How to make a video with Hour One
First, you must register for an account. Hour One gently offered me a Business account to write this review, but you can begin signing up for a free plan to test the platform.
When I open the dashboard, a draft video is already present. Clicking on it is a good starting point to learn the ropes.
This draft video has two scenes and some basic text, but playing around with it will give you an overall idea of how Hour One works and the possibilities available through this software.
The main dashboard has a quick access section, "Create video from anything."
Here, I can start with a template, a presentation PPT or PPTX files), a document (form docx or PDF files), a URL, create a video using the wizard (an AI assistant with ChatGPT integration), a sales meet summary, or create an avatar.
I will begin with a template. There are more than 100 to choose from. These include Learning and development, product marketing, sales, e-commerce, product experience, human resources, office, social marketing, creators, news, and general.
Hour One also offers unique 3D templates that are not found in any similar application and add extra value to the platform.
Check them out:
I chose the "Your first marketing video" template. Notice that it shows a preview that includes voice and avatar lip-syncing, but you can modify it later.
There are over 100 diverse avatars available for creating your video, and some of them look really impressive. You can either use the one that comes with the template or choose another one.
Now, the system opens a dashboard where the video creation process runs. The right sidebar shows content and layout.
The layout feature is very interesting because it gives many options for avatar position and overall design. Anyway, there is no option to drag-and-drop the avatar on the screen.
A wide range of voice options are available, including male, female, natural, young, middle-aged, and more. It is possible to add pauses to the speech, but this feature is only available in specific voices.
Music can also be selected, and genres are available on the upper side. For some reason, I couldn't preview how the music sounded.
I write a simple text in the text box and change the media. There are tons of Unplash assets, but you can also upload your own media. There is an interesting option to use a screen capture as a scene background, an useful resource for tutorials and demo videos.
The video editor is bare basic. There are no options to change fonts, sizes, or text colors. You can change text only on text-container templates. I create another scene with a modified layout and new media from Unsplash.
I added the third scene, now with a circled avatar and text. The text position cannot be changed; you must limit yourself to the template design.
I included a standard logo, but the position is fixed to the lower right corner, and there is no way to change it.
As you may guess, I am not the best at video creation, but I am only testing the platform here. I now have three scenes; let's preview the video. Like similar platforms, the preview does not take credits or minutes, and avatars are fixed with no lip-syncing.
Now that I am done with the video, it is time to render it so i click on "Create Video"
The video is 0:30 seconds long and took 8:40 minutes to render, not the best score. Rendering time depends on video size and server workload, but I hope this works better next time.
Now, I can download it in 720p or 1080p resolution. By clicking the "Share" button, I can also share it on social media or embed it in emails or websites.
Here is the final video
How to make a video with the Video Wizard
The video wizard is a Chat-GPT integration that runs into the platform and helps to create videos.
You can make videos for sales, anything, general, e-learning, training, product, and HR. This process is set on a dedicated window; it needs a few parameters to create a video from scratch.
I select video type, duration, format, and style on the first window.
The following window asks for the course topic, audience, and learning objectives. Suppose I want to make a video about a Python learning course:
Then I click on the “Create my video” button, and 20 seconds later the system creates a three-scene draft. This is simply amazing, now I can modify the script, avatar, voices, add or delete media, or any other specific item.
I go on and render it; a 40-second video takes 6:43 minutes to render. This time should be shorter, but let´s remember a pair of years ago, this simple video would take days, not minutes.
Here is the final video. Again, it looks good, with better lip-sync than the previous one and a clear voice.
Hour One Pricing and Value for the Money
Hour One offers a range of pricing plans tailored to different user needs, from individuals and small teams to large enterprises. Below is a breakdown of the pricing plans, their features, and recommendations to help you choose the best option.
Pricing Plans Overview
- Free Trial
- Cost: $0/month
- Features:
- 3 minutes of video creation
- Access to 100+ AI avatars
- Share videos via link
- 1 editor and one viewer seat
Best For: Individuals or businesses wanting to test the platform before committing to a paid plan.
- Lite Plan
- Cost: $30/month (billed monthly)
- Features:
- 10 minutes of video creation per month
- No watermark on videos
- Access to all 2D templates
- Script and video wizard abilities
- 1 editor and three viewer seats
Best For: Professionals or small teams looking for basic video creation without watermarks.
- Business Plan (Recommended)
- Cost: $112/month (billed monthly)
- Features:
- 20, 30, or 40 minutes of video creation per month (depending on the tier)
- Everything in the Lite Plan, plus:
- 3D and premium templates
- Custom brand kit and logo
- Translation wizard
- Improved rendering quality
- Workspace collaboration abilities
- 1 editor and five viewer seats
Best For: Companies scaling their video production and requiring advanced branding and collaboration features.
- Enterprise Plan
- Cost: Custom pricing
- Features:
- Unlimited video creation minutes
- Everything in the Business Plan, plus:
- Custom "cinematic" avatars
- Full brand customization
- Priority rendering queue
- API access and SAML/SSO integration
- Dedicated customer success manager
Best For: Large enterprises with high video production needs and a focus on full customization and advanced security.
Which plan is the Best for you?
- For Beginners or Casual Users: Start with the Free Trial to explore the platform and its capabilities. If you need more minutes or watermark-free videos, upgrade to the Lite Plan.
- For Small Teams or Professionals: The Lite Plan is ideal for those who need basic video creation abilities without watermarks.
- For Growing Businesses, The Business Plan offers the best value for scaling video production. It includes advanced features like 3D templates and branding abilities.
- For Large Enterprises: The Enterprise Plan is the best choice for organizations with high video production demands, a need for complete customization, and advanced security.
Hour One Pricing Plans Comparison Table
I summarized the Pros and Cons of each pricing plan in this table. Check it out:
PLAN | PROS | CONS |
Free Trial | - No cost to get started. - Access 100+ AI avatars. | - Limited to 3 minutes of video creation. - Videos only be shared via link (no downloads). - No features like branding or premium templates. |
Lite Plan | - Affordable at $30/month. - No on videos. - Includes 2D templates and script/video wizard. | - Limited to 10 minutes of video creation per month. - No 3D or premium templates. - Minutes not roll over to the next month. |
Business Plan | -- Offers 20, 30, or 40 minutes of video creation per month. - Includes3D and premium templates. - Custom kit and logo for professional branding. - Translation and improved rendering quality. | - Higher cost starting at $112/month. - Minutes not roll over to the next month. - Limited 1 editor and 5 viewer seats. |
Enterprise Plan | - Unlimited video creation minutes. - Full customization and custom "cinematic" avatars. - Priority queue and API access. - Dedicated success manager for personalized support. | - Custom pricing requires contacting sales. - May be too expensive for smaller businesses |
Hour One reviews and support
Support is managed through a chat window within the platform. Only Business Plan users can open a support ticket, and enterprise users have access to priority support.
As with similar platforms, enterprise users can access to a dedicated success manager, 24/7 on call support and expert video assistance (this as a paid add-on)
Hour One Case Studies
Hour One showcases many case studies on its website that can help you understand how this platform works and how customers managed to improve video content creation. To name a few:
- Efficiency Gains: Companies like CoreLogic and Jewell Unlimited drastically reduced video production times by up to 90%, while Berlitz produced 20,000 videos, saving a full year of employee time.
- Cost Savings: Defiance Media and ran.de achieved up to 98% and 90% cost reductions by eliminating traditional production needs.
- Enhanced Engagement: ZIM Shipping tripled training engagement rates, and Helios Technologies boosted employee engagement by 150%.
- Scalability: Medigate expanded global video production by 80%, and Buzz Franchise Brands converted 38 courses into engaging video formats.
- Agility: Alice Receptionist improved operational agility tenfold, while Shipping Connections created 63 videos in just two months.
Hour One Opinions from G2 Users
I always check users' opinions on G2, a leading review software site. I found that the Hour One score on G2 is 4.5/5 from 127 reviews, an excellent rating from the customer side.
Below is a summary of the Pros and Cons from G2´s users. "Ease of use" is the most mentioned feature, and "Limited templates" emerges as the main concern.
Mario here. I am the owner of Vidmetoo, a one-man band.
I founded this website to provide you with useful insights about video tools and related resources. Thanks for reading!