Unless you’ve been under a technology blackout, you must be highly aware of the pace at which AI is transforming our daily activities.
Certainly, it’s exciting and alarming too [on a few aspects maybe].
AI in animation is pretty dynamic I believe considering its current developments and how it promises to revolutionize the way animators and video production agencies go about their routine stuff.
And as always, we have 2 opinions floating all over the internet:
One that is highly optimistic regarding how it promises to elevate an animator’s skills and the other, that believes that it will snatch away jobs and destroy human creativity.
Considering how the role of AI is multifaceted, there’s a need to assess its depth and the impact it can have on the animation industry.
In this blog, I discuss its profound impact, what makes AI in animation interesting, its benefits, AI tools for creating animated videos, etc.
What makes AI in Animation interesting?
For obvious reasons, there’s no denying that AI has been a driving force, helping animators improve their operational efficiencies.
Creativity levels have skyrocketed, new avenues to enhance the visual experience are being discovered, and the ultimate product value is being improved – thanks to AI.
But even the most elite and ground-breaking version of technology requires strategic usage that doesn’t make humans sluggish and lose out on their manual creative input.
It’s basically producing art on a computing machine through the power of AI-driven technologies.
Before you check out the benefits, here’s a quick look at where the Generative AI market headed as far as animation is concerned:
Evident from the data above, the Generative AI in animation market is poised to blast in the years to come.
Now if you think about it, it speaks volumes about the evolvement + adaptation of AI in routine animation processes.
Equally, it lays stress upon the launch of advanced 2D & 3D realism the industry can expect sooner or later.
While you give it a thought about what can unfold, check out the core benefits of AI below:
3 Benefits of Using AI in Animation
A lot of animation industry professionals upon hearing the term AI animation, begin to think that the entire video animation process can be automated.
However, that’s not true even if you consider it from a comprehensive perspective.
By integrating AI, you can surely speed up your processes and improve your output but can not completely rule out the narrative of removing the human touch.
Here are a few broad benefits of it:
1. Enhanced Visual Realism
Quite obvious that there’s tons of data available for companies to train their AI-based algorithms; data that is globally inclusive and ready to generate responses to users’ queries.
And so when you feed a specific prompt to these AI-driven machines, it throws at you out-of-the-box creatives that are beyond your imagination.
This allows the creation of more realistic character animation, body movements, seamless sync with background voiceover, etc., thus elevating your final output’s appeal.
So if you consider this tiny automation, it paves the way for integrating more creativity and magic in your transitions.
2. Improved Operational Efficiency
If you’re an animator or someone who works for a video animation company, you’re already aware of the monotonous nature of the tasks involved.
However, the integration of AI in animation software has enabled animators and motion graphic experts to generate vector expressions in no time through quick AI prompts.
Imagine switching the character’s attire or your background setup’s tone/environment using a couple of prompts – isn’t it fascinating?
Certainly, you can customize it as per your brand’s tonality but the agenda here is the X number of hours AI saves you as compared to manual work.
3. Advanced Story setting
Story setting is a crucial element in the video production process as it’s here when the entire video tone is defined.
Using AI storyboards with appealing backgrounds and visual storylines per the client’s direction or product requirements can be generated.
However, I believe since AI in animation is still an evolving concept, storyboard artists have a bigger role to play here as they will be required to interfere and make amendments to the results generated.
Read Also: What is Storyboard?
5 AI Tools for Creating Explainer Videos
1. Synthesia
Stacked with AI avatars and voiceovers available in over 120+ languages, Synthesia is an AI animation video maker and a favorite amongst marketers and trainers.
The reason is that you can transform a boring text or manual into an engaging video. A few use cases include marketing videos, corporate videos, training videos, sales process videos, etc.
Also, you can integrate your video into your routine workflow and apps for better operations.
Pros: User-friendly interface, quick learning curve, existing video creation material, etc.
Cons: Avg. customer support, lacks creative touch and emotion, the video rendering process can be improved, etc. No collaboration functionality.
2. Steve.ai
Steve.ai – the world’s only AI-patented video creation app for making animated and live-action videos. Interesting, isn’t it?
Well, you can create quick AI-character videos by merely providing a few lines of details and choosing your desired voiceover from multiple templates available.
That’s not it. You can even provide it with your blog details and it will produce for you a stunning video that is close to realism.
Pros: Apt for beginners and businesses wanting a quick video.
Cons: Lacks quality and follows a monotonous quality style. Doesn’t allow much editing and creativity that an animated video agency would provide.
3. Autodesk Maya
Known majorly as one of the best computer animation and 3D modeling software, Autodesk is now equipped with new generative AI tools for artists to generate quick textures and materials.
This AI animation software offers animators a comprehensive ground to explore and play with rigging, layering, texturing, dynamic modeling, etc.
With AI integration, the software looks promising in elevating the final output’s quality but with a condition. One – One must be well-trained to leverage its power to bring out the best results.
Pros: Legacy software allows high-end modeling and animation. Offers excellent mapping and dynamism features.
Cons: Requires considerable effort and countless hours to learn the complete functionality. Might seem overwhelming to beginners.
4. Deepbrain AI
Using Deepbrain AI, you can create quick AI-generated videos from basic text within minutes.
With hundreds of pre-roll presentations, training, webinars, and marketing templates available and 100+ stock avatars, you can get your hands on an easy interface and generate a quick video.
The best thing – Realistic AI avatars alongside customizable content help users edit their videos in real-time thus allowing them to shape their video as per their storyline.
Pros: Works perfectly for users wanting to create product videos. Also, a great tool for small companies wanting to create quick explainer videos.
Cons: Video previews aren’t available at times.
5. Vyond
Vyond is mainly known for creating whiteboard and cartoon-based videos.
The tool provides a handful of props and characters and allows users to quickly place the items accordingly.
More importantly, what the tool is also known for, Vyond houses easy and synced text-to-voiceover capabilities for better narration.
Pros: Most preferred for creating explainer videos, infographic videos, training videos, etc.
Cons: Lacks creativity and crispiness in video quality. Carries a robotic vibe in its approach toward video creation.
Now that you’ve got hold of the benefits of how AI seems promising in the animation field and the tools related to it, check out a couple of challenges that animators potentially face.
Key Challenges Faced by Animators Using AI
1. Technical Know-how
Despite AI-driven animation tools carrying advanced features, animators are expected to devote considerable time and effort to understanding their deployment.
And if you look from a broader perspective, you would sense that this is a steep learning curve for animation artists who’re now used to following a certain set of animation techniques.
To truly understand how AI tackles complex challenges, you can sift through an online machine learning course or dive into expertly written blogs and guides.
Doing so will offer you a deeper insight into the technicalities of prompt engineering, data structures, etc.
2. Integration with existing Workflows
Integrating AI-powered tools into existing animation pipelines and workflows can be challenging, especially if animators are accustomed to working with specific software or processes.
Adjusting to new tools and workflows while maintaining productivity and creativity can add to the learning curve.
As a result, animators and rigging artists would be compelled to invest time and energy in expanding their technical knowledge and understanding the complete workflow for better usability.
3. Ensuring Quality Control
Indeed, I agree that using AI can help animators largely automate a few aspects of the entire video production.
But here’s a catch – Automation comes at the cost of keeping a sharp eye on the desired quality and creative appeal which on any day, requires human oversight.
Accordingly, animators might have a tough time maintaining consistency overlooking the alignment of the AI-generated content with their video’s vision.
4. Over-dependence on AI
Technology has its drawbacks which if realized timely, may save tons of working hours and creative energy that humans invest.
There’s a greater possibility of animators becoming overly reliant on AI, thus gradually destroying their creativity and artistic sense.
It’s simple – A fine line of balance between leveraging AI and retaining their creative intuition may help animators stay updated with the evolving market demand.
Overall, while the integration of AI into animation software presents challenges for animators, it also offers exciting opportunities to enhance productivity, creativity, and the overall quality of animated content.
Conclusion
I believe and you would also agree that due to the rising influence of AI in animation, there’s an equal sense of excitement and confusion regarding what’s next.
But the bottom line is – the human touch on any day stands at the core fundamentals of animation and despite the technology getting upgraded daily, manual processes and input will prevail.
We at MotionGility are confidently riding the AI wave and believe in delivering creative and engaging explainer videos driven by our mission – To help brands simplify their complex products creatively.
So if you’re someone who would love to explore our process trusted by giants like HDFC, Nissan, Pfizer, ADNOC, and 150 others, fill out the quick form below, and let’s talk
