How to choose an AI video course

Start with your project

The right course depends on what you want to make. Ads for clients, short videos for social media, a narrative series, a short film for festivals: these are not the same skills. Write your goal in one sentence before comparing anything.

Proof through the videos

The first criterion is simple: does the person teaching publish videos you would like to be able to make? Look at their work, not their promises. A method that produces nothing visible for its author is unlikely to produce anything for you.

A method, not a list of tools

Tools change every six months. A course that boils down to interface tutorials ages with them. Look for what lasts: writing, shot breakdown, art direction, character consistency, sound. Tools come afterwards, as instruments serving a method.

The pricing model

Three models coexist, each with its own logic:

• a one-off purchase, often sold as "lifetime": check that updates are included when the tools change;
• a yearly subscription: cheaper per month, but a year's commitment;
• a monthly subscription with no commitment: the most flexible, you stop when the course no longer gives you anything.

Compare the total price over the time you really need, and add the cost of the tools themselves, which have their own subscriptions.

Trial, guarantee, cancellation

Before paying, ask yourself what happens if the course doesn't suit you: a free trial, a money-back guarantee, or the option to cancel at any time. Read the terms of sale: they often say more than the sales page.

Format and pace

Videos, written pages, exercises, live sessions: choose the format you will actually follow. A hundred-lesson course you never open is worth less than a two-hour module you finish, exercise included.

Community and support

Being able to ask a question, show your work and get feedback changes everything when you are starting out. Check where the community lives, whether the author answers there personally, and whether one-to-one support exists for more ambitious projects.

Rights, and honesty

Be wary of income promises. A serious course also covers the awkward topics: each tool's commercial-use rights, the platforms' rules on generated content, and the protected characters you are not allowed to use.

Questions to ask before paying

• What is available today, and what is only announced?
• Is the content updated when the tools change?
• Can I stop at any time, and how?
• Are the tools taught paid, and how much do they cost per month?
• Can I see work by students?
• Who answers my questions, and how quickly?

And the Archives course?

To be transparent about my own offer: it is a monthly subscription on Patreon, from $8.99 to $99.99, with no commitment and cancellable at any time. There is no free trial; the first tier is there to try it at a small price. The tiers page says what is available today and what is still in production, and the Archives videos are the proof of the method.