Google’s Veo 3.1 Adds Editing-Focused Video Tools

Google has rolled out Veo 3.1, an incremental but practical upgrade to its video-generation stack focused on creative control and editing rather than pure viral spectacle. Key capabilities in 3.1 include support for up to three reference images to keep character consistency across scenes, the ability to supply start and end frames (with the model generating smooth visual transitions and matching audio), and a scene-extension workflow that lets users append segments to produce videos up to about one minute long.

Google is shipping both standard and “fast” variants of Veo 3.1 across its ecosystem — notably in Flow (Google’s filmmaking tool), Vertex AI, and Gemini — signaling an emphasis on filmmakers and production workflows rather than short-form social virality. The newsletter notes Veo 3.1 feels less hyped than recent viral models (like Sora 2), but its editing-focused features (scene extending, start/end frames, multi-image consistency) may matter more for professional outputs.

The Rundown also includes a short tutorial showing how to turn AI-generated photos into personal-branding videos: generate headshots and environments in Gemini, switch Flow to “Ingredients to Video,” upload images, compose scenes, extend clips, check transitions, and export the final video — all without on-camera recording.

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