Greetings from Candlewood Lake. Google rolled out Veo 3 in Google Photos' Create tab yesterday. The update lets users generate four-second AI videos from still images with one click. Free users get daily limits, while paid subscribers get more. The Create tab also includes 3D restyling, automated collages, keyword-based highlight reels, and GIF creation.
This isn't breakthrough technology. It's an incremental improvement that will have an outsized impact on creative workflows. Why? Because it compresses a multi-step process into a single click.
Remember when Photoshop added the drop shadow feature? Before that, you had to duplicate the type layer, offset it, adjust opacity, then apply blur. Multiple steps became one click. The result: three years of drop shadows on everything – not because drop shadows were revolutionary, but because they were effortless.
History's about to repeat itself. Every photo just became potential video content. No rendering time. No specialized software. No motion graphics expertise. A creative director reviewing location scout photos can instantly generate video previews. A social media manager can transform product shots into animated stories during a client call. An art director can prototype motion concepts before briefing the animation team.
The creative teams that immediately incorporate these capabilities will deliver photo-to-video animations in close-to-real-time at very low (or no) cost. Those clinging to traditional production pipelines will watch competitors deliver in minutes what would take them hours – if they had the capability at all.
You'll ask, "If this is a one-click solution, available to everyone, why would anyone not just use it?" The answer: "Have you ever worked in a corporate creative services department with established workflows and processes?" If you have, you know that licensing a new tool is easy, but incorporating new tools into existing workflows is a process unto itself (and not an easy one).
The solution is to lead your teams by creating a culture of continuous adaptation. It's a framework where each incremental improvement compounds into greater capability.
When everyone gets equal access to tools, the tech is not the advantage; how quickly your teams can adapt to change is the key differentiator. Oh, and prepare for eighteen months of everything moving slightly… photo-to-video is now just one click.
As always, your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. -s
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
