After reading last week’s newsletter (link), Richard Auerbach sent me these comments. I found his positive experience working with AI interesting enough to share with you. His website is: Studio3047.com.
Larry, I’m writing because you talked briefly about generative AI versus machine learning. I feel a bit embarrassed about not having written this email sooner.
A little background: I’ve been editing for over 25 years, since completing film school in Florida. Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to create daily videos for an independent living facility. After a couple of days, I realized that shooting and editing a daily video was very time-consuming, and after about a week, it became repetitive.
I started looking for a way to bring in some additional help to make the process faster and more interesting for the residents. That led me to HeyGen, where I developed a hosting avatar. As I worked with that, I began exploring other AI models and developing skills, as I like to call them, for commercial promotion and different activities.
As the AI models improved, I started doing more and more with these tools. It didn’t take long for me to hang up my camera, lights, and mic. As I became more invested in the capabilities, I realized the true power AI could offer an editor. I no longer need a stable of stock video sources—I can make any b-roll I want. With AI music generation, I can create my own music without fear of copyright infringement.
For the first time in 25 years, I feel like I can develop video that is exactly what the storytelling dictates. I don’t have to search endlessly for the right b-roll shot. In fact, I don’t need traditional b-roll at all when I can create the story exactly as I want it.
I don’t do long videos or interview-style pieces. I’m comfortable working up to two minutes, and I believe longer formats are just around the corner. Editing will only get better. I still use Final Cut Pro every day to build my videos, but many problems simply go away—color correction, sound issues, all gone. The only thing I can’t generate yet is sound effects.
Creative editors who aren’t on this wagon and leaning into AI will soon be as antique as film glue.
Thanks for listening.
4 Responses to Positive Experiences Using AI to Help Create & Edit Video
I completely agree with Richard. Since last June, I’ve been delving into the practical applications of AI video for my business clients. I mainly use Google’s many AI apps, though I find ChatGPT quite useful as well. I view AI video as my shoot. After that, the workflow is mostly traditional: editing and grading in FCP and audio in Pro Tools, though most of the plugins I use in PT are available in FCP as audio units, and I often use those there. My greatest challenge is tricking the AI into producing emotional reads. I’ve been editing for over 30 years, and AI is a lot of fun.
“I can create my own music without fear of copyright infringement.”
Soooo…where does all that “content” come from…NON-copyrighted music?
…really.
I took a look at all of Richard’s video examples made with AI, and they are not up to par with real people, locations, audio, music and lights. I’m glad your clients are happy with it, more power to you, but these examples of videos are not something I would trade in cameras, lights, audio, actors and real music for.
This is not videography, it is computer graphics or FX, posing as reality. This is Avatar, but without the actors that acted and voiced behind the screen. Actually, it’s a composite of images that were scraped and stolen from real actors that voiced and acted. It reminds me of the 70’s, when you could make “mock apple pie” with Ritz crackers.
It wasn’t apple pie.
The Atlantic recently published a database search on YouTube videos that were (illegally) scraped by AI companies. If you’re a filmmaker, you might want to take a look and see if you were stolen from.
https://www.theatlantic.com/category/ai-watchdog/
The stories that impact us emotionally require people, effort, sweat, tears, time and energy – not instant gratification.
There are many different ways to make real apple pie, but you need real apples.
Richard, I emailed with Larry who assured me you were a real person. Please accept my apology, I’m sorry if I offended you in any way. I am overly paranoid of AI scraping, and that’s what I thought you were.
Take care,
Steve