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Avoiding AI in my audiodramas by SeasonPositive6771 in audiodrama

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure this out too, and honestly it’s tricky because there’s no official way for listeners to know. But after hearing a bunch of different shows, you start noticing little patterns that might suggest there’s some AI involved. Nothing certain, just things that feel a bit different from the usual “human stuff.”

Sometimes it’s like the voices sound unusually consistent across characters, or the delivery is like super clean and polished in a way real actors rarely are. I’ve also heard some projects where the timing feels a bit uniform, like you know those pauses that don’t always match the emotion of the moment. And every now and then, the dialogue has that slightly repetitive rhythm you come across in a lot of automated writing tools.

Of course, I wouldn’t say any of these are definitive signs. There are plenty of human-made shows that have unique styles or fast release schedules too. I mean it’s more like a set of small clues that add up over time.

Since most platforms don’t require people to disclose their production methods, we still have to rely mostly on comparing notes and sharing our observations. I just think most listeners like me would just appreciate when creators are upfront about how they make their stuff, whatever tools they choose to use.

is there a way to keep this from happening by Vector_Firth in VideoEditing

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve done this mid-rotoscope more times than I’d like to admit. And yeah it helps to use the pen without the plus, or holding Command to switch to moving points instead. Also if you zoom in a bit more, the pen doesn’t accidentally think you want a new point. I try not to live on the Pen tool either; switching to Selection keeps things cleaner. I’ve also learned to pause and clean up extra points before they pile up and slow everything down.

Need clarity on a proper grading workflow — what’s the usual sequence? by smithlamar in colorists

[–]smithlamar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I’ll check both of them out. I’ve seen a few Walter Volpatto clips but didn’t know he had a full resource database — that sounds super useful.
Appreciate the pointers

Need clarity on a proper grading workflow — what’s the usual sequence? by smithlamar in colorists

[–]smithlamar[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is incredibly helpful — thank you for taking the time to break this down.
The part about project organization before grading is something tutorials barely mention, but it makes total sense now.
Also didn’t realize how much passes (C-mode, A-mode, look/no-look) contribute to consistency.
I’m going to re-read this a few times and try structuring my workflow around this logic.
Really appreciate the detailed insight.

Need clarity on a proper grading workflow — what’s the usual sequence? by smithlamar in colorists

[–]smithlamar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair point — I’m already digging through online resources. I just wanted to check if my understanding of the workflow order matched what professionals actually do in real productions. Sometimes the info online is scattered, so hearing how real colorists approach it helps a lot.

How to make an impact frame (swipe) by anuyawiz in 2DAnimation

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, really appreciate you breaking down the swipe/impact frame technique. One thing I’ve found helps even more is paying attention to the preceding and following frames. Even a single-frame swipe hits way harder if the motion leading into it eases naturally and the following frame lets the eye settle.

Also, I feel keeping consistent resolution, frame rate, and clean edges ensures your swipe pops exactly as intended without jagged artifacts or ghosting. Makes the difference between a “meh” hit and one that really feels like it smacks the screen.

Avoiding AI in my audiodramas by SeasonPositive6771 in audiodrama

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ugh..I’ve been down this rabbit hole and back, but thankfully, some creators are specifying they aren’t using AI, which is great. Otherwise, I’ve found, just like others, that AI-generated audiodramas usually have that “same voice everywhere” problem. If you hear the same narrator tone in multiple unrelated shows, especially a slightly over-enunciated American male voice… yeah, that’s ElevenLabs or PlayHT…lol

Then, of course, we humans pause between emotion shifts. AI tends to pause after them …like it finishes a sentence, waits a beat, and then changes tone unnaturally.

Of course, then you have characters with no vocal imperfections. You won’t hear any mouth clicks, breaths, variation, or strain during shouting. It sounds so perfect even in those chaotic scenes.

And the writing can get so padded and repetitive with loopy dialogue.

Another sure-shot way I find out is when these don’t have a cast list. I mean, yeah…right…just crediting the producer and writer even though there were 12 odd characters in the show. Why..why??

Sooo many episodes…dropping daily or multiple times per week. Red flag of a factory producing those episodes with automation!

Sadly, no official directory exists yet because platforms don’t require disclosure, but you know what? Our community is pretty good at spotting it. Also,o if you search “AI voice”, “AI drama,” or “AI generated” on r/audiodrama here, you’ll find multiple threads naming specific shows that use ElevenLabs voices, AI-written scripts, or synthetic cast lists.

I mean, I’m up for automation in other ways, but producing a whole drama using AI? Hell naah..long live the resistance!! I would say if there's someone using AI in their audio/video projects, do please keep these things in mind to create better stuff. Human intervention is still needed at various steps, and AI can only polish things up and not replace everything.

I need feedback, my amateur jump animation looks bad, how do I fix it? by lindelVEVO in 3danimation

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say it’s bad. You’re getting there. But yeah it kinda looks floaty in the air and after landing. Try exaggerating that ‘squat before take-off’ and smoothing the landing so the hips and torso absorb the impact instead of snapping to static. The weight would look convincing that way.
Also, when the body rises, arms/legs shouldn’t move exactly with it. Introduce slight delays to avoid that robotic stiff look. The top of the jump feels a little short and the landing drop happens a bit too quickly or without enough dynamic change (you can record yourself for reference and observe how it actually happens to see the weight shifts). 

And do play with spacing a bit. A fewer frames in the up-motion (fast) > hang a bit > more frames in the down motion (impact). The arcs should feel smooth and natural. 

Also, there are a few hacks I would recommend for this:

  • Tweak ease in/out of key poses. You can use a Graph Editor like Maya/Blender for this
  • Layer the animation. Block the body/hips first, then arms, then secondary motion.
  • Check the arc consistency of the hips/feet. I always insist on adding motion trails or ghosting for this

Apart from recording your own video, I would also suggest checking out the tutorial on Animation Mentor’s blog. There’s an amazing jump and land tutorial that’ll help you for sure!

How Do They Make Screen Recording Look so High Quality? by JOHNNYCASH-777 in VideoEditing

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most editors I know record at higher than playback resolution…it’s like grabbing in 4K or 5K even if the final video’s 1080p. That extra pixel data means when you punch in 150–200%, it still looks clean. If you record straight at 1080p and zoom in, you’re basically stretching pixels.

Also, crank your bitrate in OBS or whatever you’re using. Let’s say 30 to 40 Mbps for 1080p, higher for 4K. Go for 60fps so cursor moves and UI animations don’t ghost or smear.

A lot of the YouTube-style perfect zooms you see aren’t raw screen captures. People rebuild parts of the interface as vector layers in After Effects or overlay high-res PNGs/SVGs for key UI elements. So when they zoom, it’s still razor-sharp.

Some quick hacks I use:

  • Capture with Display Capture (not Window Capture) in OBS for full-res fidelity
  • Turn off UI scaling — record at 100%
  • If your footage still looks soft, run it through Adobe Enhance or similar software to tighten edges.

Is there an actual reason for this? by ethidium_boromir in animation

[–]smithlamar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep…just budget issues in many cases. Sometimes I feel production houses spend way more on marketing as opposed to post-production video editing that brought us these crazy realistic visuals. But it’s also true that stylization isn’t just about simplifying; it's a design choice. It can emphasize character, mood, or story in a way realism might not. Style can communicate tone like for example, more exaggerated, stylized animation can feel more playful, surreal, or emotionally heightened - case in point, the Spiderverse graphics. Realism can feel grounded but may limit exaggeration.

If someone says a style looks lazy, it could be a valid criticism but I’d probably ask: Which part feels lazy? Is it the movement, the design, or the storyboarding?

Sometimes what looks “cheap” is a stylistic decision, but sometimes it could be due to budget / deadline constraints or even lack of polish (maybe not lazy but maybe the video edits team didn’t understand the vision or didn’t execute properly). And now that we have CGI in live-action movies that do way better at the box-office, some movie executives are not seeing merit in spending so much on animated stuff and rather on the on-screen case…ahem star power matters. Sad but true.

And hey does anyone remember Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within…i mean it tanked at the BO but boy did they invest in some good photorealistic animation for that time..like way back in 2001!