept PDF, Word or Google Drive documents. Focus is web-based and multimedia content.

What AI voices and languages are available?

Pictory offers 36 standard AI voices but Pro users also get access to 51 incredibly realistic ElevenLab voices.

Pictory can auto-translate and overlay text captions into 18 different languages though narration is currently just English.

But they are expanding languages fast due to the AI translation capabilities so more coming soon.

Can Pictory work with my existing video files?

Absolutely! You can upload your pre-recorded talking head videos, presentation slides and more to Pictory to easily add graphics, captions, voiceovers etc.

It won’t rewrite or recreate footage but allows easy editing and enhancements using AI.

Is the content I create with Pictory fully licensed?

Yes, Pictory has licensed their full catalogue of 12+ million video clips, images and 15,000 music tracks from leading providers like Getty and Storyblocks for commercial use.

So you have 100% rights to use the content Pictory’s AI selects when creating your videos. No more copyright claims!

And there we have it – everything you could need to know about Pictory and how to unlock the potential of AI for your video creation efforts.

I hope you found this ultimate guide useful!

Now over to you. Go leverage Pictory’s free trial to see first-hand how much their industry-leading artificial intelligence could transform your content production.

You won’t be disappointed!

Use the special Pictory coupon code to save extra

To claim a special 20% lifetime discount

Use code : activatecode

at checkout here: Pictory Deal

This Pictory coupon code will automatically apply 20% off either monthly or annual pricing if you choose to upgrade after the free trial.

Just enter your email to kickstart your risk-free 14-day trial and create up to 3 free video projects up to 10 minutes each.

Experience first-hand how Pictory’s industry-leading AI can help you produce videos faster, easier and more affordable than ever before! I hope you liked the pictory promo code that I shared here to get started with your AI video creation

So why wait? Get started with Pictory here and unlock the true potential of artificial intelligence to take your video results to new heights!