This web site utilizes AI produced imagery in combination and cooperation with human artist produced imagery, though the vast majority of artwork and character design was achieved long before the proliferation of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Each character was designed from the ground up, both in terms of persona and appearance.
Daz3D, Lightwave3D, Blender, Adobe Photoshop, Photopea and scrapbooks/sketchbooks have been essential tools from the very beginning, especially in terms of character design, virtual location scouting and shot and scene generation. I’ve personally found this workflow to be very relevant with the arrival of AI image and video generation. So much so, that every single AI generated image is driven by the original character designs, which are often laid out using the aforementioned tools, which the AI just cleans up and renders in a photorealistic manner.
Don’t consider or treat AI like its a replacement for artists, but rather, a productivity tool in the hands of artists skilled in the field of AI. At this point, AI fits nicely into the production pipeline and as I’ve stated before, when artists add this tool to their kit, it doesn’t replace them. It amplifies their process a thousand-fold.
One thing to consider however is, that money and economics will ultimately determine the future of artwork in a production environment. There are a lot of independent studios out there who lack the budget of their larger counterparts. If they can achieve film quality results at one one-thousandth of the cost, that puts them in a position to compete with much larger outfits than their own, and exposes them potentially to the next level they need to grow as a company/production house. Cost and productivity will win out in the end, though it will be the production houses that find a way to embrace the artform itself in innovative and ground cutting ways that will forge the path forward, much like the film-makers of yesteryear did with live action shoots and traditional cinematography.
I consider AI tools an essential asset to the future of artistic expression. I sometimes consult with AI with regard to my writing, getting feedback and doing research, but as of this writing, there is no content produced in the books, novellas or episodes that is written by AI. I do however from time to time, after a bit of debate, entertain ideas introduced by AI. In such a case, they will always be credited in much the same way that any person would, for their content on Shhhh! Digital Media.
I do however hope that visual artists out there who don’t themselves write, try using AI to give words in the form of stories to their images. Its no different than writers or other creatives who employ AI and human artists to give art to their words.
I do produce some of the artwork myself. All music, unless otherwise credited, is produced by human artists. The visual art will always receive the credit of the original artists who contributed to the overall design throughout the years, even if it has been a long time since their last contribution.
So far, I’ve only used AI to create one piece of music, which was to be a part of Butterfly Dragon: Two Butterflies Episode 15 – Fame (unpublished and eventually scrapped). The fictional band Ghenghis Lord’s music was entirely AI produced and despite the absence of that episode, I still have the AI generated music of the fictitious band Ghenghis Lord.
My own music such as the theme songs for Butterfly Dragon, Grand Tapestry and Era of the Spellbound are all human written and produced by me. In addition to working in the computer field for decades, I’ve also worked professionally as a Piano, Keyboard player and composer myself.
Brian Joseph Johns
CEO, Author and Creative Director
Shhhh! Digital Media