Emerging in 2017, Synthesia was the brainchild of AI researchers and entrepreneurs originating from acclaimed institutions, namely UCL, Stanford, TUM, and Cambridge.
The founding team embarked on a mission to build AI tools for video content creation that aspires to eradicate the need for traditional equipment like cameras, microphones, or studios.
Synthesia’s innovative use of AI technology seeks to change the landscape of content creation and encourage an upsurge in creative endeavours.
Synthesia’s AI Video Creation Process
Synthesia’s distinctive approach to video content creation pivots on artificial intelligence. The platform allows users to leverage AI text-to-speech technology and transform written text into video content within a 15-minute timeframe.
Features extend to turning text into speech in over 120 languages, with more than 140 AI Avatars adding visual appeal.
Synthesia’s design caters to beginners, eliminating any prerequisites for technical equipment or advanced video editing skills.
AI Avatars
Synthesia provides users with the extraordinary opportunity to breathe life into their content through an extensive library of over 140 AI text-to-voice avatars.
These digital personifications add a rich layer of visual interest to the videos, creating a more engaging viewing experience.
- The Avatars: Built from video footage of real actors who have given their consent, these avatars lend a sense of realism and relatability to the content. The constant updates ensure the avatars stay fresh and adapt to evolving viewer preferences.
- Customisation: They go a step further by offering a unique feature – the creation of custom AI avatars. This provides a personalised touch, where businesses can mirror their team’s diversity or even create a digital twin of a team member, with their explicit consent.
- Content Moderation: Synthesia has implemented a strict content moderation policy to maintain professionalism and ethical boundaries. The avatars are used strictly for business-related scripts, and the platform refrains from approving content that leans towards political, sexual, personal, criminal or discriminatory themes.
Synthetic Voices for Text-to-Speech Conversion
Synthesia’s commitment to high-quality content is evident in its impressive repertoire of AI audio tools, particularly its AI voices.
Offering more than 120 options, this AI voice generator allows users to convert text into engaging voiceovers, enhancing the auditory experience of their videos.
- Variety and Nuance: The AI voices come in an array of accents, dialects, and styles, contributing to the diversity and breadth of the content. This level of versatility ensures content is suitable for a wide array of audiences, catering to different linguistic preferences.
- Natural Sound: Synthesia’s technology strives to simulate the dynamism and richness of human voices. Its sophisticated system can handle nuanced pronunciation, abbreviations and terminology and even offers an in-built phonetic spelling option to adjust the pronunciation of any word within Synthesia.
- Voice Cloning: For users seeking an even higher degree of personalisation, Synthesia offers the fascinating possibility of voice cloning. This add-on feature allows Enterprise plan users to use the platform’s text-to-speech functionality with their own voice, creating a unique auditory experience for their viewers.
The capability of Synthesia to personalise both avatars and voices highlights its dedication to offering a tailored content creation experience to its users.
This flexibility ensures users can create videos that fit their needs and target audiences perfectly.
Interactive Video Templates
Where content creation is essential to every business’s strategy, Synthesia’s editable video templates become a powerful tool in your arsenal.
Whether delivering a corporate presentation or launching an educational course, Synthesia simplifies the video creation process with various customisable, professionally-designed templates.
- What are Video Templates?: In essence, they are pre-made videos with distinct designs and transitions. They have placeholders for text, photos, logos, and other video files, making it a breeze for users to replace these with their own content.
- How to Use?: The process of using these templates is incredibly streamlined. Users select their preferred template in Synthesia STUDIO and then begin editing in their browser. This could include changes to music, logos, video elements, background colour, and more.
- Customisation: Synthesia’s video templates are designed to be highly customisable. Whether replacing an image, adding a unique sound, or altering the colour scheme, the platform enables users to give their videos a personal touch, ensuring their content aligns perfectly with their brand identity.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Synthesia has kept all scales of businesses in mind, offering plans that are cost-effective and rich in features.
It provides two main options: the Personal plan and the Enterprise plan.
- Personal Plan: Starting at £17.25/month with an annual commitment, the Personal plan is ideal for individual users or small businesses. It offers features like AI script assistance, a built-in screen recorder, access to over 90 AI avatars, and more.
- Enterprise Plan: This plan caters to larger businesses and offers unlimited video credits, custom avatar creation, collaboration features, and priority support, among others. The price varies based on the number of seats required.
The Ethics of Synthesia
Where synthetic media is often seen with apprehension, Synthesia has made conscious efforts to operate ethically. Its focus on responsible use of AI technology is integral to the company’s policy.
As a pioneer in synthetic media, Synthesia understands its responsibility towards society. It is a proud member of the Content Authenticity Initiative, started by Adobe in 2019. It aims to promote transparency and trust in AI technology.
Synthesia’s commitment to ethics extends to content moderation. All AI video content undergoes a stringent moderation process before being released to clients. The company also refrains from creating AI avatars without explicit consent from the concerned individuals.
The company actively works with media organisations, governments, and research institutions to develop best practices and educate on video synthesis technologies. Their commitment towards the ethical use of AI technology sets an admirable standard in the industry.
As AI continues to influence various industries, Synthesia stands as a powerful tool for content creators across the globe.
Overall, Synthesia emerges as a powerful, ethical, and user-friendly platform for AI-driven content creation, revolutionising the video production process by making it more accessible, efficient, and diverse.
