Google now lets you direct your avatar through prompts in the Vids app

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

Users will be able to use natural language prompts to instruct their avatars to “act” within a scene. This may include avatars that interact with products, props, or equipment. The company said that despite the dynamic nature of the output, Vids maintain character consistency.

Google says users can customize their characters based on the video’s theme by adjusting their appearance, changing their clothing, and creating new backgrounds through prompts.

Last month, Google added the Lyria 3 and Lyria 3 Pro music creation models to Vids, allowing users to add sound effects and music to their clips. With this rollout, Google is introducing the Veo 3.1 video generation model, which allows you to create 8-second clips within the video editing tool. The company is offering 10 generations for free every month to all users. The company says Google AI Ultra and Workspace AI Ultra accounts can generate up to 1,000 Veo videos per month.

Additionally, Google is adding the ability to export finished videos directly to YouTube, eliminating the hassle of downloading and uploading them to your channel. All exported videos are private by default, so you can review them before publishing them.

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

Google first announced Vids in 2024 and has continued to add features to support enterprise content creation since then. Last year, the company introduced AI avatars to Vids to expand access to consumers. In February, the company added 2D and 3D cartoon-style avatars and language support for seven new voice-over languages, including French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese.

Google Vids faces competition from the likes of Synthesia, HeyGen, D-ID, and Lemon Slice.