Hailuo AI is stepping up its game, and it’s got creators paying attention. The Chinese startup MiniMax has launched the Image-to-Video (img2video) feature on the web, giving artists a new way to turn still images into dynamic video content. This isn’t just another bland update; it’s an addition that actually puts more creative power in the hands of users.
🌟 The wait is finally over ——We are excited to announce the launch of our Image-to-Video feature! 🎬✨
What distinguishes Hailuo's Image2Video experience?
– Text-and-image joint instruction following: Hailuo seamlessly integrates both text and image command inputs, enhancing… pic.twitter.com/ke59EjtmBB— Hailuo AI (@Hailuo_AI) October 8, 2024
MiniMax, backed by heavy hitters like Alibaba and Tencent, first made waves in the AI video world with its hyper-realistic Hailuo AI model earlier this year. We even tried out MiniMax AI ourselves, and it was pretty impressive:
A lively medieval marketplace set in a stone-paved town square. Merchants call out from wooden stalls, colorful fabrics flutter in the breeze. The crowd is bustling with villagers, horses, and carts. The camera follows a young child running through the crowd. pic.twitter.com/i3z52ffblr
— Kerem Gülen (@kgulenn) September 4, 2024
Founded by AI researcher Yan Junjie, MiniMax is becoming a serious player in the video generation scene—not surprising when you’ve got the kind of talent and backing that they do. When Hailuo AI first came out in September 2024, it only supported text-to-video, meaning you typed out what you wanted, and Hailuo did its best to bring your description to life.
Even with just the text feature, Hailuo quickly built up a loyal fanbase. Users loved how vivid and coherent the videos were, especially compared to what was coming out of the States from companies like Runway and Luma AI.
The human motions were more fluid, more lifelike, and honestly, the results just looked better most of the time.
You can check out our past experiences with similar tools: CogVideoX-5B and PixVerse AI
How to use Hailuo AI: Our experience
Now let’s learn how to use Hailuo AI together!
- Go to Hailuo AI video tool: Visit the website here. Once there, you’ll see the option to get started with your video creation.
- Sign up: You need an account to use the tool. We used a Google account for quick access, but you can choose whichever method works best for you.
- Upload your image: Click on the gallery icon to upload your image. We used the following image of a rockstar singing and playing guitar:
- Write your text prompt: Once your image is uploaded, you’ll need to add a text prompt describing the scene. Our text prompt was: “The guitarist grips his strings, sweat glistening as neon lights flicker. His scream into the mic warps the air, each strum sending shockwaves through reality. Hair flying, veins bulging, his movements slow and intensify, bending light and sound, before pulling back in silence, the final chord still vibrating.”
- See the results: After submitting the prompt, the tool will generate your video. Here’s what Hailuo gave us:
Using Hailuo AI is simple: 1) Sign up on their site, 2) Upload an image, 3) Add a detailed text prompt. My search for the best AI video tools continues, here’s the result: pic.twitter.com/mLvRnVJmW4
— Kerem Gülen (@kgulenn) October 10, 2024
The result is not impressive. Probably you should tweak around text prompts a lot and learn how the model responds to them. If you check out their website, you’ll see way better outputs.
The tool is trending now, maybe that is why it is not operating properly:
MiniMax: A player to watch
MiniMax has been making waves in the AI world, especially since dropping its ‘video-01’ model.
But it’s not all about video. MiniMax is branching out, rolling out models for music generation, document summarization, and even voice-based AI tools. The Xingye App is another intriguing addition—users can create and interact with AI companions, each with unique personalities. Most of these tools are still Mandarin-only, but Hailuo is an exception, offering English support, showing that MiniMax has its eyes set beyond China. If you’re looking to take your content up a notch, Hailuo AI gives you the tools to make that happen.
Featured image credit: Kerem Gülen/Midjourney
