Google’s New Veo 3.1 Update Includes Ingredients to Video Tool for Social Media

Google has today released new updates to Veo 3.1, its AI video creation model, aimed at making life easier for creators who simply want consistent results without having to redo things repeatedly. The most obvious feature is a significant improvement to the Ingredients to Video tool. You basically have three reference images: one for the primary subject, one for the backdrop, and one for the desired look or style. Then simply add some text to get the thing going.

The new Veo 3.1 combines all of these aspects together to create a far more convincing short clip. Characters remain the same and are built in the same manner even when the scene changes, objects reappear just as they were, and backdrops remain consistent throughout, with no abrupt changes in shape or color. The ultimate result is that the videos are far more expressive, with more natural movements, speech, and sound effects that all flow seamlessly together.

Even with a short prompt, the tool produces rather consistent outcomes, allowing your creative experimentation to move much faster. Veo 3.1 also has native vertical video compatibility, allowing you to shoot in a 9:16 ratio without cropping, as seen on YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram. Google has embedded this right into the YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create apps, so mobile work flows directly into a final product with minimal fuss.

The Gemini app now has access to these portrait mode capabilities, as well as improved resolution options. So you can get crisper footage at 1080p, which means you can see more detail, and you can upscale it all the way to 4K, which is ideal for larger displays or professional edits. All this is doable on Flow, the Gemini API, Vertex AI, and Google Vids, so it appears that enterprise users and professional artists are going to adore it.

All of these changes simply expand on Veo 3.1’s strengths in native audio and narrative flow. Your characters talk in harmony with their lip movements, the ambient sounds complement the action, and the entire scene feels held together rather than sewn up. Plus, the SynthID watermarks make it easy to distinguish which footage was AI created, and the Gemini app includes a verification step for all the videos you post.