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New York-based AI company Runway released its image generation model Frames globally on January 17. After initial testing began last November, the tool is now available to creative professionals through subscription plans.
“Frames has been engineered from the ground up for professional creative work,” Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela said. “If you’re in editorial, art direction, pre-vis, brand development, production, etc., this model is for you.”
Users will experience several enhancements in this launch. The model now produces more realistic textures, natural lighting, and complex scene compositions than Runway’s earlier models. This flexibility marks a departure from the rigid outputs previously seen in the company’s products. Runway showcased examples of user-generated images of Frames on its website.
“Frames has been optimized for creative exploration and artistic discovery, producing more nuanced and interesting creative results,” Valenzuela noted.
The text-to-image system boasts stylistic consistency across projects and offers nineteen preset visual styles, from cinematic compositions to retro anime aesthetics. It prevents visual inconsistencies by maintaining the same lighting, textures, and artistic style across multiple generated images.
The system integrates seamlessly with Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha video generation model. This feature allows users to transform still images into video content instantly. Visual effects artists who previously spent weeks creating concept art can now generate detailed scenes in minutes.
Professional users access Frames through Runway’s Unlimited plan at $95 per month or the Enterprise tier at $1,500 annually. Each generated image includes invisible watermarks to prevent misuse. This is to comply with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity standards.
Early adopters praise the tool’s capabilities. “Very high quality, lots of control with style, and you can animate your images right in Runway super quick,” one user reported on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Runway has seen promising early adoption in the film industry. Its tools were used in several Hollywood productions. Notably, it helped achieve complex visual sequences in the Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Frames’ launch further strengthens Runway’s market position against Midjourney. The latter currently serves over 20 million users with huge customizability offerings. While Midjourney targets general creators, Runway focuses on professional production environments. Future updates will include additional style tools and enhanced controls for professional users.
