Runway
2 tutorials
All Tutorials
Runway Gen-3: Creating Videos from Text Prompts
AI Background Removal with Runway
What Runway is
Runway is a browser-based generative video platform. Its Gen series models turn a text prompt or a still image into a short clip, and a second set of tools does model-driven editing on footage you already have: removing a background without a green screen, painting an object out of a shot, tracking a mask through motion. The work happens on Runway's servers, so your footage is uploaded and the output is metered by credits.
Runs on Web browser.
Where it is the right choice
- Generating B-roll and abstract inserts that would otherwise need a shoot or a stock licence
- Rotoscoping and object removal that would take hours of manual masking in a traditional editor
- Background removal on footage shot without a green screen, where chroma keying has nothing to key on
Where it stops fitting
- Clips are short. It is a source of shots, not a tool for cutting a finished piece together.
- Everything uploads and everything is metered, which rules it out for confidential footage and makes iteration costly.
- Generated motion is still unreliable on hands, text and anything with rigid structure.
Jobs you can do here instead, free and without uploading
Plenty of what sends people to Runway is a single operation rather than an edit. These run in your browser, so the file never leaves your device and there is nothing to install or subscribe to.
Questions about Runway
Can it edit footage I already have, or only generate new footage?
Both, and the second is what people underuse. Its masking and rotoscoping tools track a subject through a shot without keyframing every frame, which is the part that takes hours by hand. Generation is what it is known for; the cleanup is often what actually saves the day.
How consistent is generated footage between shots?
Not very, and that is the main limit. Characters, lighting and style drift between generations, so it fits inserts, backgrounds and abstract shots better than anything that has to cut with a sequence of real footage.
Do I need it for the basics?
No. Trimming, converting, resizing and compressing are file operations, and paying per generated second to do them is the common mistake. Do those locally and save the credits for the shots that do not exist.