Complete guide to creating a video commercial ad with AI

With technology advancing at a rapid pace, artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming an integral part of how we work. It has revolutionized various industries, including the advertising sector. To give you a better understanding of how AI is reshaping advertising, we created a shoe commercial using AI and chronicled the journey. Buckle up as we walk you through the process, step-by-step using Dissolve footage, ChatGPT, ElevenLabs, Descript and Midjourney.

Step 1: Generating the Script with ChatGPT4

To kickstart the project, we utilized OpenAI's GPT-4 to generate a script for our commercial. The brief was to create an inspiring narrative about an athlete's journey, lasting between 60-90 seconds. The entire film was to have a voiceover narrator, without any dialogues.

We used a specific prompt: “I'd like to make a shoe commercial that's between 60-90 seconds long. The concept of the commercial is that we want to inspire an athlete's journey. There will be no dialogue but the entire film will have a voiceover narrator.”

If you're new to using ChatGPT4, check out this comprehensive ChatGPT Tutorial by Santrel Media. It's a wonderful resource that can help you become a power user in just 30 minutes!

Step 2: Searching for Relevant Visuals on Dissolve.com

Next, we turned to Dissolve.com for video footage that aligns with our script. The platform provides authentic and cinematic video content, ensuring the commercial doesn’t appear stock-like. We searched using keywords derived from our script and picked relevant videos of runners and joggers. One video that worked particularly well was a slow-motion clip of a man putting on running shoes.

• Slow Motion Running Shoe Footage

Step 3: Voiceover Generation using Eleven Labs

For the voiceover, we turned to Eleven Labs, a top-notch AI text-to-speech tool. We uploaded our script and experimented with different voices to find one that resonated with our vision.

Eleven Labs converted our text into an AI-generated audio file, giving our commercial a unique and engaging voice.

Step 4: Selecting the Background Music

A commercial isn’t complete without the right audio. So, we browsed @MaxKoMusic, a royalty-free audio library, and selected an uplifting and motivational soundtrack.

All music used for the project was under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0.

Step 5: Putting It All Together Using Descript

With all the components ready, we brought everything together using Descript, an all-in-one video editing tool. It helped us synchronize the voiceover with the visuals, giving our commercial a professional touch.

Step 6: Revising the Script

After sharing the initial version with our team, we felt that the script could be funnier. So, we returned to ChatGPT4 and updated the script.

With the new script, we returned to Eleven Labs to generate a fresh voiceover. We tweaked certain parameters, accentuating some sentences to inject humour into the commercial.

• Create Voiceovers walkthrough: Eleven Labs Introduction

Step 7: Final Edits and Logo Creation

We then introduced the new voiceover into Descript, kept the same visuals and background music, and fine-tuned the commercial. We added a fake product shoe at the end and created a logo for it using Midjourney with the prompt "Side view of a Concept footwear, breathable mens sneaker, conceptual, nike acc, outdoor, future, octane render, unreal engine, highly detailed, 4k, cinematic, white background --v 5.1 --s 50".

We experimented with different logo options that Midjourney generated and ultimately settled on one that best represented our product.

Step 8: Exporting the Final Commercial

Finally, we exported the commercial in an mp4 1080p format. The file size was approximately 51.4 mb for a one-minute video ad.

And there you have it! We used AI to create a compelling commercial from scratch. This project provides a glimpse into the future of advertising. We hope you find this guide useful and inspiring for your own AI-driven creative projects.

Follow us on Twitter at @Dissolve for more tips and tricks on using AI in your creative projects.