Google now lets you direct avatars via messages in the Vids app

Google on Thursday added new features to its Vids video editing app, including directing and customizing avatars via text messages, Veo 3.1 support, the ability to export videos to YouTube and record with a Chrome extension.

Users will be able to use natural language prompts to direct avatars to “act” in a scene. This may include the avatar interacting with a product, prop or piece of equipment. The company said that despite the dynamic nature of the production, Vids maintains character consistency.

Google said that based on the theme of the video, users can customize the characters by tweaking the look, changing clothes and creating new backgrounds via messages.

Last month, Google added the Lyria 3 and Lyria 3 Pro music-making models to Vids to let users add sound effects or music to their clips. With this release, Google brings the Veo 3.1 video production model, which can create eight-second clips in the video editor. The company gives 10 free generations per month to all users. The company said Google AI Ultra and Workspace AI Ultra accounts can create up to 1,000 Veo videos per month.

In addition, Google is adding the ability to export finished videos directly to YouTube, saving you the hassle of downloading and uploading them to the channel. All exported videos are private by default, so you can review the video before making it public.

The company is also adding a new screen recording Chrome extension to its video suite, allowing users to record the screen with audio or video.

Google continues to add features to Vids after the product first launches in 2024 to accommodate enterprise content creation. Last year, the company brought AI avatars to Vids and expanded consumer reach. In February, the company added 2D and 3D cartoon-style avatars and added language support for seven new voice languagesincluding French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese.

Google Vids faces competition from companies like Synthesia, Hey GenD-ID and Lemon Feta.