AI & the craft: Tools to try
Posted on Jan 29, 2026 by Admin
In our latest AI column, we check out five of the best practical tools designed to support, not replace, the creative process
Words Katie Kasperson
We hear a lot about the risk artificial intelligence poses to creators, threatening to replace human creatives for a fraction of the cost and render dozens of roles obsolete. But as well as headline-making video generators, plenty of emerging tools are complementing the creative process rather than replacing it altogether. From parsing through content libraries of archival footage to enhancing pre- and post-production workflows, the following five AI-based tools are filmmaker approved.
Storyboarder.ai
Founded by two enterprising filmmakers, Storyboarder.ai is a subscription-based, AI-powered storyboarding platform. Unlike other GenAI storyboarding tools on offer, Storyboarder.ai lets its users specify lighting equipment, map out camera movements, fine-tune images, upload photos of characters, who will look consistent across the storyboard, and much more.
The platform capitalises on its founders’ thorough understanding of filmmaking, particularly the process of previsualisation. For those who
have ever created a storyboard or shot list (as well as for those who haven’t!), Storyboarder.ai feels intuitive, streamlining the often meticulous task. It can also generate animatics, useful for animators and VFX specialists as well as directors, DOPs and the like.
Storyboarder.ai offers three subscription plans of varying levels – Starter, Pro and Production – which differ in the number of projects they support (ranging from five to unlimited) and script pages users are allowed to input (10-200 per project). All include unlimited image generation, as well as access to the company’s constant customer support and its freely available how-tos on its blog, ensuring users are set up for success.
More information at storyboarder.ai
Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 20
Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve is one of the most established post-production solutions on the market. On Version 20, the editing, grading and FX tool now incorporates AI to assist filmmakers at every stage.
Leading AI features include IntelliScript, Animated Subtitles, Multicam SmartSwitch and Audio Assistant to create timelines, animate captions, detect speakers and more. The audio editor AI stands out, which users can use to produce pro-grade mixes, remove background noise and reverb, isolate voices and introduce spatial audio effects.
All of the above capitalise on the DaVinci AI Neural Engine, Blackmagic’s AI and ML-based model that underscores the entire platform. While the basic version is free to use, it doesn’t include the AI features. DaVinci Resolve Studio, costing £225/$295, has all the intelligent tools, as well as filters, plug-ins, high-res support and other useful elements.
More information at blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve
Moments Lab
Created with production companies, broadcasters and digital media specialists in mind, Moments Lab is an AI-powered parsing tool that allows users to find any moment in any video in mere seconds. The AI Discovery Agent enables productions to instantly surface entire scenes or seconds-long clips, while its MXT technology summarises, categorises and tags videos, using facial recognition to pinpoint who appears on-screen.
Other key features include Smart Collections for quicker content retrieval, AI fine-tuning to better recognise talent, soundbite detection to pull out the punchiest quotations, an editable thesaurus for unique vocabulary, plus analytics and portable metadata. Embraced by companies including Banijay and ITN, Moments Lab can also integrate existing production tools such as YouTube, AWS or LucidLink.
After a seven-day trial period, the Moments Lab team suggests a bespoke pricing package based on a given user’s individual storage needs, with additional features costing a little extra.
More information at momentslab.com
Strada
Released earlier this year, Strada is the ultimate collaboration solution for remote filmmakers, enabling streamlined access to even the largest video files. Replacing more traditional cloud storage and its associated costs, the platform lets teams access, playback and transfer files from anywhere, their own local hard drives included. The company’s goal is to create a global network to help working filmmakers simplify collaboration within their teams and save time and money.
Strada has an extensive product roadmap. Soon, it plans to include timestamped commenting and a synchronous playback experience, letting filmmakers review media as if they were in the same room. Longer-term, it plans to launch AI features to transcribe and translate assets, add closed captions, tag and label content and instantly parse entire libraries of media.
Strada offers three subscription tiers, so filmmakers can choose the one that best suits them.
More information at strada.tech
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is vital for video editors, and now it’s packed with AI features that make cutting even easier. Generative Extend lets users add frames, extend clips and introduce or lengthen ambient sound. Other highlights include AI-based auto-translation in over 27 languages; Media Intelligence, powering Premiere’s search panel; AI audio tagging; automatic colour grading and correcting, including colour matching between clips; text-based editing to create rough cuts and more.
As part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, Premiere Pro uses Adobe Sensei, the company’s proprietary AI technology. All assistive AI features are included in a Creative Cloud membership, while generative AI features, like Extend, cost an additional fee for unlimited usage.
More information at adobe.com/products/premiere
This story appears in the November/December 2025 issue of Definition
