AI Tools for Filmmaking – Six Tools You’ll Need to Make AI Films

The AI Filmmaker’s Essential Toolkit – Six Tools You’ll Need to Make AI Films!

We stand at the dawn of a revolutionary era in filmmaking. Generative artificial intelligence has democratized movie creation, putting powerful creative tools into the hands of storytellers worldwide. This technological renaissance marks the sixth great age of filmmaking, where imagination, rather than budget, drives creative possibilities. Millions of artists can now bring their visions to life using accessible, AI-powered tools.

Creating AI-powered films requires a carefully chosen suite of tools. My name is James G. Maynard, and I am an award-winning director, writer, and animator who has been experimenting, building, and creating with generative artificial intelligence since the first models of Chat-GPT and Dall-E first became available to the general public. I have experimented with many, many, different apps and platforms for creating the most entertaining films and programs possible during the opening years of the AI Age of Filmmaking.

But where to start? Like so much else in life, it’s good to go into this with a full utility belt. A countless number of AI-powered apps can be used to create images, audio, music, etc. In order to get the highest quality production values and create films longer than 16 seconds or so, however, one will need to work on a desktop or laptop. (If you find a way to edit two-hour films on a $24 processor attached to a 1970’s coffeemaker, I want to hear about it!). The list below is focused on Windows systems, but many suggestions are web-based as well and/or have Apple counterparts.

Our suggestions below are the tools actively used on a regular basis in the creation of films from AI Creator House, so every suggestion below is utilized regularly in our work. AI Creator House may make some money from the links below, but can you blame me? 🙂

1) The Co-Writer: Your Creative Partner

Every great film starts with a great story. AI writing assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, or Pi serve as invaluable creative partners. My personal favorite right now (March 2025) is Deep Seek – completely free, and able to handle vast storylines.

These digital wordsmiths are like having a roomful of writers at your beck and call, minus the caffeine addiction and existential crises. They’ll help you:

• Brainstorm ideas (even the weird ones)
• Develop plot twists that don’t involve “it was all a dream”
• Create dialogue that actual humans might say
• Work through story problems at ungodly hours

These tools help refine your ideas, develop plotlines, and craft dialogue through natural conversation. They’re particularly useful for brainstorming sessions and working through creative blocks.

2) Image Creation: Bringing Characters to Life

The visual foundation of your film relies on strong imagery, especially your characters.

Generative AI can enhance roles of live actors or create animated characters for your projects. Try making totally animated films, and projects with live actors and AI-generated backgrounds, even try AI-enhanced actors, newly-released consumer-level motion capture, whatever you want to try that could best serve the story!

While tools like Midjourney, Artspace, and NightCafe excel at creating stunning visuals, maintaining character consistency across multiple images remains challenging. GenYOU from Generated Photos has made impressive advances in this area, offering remarkable consistency in character generation, putting the power of filmmaking into your hands.

Are you looking to make films like we do? AI Creator House films are sponsored in part by Generated Photos, creators of Human Generator and GenYOU. 

Backgrounds? AI can make them! Background images can be fairly forgiving, and several image generation tools can deliver great results for such needs.

Since AI-generated images often need refinement, photo editing becomes essential. While Photoshop and GIMP offer comprehensive features, their learning curves can be steep. For those seeking a more intuitive approach, BeFunky provides a user-friendly alternative without sacrificing functionality.

3) Video Generation and Lip Synchronization

This is where things get seriously cool. One of the great remaining challenges in creating AI-powered films lies in lip sync technology, but these tools are becoming much better over the last few months and will only get better.

Tools like Runway, Hailuo, and Kling AI are your special effects department, cinematography team, and animation studio rolled into one (or three). Runway’s lip-sync capabilities are so good, they’ll make you forget about those old “badly dubbed foreign movie” jokes.

In my estimation, these tools stand out in this category, each having distinct strengths. Hailuo and Kling excel in creating atmospheric backgrounds and B-roll footage, while Runway offers superior motion control and outstanding lip synchronization capabilities.

4) Audio Creation: Giving Voice to Your Characters… Cue Sound Effects!

Voice synthesis and sound design bring your characters to life. After exploring numerous options, I’ve found Eleven Labs particularly effective for character dialogue, as well as sound effects, especially background sounds. However, you may prefer other generators. is a personal choice – what works perfectly for one project might not suit another. Experiment with different platforms to find your ideal match.

I find that making a half-dozen or so takes on a given line usually gives me a reading close to what I wanted. Run the takes – it is cheap.

5) Music

What is a film without a powerful soundtrack? Generative AI produces some amazing music for aspiring filmmakers. Again, there are several choices out there for you, but my two personal favorites are Suno and Riffusion.

Suno is like having a composer who works for coffee money. Need an epic orchestral score? A moody jazz number? That weird genre-bending sound that’ll have music critics scratching their heads? Conjure it up!

6) Post-Production: Bringing It All Together

The final piece of the puzzle is editing software that can handle video, audio, and color correction. The Cyberlink suite has proven itself invaluable, continuously evolving with regular AI-enhanced updates. Its comprehensive toolset handles everything from basic cuts to advanced color grading, making it an excellent choice for AI filmmakers. Just their Photo Director alone is enough to get up and going for most projects needing post-production.

7 of 6) Overcoming New Tech Troubles with Old-World Know-how!

Filmmaking, even in the AI age, is like trying to conduct an orchestra while juggling – there’s a lot to handle! From crafting that first story spark to wrestling with pre-production and bringing your artistic vision to life, it’s quite the adventure, even with AI as your sidekick.

Here’s the thing: knowing how to make films will make your AI-powered journey smoother and your results dramatically better. Think of it as having a GPS for your creative expedition!

Lucky for us, there’s a goldmine of knowledge waiting at MasterClass, where Hollywood’s finest share their secrets. For about $100 a year, you can learn from industry legends who’ve been there, done that, and won the Oscars to prove it. Whether you’re dreaming of directing, screenwriting, or acting, these masters can help you blend traditional movie magic with your AI tools. Head over to MasterClass.com and start learning from the best in the business!

Looking to the Future

The AI filmmaking world moves faster than a caffeinated cheetah. Today’s cutting-edge tool might be tomorrow’s “remember when?” So stay curious, keep experimenting, and don’t be afraid to try new things. Join communities (Discord is your friend!), share your experiences, and creations.

Making a film can seem impossible until you do it, but every great filmmaker was once a beginner who dared to try the nearly-impossible. Generative AI serves to make this journey easier, and available to millions of would-be filmmakers who never before had a chance to shine.

The Grand Finale

You’re now armed with the knowledge to begin your AI filmmaking journey. The tools are ready, the possibilities are endless, and the only thing standing between you and your masterpiece is the time it takes to download these apps (and maybe a few software updates).

Remember: there’s no single “right” way to create AI films. Every project is a new adventure, and every mistake is just a happy accident waiting to be transformed into a signature style. Now get out there and make something amazing!

This new era of filmmaking is just beginning. With these tools at your disposal, the only limit is your imagination.

Some links might make us a few bucks (gotta feed the AI somehow!), but every recommendation comes from real-world experience in the trenches of AI filmmaking.