YouTube Introduces AI-Powered 'Dream Screen' for Video Background Generation in Shorts

YouTube Hopes Its New AI Backgrounds Will Make You Switch From TikTok to Shorts

If you're looking for quick, ready-to-post AI video, YouTube might have just launched the perfect solution. While YouTube's Shorts section hasn't gained too much traction in its quest to compete with TikTok as the go-to short-form video platform, its new AI background generator might actually be worth checking out. ✕ Remove Ads YouTube Launched an AI Green Screen Feature for Easy Video Generation As announced by YouTube on X, AI backgrounds are coming to YouTube, allowing you to easily create quick videos with AI-generated visuals behind you. The feature is called Dream Screen, and it supports text-to-image prompts, similar to the TikTok effect known as AI Greenscreen. You might be thinking that this is yet another example of YouTube chasing TikTok's tail, and being behind the curve in doing so. To some extent, you'd be right. However, this feature does come out on top of TikTok's in a couple of areas. ✕ Remove Ads Dream Screen can apply motion to its AI-generated visuals. So, in addition to being able to produce a still background, you can have a generated video playing behind you. And, these visuals don't come in just one look, like the classic AI magical realism-type art you see with TikTok's existing greenscreen feature. Dream Screen has an option to Choose style, including but not limited to "Vintage," made to look like retro photographs, and "Clay," designed to give that claymation appearance. How to Use Dream Screen on YouTube Shorts Upon release, YouTube's Dream Screen feature is available to users in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. And, it's actually a little easier to access compared to using TikTok's AI Greenscreen feature, which requires you to search for the feature in the app's effects. When you open the YouTube app, simply navigate to the Shorts tab and hit the + icon to add a post. From there, select the Greenscreen icon on the right-hand panel, and the Dream Screen icon will be first on the list. Type in what you want to create, and once the platform generates images in the style of your choosing, you'll have the option to make it a still or video background. ✕ Remove Ads Close As always, make sure the YouTube app is updated. For now, Dream Screen will have the term "Experiment" visible throughout the process to remind you to forgive its mistakes. That said, I was fairly impressed by its motion generation. I asked it to create a simple video of coffee being poured into a mug. The image it generated had a warm, vintage film look to it and appeared very realistic, without the ubiquitous weird hands or other common AI identifiers. The motion was nearly perfect -- until the very end, when the stream of coffee appeared to defy physics. ✕ Remove Ads Close Still, the tool seems useful, especially for someone who might lack resources -- like the ability to design and film a teaser for a startup coffee brand. As a film nerd, I'll always say that AI generation doesn't (and probably never will) compare to actual filmmaking. But, I can see its merit for entrepreneurs or creatives who need to create a concept video with little time, money, or amateur video skills. Plus, with YouTube extending its Shorts duration cap to three minutes, you have more room to play with your AI world. ✕ Remove Ads

YouTube's new AI tool will create backgrounds for your videos - so you don't have to clean up your place

YouTube has augmented its Dream Screen AI tools for short-form videos. You can now use Dream Screen to generate video backgrounds for Shorts using text prompts. Up to now, Dream Screen made image backgrounds, but now it leverages Google DeepMind's video-generation model, Veo to expand into videos as well. To set up a Dream Screen video background, you open the Shorts camera, tap the green screen icon, and then select Dream Screen. You can then write whatever text prompt you want and select an animation style. Hit the Create button, and YouTube will produce a set of video backgrounds for you to choose from. After you pick the background you want, you can film your video, and the AI-generated background will be incorporated into the final video. You might take a video of yourself in a magical forest, recreate scenes from books and movies, or even design a whole opening sequence for a video series you're making. YouTube has also hinted at future updates that will include six-second standalone video clips made with Dream Screen. The video backgrounds can mimic various cinematic styles in high-definition, 1080p. The dynamic video backgrounds expand the options for your video backgrounds. Notably, it's a feature that isn't common to YouTube's rivals, such as TikTok. It's not universally available yet, but you can try it out in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. YouTube will likely roll it out elsewhere soon. The new Dream Screen feature also fits with YouTube's other efforts to embed AI throughout the platform. For instance, AI can help inspire new video ideas with YouTube's Brainstorm with Gemini tool and get around rights issues by using AI tool to remove copyrighted music from your video without taking it down completely.

YouTube Shorts' Dream Screen feature can now generate AI video backgrounds

YouTube announced on Thursday that its Dream Screen feature for Shorts now lets you create AI-generated video backgrounds. Up until now, Dream Screen could only create image backgrounds. The new capability is possible due to the integration of Google DeepMind's AI video generation model, Veo, which can create 1080p video clips in various cinematic styles. Users can now use the feature to turn text prompts into AI video backgrounds. To access the feature, you need to go into the Shorts camera, tap the "green screen" icon, and then select "Dream Screen." From there, you can type in a prompt, such as "candy landscape" or "magical forest with a stream." Next, you can pick and animation style, and then tap "Create." The Dream Screen tool will then generate a series of video backgrounds that you can choose from. Once you have selected an AI video background, you can record a video with it behind you. YouTube says the new feature can be used for things like putting yourself in the setting of your favorite book or creating an animated opening for your Short. In the future, YouTube plans to give creators the ability to generate six-second-long standalone video clips for Shorts through Dream Screen. It's worth noting that YouTube is giving Shorts creators access to a feature that's not available on TikTok, the leading short-form video platform. While TikTok lets creators generate AI-powered background images, the company currently doesn't let you create video backgrounds. The new feature is now available in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

This new YouTube tool adds AI backgrounds to your videos instantly - for free

The feature is available to users in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. To access it, open the YouTube app, click Create, tap Dream Screen, and select the pink sparkle icon pictured in the video above. Have you ever had the perfect video idea but couldn't shoot it because your background was messy, not what you wanted, or couldn't be added to the video? YouTube just introduced a new AI-powered tool to help solve your background woes. Also: The best AI image generators: Tested and reviewed On Thursday, YouTube launched Dream Screen, an experimental AI-generated feature that allows users to add images or videos to the background of their YouTube Shorts using text-to-image prompts. As seen in the video below, users have the option to choose a style in addition to entering a prompt. YouTube does share that it has safeguards incorporated to prevent the creation of inappropriate, harmful, or sensitive topics, such as photorealistic images of identifiable people. Prompts that violate YouTube's Community Guidelines will be blocked. The company also warns that, like any other AI model, Dream Screen may be prone to hallucinations. The feature is available to users in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. To access it, open the YouTube app, click Create, tap Green Screen, and select the pink sparkle icon pictured in the video above. Then, you can enter a prompt you'd like to see generated in English and click Create, which will present you with multiple image options. Once you pick the image you want generated, you can use it or make it a video and use it as the background. Also: This AI image generator that went viral for its realistic images gets a major upgrade Even though the videos will have an AI image-generated component, YouTube doesn't specify if there will be labeling to make that distinction. The promotional materials don't showcase any specific labels, which could lead to confusion about what's generated and what's not.

You Can Now Generate AI Video Backgrounds in YouTube Shorts

YouTube first started testing Dream Screen in June At the time, users could only generate AI images for Shorts The AI video background feature has limited availability YouTube first began testing a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for Shorts dubbed Dream Screen in June. The feature could earlier generate AI-powered image backgrounds for the vertical short video format, but on Thursday, the company announced a new capability. Dream Screen can now generate video backgrounds alongside image backgrounds allowing users more creative freedom in making content. It is currently available as an experimental feature to a limited set of creators in select regions. There is no word on when it will be made available to all users. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the official handle of YouTube Creators announced the AI video background generation capability in Dream Screen. Currently, it is available as an experimental feature and is available to a limited set of creators. Additionally, the feature is only available in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US. Dream Screen is a new AI feature for YouTube Shorts that allows users to generate a custom green screen image or video background on the short video format. Users will just have to type a text prompt to describe the background they want. The tool is powered by Google's AI video model Veo, which was developed by DeepMind. Currently, the AI feature only supports prompts in the English language, as per a support page. YouTube stated that it has incorporated safeguards within the AI tool to ensure it does not generate inappropriate content and follows the platform's Community Guidelines. Dream Screen cannot be used to generate photorealistic images of identifiable people to reduce the risk of deepfakes. In a September blog post, YouTube said that Dream Screen will be expanded in the future to allow users to generate six-second-long video clips for Shorts. The company has not revealed a release date for this feature.

YouTube Shorts Dream Screen aims to liven up your videos with AI magic

5 things YouTube Premium needs to change to keep me as a subscriber Key Takeaways YouTube Shorts is getting an AI boost with Dream Screen. Creators can now generate video backgrounds instantly using AI. The feature is rolling out to a limited set of creators in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for now. ✕ Remove Ads YouTube is one of the most popular video streaming services out there. And thanks to the platform's many creators, viewers tune in to watch billions of hours of videos each month. Yes, you read that right, billions. Because of this, it just makes sense that YouTube would constantly invest in and evolve its tools for creators, providing an easier way to create and edit videos. Related What are YouTube Shorts? Everything you need to know about YouTube's TikTok rival As of now, long-form videos have taken a back seat, with YouTube Shorts providing easy to digest videos with big impact. With Shorts doing so well, and showing no signs of slowing down, creators are now getting a new tool to make their videos more interesting. Dream Screen will leverage the power of AI and will allow creators to be a bit more creative with their videos going forward. ✕ Remove Ads Fantastic scenes without a green screen It's been a while since we last heard about Dream Screen, but Google showed off this tech back in June, revealing a tool that would let creators easily create virtual backgrounds using AI that could be generated using prompts. What makes this feature so good is that it really opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to making videos. And while the tech already exists with green screens, this doesn't require creators to purchase anything extra, with AI tools embedded directly into the application. As far as the tech goes, Google explains on X that it is "powered by Veo", which is Google's latest generative video model. And just like anything new, this will only be available to a limited set of creators for the time being. ✕ Remove Ads Select creators that are located in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand will have access. And since this is currently just in testing, it's unclear when a wide roll-out will take place. As you might expect, there are guidelines in place when using AI-generated backgrounds, and in order prevent any misuse, Google has "incorporated" safeguards into Dream Screen. If you're a lucky creator that has access, or want to check if you have access to this feature, you can head into the YouTube app, create a Short, and then head into the Green Screen menu in the top right section. From here, you can enter your prompts, but English is the only supported language as of now. ✕ Remove Ads