Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
This is how I test it.
As you might have noticed, Iām trying a new visual style. Iām no professional graphic designer, so it took me a while to get to an interesting result (āa whileā means around 25 hours of banging my head against multicoloured screens).
But how do I know if the attempt is worthy or not?
This is how I do it. I refresh youtube a few times, screenshot the homepage a bunchāthen I overlay my thumbnail there and ask myself āwhich one would I pick?ā
Of course I donāt win every single match, some people are indeed professional graphic designers (and some people like Kurzgesagt are graphic deities), but when I feel I can compete in the big leagues, then Iām satisfied. Itās a rather subjective process, but as a youtube creator, I find the act of refreshing the home page several times and seeing what thumbnails catch my attention an invaluable experience.
I can never guarantee if thatās going to be the new thingāI have to test it first. Check if that clickability I see in my head is real or just a self-serving illusion. But hereās to trying! Cheers!
What do you think? Is this style something you find enticing to the eye? Is it recognisable enough?
Iād love to know your opinionāand get ready for some orange thumbs in the next few months.
(PS. I have no affiliation with the other channels shown in those images - except the affiliation of enjoying many of them! That's just what my home page showed me)
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Itās happening, folks. My YouTube homepage is infested by AI-generated content, more specifically AI-generated lofi music. Itās a barrage of samey designs with indistinguishable music inside.
My response to this? I feel the need to double down on sincerity here. Hi, Iām a person! What an odd thing to declare. But from now on, Iāll only trust creators who share a glimpse of their lives outside the videos.
So, hereās a snippet of mine: Iām currently struggling to find an apartment here in Madrid, so, for now, Iām hopping from one Airbnb to the nextāand letās just say, the dĆ©cor can get quiteā¦ inventive!
I carry nothing but respect for the bold soul who decided to make this living room lime green and added a nice non-threatening jaguar as its centrepiece. An act of great courage, if not cackling, maniacal audacity. So, look out for two upcoming videos featuring this splendid backdrop (honestly, itās a bit much for living, but quite fitting for youtube videos).
If youād like to hear more about my life, my AI-induced anxiety, and my first steps in a new country, hereās a longer update (itās posted publicly): www.patreon.com/posts/ai-terrors-and-114685026?utmā¦
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If you don't know āŖ@moonangel97ā¬'s channel yet, this is your official invitation. She just released a 40min long breakdown on first chapters, and I thought it was really insightful!
She has very different references from mine, and brought a lot of different examples to the table. It was interesting to see some household names like Game of Thrones and Percy Jackson side by side with fantasy stories I never heard of before. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neusi...
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A little personal note, a little life change š¦
First of all, happy birthday to me! September 11th... what a jolly date for a birthday, huh? š«
It's not often that I post life updates here, but allow me to share a rather dramatic time in my life with you, and how this might influence the channel and my other creative endeavors.
Let me tell you, having a Brazilian passport does not help, but after a multi-year battle, I finally defeated the bureaucratic dragon, and my Spanish visa has been approved. My new home is in the city of Madrid, a place that's quickly captivating my heart.
I could talk about this city's beauty for hours, but instead, let me give you a little taste. One of the things that immediately caught my attention was the magnificent doors I found everywhere I went, so here's my initial collection. I'll continue exploring in search of the most exquisite portals I can find.
Moving countries is a world-shattering event. Part of it involves a whole new set of tribulationsāwhat do you mean there's no conditioner in the supermarket? How do people cook with only two hobs and no oven? Should I arrive at social events early... or late? So I hope you'll forgive a slower uploading schedule as I do my best to adapt to oh-so-many new things.
But on the flipside, my brain feels really fresh. I'm surrounded by novelty and excitement everywhere, so naturally, my mind has been wandering down new avenues. Expect a lot of experimentation on the channel as soon as I can get my feet on the ground. Videos about small, delicate things. Videos about immense, overwhelming things. Videos I didnāt even imagine I could makeāall fueled by tortillas and verdejo.
And for those who've been following the channel for longer, I'm pleased to announce that, as of a little over a week ago, the third draft of my fantasy novel is out for feedbackāand in great hands too! With the likes of āŖ@ecyinkaā¬ and Jason Durall (who you might have seen in āŖ@ChaosiumIncā¬ videos) lending me their intellect and care, I'm sure I can hone this story to a new level of polish.
Thank you again for being part of my life. People talk about the negativity you find online, and especially in YouTube comments, but the truth is... I don't get much of that. The light I shine here tends to attract the most caring, most passionate, and most creative people on all of YouTube. With a community like that, you'd imagine the whole world is a Miyazaki movie.
Saludos from Madrid. Hope I can reflect a little bit of this sunshine in your direction.
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New vid. Later this week ;)
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Note on AI:
Some of you might have noticed that several of my previous videos contained notes on using AI imagery that sounded something like āIām not 100% sure where I stand on this matter, but I know Iām not the creator of those imagesā - well, now I do know where I stand:
This channel (and myself personally) will not be using AI imagery, and has not been using it for almost a year now. Also donāt get me started on language models, I was running from this fresh hell from the start.
But, of course, thereās more to this.
As I said, I was not sure where I stood on the matter, and Iāll tell you all about it. In retrospect, I understand that this was upsetting for many of you who did your research and got your conclusions faster than me. But I wanted to make sure my process was thorough - and thorough means investing time and energy. Thorough, above all, means talking to a range of people with different opinions rather than getting all of your opinions online.
First of all, remember when AI-generated imagery was not problematic?
Well I do, because 8 years ago my friend āŖ@raomtattooā¬ tattooed a Google Deep Dream-inspired tattoo on my left arm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSN8r...
I have been playing with Deep Dream for almost a decade, and its use was never ethically challenged. The technology was different, it didnāt steal anything from anyone. It was a curiosity, with its own glitchy and strange aesthetics. Nobody was trying to crack the world in half with it.
To be honest, even midjourneyās or dall-eās technology is unproblematic. The problematic factor is companies. But weāll get there.
Another factor I have in my life is that Iām surrounded by strange little artists with odd little ideas. Some of them decided to use some form of AI to produce really cool pieces of art - and honestly, I think most people donāt have access to this.
A friend of mine coded a faraway alien entity that would talk to you in real time, and tell you about other galaxies and dimensions (it was eerie and fun, kinda Alan Watts-y). Another friend co-hosted a consent-focused erotic camp at Kiwiburn, where the theme was space aliens talking about consent in a āuniversal and genderless languageā using AI imagery, and it was pretty rad. I met a coding witch that was trying to extract something from the emotional experience of tarot reading and insert it into a language model. One thing was evident: it was not the AI that made those pieces of art interesting, it was the artists' approach, the human ideas behind them.
So I talked with these people, and I also talked to some other people who disagreed with them. I watched some pro videos and some con videos. I tried to be thorough, and tried not to exclude anybodyās opinion.
That took time. Iām sorry.
In another world, I could have been faster. But juggling a full time job, writing a novel, youtube channel, long distance relationship and trying to move countries takes most of my time. Still, I think I could have been at least somewhat faster, and definitely I could have written something here before. Iām sorry, I messed up.
Truth is, despite the wonders and enthusiasm I was being shown, it became clearer and clearer that the current AI landscape we have is based on theft. And nobodyās opinion on the pro-side of AI seemed to address this in a way that worked for me. Donāt get me wrong, there were mitigations, there were clear steps not to increase the power of the current AI companies, but that was just not enough for me.
For a hot second there, I thought Adobe Firefly might be the solution (I used it in a Mononoke video! Thinking I was doing so well!), as they advertised themselves as using only in-house previously owned imagery to train their AI. That was a nice dream wasnāt it? Months later, we found out they were stealing from the people who trusted their stock imagery platform. Very rude. And now theyāre trying to steal from absolutely everybody who uses Adobe. Tragic.
The companies are making this tech problematic by using training content without consent. Itās as simple as that. Now that I see this (and have seen for a little while) I canāt bring myself to even experiment with it.
Again, Iām sorry it took me a while. Iām also sorry it took me a while to communicate clearly.
I still think it was important to talk to real people doing real work, both pro and con, instead of just blindly believing in the opinions and points I saw online. Even if the final result looks something similar to ājust watching Hello Future Meās video on AI and believing it without questionā, the reality is that I managed to accumulate some nuance on the matter.
Iād rather be like that, people-focused. I'd rather be the one who can have a conversation even in disagreement. Recently, I have been telling my friends that I disagree with their use of AI, but I will not belittle them, and I will certainly not push them away from my life. By doing so, they might just listen. If they don't, I will still love and cherish them.
I hope you find it in you to forgive my past mistakes. I hope my approach, painfully slow as it was, at least makes sense. And thanks for your attention.
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Let me share a new YouTube tool with you. A few weeks ago, I discovered a project called Favoree, which aims to become the IMDb or Letterboxd of YT channels.
For a while now, I've been frustrated with YouTube searches, especially because they only give me a few (and often megapopular) results. Whenever I click on anythingāsay, an interesting video about a traināthis god-forsaken algorithm thinks that's all I want to watch forever. I'm so tired of trains at this point, YouTube, please leave me alone.
So a tool like Favoree could really change the game. I'm super excited to see this, even at this early stage.
I have no affiliation with the project, but I joined their Discord server, and everyone was really nice and professional.
Give it a look! And if you could be so kind as to leave an honest review of my channel there, that would be fantastic.
Here's the website: www.favoree.io/
And here's my channel: www.favoree.io/channel/joriam_ramos-66631696f67abcā¦
Cheers,
25 - 5
Tales of Invisible Work
Hey folks, how are you? Itās been a minute! Hereās a little update on the many shenanigans happening backstage.
_ The Relentless March of the Thumbnails
While my video output hasnāt been what I hoped for this year (more on that below), I havenāt been idle. The truth is, in the game of Youtube, you either get better at thumbnails or you die.
Thumbnails and titles have always been my weakest pointāI just donāt care much about them. But I should, if I ever want those videos to reach my people. So now Iām learning. Iām not entirely sure youāll see the final versions of the blurred thumbnails I just teased here. I might change creative directions, but just know that I have been crafting, tinkering, trying, and banging my head against the wall!
Hopefully, youāll get a few bangers these upcoming months.
_ New Editor, New Videos
Since February, I have had a couple of bad experiences trying to work with external editors. Mostly, the narrative played out like this: āGreat, I got all of your material here, so give me two weeks and Iāll send you a preview so we can work out adjustments and style.ā Then three weeks later: āSorry, Iām really busy and canāt work on your videos. I havenāt touched the material.ā
Very frustrating! But I knew I had to keep trying. I might be a good editor (I think!), but one thing you folks might not know is that I am the slowest editor on Earth. If I had to carry a standard to the editing battlefield, it would prominently feature a snail on top of a tortoise on top of a sloth.
It seems like my torment is at an end, though.
_ Next Video
So, if nothing catches fire in the next few days (itās looking good, I swear), youāre getting a new video next week, from my new editor Carol, and she is great!
The video is an exploration of Kiki's Delivery Serviceās ideas about maturity and growthāand it features a special guest too! Uuuuh mystery, foreshadowing uuuuh!
_ Whispers of Faraway Shores
Thereās actually more to this tale. If youāre keen to hear a bit more about my life and my fantasy novelās progress, please check out this free Patreon post: www.patreon.com/posts/tales-of-work-106311646
Thank you so much for your patience, folks. Itās been a bit of a challenging period in my life, but art and creativity have been keeping my flame ablaze.
Iām so happy to be truly returning to the youtube waltz next week.
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Tomorrow.
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It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the new channel mascot! After 8 good weeks and two different artists, I couldn't be happier with the result.
She is magical, curious, mysterious, and fills me with wonder whenever I look at her! She is perfect :')
The only thing she's still lacking... is a name...
Any suggestions?
I'll post a bit more about the process of commissioning artists in another community post. For now, I just wanted to introduce you to her.
She likes pets. And bananas.
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A fantasy writer exploring whimsical worlds and soft magic.
This channel is part of my own artistic exploration ā I want to learn more and more about the stories that make me feel so much, and I'm taking you with me. My greatest references are Studio Ghibli (and especially Hayao Miyazaki) and Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
If that sounds like your jam, welcome. Take a seat. Grab a coffee.