@@JaiFieldBut he followed that up with the fact he’s still going to hire inbetweeners to help clean things up too, this tool just cuts down on their workload and overall crunch. That’s a good thing!
No let's not lie to ourselves, this is the exact scenario that people would complain about if a big studio did it. Saying stuff like "they're taking away jobs" EDIT: Even though I think in this case it's actually useful
As an animator I appreciate your stance on using AI as a tool to create more efficiency in the pipeline. I've used it a few times for backgrounds in indie projects, BG's always take a lot of time and so I generate the idea and retrace it in my style. When you're independent, it's nice to shave work off here and there so you can focus on the shots you really enjoy.
While my stance on AI normally defaults to "nooo that sucks," I completely encourage this type of usage to help lessen the workload when it comes to small indie creations and products of passion. And anything that gets me closer to more Undergrads is good in my book. Thanks for updating us Pete! I'm still freaked out that you just look like live-action Nitz.
@@InvertexVT I don’t really get why the “using other’s animations as reference” is such a big deal, humans do the exact same thing, we analyze other’s animations and steal elements to make something original
@@InvertexVT Chances are you're regularly consuming content or using services that are using similarly unethical AI/algorithm/etc software. Just gotta draw the lines where you feel like it. Typically my issue is when it's hurting peoples' jobs. In this case, Pete's one-man show isn't going to hire a tweener here anyway. So I say let the man cook.
As someone who is STRONGLY OPPOSED to A.I. tech this feels like a natural evolution to Tweening which I use for my own animation pipeline... That's a lot coming from me and I'm glad I took the time to see the method in which you made use of this. Hopefully in time this tweening method can become implemented in animation software but not become a standard / crutch for wanna be artists that have no love for the powerful medium(s) that is art and animation.
If anything, seeing the progress, the experimentations, and thought process put into the making of this movie feels like almost as interesting or entertaining than getting the movie.
Admittedly, this is what I think AI SHOULD be doing. If it's effective, it should be helping the smaller productions with issues like budget, not schlocking out garbage for mass consumption, so I'm into it. A one man team working on getting a large production out makes absolute sense, so congrats on finding some breathing room in using it.
I'm against ai, however even I understand that this is one of the few real good uses of ai. A tool to cut down on timeconsuming grunt work and make life easier, while not cutting out the human element.
that's really all it has ever been for if you're seeing it used in stupid ways by big companies, ask yourself why it might benefit them to sour you on the concept so you will remain reliant on them to sell you content instead of generating it yourself. ; > like i don't mean to tinfoil hat here, but that hat is pretty shiny.
@@Aidennification naw you don't get it, this is like- Okay remember in Star Trek when Kirk kissed Uhura and it was this big thing because it was the 60s.. famously they got a ton of supportive fanmail, and one letter was from a guy who starts out saying he's against the mixing of the races... then supporting the kiss and saying any red-blooded american would kiss a pretty girl like that. This is just how people with strong and almost definitely misguided convictions let off some steam.
This is the kind of method that's gonna help indie projects without backing get off the ground, and how AI should be used. Helping the workload without completely losing the artist's touch.
every time I forget about this, you pull me back in. The technical aspect is always fun to watch even if it (seemingly) looks like we may never get a delivered movie. Keep up the good work, I am praying we get to see what happens with the Undergrads crew!
Thanks for the update, Pete. Hope everything is going well in your personal life now, and keep up the great work! You're making some really good progress here and every update makes me more and more excited.
Keep hammering away. We know this is gonna be a huge undertaking that will take a lot of work and creativity to get done. I'm happy you're keeping with it and finding new ways to get stuff going.
Great update, even if it came "late". This is super interesting stuff, man. A documentary about this entire journey would be very well received, I bet.
I will admit that the tests you showed with the ai tool did look fine for the most part. Also glad you plan to use it as a tool to assist instead using it for the entire production. Thanks for the update. And a Happy New Year to you and your family.
Man, I have infinite respect for all the work you've put into this project over the years. Take all the time you need; we get how hard it is and we'll always be there, whenever the movie comes out. Happy new year!
Insane. I just learned my favorite animation sitcom was getting a movie 45 minutes ago. I was trying to find an update, and a video was posted 3hrs ago! Let's Go!
Holy shit, I missed your updates. I kept checking for the monthly update every few days when I didn't see it. I'm glad to see this update, and your amazing progress. You're doing such an incredible job!
Hey Nitz guy! I’m offended after all the rollercoster ride we shared as you drooled over your crush and the hell Gimpy and Rocko put you through… you don’t think you can share your personal life with us cuz we’re not that close! But I guess we can forgive you and be happy knowing you’re still working on your dream and bringing our friends back to the screen. Too many great animated shows forgotten from the exact same time. I’m really glad I’ll get to share Undergrads with my kid being she will be about the same age I was when it came out originally! Long Live G-PRIME!
Ngl, I was skeptical when I saw AI in the title, but this seems like a really nice resource for independent animation. I think the key difference here is that the AI is being used as a tool for artists, using their own work to help assist in a very specific step in an overall original creative process. It's an apples and oranges comparison to say, someone just typing a word prompt into an AI program to have it create an entire animation from scratch (using other people's stolen art as the basis).
"using other people's stolen art as the basis" Sigh, that's literally not what generative AI does, my god people, this is Flat Earth levels of ignorant at this point.
@@TRENCHESandTREADS Explain how it works then. By most people’s understanding, Gen AI literally needs sources to come up with something new. It needs data, it needs images to work with a prompt, not just from nothing. By telling AI to make art, it has to source from existing art. In this case, it is “stolen” because a part of other artists’ works have been taken without consent.
@@achuuuooooosuu "By most people’s understanding" Argumentum ad populum. People are *constantly* wrong about a lot of things, especially when those things are heavily propagandized against or the current source of overly emotional artists' baby rage. "It needs data" Correct, and the means by which it gathers said data is no more intrusive of other's rights than a human artist looking up freely available art online for inspiration. No generative model downloads other people's art, no art is being 'stolen', because as soon as someone uploads their art to the internet they are de-facto consenting to their art being looked at, which is what the generative models do. "it needs images to work with a prompt" Incorrect. Once a generative model has started the process outlined above no new images are required, it's entirely capable of generating the relative pixels to create new art without any reference to human art at all. The reason for this is that generative AI, in laymen's term, 'learns' by algorithmically weighing the relative position of pixels against one another and using the human input/course correction to judge if the pixel placement is correct. Let's say someone wanted to generate a woman in a red dress. The LORA they're using will look up the weights its already stored for RED, DRESS, WOMAN, etc (it's a huge list), and place each pixel relative to other pixels based on the weights given. If the majority of pictures on Google (as an example) of a woman in a red dress have a red pixel at X,Y coordinate than the generative model will go "Okay, that's where a red pixel goes", but it's a weight, not an absolute, it can, and will, put a different color in that pixel based on gigantic amount of calculations. The point is, once a LORA is set, it isn't looking at images at all anymore. " In this case, it is “stolen” because a part of other artists’ works have been taken without consent." No generative model does this, or quite frankly *could* do this. The amount of internet infrastructure needed to download, archive, and reference the millions of terabytes of data this would require is not possible for basically anyone to do, let alone the generative models and the people running them. Not only is it not physically possible, it just doesn't make sense to do in the first place, because as I stated earlier, the model does things faster by not referencing images at all, but the relativity of pixels to one another. It learns that relativity by looking at pictures, yes, but it isn't constantly going back and taking those pixels from that art. It isn't 'clipping' or 'collaging' like many anti-AI people like to claim. TLDR: Generative models are just pixel relative machines no different than how a human learns where to place pixels relative to one another. If a human looking up art to learn how to draw isn't stealing then it isn't stealing for generative models. The only difference is the scale, not the action.
I love these videos so much! Not only do I love Undergrads, I love seeing these cost cutting technology you are using being integrating into a bigger project. You are experimenting and are pinering new ways of doing things.
As someone that despises AI, this is actually such an interesting way to see it used. Thanks for the update, Pete. Hope everything that was going on turned out okay and you got to unwind a bit for the holidays. Happy New Year!
I think this is the best showcase of what AI can offer as a tool. Without artists, it can't do anything worth looking at, but when it's used as tool to complement that artist's work, especially in a situation where a solo, independent artists is trying to tackle a feature-film with no budget, it can work. However, it's FAR from ideal. In the long run, big companies taking this approach is most likely a bad idea. They have budget, they can hire the artists to create stuff that looks much, much better. But for the independent creator with little to no budget, this stuff is enabling. When that creator is also an artist who understands what makes a picture look good, AI can become a powerful tool to help them achieve what was impossible previously. Not by letting the AI do the work, but by handing the repetitive, time-consuming, not-so-creative part of the work to it so they can focus on the stuff that truly matter.
My brother in the background is everything I need to keep on going in this crazy timeline that we are all living in. So glad I’m here with everyone in this community.
8:12 I am screaming!! SO RAD. Pete, if you need my brother to do a voice for the character (and any others), please let us know. I’ll happily do feminine voices as well!
Insane that A.I. video tech is only a bit less than a year old. (As of writing.) Very excited to see where this tech goes with another year or two of development
THIS IS WHAT AI IS MEANT FOR!!! Assisting the ORIGINAL artist to help streamline the creative process when human resources are not available or at the very least limited.
Stoked as hell that it's still kicking! Found undergrads like half a year ago and it immediately became a favorite and takes up So much space in my head. I wish I was able to contribute to help it on its way to show how much the series has been a comfort for me in a really rough time,, but I hope this comment adds enough engagement 💕
51, and I finally got myself in a mental space to TRY and bring the cartoon characters that's been in my head since I was a teenager. I had them since a kid, but my life was a constant struggle from dealing with my narcissistic, angry, alcohol, etc dad. To later in life, becoming an alcoholic myself (to hell and back) so on and so on. Anddddd for the past 5 years figuring out life with sober eyes.... I tend to babble 😂. But I thought about taking my childhood fun (characters) and animating my life through them. Plus, put it online to see how many laughs I can create 😂.
Lemme just say this in advance because I know how this is going to go: you're not a bad person for using AI in this way. Some people are smooth brained and it's easier for them to go ape anytime they hear a buzzword than to bother giving any nuanced perspective. This is what AI could be if we were smart about it. People need to give it clever applications like this instead of treating it like it's this miracle machine that can magically sh*t out entertainment.
Not gonna lie, I got scared at the video title and got a little upset at the use of A.I.. But after watching your past update videos and getting the overall explanation really cleared things up. I'm looking forward to what else you have in store! 👍🏼✨️
I know that AI has become s controversial topic, especially in the animation industry, but what Pete has shown here is that it can be used as a tool to help artists, not replace them.
Well it directly replaces the Inbetweeners. But yeah, this is one of the uses that isn't as nefarious, it uses your own artwork and doesnt directly steal other artists' work. The AI still "steals" from the history of animation to know how to animate, but that is marginal compared to most generative AI.
@@gkilm Morning the loss of of the inbetweening position, is like morning the loss of the dish-washer position in a kitchen. This allows people to do the creatively-fulfilling work they *want* to do, instead of menial entry-level work.
Hey Pete. First off, it’s not about how long it takes, it’s getting that ebd product I care about. Having now gone to college, I actually relate with the series even more now than I did when I initially watched it. Also, happy to see you continue to find new tools to help you and the animators not have to crunch and deal with burnout. AI is a tool to assist in work, not a full on replacement.
You da man Pete! I'm cheering you on from the sidelines as I adore Undergrads. I discovered it at the perfect time- when I was an Undergrad myself- and my friend group and I fell in love with Nitz, Cal, Rocko and Gimpy. Glad to see you finding great ways to implement new technology to finally "finish the story" and I promise, even if it takes another 10 years I'll be the first one to buy a ticket.
People need to understand that AI isn't a replacement for humans, it's something that can assist them. AI can't make a good animation, but it sure can help with the one you're making.
AI already IS replacing many humans and jobs people WANT to do, instead of being focused on the things people don't want to do. We already have an oversaturation of content, we don't need AI generating it at an even more breakneck speed. But the biggest issue of all is how tools like this are trained currently, on hoards of non-consenting works that you are then profiting off while giving nothing back to the artists it took from, it's horrible.
@@InvertexVTai can’t replace artists, ai art will always be worse than human art no matter how far it advances because it just finds the median of all art, and can’t push boundaries or base itself off realism. I know for a fact that animation and art will never be replaced by ai because art means unique interpretations of reality by humans
@@InvertexVT tell me one job that's being replaced also you can't profit from anything ai-generated, that's inherent to the concept. this is just inbetweened, that is okay. you still did all the work.
Exactly. I've been waiting for this forever. Animation is so grueling, and we should take ANY shortcuts that don't damage the results. The act of inbetweening has never been, y'know, labor fit for humans. it's sweatshop slavery. Free all those Koreans.
I'm working on my own project and I totally empathize with not posting update videos and focusing on progress instead. It's totally worth it to just focus on the project
So long as runway is using your own data as a source of the tweens that's a better-than-average use of AI. Especially on a budget that can't afford tweeners as opposed to a company with the budget that just refuses to pay animators
That's not what's going on here. He isn't providing "his own data" to Runway. Runway is operating on its own massive dataset of scraped works to be able to generate these in--betweens, making this just as unethical as the people generating videos from it, because you're supporting the use of those datasets to benefit yourself.
I dont appreciate a studio doing this as they have the means to make it happen normally but instead shovel most of the funds to people who dont hold a pencil. That being said, this type of stuff is super exciting for super small studios and solo acts. They have the passion to make stuff a lot of us love but no studio wants to touch. I approve...not that you needed it but super excited for this.
2D tweening existed since Macromedia Flash 3 in 1998. I know that for sure, however my best source for shows that used it professionally is a wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Flash_animated_television_series so no it's not new for 2D animation. Far from it.
Hey guy, you’re doing amazing things Pete work ethic is insane. You’ll be taking someone’s job after this is all done. A deadline doesn’t exist, the right people will gravitate towards it when the time comes. Until next time, Alpha alpha alpha!
I await the AI haters below. Seriously this is where AI is beneficial to indie filmmakers and creators. I wish you the best in the Undergrads project going forward. I've become very cynical with relaunches and reboots (looking at you Clone High) but being free from corporate nonsense I hope will lead to a good final project.
You're completely missing the point. It has nothing to do with "AI hating" and everything to do with the people's works this tool had to scrape to be able to produce these results for him. Profiting off the backs of all those artists while they get nothing for it.
Lots of people shit on AI, and it taking away from creatives, but in this case it's making it so a creative can make their dream possible. Keep up the good work!
Bro I can not fucking believe that you are so dedicatedly plugging away at this. I don't follow these types of projects due to almost certain disappointment. But you're STILL GOING AND I WILL FOLLOW IT UNTIL THE END. And if you make this movie... you'll have done so much of the hardwork necessary to just...make another season? I'm here for whatever you do
Maaaan I had absolutely no clue you were creating a movie! I would have definitely donated. This AI in-between looks suuuuper useful, thanks for bringing it to light! I've been working on my own 60 minute animation for nearly 5 years now. This is gonna be a game changer
Appreciate the dedication to this project, and thanks for taking the time to provide an update. Hopefully this AI tool works better than whatever they used to "remaster" Interstella 5555! Also getting wintergarten/marble machine vibes from this project.
1st time to your channel Back in the 80s, it took a team and 6 months to create a 30-minute Saturday morning cartoon. So, I can only imagine what's involved doing this on the side by yourself. Wheeww
Look I'm not going to shit on you for using AI. This seems like a legitimate use case. I've argued that this is one of the things AI could be useful for since we already use so much interpolation in modern animation to save money anyway and this is just a "smarter" interpolation that can be used in hand drawn animation and not just puppet animation/cgi. Hell I wouldn't even see an issue with an AI that could auto fill colors from a single frame. I just a) hate the idea of people who rely on tweening work losing money because of this (but it's not like you have the money to pay them anyway soooo...) and b) I REALLY wish you wouldn't use Runway. There are ways to use these tools locally and not support the big tech companies that are profitting off the stolen labour of artists. It's still not the most ethical but using the FREE AI tools locally and not lining the pockets of these thieving tech empires is at least better. Also, using AI on your PC mitigates some of the environmental concerns caused by the massive server farm required to keep those services running.
Those inbetweeners are miserable, and those rich people are the reason we have any products or jobs. Hopefully any of those who lost their jobs would start making their own keyframes and using the same tech to inbetween it for them, now they can still work as animators without the tedium. You uh, have a point about how our brute-forcing of making computers do what we want is a massive waste of electricity, though.
As a person who Likes 2d animation,I Appreciate the love you have for this project. It's cool to learn about the animation tools you use to nail the look. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the movie.👍🏻
Use whatever helps create this movie man! No shame in using tools as long as they're not writing the entire script or whatever, you know? 👍 We believe in you!
Pete & the UG team - I love the show! I grew up with Undergrads, and I would love nothing more than to see this property have a resurgence. I'm a professional in the film and TV industry in Vancouver with a couple credits, and some animation work under my belt. Hit me up. Maybe I can help you in some way at some time.
Hey, Pete! I hope this comment finds you well. I've been a fan of Undergrads for years now and I was so thrilled when I heard that you acquired the rights from MTV to make a movie to finally give closure to these characters. Admittedly, I was intrigued by the idea of you doing a multimedia experiment for the film by having some parts animated with CGI, some parts with hand-drawn 2d animation, and some with puppeteering rigs. However, I don't know if this is the best route for the animation direction of the film to take, in my opinion. I'm sure you know that A.I. already has a bad reputation in the animation/artist community and while you are just feeding your art into the program's data -- I don't think you're necessarily getting the best results anyhow. I know you're working with limitations and are trying to find shortcuts to make this movie happen but I really think you should reconsider making it 2D again but follow the cues of that pilot you did all those years back (th-cam.com/video/ZW6bUH89BJs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=oflu7). Personally, this is my favorite piece of the show and I'm always impressed by what can be done with so little and this pilot exceeds at that. I know you said yourself that we Undergrads fans deserve a "kick-ass" Undergrads movie but I don't think the show was ever all that known for its animation quality. I'd argue that a lot of the charm came from how grunge and rough it looked. Plus, with all the new techniques and tools these programs have added in the few decades since "The Click 2.0" -- I really think you can give the motion comic style a real polish that would make it theatrical quality or at the very least -- on-par with the original show's quality. You're already planning on bringing key animators, anyhow, so I feel like they'd put to better use in this approach. Bring on those key animators, create multiple mouth charts for characters to cycle through in the lip-sync, and leave the in-betweens for the character animations that really need it. Sure, it may look inconsistent but I think viewers will appreciate the handmade quality of the passion project and be pleased to see a film that falls into the 2D medium. I think we'd all favor rough animation over artificially-produced ones Whatever happens, whatever you go with, I'll still be watching in the end but this is just an alternative idea that I hope you'll at least consider. Thank You.
Take your time. I believe in you and the project. I wish I was financially able to support it, as Undergrads came out right when my friends and I were in college, so it spoke to us. I do hope that you do a Futurama style open ended finale. Maybe it’ll get picked up again one day. Anyway, your work is appreciated. You’re loved and believed in.
Not trying to comment on your level/comprehension of animation here, but once one really learns about animation, they realize that the in-betweens are actually an extremely important part of what gives a shot it's specific and particular feel, rather than just a means of getting from point A to point B in the most economical way. Frame-By-frame through any old Looney Tunes short, for example. The magic is in the in-betweens!!! That said, I'm impressed by this technology, but I hope it doesn't dissuade people from learning how to draw, animate and bring that magic to life.
it seems we have some hate in a few comments, sad but expected. And the video went as the 5 mothns, flying. The runway is a great idea for background characters, so good i will stole it lol
I've done this exact thing with Runway myself. You might be able to save some time by using colored images but without the shading, and then in after effects (or whatever you use) isolate the different colors (since they are still pretty close) and fill those areas with the correct color. Now you just have to add back in the shading instead of all the colors. If it was me I'd be doing this in after effects and since you have limited characters and each of those characters has limited colors, you only really need to set up the process once and just use the same project file over and over.
I understand budgetary constraints of a solo indie project, and I will say kudos that you’ve actually drawn your own stuff and all, I’m only worried that the in between frames will all have the samey type of motion with it, even if you re time it to be faster, I feel like it’ll be a bit slow. Oh and be careful, cuz I know people have strong opinions against this kinda stuff
Thank you for all your efforts with this Pete! It will all be so worth it to see it come to life! Life happens we understand. Here's to a more stable 2025!
Rare footage of an animator using AI as a tool to help them work instead of a replacement for the work itself
He LITERALLY said, "normally we would send the inbetweens to a studio over seas, but we don't have the budget, so we used AI"
@ Oh 💀 whoops
Still think it's an ethical use of AI though since there's still animators being hired
@@JaiFieldBut he followed that up with the fact he’s still going to hire inbetweeners to help clean things up too, this tool just cuts down on their workload and overall crunch. That’s a good thing!
No let's not lie to ourselves, this is the exact scenario that people would complain about if a big studio did it. Saying stuff like "they're taking away jobs"
EDIT: Even though I think in this case it's actually useful
As an animator I appreciate your stance on using AI as a tool to create more efficiency in the pipeline. I've used it a few times for backgrounds in indie projects, BG's always take a lot of time and so I generate the idea and retrace it in my style. When you're independent, it's nice to shave work off here and there so you can focus on the shots you really enjoy.
While my stance on AI normally defaults to "nooo that sucks," I completely encourage this type of usage to help lessen the workload when it comes to small indie creations and products of passion. And anything that gets me closer to more Undergrads is good in my book. Thanks for updating us Pete! I'm still freaked out that you just look like live-action Nitz.
This usage would be fine, if he wasn't using a tool that is trained on millions of TH-cam videos and other artists works without their consent...
@@InvertexVT I don’t really get why the “using other’s animations as reference” is such a big deal, humans do the exact same thing, we analyze other’s animations and steal elements to make something original
@@InvertexVT Chances are you're regularly consuming content or using services that are using similarly unethical AI/algorithm/etc software. Just gotta draw the lines where you feel like it. Typically my issue is when it's hurting peoples' jobs. In this case, Pete's one-man show isn't going to hire a tweener here anyway. So I say let the man cook.
As someone who is STRONGLY OPPOSED to A.I. tech this feels like a natural evolution to Tweening which I use for my own animation pipeline... That's a lot coming from me and I'm glad I took the time to see the method in which you made use of this. Hopefully in time this tweening method can become implemented in animation software but not become a standard / crutch for wanna be artists that have no love for the powerful medium(s) that is art and animation.
Really great use of AI as a tool. People are going to hate, but your closing summary on your thoughts on using AI show you know what’s what.
If anything, seeing the progress, the experimentations, and thought process put into the making of this movie feels like almost as interesting or entertaining than getting the movie.
this is so cool!!! So excited for your progress. I'd patiently wait forever for this cause the journey is just as exciting as the end goal.
Admittedly, this is what I think AI SHOULD be doing. If it's effective, it should be helping the smaller productions with issues like budget, not schlocking out garbage for mass consumption, so I'm into it. A one man team working on getting a large production out makes absolute sense, so congrats on finding some breathing room in using it.
Issue is, investors are more amazed by technology that could in theory replace an animator completely.
@@ZILtoid1991but does that have anything to do with the creator of this movie? If the technology for him, let him use it.
I wish AI like this was just here for lower budget small artist usage like this and not also something that can be abused by the industry.
I'm against ai, however even I understand that this is one of the few real good uses of ai. A tool to cut down on timeconsuming grunt work and make life easier, while not cutting out the human element.
that's really all it has ever been for
if you're seeing it used in stupid ways by big companies, ask yourself why it might benefit them to sour you on the concept so you will remain reliant on them to sell you content instead of generating it yourself. ; > like i don't mean to tinfoil hat here, but that hat is pretty shiny.
You could have omitted the first sentence
@@Aidennification naw you don't get it, this is like-
Okay remember in Star Trek when Kirk kissed Uhura and it was this big thing because it was the 60s.. famously they got a ton of supportive fanmail, and one letter was from a guy who starts out saying he's against the mixing of the races... then supporting the kiss and saying any red-blooded american would kiss a pretty girl like that.
This is just how people with strong and almost definitely misguided convictions let off some steam.
As an Animator, i appreciate your use of neurons
This is the kind of method that's gonna help indie projects without backing get off the ground, and how AI should be used. Helping the workload without completely losing the artist's touch.
I just thought you were mastering your joystick, guy.
Next update: Can you get mini dinosaur ravioli? I like triceratops.
I’m okay with no updates as long as I can see the movie one day. Keep up the great work.
every time I forget about this, you pull me back in.
The technical aspect is always fun to watch even if it (seemingly) looks like we may never get a delivered movie.
Keep up the good work, I am praying we get to see what happens with the Undergrads crew!
Thanks for the update, Pete. Hope everything is going well in your personal life now, and keep up the great work! You're making some really good progress here and every update makes me more and more excited.
Keep hammering away. We know this is gonna be a huge undertaking that will take a lot of work and creativity to get done. I'm happy you're keeping with it and finding new ways to get stuff going.
Great update, even if it came "late". This is super interesting stuff, man. A documentary about this entire journey would be very well received, I bet.
AI should replace the sweatshop element in productions, freeing up time for the fun stuff.
I will admit that the tests you showed with the ai tool did look fine for the most part. Also glad you plan to use it as a tool to assist instead using it for the entire production. Thanks for the update. And a Happy New Year to you and your family.
This is insane, guy. This is clearly such a huge passion project
finally, a use of Ai thats actually useful
Man, I have infinite respect for all the work you've put into this project over the years. Take all the time you need; we get how hard it is and we'll always be there, whenever the movie comes out. Happy new year!
You're fine. You're not begging for money and many if us understand what a huge undertaking that all is, when you're almost entirely solo.
Insane. I just learned my favorite animation sitcom was getting a movie 45 minutes ago. I was trying to find an update, and a video was posted 3hrs ago! Let's Go!
As a backer, I’m learning so much about animation, so thank you so much for all your updates!!
Holy shit, I missed your updates. I kept checking for the monthly update every few days when I didn't see it. I'm glad to see this update, and your amazing progress. You're doing such an incredible job!
Hey Nitz guy!
I’m offended after all the rollercoster ride we shared as you drooled over your crush and the hell Gimpy and Rocko put you through… you don’t think you can share your personal life with us cuz we’re not that close!
But I guess we can forgive you and be happy knowing you’re still working on your dream and bringing our friends back to the screen.
Too many great animated shows forgotten from the exact same time. I’m really glad I’ll get to share Undergrads with my kid being she will be about the same age I was when it came out originally!
Long Live G-PRIME!
Ngl, I was skeptical when I saw AI in the title, but this seems like a really nice resource for independent animation. I think the key difference here is that the AI is being used as a tool for artists, using their own work to help assist in a very specific step in an overall original creative process. It's an apples and oranges comparison to say, someone just typing a word prompt into an AI program to have it create an entire animation from scratch (using other people's stolen art as the basis).
"using other people's stolen art as the basis"
Sigh, that's literally not what generative AI does, my god people, this is Flat Earth levels of ignorant at this point.
@@TRENCHESandTREADS Explain how it works then.
By most people’s understanding, Gen AI literally needs sources to come up with something new. It needs data, it needs images to work with a prompt, not just from nothing. By telling AI to make art, it has to source from existing art. In this case, it is “stolen” because a part of other artists’ works have been taken without consent.
@@achuuuooooosuu "By most people’s understanding"
Argumentum ad populum. People are *constantly* wrong about a lot of things, especially when those things are heavily propagandized against or the current source of overly emotional artists' baby rage.
"It needs data"
Correct, and the means by which it gathers said data is no more intrusive of other's rights than a human artist looking up freely available art online for inspiration. No generative model downloads other people's art, no art is being 'stolen', because as soon as someone uploads their art to the internet they are de-facto consenting to their art being looked at, which is what the generative models do.
"it needs images to work with a prompt"
Incorrect. Once a generative model has started the process outlined above no new images are required, it's entirely capable of generating the relative pixels to create new art without any reference to human art at all. The reason for this is that generative AI, in laymen's term, 'learns' by algorithmically weighing the relative position of pixels against one another and using the human input/course correction to judge if the pixel placement is correct. Let's say someone wanted to generate a woman in a red dress. The LORA they're using will look up the weights its already stored for RED, DRESS, WOMAN, etc (it's a huge list), and place each pixel relative to other pixels based on the weights given. If the majority of pictures on Google (as an example) of a woman in a red dress have a red pixel at X,Y coordinate than the generative model will go "Okay, that's where a red pixel goes", but it's a weight, not an absolute, it can, and will, put a different color in that pixel based on gigantic amount of calculations. The point is, once a LORA is set, it isn't looking at images at all anymore.
" In this case, it is “stolen” because a part of other artists’ works have been taken without consent."
No generative model does this, or quite frankly *could* do this. The amount of internet infrastructure needed to download, archive, and reference the millions of terabytes of data this would require is not possible for basically anyone to do, let alone the generative models and the people running them. Not only is it not physically possible, it just doesn't make sense to do in the first place, because as I stated earlier, the model does things faster by not referencing images at all, but the relativity of pixels to one another. It learns that relativity by looking at pictures, yes, but it isn't constantly going back and taking those pixels from that art. It isn't 'clipping' or 'collaging' like many anti-AI people like to claim.
TLDR: Generative models are just pixel relative machines no different than how a human learns where to place pixels relative to one another. If a human looking up art to learn how to draw isn't stealing then it isn't stealing for generative models. The only difference is the scale, not the action.
I love these videos so much! Not only do I love Undergrads, I love seeing these cost cutting technology you are using being integrating into a bigger project. You are experimenting and are pinering new ways of doing things.
As someone that despises AI, this is actually such an interesting way to see it used. Thanks for the update, Pete. Hope everything that was going on turned out okay and you got to unwind a bit for the holidays. Happy New Year!
Damn that tweening AI is hella impressive. Take care of yourself there! Hope all is well sir.
I think this is the best showcase of what AI can offer as a tool. Without artists, it can't do anything worth looking at, but when it's used as tool to complement that artist's work, especially in a situation where a solo, independent artists is trying to tackle a feature-film with no budget, it can work.
However, it's FAR from ideal. In the long run, big companies taking this approach is most likely a bad idea. They have budget, they can hire the artists to create stuff that looks much, much better. But for the independent creator with little to no budget, this stuff is enabling. When that creator is also an artist who understands what makes a picture look good, AI can become a powerful tool to help them achieve what was impossible previously. Not by letting the AI do the work, but by handing the repetitive, time-consuming, not-so-creative part of the work to it so they can focus on the stuff that truly matter.
My brother in the background is everything I need to keep on going in this crazy timeline that we are all living in. So glad I’m here with everyone in this community.
8:12 I am screaming!! SO RAD. Pete, if you need my brother to do a voice for the character (and any others), please let us know. I’ll happily do feminine voices as well!
Insane that A.I. video tech is only a bit less than a year old. (As of writing.) Very excited to see where this tech goes with another year or two of development
THIS IS WHAT AI IS MEANT FOR!!! Assisting the ORIGINAL artist to help streamline the creative process when human resources are not available or at the very least limited.
Stoked as hell that it's still kicking! Found undergrads like half a year ago and it immediately became a favorite and takes up So much space in my head. I wish I was able to contribute to help it on its way to show how much the series has been a comfort for me in a really rough time,, but I hope this comment adds enough engagement 💕
Also happy holidays 🤙🏼
51, and I finally got myself in a mental space to TRY and bring the cartoon characters that's been in my head since I was a teenager. I had them since a kid, but my life was a constant struggle from dealing with my narcissistic, angry, alcohol, etc dad. To later in life, becoming an alcoholic myself (to hell and back) so on and so on. Anddddd for the past 5 years figuring out life with sober eyes.... I tend to babble 😂. But I thought about taking my childhood fun (characters) and animating my life through them. Plus, put it online to see how many laughs I can create 😂.
That sounds great! Let us know when you publish something :)
@pinkcloudfloating awesome! Sure will! 8)
I like to see more examples of people using Generative AI to supplement and support their work as a tool.
Lemme just say this in advance because I know how this is going to go: you're not a bad person for using AI in this way. Some people are smooth brained and it's easier for them to go ape anytime they hear a buzzword than to bother giving any nuanced perspective.
This is what AI could be if we were smart about it. People need to give it clever applications like this instead of treating it like it's this miracle machine that can magically sh*t out entertainment.
Thank you for not giving up on Undergrads the Movie, Pete. I wish you well in 2025!
Late video or not, every time I see him, Pete saves me time and money with new techniques. Thanks
finally...
ai doing the tedious work for creative people instead of doing the creative stuff for tedious people...
You nailed it!
Not gonna lie, I got scared at the video title and got a little upset at the use of A.I.. But after watching your past update videos and getting the overall explanation really cleared things up. I'm looking forward to what else you have in store! 👍🏼✨️
That is crazy.
You're a trooper! And YOU keep being awesome Pete.
I know that AI has become s controversial topic, especially in the animation industry, but what Pete has shown here is that it can be used as a tool to help artists, not replace them.
Well it directly replaces the Inbetweeners. But yeah, this is one of the uses that isn't as nefarious, it uses your own artwork and doesnt directly steal other artists' work. The AI still "steals" from the history of animation to know how to animate, but that is marginal compared to most generative AI.
@@gkilm Morning the loss of of the inbetweening position, is like morning the loss of the dish-washer position in a kitchen. This allows people to do the creatively-fulfilling work they *want* to do, instead of menial entry-level work.
Hey Pete.
First off, it’s not about how long it takes, it’s getting that ebd product I care about. Having now gone to college, I actually relate with the series even more now than I did when I initially watched it.
Also, happy to see you continue to find new tools to help you and the animators not have to crunch and deal with burnout. AI is a tool to assist in work, not a full on replacement.
This is the best example of integrating AI into animation I've seen. Literally game changing.
You da man Pete! I'm cheering you on from the sidelines as I adore Undergrads. I discovered it at the perfect time- when I was an Undergrad myself- and my friend group and I fell in love with Nitz, Cal, Rocko and Gimpy.
Glad to see you finding great ways to implement new technology to finally "finish the story" and I promise, even if it takes another 10 years I'll be the first one to buy a ticket.
AI should be a tool for animators, not their replacement. In this case, It's making the process for animation a lot easier.
I mean…technically it is replacing animators. A lot of them. And that’s perfectly fine.
YES! best new years gift ever.
always happy to see these uploads. not bothered by the inconsistent updates tbh
People need to understand that AI isn't a replacement for humans, it's something that can assist them.
AI can't make a good animation, but it sure can help with the one you're making.
AI already IS replacing many humans and jobs people WANT to do, instead of being focused on the things people don't want to do.
We already have an oversaturation of content, we don't need AI generating it at an even more breakneck speed.
But the biggest issue of all is how tools like this are trained currently, on hoards of non-consenting works that you are then profiting off while giving nothing back to the artists it took from, it's horrible.
@@InvertexVTai can’t replace artists, ai art will always be worse than human art no matter how far it advances because it just finds the median of all art, and can’t push boundaries or base itself off realism. I know for a fact that animation and art will never be replaced by ai because art means unique interpretations of reality by humans
Until it does replace humans with terrible uses of it
@@InvertexVT tell me one job that's being replaced
also you can't profit from anything ai-generated, that's inherent to the concept. this is just inbetweened, that is okay. you still did all the work.
@@KairuHakubiNot true, a lot of people are indeed profiting from AI, but real artist clean it up.
This is indeed a tool, not a replacement. Great job.
Holy shite ur still doing this. I watched Undergrads when I was in middle school and now I'm almost thirty. Glad to see you're still so passionate
This process is very cool. It kind of evens the playing field for us independent animators with little to no budget.
Exactly. I've been waiting for this forever. Animation is so grueling, and we should take ANY shortcuts that don't damage the results. The act of inbetweening has never been, y'know, labor fit for humans. it's sweatshop slavery. Free all those Koreans.
I'm working on my own project and I totally empathize with not posting update videos and focusing on progress instead. It's totally worth it to just focus on the project
I can't believe you came back! Wow
If AI make 2D animation back to the cinemas, so, in this specific case, I'll support it!
So long as runway is using your own data as a source of the tweens that's a better-than-average use of AI. Especially on a budget that can't afford tweeners as opposed to a company with the budget that just refuses to pay animators
That's not what's going on here. He isn't providing "his own data" to Runway. Runway is operating on its own massive dataset of scraped works to be able to generate these in--betweens, making this just as unethical as the people generating videos from it, because you're supporting the use of those datasets to benefit yourself.
I dont appreciate a studio doing this as they have the means to make it happen normally but instead shovel most of the funds to people who dont hold a pencil.
That being said, this type of stuff is super exciting for super small studios and solo acts. They have the passion to make stuff a lot of us love but no studio wants to touch. I approve...not that you needed it but super excited for this.
2D animators finally getting something that 3D animators have had for decades :p
2D tweening existed since Macromedia Flash 3 in 1998. I know that for sure, however my best source for shows that used it professionally is a wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Flash_animated_television_series so no it's not new for 2D animation. Far from it.
Hey guy, you’re doing amazing things Pete work ethic is insane. You’ll be taking someone’s job after this is all done. A deadline doesn’t exist, the right people will gravitate towards it when the time comes. Until next time, Alpha alpha alpha!
I await the AI haters below. Seriously this is where AI is beneficial to indie filmmakers and creators. I wish you the best in the Undergrads project going forward. I've become very cynical with relaunches and reboots (looking at you Clone High) but being free from corporate nonsense I hope will lead to a good final project.
You're completely missing the point. It has nothing to do with "AI hating" and everything to do with the people's works this tool had to scrape to be able to produce these results for him. Profiting off the backs of all those artists while they get nothing for it.
Lots of people shit on AI, and it taking away from creatives, but in this case it's making it so a creative can make their dream possible. Keep up the good work!
It must be considered as a tool, not as a creator. Then it can be useful.
Keep coming back with updates, Pete! You're breaking some new ground here!
This would be the most practical use of AI if it did multiple key poses. Or inbetweens from Animatic Storyboards.
Holy shit, you keep being awesome. Amazing progress, man. Hope you enjoy your holiday because you earned it dude.
Thanks for keeping the train on the tracks Pete. I love these updates
You’re doing great, dude! I’m in for the time it takes to make it the best you can :)
Keep up the good work, guy! (slurp)
Holy Sh!!!!!! An update !!!!!
Bro I can not fucking believe that you are so dedicatedly plugging away at this. I don't follow these types of projects due to almost certain disappointment. But you're STILL GOING AND I WILL FOLLOW IT UNTIL THE END. And if you make this movie... you'll have done so much of the hardwork necessary to just...make another season? I'm here for whatever you do
Maaaan I had absolutely no clue you were creating a movie! I would have definitely donated. This AI in-between looks suuuuper useful, thanks for bringing it to light! I've been working on my own 60 minute animation for nearly 5 years now. This is gonna be a game changer
Appreciate the dedication to this project, and thanks for taking the time to provide an update. Hopefully this AI tool works better than whatever they used to "remaster" Interstella 5555!
Also getting wintergarten/marble machine vibes from this project.
I can imagine there being a lot of Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel fan animations coming now that this is out.
1st time to your channel
Back in the 80s, it took a team and 6 months to create a 30-minute Saturday morning cartoon. So, I can only imagine what's involved doing this on the side by yourself. Wheeww
Luckily I was in a coma for 5 months and just woke up
I'm really happy with how this project is going, i would pay for a whole trilogy whatever it takes
Look I'm not going to shit on you for using AI. This seems like a legitimate use case. I've argued that this is one of the things AI could be useful for since we already use so much interpolation in modern animation to save money anyway and this is just a "smarter" interpolation that can be used in hand drawn animation and not just puppet animation/cgi. Hell I wouldn't even see an issue with an AI that could auto fill colors from a single frame.
I just a) hate the idea of people who rely on tweening work losing money because of this (but it's not like you have the money to pay them anyway soooo...) and b) I REALLY wish you wouldn't use Runway. There are ways to use these tools locally and not support the big tech companies that are profitting off the stolen labour of artists.
It's still not the most ethical but using the FREE AI tools locally and not lining the pockets of these thieving tech empires is at least better.
Also, using AI on your PC mitigates some of the environmental concerns caused by the massive server farm required to keep those services running.
Those inbetweeners are miserable, and those rich people are the reason we have any products or jobs. Hopefully any of those who lost their jobs would start making their own keyframes and using the same tech to inbetween it for them, now they can still work as animators without the tedium.
You uh, have a point about how our brute-forcing of making computers do what we want is a massive waste of electricity, though.
Actually kind of impressed with those results!
I love a creator who explores all the options before commiting
WHOOO! I'm always relieved when a new video comes out.
Looks great man! Keep it up
As a person who Likes 2d animation,I Appreciate the love you have for this project. It's cool to learn about the animation tools you use to nail the look. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the movie.👍🏻
Use whatever helps create this movie man! No shame in using tools as long as they're not writing the entire script or whatever, you know? 👍 We believe in you!
Pretty sure he has the script on lock, he even did storyboards. This is the next step.
@@RobbieFitzgerald Yup, all of that was pre-production work.
This is how AI *SHOULD* be used. Not to make full animations, just to help artists achieve their vision.
Pete & the UG team - I love the show! I grew up with Undergrads, and I would love nothing more than to see this property have a resurgence. I'm a professional in the film and TV industry in Vancouver with a couple credits, and some animation work under my belt. Hit me up. Maybe I can help you in some way at some time.
I wish the show wasnt canceled. it had so much potential
We all remember tuning in for the next season that never came.... 😥
Hey, Pete! I hope this comment finds you well. I've been a fan of Undergrads for years now and I was so thrilled when I heard that you acquired the rights from MTV to make a movie to finally give closure to these characters. Admittedly, I was intrigued by the idea of you doing a multimedia experiment for the film by having some parts animated with CGI, some parts with hand-drawn 2d animation, and some with puppeteering rigs. However, I don't know if this is the best route for the animation direction of the film to take, in my opinion. I'm sure you know that A.I. already has a bad reputation in the animation/artist community and while you are just feeding your art into the program's data -- I don't think you're necessarily getting the best results anyhow. I know you're working with limitations and are trying to find shortcuts to make this movie happen but I really think you should reconsider making it 2D again but follow the cues of that pilot you did all those years back (th-cam.com/video/ZW6bUH89BJs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=oflu7). Personally, this is my favorite piece of the show and I'm always impressed by what can be done with so little and this pilot exceeds at that. I know you said yourself that we Undergrads fans deserve a "kick-ass" Undergrads movie but I don't think the show was ever all that known for its animation quality. I'd argue that a lot of the charm came from how grunge and rough it looked. Plus, with all the new techniques and tools these programs have added in the few decades since "The Click 2.0" -- I really think you can give the motion comic style a real polish that would make it theatrical quality or at the very least -- on-par with the original show's quality. You're already planning on bringing key animators, anyhow, so I feel like they'd put to better use in this approach. Bring on those key animators, create multiple mouth charts for characters to cycle through in the lip-sync, and leave the in-betweens for the character animations that really need it. Sure, it may look inconsistent but I think viewers will appreciate the handmade quality of the passion project and be pleased to see a film that falls into the 2D medium. I think we'd all favor rough animation over artificially-produced ones Whatever happens, whatever you go with, I'll still be watching in the end but this is just an alternative idea that I hope you'll at least consider.
Thank You.
Take your time. I believe in you and the project. I wish I was financially able to support it, as Undergrads came out right when my friends and I were in college, so it spoke to us. I do hope that you do a Futurama style open ended finale. Maybe it’ll get picked up again one day.
Anyway, your work is appreciated. You’re loved and believed in.
Not trying to comment on your level/comprehension of animation here, but once one really learns about animation, they realize that the in-betweens are actually an extremely important part of what gives a shot it's specific and particular feel, rather than just a means of getting from point A to point B in the most economical way. Frame-By-frame through any old Looney Tunes short, for example. The magic is in the in-betweens!!! That said, I'm impressed by this technology, but I hope it doesn't dissuade people from learning how to draw, animate and bring that magic to life.
There HAS to be an industry AI inbetweener tool for just tweeting two hand drawn 2D frames at this point.
Does Toon Boom have something like this?
it seems we have some hate in a few comments, sad but expected. And the video went as the 5 mothns, flying. The runway is a great idea for background characters, so good i will stole it lol
surprisingly looks good
I've done this exact thing with Runway myself. You might be able to save some time by using colored images but without the shading, and then in after effects (or whatever you use) isolate the different colors (since they are still pretty close) and fill those areas with the correct color. Now you just have to add back in the shading instead of all the colors. If it was me I'd be doing this in after effects and since you have limited characters and each of those characters has limited colors, you only really need to set up the process once and just use the same project file over and over.
Do you have a tutorial or guide ? I'm working on a videogame with short animated cutscenes, and this might help.
Use Davinci resolve deflicker to get rid of flicker
You're doing incredible work man, don't worry so much about posting frequency!
I understand budgetary constraints of a solo indie project, and I will say kudos that you’ve actually drawn your own stuff and all, I’m only worried that the in between frames will all have the samey type of motion with it, even if you re time it to be faster, I feel like it’ll be a bit slow. Oh and be careful, cuz I know people have strong opinions against this kinda stuff
Wow what an amazing tool! Thank you for the update, and sticking with the project. Can't wait to see it come to fruition!
This is really cool!
Thank you for all your efforts with this Pete! It will all be so worth it to see it come to life! Life happens we understand. Here's to a more stable 2025!