Paul Trani

Learn from voice acting professional Christopher Tester about making an impact in a competitive field. In the latest episode of Voice Acting Unplugged, Chris discusses his journey from theater to social media sensation and offers tips for aspiring voice actors looking to redefine their careers. 🎧 #CreativeJourney #CareerGrowth #StandOut #Branding

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I’ve been experimenting with using AI + VFX to create cinematic previsualizations before anything is shot. This piece imagines a mission to Jupiter that discovers an impossible ecosystem, one that mirrors Earth’s past. Work like this can be used to develop films, pitch ideas, or even visualize commercials before production, saving time and improving creative alignment. Would be interested to hear how others see this fitting into their workflow.

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Quick question for editors and producers. How much time do you think you spend in a typical project just finding the right footage? Not editing. Not storytelling. Just searching, scrubbing, and checking clips. Genuinely curious what people’s experience is.

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Everyone is talking about AI in video, but a lot of people I speak with in our industry haven't actually explored the tools in much depth. Like all things, there are limitations, but also clearly advantages and great opportunities to increase speed and quality of output when done well. This week I've been working on a largely AI video project. A 100% AI, real sounding and emotive voiceover with a global accent, mixed with photo real AI generated videos and motion design. As the workflows become increasingly complex, it's clear that AI generation is becoming a skill in its own right, with knowledge of the latest tools available and how to best work with them becoming more important than ever. Here's a little snapshot of one of my workflows, to create some motion design of a planet with copy and camera movement direction - something that traditionally would have taken hours to conceptualise and produce is now easily created, helping improve the quality of production within increasingly tight turnaround times. Exciting stuff!

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We continue to evaluate AI software options to help with production of our 3D Photorealistic Animated Feature Films. We understand this could be unsettling to folks in and outside of our Circle B Productions Inner Circle. We are a two person company trying to keep our self funded organization in business as our films move through the lengthy production process. Voice over actors are the largest capital expense in every one of our films and we have zero intention of replacing human actors with computer generated voices. Other than sound recording of our actors Olivia and I handle all the roles in our company with rare exceptions like our CPA. To have an opportunity to make money with our films, so we can stay in business, we have to do as many things ourselves as possible so the overall expenditure is kept modest. For the most part "Singlewide Pride" and "Fawn's Justice" will remain on the same glide path with some tweaks here and there. Our unique hybrid documentary / docudrama project on the sinking of the SS Brother Jonathan in 1865 called "Terror at the Dragon's Teeth..." is a different kettle of fish so we're looking at production aids to add AI Created Period Video. It will complement 3D Reallusion Animation, AI period accurate photos, existing historical images, B-Roll video and stills of locations as they look today and more tools in our kit. Here is an example of one of the AI video production software packages were reviewing as indicated by the watermark / logo. Check out below the description of a scene from our script "Terror at the Dragon's Teeth..." and then look at the AI generated video. EXT. CAMP LINCOLN CRESCENT CITY - A soldier in 1865 Union Blues hops aboard a powerful horse. He’s handed a sealed written document from an officer. The soldier salutes his superior and spurs his stead into action, quickly leaving the humble surroundings of Camp Lincoln.

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Over the last decade, I’ve scoped a wide range of bespoke interactive and immersive projects, most of which I then went on to build. From turning brainwaves into visuals and music for neuroscientists to projection-mapping climbing gyms in the U.S. and in Berlin to tracking real-time racecar data for the Indy 500 streamed live on a webpage, each project started as an idea that had to be translated into a clear scope, budget, and timeline. After doing this hundreds of times, I’ve developed a repeatable approach for scoping interactive and immersive work. In this post, I break down that process to bring clarity and confidence, so you can move more efficiently from concept to an executable plan and get to the fun parts faster.

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In almost every conversation I’ve had with editors, studios, streamers, or guilds lately, the same pain point comes up. I'd call it the "Editorial Compromise." I’ve been speaking with so many post-teams using DeepEditor, and it’s become clear why In-Vision ADR is our #1 adopted use case. Editors tell me they are tired of the old constraints. For decades, if you had to fix a narrative issue with ADR, you were forced to sacrifice the visual. You had to cut to the back of a head, a reaction shot, or use "editing sorcery" to hide the fact that the audio didn't match the lips. You were forced to hide the performance to save the story; its been the wrong solution to the problem for every edit. That’s what’s changing. The feedback we’re getting on our Avid Media Composer extension is that it finally removes that compromise. Editors are now inserting new dialogue on-camera, keeping the lens focused on the actor’s emotion for maximum impact. Two other things I’m hearing constantly from our users: 💡 Prototyping is huge. Editors are using In-Vision ADR with scratch or synthetic audio to "audition" narrative fixes before they ever bring the talent back. 🔒 Trust is non-negotiable. We know that for this to work on premium titles, it has to be safe. That’s why we built this workflow hand-in-hand with Avid, SAG-AFTRA and the Motion Picture Editors Guild Emerging Tech Committee. We listened, and we built a standard that prioritizes ethics and quality. I'm finding this message key to my meetings: Stop compromising the edit. Keep the camera on the performance. #avidmediacomposer #editing #editor #postproduction #mediacomposer #avid #avidcreator #PrimeVideo #Entertainment #AI #AIInFilmmaking #PostProduction #DeepEditor #Amazon #Flawless

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Had a blast directing and producing Avantor’s "Lab of the Future" project—a voiceover-driven piece all about how AI, IoT, and real-time tech are shaking up the world of science. One of the coolest parts? Filming with AVA, Avantor’s Virtual Assistant. It’s a smart little robot that helps scientists by grabbing supplies from the stockroom so they can spend more time doing actual science. Honestly, felt like stepping into a sci-fi movie, and realizing it’s all real. Big thanks to the awesome team who helped bring this to life. The future really is now! #VideoMarketing #ContentCreation #Storytelling #Filmmaking #Science #BehindTheScenes #MarketingStrategy #AI #VisualContent

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Another version we did for Village. When we started designing Village, the goal wasn’t to “make it pretty.” It was to make it quiet. Quiet interfaces help teams focus. Quiet data helps leaders decide. Quiet structure helps workflows breathe. So every card, color, and interaction had a purpose: reduce overwhelm, surface what matters, and let teams operate at their best. This is what happens when design stops decorating, and starts supporting the way people actually work.

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An Oscar nomination isn't the starting line. It's the result of a process that often begins years earlier in dedicated, creative spaces. This piece from Sundance breaks down the journey of directors who started in their labs. It highlights that the real work—the risk-taking, the mentorship, the foundational support—is what ultimately builds a career. The quiet rooms are where the visions get sharp. Three takeaways for any creator: 1. Seek incubation. Find workshops or labs where ideas can be tested without commercial pressure. 2. Find your mentors. Guidance from experienced voices is essential. 3. Trust the process. The long, unseen work is what makes the final product possible. What was a pivotal moment of mentorship that shaped your creative journey? Check the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gKz9PtcB

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Reinvention is everything in this AI-driven era. (It is also very human.) Just came across Dropbox’s interactive brand guideline, what a breath of fresh air. Smart UX, thoughtful interaction, and a seamless blend of design, code, and creativity. AI can resemble and assemble, leveling the game. But it’s still the human touch that goes beyond the box. #BrandDesign #UXInspiration #InteractiveDesign #CreativeTechnology #AIandDesign

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AI video generation has evolved, and text prompts alone aren't enough anymore. The practitioners pulling ahead aren't writing better prompts. They're building visual reference systems. Here's what that shift looks like in practice. 👇 https://lnkd.in/gHQkQU2J #AIVideo #GenerativeAI #AIFilmmaking #MultimodalAI #PromptEngineering #AIProduction #TextToVideo #CreativeAI #AIWorkflow #FutureOfContent #AIAnimation #DigitalMedia #ContentCreation #AITools #U82Media

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Opus4.6 or 4.5 + Cursor Plan mode + thorough speccing before execution = 80% to 90% production grade output The remaining 10% or 20% is your extensive review for the output... corrections and modifications... extracting useful instructions for the future (so you don't have to repeat the corrections)... spin up another agent with fresh context and ask them to find untested scenarios... run the PR through Cursor BugBot or Claude Code review (this does another thorough checkup) To be completely honest, this might only be effective if the codebase has good testing coverage... at the end of the day you need to be sure no regressions happened elsewhere... building something small in a large codebase is bound to touch a few things on the side here and there Is it really worth going through all of this if you can build it yourself? Mostly, yes... not just because it is faster... but because the models will most likely keep getting better and output more standard code... the bottleneck would be product speccing... how do you want the feature to be... what are your choices for edge cases... what is the direction of the product... you start thinking and acting more like a product manager... might as well get used to it now

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PRO-TEK has provided nitrate film services for 30 years. Why talk about it now? Well, this week we finally get to pull back the curtain on our latest big investment project which relates to ... nitrate film. Press announcement and more details coming soon.

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Explainers that feel welcoming outperform those that only look clever. Plain language helps people grasp the point the first time; captions for prerecorded video are a baseline requirement in accessibility standards; readable contrast protects attention and dignity. These aren’t constraints, they are creative rails that carry a message further, especially for audiences on small screens or in noisy spaces. Build the motion, the words, and the color with inclusion in mind, and participation grows slowly and reliably. #MotionForGood #Accessibledesign #Behaviorchange

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Filmed and produced a TouchDesigner class facilitated by Bonnie Phame for Recess Community Our first-ever beginner TouchDesigner workshop brought together tinkerers to explore real time visuals and creative coding. Participants learned the fundamentals of the software and explore how to use the MediaPipe plugin to design interactive, real-time interfaces. Bringing visuals to life, introducing simple techniques for audio reactivity, adding another dynamic layer to your work.

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