My Journey into AI-Enhanced Design
I recently completed the transformative "AI Upgrade for Creative Professionals" class, led by UC Berkeley Lecturer Peter Bittner and Visual AI Innovator Kris Krüg. This course has reshaped my entire approach to the design process! I'm excited to share these game-changing insights and experiences.
Here are some of my key takeaways:
AI as Your Creative Partner: Tools like MidJourney, Runway, and ChatGPT have become essential for sparking fresh ideas and streamlining my design process. They empower me to push creative boundaries and create unique, compelling visuals that stand out.
Visual Remixing Made Easy: I’ve started blending design elements generated in MidJourney, refining them in Photoshop and Illustrator, and bringing them to life in Runway. This workflow saves time, boosts creativity, and helps me develop concepts that I wouldn’t have imagined on my own.
Storytelling with Case Studies: I’ll soon be sharing posts on Linkedin that dive into the strategies and design processes behind my projects, aided by a custom ChatGPT bot I built to streamline post creation. It feels like having a writer to guide me, making it easier to present my work with authenticity and engagement.
Key Takeaway: AI is enabling me to generate concepts more quickly, explore ideas I never imagined, learn new things from ChatGPT and seamlessly integrate these innovations into my design work for clients. This technology is transforming my creative process, making it more efficient and imaginative than ever.
These lessons have equipped me to push the boundaries of creative design and embrace AI-driven innovation. I'm ready for the next chapter, as I’m starting another course this month called "AI for Visual Design" to further advance my AI skills.
These are some of my experiments from messing around with Midjourney and Runway. I quickly regressed back to my character animation days once I realized what I could create with these AI tools.
During my time studying 3D animation at the Academy of Art University, I created a character that I never had the chance to fully build or animate. Meet Snaggles, the friendly troll.
Sketch of Snaggles
I started by using my sketch to generate the troll in Midjourney. Here are a few examples of the character I created through various prompts.
Various Trolls
Although he didn’t match my sketch exactly, I was happy with how he turned out in Midjourney. This was the first version of the troll that I really liked, so I used it as my main image and built on it with additional prompts to develop him further.
Troll 1
Eventually, I ended up with two troll designs. I brought each one into Photoshop to enhance the colors and make some adjustments to their features.
Troll 2
I thought it would be great to animate the troll in Adobe Character Animator, but I needed a version with a straight-on view for rigging. Unfortunately, I forgot to use the “cref” prompt, which would have kept the style consistent in Midjourney. Because of that, I ended up with a completely new version of the troll, which I love!
Troll 3
Once I had the character established, I began creating a scene. I’ve always been inspired by Dr. Seuss’s illustration style—his fun characters and vibrant colors captivated me as a child. I’ve always had a deep love for color!
I asked for a colorful forest
I didn't stop there, as I wanted to create a 3D forest to complete the scene. Although it took some time to achieve the desired result, I eventually brought my vision to life in Midjourney.
3D forest
I took the forest and the troll characters and composited them in Photoshop to create the stills I would use for animation in Runway. I also decided to add a whimsical touch by creating flying fish—because why not, right!
Troll 2
Troll 3
Here are some videos I created using these stills after importing them into Runway. Without formal training in Runway, things turned out a bit unpredictable. However, I’m taking a course later this month to improve my prompting skills. In the meantime, enjoy the quirky outcomes of AI!
AI is proving to be an incredible tool for animation. While the results might not be perfect—hands sometimes blur into indistinct fingers, ears morph into unexpected shapes, and characters occasionally float—creating these animations manually would have taken me months in Maya. From building 3D models, rigging them, and adding textures, to constructing textured and rigged forest scenes, animating everything, and managing extensive render times, such a project would demand substantial effort from an animator and a team over several months.
Despite its quirks and imperfections, the potential is clear. If you master the art of prompting and develop a strong understanding of these tools (which I am still working on), they can be invaluable for communicating ideas to animators or serving as placeholders for animatics in an animated feature before the final animation is completed.
I hope this post offered some insight into the possibilities AI brings to character animation.
Let’s Connect
I’m currently open to new opportunities—whether freelance projects or a full-time position. If you’re interested in collaborating or have a project that could use my expertise, reach out to me!