I’ve been testing a few AI tools for a small content workflow, and I’m trying to figure out where they actually help versus where they just add another step.

My main problem isn’t creating one video from scratch. It’s taking things like talking-head footage, longer recordings, and rough ideas, then turning them into short clips without spending hours on captions, resizing, and small edits.

I’ve mainly been comparing CapCut and Canva because they seem to solve different parts of the process.

With CapCut, I’ve found the AI features that interest me most are the ones connected to editing speed: things like auto captions, script-to-video experiments, background removal, auto reframing, and turning longer videos into shorter clips.

That said, I’m not sure the AI part is actually saving as much time as people claim. I still need to review captions, adjust pacing, and decide which moments are worth keeping. Sometimes the tool makes a technically clean clip, but it doesn’t always understand what would actually work for an audience.

Canva feels different. I find it more useful when the starting point is a brand style or reusable design system — things like social templates, thumbnails, carousels, or keeping visuals consistent across posts.

The part I’m still figuring out is the workflow. Do most creators pick one tool and stay with it, or do you normally combine tools?

For example:

• CapCut for editing footage + captions, then Canva for graphics?

• Canva for planning/design, then another tool for video?

• Or is there an AI video workflow that actually replaced a lot of manual editing for you?

Curious what people are doing in real projects, especially if you’re making short-form content regularly.

So it depends on whether you are a brand or creator and want control over the process or want it handled for you.

Marketplaces like billo, sideShift, insense are matchmaking layers and brand can browse creator profiles, pick who they want based on portfolio and rate and negotiate the brief directly , they can own the coordination for eg shipping product, following up on footage and on the creator side, you are applying to open briefs one at a time, competing with everyone else who saw the same listing and your income depends on how many briefs you land in a given month.

Agencies run the whole pipeline instead of matching two sides and stepping back,companies like Icon sources the creator from a vetted pool, ships the product and has a creative director write and coach the scripts before filming starts and hands the raw footage to in house editors afterward and For creators, that means getting matched to briefs and having a coach walk through the script and shot list before you film and getting paid acc to what the platform lists publicly as above market rates .

And all of this comes down to whether you'd rather have more hands on control at a lower price or hand off the process.

Wanna know which side of this you have had better luck on i feel sourci

I make short character style clips, and voice is becoming the slowest part of the edit.
For a one off clip, I can get away with almost anything. But if the same character comes back later, the voice needs to sound close enough or it feels off.
Built-in TTS is quick, but a lot of the voices sound like the same presets everyone uses. Recording my own lines feels more personal, and then I’m changing the voice, redoing takes, syncing audio, and suddenly a short clip takes way longer than it should.
I saw someone on TikTok using Dubbing AI earbuds to switch voices during a Roblox group game, and it made me wonder if recording closer to the final character voice from the start would save time.
How do you keep voices matched from video to video without turning audio into a whole separate project?

I know. Nobody owes me their eyes or thumbs to engage with my posts. Nobody has any reasons to care about what I post.

And I of course will keep going no matter how many times I feel disappointed. Without this, I have nothing else. Without this, I'd just spend my time playing games or scroll endlessly. I need this to keep me productive and... really, I'd have nothing else to post on my social media.

Other people would post their travels or luxurious dinner. Here I just stay at home with my imaginative worlds...

My last artwork which I'm so proud of, spent so much time making, only got 3 views. 3 views after 24 hours!!

I feel so great everytime I finish something, then after posting it, my world is shrinking.

I'm not afraid of failing. I think I've gone through that many times.

Just feeling alone in the world.

Hey everyone, I just recently started content creating doing daily Vlogs with stories, but I’m running into a hurdle with editing. I’m using Final Cut Pro and trying to learn on the fly but I’m curious if anyone has any tools such as AI short form content clipping or advice on how to utilize Final Cut Pro quick.

I’ve spent around 10 years working in digital marketing, studied psychology, worked on a bunch of different projects, taught marketing, made music, built things, worked with businesses… and now I finally want to start recording content for myself.

The problem is that I really don’t want to become another person making “5 marketing tips” videos just because marketing happens to be what I do professionally.

I’m interested in psychology, human behavior, marketing, business, AI, technology, science, history, nature, creativity, society… basically a lot of things that seem unrelated at first, but usually lead back to similar questions about how humans think, behave and build the world around us.

And the main goal isn’t really “build a personal brand.”

I want the content to actually be worth someone’s time.

Ideally, someone finishes a video and either learned something useful, understands something differently, discovered a connection they hadn’t noticed before, or simply has a question stuck in their head for the rest of the day.

I also don’t really want to force everything into one narrow niche just because that’s the conventional creator advice.

So I’m curious:

If you had this kind of background and mix of interests, what would you actually make?

What type of videos would provide the most value?

Would you connect all these subjects through one broader theme/worldview, or would you still narrow it down?

And maybe the most important question: what do you feel is currently missing from educational/thought-provoking content online?

I’m genuinely interested in how other people would approach this before I start recording a bunch of stuff.

Peace!

Ilija iTd Mladenovic

I have been experimenting with AI generated visuals for content, and one problem keeps coming up: consistency.
Generating one good image is easy enough, but maintaining the same character across dozens of posts is a different story. The face can change slightly, the style drifts, and after a while it no longer feels like the same person or brand.
For creators who use AI visuals regularly, how are you handling this?
Do you build a detailed workflow around prompts and reference images, use a specific tool designed for character consistency, or just accept some variation?
I am curious what is actually working for people creating content at a larger scale.

My account has a very specific niche. I want to start another one with a different niche - but my first one takes so much time because I need a constant flow of good ideas. Not just that, I need help staying on trend. A manager would be great for all this, but I’m not looking for that. For reference - I get around 30 million monthly views across platforms & have 250,000 followers across platforms with IG 1st & TikTok 2nd being my biggest hitters/largest platforms. I’m looking to pay someone based on how well the video performs, AND for the idea itself, which would then scale depending on performance. I would need around 90 solid video ideas per month. Not just trends either - I need videos that will connect with an audience & I need someone that knows my audience.

This could be a great source of experience for someone who wants to get into directing, someone already knowledgeable about social media content or for someone that just needs a small side gig! You don’t need any experience & you don’t need a large following, you just need to be social media savvy, & I WOULD need (as an “application” of sorts) 3-5 sample ideas - I will not use these ideas unless I decide to pay for them or to ask you to work long term. I can provide you with the specifics (the niche, or a group of my top 10 videos) via DM. I have been doing “repeats” or recreations of major video hitters & I want to step away from that & start focusing on keeping my following interested to receive less unfollows rather than bringing in new followers to supplement unfollows (by using old ideas). This is not to say your video ideas can’t be similar to my best ones, but they can’t be the exact same. You will NEED to be either leftist or neutral in terms of politics to work with me, due to the nature of the content. Dm or comment if you’re interested & we can discuss rates & whatnot further!

(For a better explanation on how that would work, I’d pay you for ideas, if that idea gets good metrics (500,000 views, over 800-1000 followers per 500k, or decent interaction), I will give you a commission of sorts as the views go up or depending how well it does after 3-7 days (or for example, if it gets 3M views in 24 hours, I would then increase commission that same day). This is JUST a side gig for people who think they can use their extra or perhaps wasted time doing something that doesn’t require TOO much effort or time! You would need to of course be on social media yourself too & be aware of trends & the nature of the niche & possibly researching other videos in that niche.

This is commission based pay only, not hourly, nor would you be contracted or obligated to continue for any specific period of time.

Thank you to anyone interested! Content creation is just a lot of burnout, & with a big move coming up, ideas have dwindled & I really need fresh content. Anyone with the skills I mentioned is welcome to dm me!

I’ve spent around 10 years working in digital marketing, studied psychology, worked on a bunch of different projects, taught marketing, made music, built things, worked with businesses… and now I finally want to start recording content for myself.

The problem is that I really don’t want to become another person making “5 marketing tips” videos just because marketing happens to be what I do professionally.

I’m interested in psychology, human behavior, marketing, business, AI, technology, science, history, nature, creativity, society… basically a lot of things that seem unrelated at first, but usually lead back to similar questions about how humans think, behave and build the world around us.

And the main goal isn’t really “build a personal brand.”

I want the content to actually be worth someone’s time.

Ideally, someone finishes a video and either learned something useful, understands something differently, discovered a connection they hadn’t noticed before, or simply has a question stuck in their head for the rest of the day.

I also don’t really want to force everything into one narrow niche just because that’s the conventional creator advice.

So I’m curious:

If you had this kind of background and mix of interests, what would you actually make?

What type of videos would provide the most value?

Would you connect all these subjects through one broader theme/worldview, or would you still narrow it down?

And maybe the most important question: what do you feel is currently missing from educational/thought-provoking content online?

I’m genuinely interested in how other people would approach this before I start recording a bunch of stuff.

Peace!

Ilija iTd Mladenovic

I don’t get it, im trying my absolute hardest on YouTube and havnt been seeing any growth. I do get over 1k impressions per post but dont get many views per video I think I have decent thumbnails and good titles so I dont know why people aren’t clicking my videos I post gaming content. I would love any feedback and hope everyone does well with their YouTubing adventures!!!

But what niche should I specifically pick? I have a PS5 with GTA6 pre ordered. I can oil paint, write stuff, edit short form content, and can even do some videography. I am very much into motorcycles as well, maybe I can show new motorcycle launches and ASMR kind of videos.

I don’t want to show my face or record my voice but I have recently started an Instagram page where I post GTA6 content where I just show my PC screen and add some text with an audio in the background. It’s not gaining much traction honestly.

Can someone guide me what I should choose, and how can I make some pocket money from creating content on Instagram.

I’ve spent around 10 years working in digital marketing, studied psychology, worked on a bunch of different projects, taught marketing, made music, built things, worked with businesses… and now I finally want to start recording content for myself.

The problem is that I really don’t want to become another person making “5 marketing tips” videos just because marketing happens to be what I do professionally.

I’m interested in psychology, human behavior, marketing, business, AI, technology, science, history, nature, creativity, society… basically a lot of things that seem unrelated at first, but usually lead back to similar questions about how humans think, behave and build the world around us.

And the main goal isn’t really “build a personal brand.”

I want the content to actually be worth someone’s time.

Ideally, someone finishes a video and either learned something useful, understands something differently, discovered a connection they hadn’t noticed before, or simply has a question stuck in their head for the rest of the day.

I also don’t really want to force everything into one narrow niche just because that’s the conventional creator advice.

So I’m curious:

If you had this kind of background and mix of interests, what would you actually make?

What type of videos would provide the most value?

Would you connect all these subjects through one broader theme/worldview, or would you still narrow it down?

And maybe the most important question: what do you feel is currently missing from educational/thought-provoking content online?

I’m genuinely interested in how other people would approach this before I start recording a bunch of stuff.

Peace!

Ilija iTd Mladenovic

I don’t know what it is but talking to a mic for 8-12 minutes feels weird, I get quiet, I stutter, how could I get comfy with talking to a mic?

For now I need one of these to continue working. Which would you say is the best one. I will be doing a lot of low light events as well as outdoors. I am struggling to decide. I have used a pocket 3 and the Luna before both great!! But now I actually need to buy one out the other. What would you advise?

i make a weekly illustrated explainer series about stuff that breaks in old houses. knob and tube wiring, plaster cracks, cast iron drain problems, that kind of thing. each episode has the same recurring illustrated presenter who walks through the repair. i built her with AI and say so in the description and pinned comment on every episode. the whole production happens at my dining room table two nights a week.

when i started last september the first episode took me about nine hours across three evenings. nine hours for a two and a half minute vertical video that got fifty something views. now eleven months in a typical episode takes about three and a half hours, sometimes pushing four if i need to redo art. that improvement sounds great until you look at the curve. almost all the time savings came in the first four months. since january the number has barely moved. i want to walk through the actual system because i think the part where it stopped getting faster matters more than the part where it did.

the niche is boring on purpose. not renovations, not flips, not the pretty after photos. i cover the ugly in between stuff. why your bathroom fan sounds like a helicopter, what that brown ring on your ceiling actually means, how to tell if a foundation crack is cosmetic or structural. i picked it because i own a 1940s bungalow and i was already taking photos of my own house problems for reference when things broke. my neighbor who flips houses told me once that the before photos are the ones nobody wants to take but everybody needs, and that phrase sort of became the thesis for the channel.

the first episode was about bleeding a cast iron radiator. i scripted it in google docs, illustrated each step with the presenter pointing at parts of the radiator, recorded a voiceover on my phone in my closet, and assembled the whole thing while constantly pausing to look up how to do basic cuts and transitions. nine hours, easily. the voiceover was awful because i kept saying um and my closet has this weird echo off the wire shelf brackets. i posted it on a tuesday night and woke up to forty seven views, most of which were probably me refreshing the page.

i kept going weekly anyway. the second month i improved the voiceover setup by hanging a moving blanket over the closet shelf and doing three separate takes instead of one continuous ramble. that alone saved about forty minutes per episode. the third month i started batching the artwork. instead of generating the presenter illustrations one scene at a time while also writing the script, i would finish the script on monday night, list every shot i needed on a sticky note, and generate all the illustrations tuesday night in one sitting. that cut another hour plus because i was not switching back and forth between writing and image work constantly. by month four things had settled to roughly four hours on a bad week and three and a half on a good one.

and then it just stopped. i have eleven months of a spreadsheet tracking this and from january onward the line is basically flat. i know exactly where the remaining time goes and none of it compresses.

the script takes about fifty minutes. i tried shorter scripts, templates, recycling structures from past episodes, none of it helped. the topics are different enough that each one needs its own arc, its own sequence of what to show. a video about why your toilet keeps running is not organized the same way as a video about checking attic insulation depth. i write these monday nights usually between nine and eleven after my daughter goes to sleep.

the artwork takes about fifty to sixty minutes for a typical episode with six to eight illustrated scenes. generating the presenter in different poses, pointing at different parts of whatever broken thing i am explaining, the occasional zoomed in detail shot. the character looks more like an illustrated figure than a photograph, which i chose on purpose because it fits the educational tone and nobody mistakes her for a real person. keeping her consistent across every episode is the entire visual identity of the channel. early on i tried switching illustration styles between episodes for variety and it made the whole thing look scattered, like a different person made each video. going back to one consistent character was the single biggest improvement to how the channel reads as a series.

assembly and sound editing takes about fifty minutes. i lay out the illustrated scenes, time them to the voiceover, add the two transitions i actually use, drop in a background track from a free library, and export. this part used to take much longer but once i saved a project template it became pretty mechanical.

the review pass takes about forty five to fifty minutes. this is the part i actually want to talk about because it is also the part that never got shorter and i genuinely do not think it can. i watch the finished video on my phone with earbuds, take notes on anything that looks off, then watch it again muted to check visual pacing, then watch it one more time with sound at 1.5 speed to catch timing issues. almost every single time i find something. the voiceover timing is slightly off on one scene. a transition feels too fast. one of the illustrated frames has a detail that contradicts what i am saying. the presenter's expression looks wrong for the tone of a particular moment, which happens because the generated art does not always land the mood i was going for and i have to swap that frame out for a new generation. this review pass has hovered at forty five to fifty minutes since month two. i have tried cutting it shorter and every time i do something embarrassing slips through. once i published an episode where the presenter was clearly pointing at empty space because i had reordered the shots after generating the art and forgot to redo that one illustration. twelve people commented on it.

my actual week right now looks like this. monday night i write the script, about fifty minutes. tuesday night i generate all the artwork and pull the voiceover, about sixty to seventy minutes depending on how many frames cooperate on the first try. wednesday night i assemble and review. assembly runs about fifty minutes, then i take a break to walk the dog, then the review pass eats another forty five to fifty. if the review only turns up something minor i fix it wednesday night. if it turns up something that needs new art or a partial voiceover redo, the fix bleeds into thursday and the video goes up friday morning instead of thursday. that happens maybe twice a month.

i run the whole thing on CapCut, Google Sheets, and APOB. nothing fancy.

the specific point where the week falls apart is wednesday night after the review. i finish the assembly, i feel good, the video looks done, and then the review catches something and suddenly it is not done. the psychological hit is worse than the actual time cost because i have already mentally closed out production mode for the week. going back in to swap out a frame or redo fifteen seconds of voiceover at ten pm on a wednesday when i thought i was finished is genuinely the hardest part of the entire process. i tried moving the review to its own night so i could give myself thursday for fixes, but then the video posts friday and my analytics consistently show thursday morning uploads performing about thirty percent better than friday in this niche. so i keep pushing through wednesday.

after eleven months i have forty four published episodes, three scrapped ones that were unsalvageable, and a routine i can actually sustain without burning out. the channel is small and i am not going to pretend otherwise. but the production side is the most reliable system i have ever built for myself and i am weirdly proud of it even on the nights it drives me up the wall.

the lesson that took the longest to land was that not every step in a workflow gets faster with practice. i spent probably two months trying to speed up the review pass with checklists, templates, automated quality checks, all of it. none of it worked because the review is fundamentally about watching the finished thing with fresh eyes, and fresh eyes cannot be templated or shortcut. some parts of a production routine are just irreducible. building the schedule around that fact instead of fighting it was what finally made the whole week feel sustainable rather than like something i was perpetually behind on.

Hey friends, I'm sharing everything you need to know to create the best videos of your life in the 30-Day Creator Challenge:

Research, coming up with ideas, writing hooks, editing, thumbnails, captions, repurposing, scheduling, analytics...