As Arthur C Clarke once said, sufficiently advanced manual labor is indistinguishable from AI. Or, something. Anyway the bosses asked me to use some generative AI, whip up a few dozen VFX shots. I gave it a try.
In the first round, it told me that I can’t use image editing features on anything that involves a human with a face. Okay, so let’s cover up the human and try again. Maybe we’ll get something we can matte into the original shot.
I mean, the mic stand is gone.
Pretty sure my job is secure for a little while longer.
I help strangers on the internet to make things in After Effects. Here are some quick sketches and experiments I’ve made along the way.
Two quick and general purpose tips:
1) There’s no shame in using multiple layers when you need them, and often no real benefit to breaking your back in order to minimize the amount of layers in a project.
2) You don’t have to make stuff you can’t see. Part of that is that you don’t need to rig up things that don’t move during the shot. The lines-and-nodes shot was very quick to make because no part of it responds dynamically to anything. There’s no reason why it should, unless that’s what your experiment is about.
This is the story of how I came to own a fancy pen:
The 8-Bit is not terribly expensive in the world of Expensive Pens, but anyone outside of that world would do a spittake. However, unlike almost every other kinda-pricey-to-amateurs pen I’ve ever held, this one is actually very nice to use. My inexpensive Sharpie S-Gels have taken a backseat since this arrived.
Thank you, Pen Addict!
I’ve been spending too much time this week in Discord servers answering basic After Effects questions and trying out the shots that are giving people trouble.
