A New Frontier for Animation
The animation industry is currently facing a period of intense transformation. With the rapid evolution of generative AI, many creative professionals are concerned about their future and the stability of their roles. While public sentiment often leans towards skepticism—frequently resulting in backlash against AI-assisted projects—one former Pixar artist has chosen to engage directly with the technology to reshape its potential.
Connie He, who contributed to projects at Netflix and worked as a story artist on Pixar’s Inside Out 2, made a bold transition to Google DeepMind. There, she directed Dear Upstairs Neighbor, an animated short film that utilizes a bespoke generative AI pipeline grounded in original human-made art.
Redefining the AI Workflow
Unlike common text-to-video tools that generate content from simple prompts, Dear Upstairs Neighbor employs an image-to-video approach centered on human craftsmanship. Every element of the film, from character designs to storyboards, originated from human artists.
To achieve a unique aesthetic, He utilized her own hand-painted acrylic artwork to train custom machine learning models, known as LoRAs. These models were integrated into a hybrid 2D/3D workflow alongside industry-standard software like Maya. This method produced a textured, "living painting" visual style that would be near-impossible to replicate using traditional computer graphics (CG) alone.
«In computer graphics, it's always hard because everything will look CG – it's how the rendering systems are built, and things move in a CG way. But the machine learning model is able to pick up the design rules we give it, something you cannot get with computer graphics,» explains He.
Collaboration Over Automation
Rather than replacing the creative process, He views her role at DeepMind as a collaborative effort between artists and engineers. By working closely with researchers, her team successfully addressed common AI issues like visual flickering, creating custom systems that allowed for artistic control over the final output.
She emphasizes that artists must remain part of the technological conversation to ensure these tools are built with creative needs in mind. For He, AI is not a replacement but an "unfinished medium" that requires human guidance to unlock new possibilities.
The Future of Ethics and Creativity
He acknowledges the significant ethical concerns regarding AI, particularly regarding copyright and foundational models. She advocates for the establishment of legal frameworks to govern the industry, noting that the current "blank" space makes it difficult to navigate the integration of AI ethically.
Looking ahead, she believes major studios will eventually adopt these technologies as the chaos of the current transition settles. Ultimately, He compares generative AI to a "new, fresh box of paint." She concludes that as the technology matures, artists will find ways to use it to create stories and visual styles that were previously beyond reach.