r/technology • u/biendi • Feb 02 '23
Netflix Made an Anime Using AI Due To a 'Labor Shortage,' and Fans Are Pissed Business
https://m.slashdot.org/story/4102976.4k
u/archetype1 Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
"Even top animators reportedly earn just $1,400 to $3,800 a month
What the actual fuck. Animation is a long, laborious process requiring considerable skill. They should be getting more than $15/hr.
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u/eightandahalf Feb 02 '23
That’s precisely why there is in fact a shortage of quality animators right now.
The only people who do it are people who are genuinely passionate about the art form, because it is an insane 24/7 crunch that pays pennies and has been for a long time.
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u/Themanwhofarts Feb 02 '23
I wanted to be an animator when I was young. Someone told me that the hours were long and you got paid very little. Well, that dream died that day.
Even manga artists work crazy hours, even more so when they are successful. Oda (One Piece author) has taken like very few breaks in his 20+ year series. I mean he is a multi millionaire and incredibly famous but still man
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u/tuckedfexas Feb 02 '23
I went to school for illustration. Every single teacher there who was a working illustrator openly told us unless you want to teach or be poor, switch to design lol. Most of them were essentially designer anyways
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u/a-c-moore Feb 02 '23
I did this. Design pays pretty well and I get to do illustration for fun.
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u/Master_Winchester Feb 02 '23
I'm in design but it's much like you both describe illustration. What sort of design are you referring to, graphic design?
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u/zippazappadoo Feb 02 '23
Oda had to be forced by his editor to agree to take regular breaks because his work was affecting his health. He wrote the first 100 chapters of One Piece with no breaks beyond the normal SJ break weeks. He's a machine and cares more about writing One Piece than life itself. Eh....maybe not that much but he's definitely living his dream and is a once in a generation talent with an insane work ethic.
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u/Themanwhofarts Feb 02 '23
Ya I guess he is an exception to the rule as it is a passion more than a job. (I'm sure it helps that he is successful).
Maybe Togashi is a better example, the author of Hunter X Hunter. He had such bad health issues he had to stop. I mean pumping out weekly manga is not easy, glad to see he is back on again feeling better.
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u/zippazappadoo Feb 02 '23
Yea Togashi is one of GOATs as well. I heard they had to get it set up for him to be able to draw lying down flat for him to still be able to work because his back is so messed up. But he's getting a lot of help now and promised to continue producing on a regular schedule which is great because he was apparently severely depressed for years when he couldn't draw and write without being in pain. I'm pretty sure he also is switching to a monthly release schedule with longer chapters now so he can work more at his own pace.
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u/bellj1210 Feb 02 '23
i never got why someone like him does not write and move away from the art as much- they already have assistants to help with that (and several of Togashi's assistants have gone on to amazing stuff)
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u/zippazappadoo Feb 02 '23
Drawing manga is clearly something important to him. He probably wouldn't be happy with just writing and letting someone else draw everything. It's his baby so he probably wants to see it through himself.
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u/Outlulz Feb 03 '23
He definitely isn’t doing it because he needs the money, that household has Sailor Moon money up the wazoo.
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u/zippazappadoo Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23
You have to remember HxH is Togashi's 2nd hit manga/anime. He wrote all of Yu Yu Hakusho in 3 years in the 90s and that was very successful and still very highly acclaimed.
Edit: O yea and his wife wrote fucking SAILOR MOON
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u/RevanchistVakarian Feb 03 '23
Oda uses “you must be willing to die for One Piece” as an explicit hiring criteria for his editors. Plus there’s an extremely strong theme in the series of needing to be unafraid of death to truly follow your dreams. So I wouldn’t be so sure that he actually loves life more than One Piece. If anything I suspect the only way people finally got him to slow down was by convincing him that if he kept going so hard, he’d die before he could finish the work.
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u/DesiOtaku Feb 02 '23
I mean he is a multi millionaire and incredibly famous but still man
There is a rumor that Bleach ended a little early because Tite Kubo was burned out, Bleach wasn't making as much money as before, and he started to get health problems.
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u/EruantienAduialdraug Feb 02 '23
I don't know if that was ever substantiated (though having to wrap up early is a common story from mangaka), but Kubo did say that the time pressures of the publishing schedule meant that he couldn't do anything like what he wanted with the fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra, and that had always bothered him (made better by getting to re-choreograph the fight for the movie). He basically had to phone it in to meet the deadline.
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u/BevansDesign Feb 02 '23
This is why I always say that the whole concept of a "worker shortage" is a myth propagated by employers. The problem is a compensation shortage. There will always be people willing to do a job if you actually pay them what they're worth.
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u/Kandiru Feb 02 '23
If you don't have enough staff, you need to pay more. It's basic market forces in action!
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u/DeedTheInky Feb 02 '23
Can confirm, used to work as a 2D animator, the pay was not great. Also sometimes you'll spend 8 hours drawing hands over and over, then a note comes in that says the main character is now a bird and has no hands, even though you thought you had like 20 minutes of stuff finished so now you have to throw that out and do it again but as bird.
Then you eventually work up the energy to make a passion project on your own, to discover that the YouTube algorithm strongly favours long-form content published often, which is the exact opposite of how animation is produced. :)
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u/Pattoe89 Feb 02 '23
I remember watching a podcast with a Japanese Animator for a major studio. He said that often the highest paid person in the building per hour was the cleaner.
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u/Rivale Feb 02 '23
They work themselves until they have injuries, then they get surgery and recover only to do it again.
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u/going2leavethishere Feb 02 '23
Haha wait till you hear about how Disney fucked over writers calling them animators so they wouldn’t unionize.
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u/sleepingwiththefishs Feb 03 '23
Disney just call everyone a story person so you won’t get residuals as a writer or director.
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u/ghsteo Feb 02 '23
Well you see the business and marketing people require that money not the actual talent.
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u/Selky Feb 02 '23
Welcome to 99% of design work. Only product designers are making decent money.
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u/Hmm_would_bang Feb 02 '23
Welcome to careers that people want to do. As long as enough people are passionate about it, and there isn’t a strong union, people will be willing to do it for slavery wages.
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u/uuhson Feb 03 '23
Redditors struggle to understand basic supply and demand. No artist became an artist without knowing damn well they do not get paid well. The starving artist meme is literally hundreds of years old.
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u/Thefrayedends Feb 02 '23
Unfortunately most industries that involve 'passion' driven workers will have wages driven down because there are likely to always be new people willing to work for nothing to get into the industry.
Even things that look good at a glance line acting and musicians, there are visible examples of people getting very wealthy. The unseen part is all the people that worked 30 years at a diner trying to get a part, or playing dive bars for drinks and a cheap motel room.
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u/Zacajoowea Feb 02 '23
“Laborious”. Any process that involves labor is in fact looked down upon and paid the least amount of money. Pretty consistent across the board.
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u/PXSHRVN6ER Feb 02 '23
I make double those exact numbers off and on busy season as a bartender. Wild
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u/SuperToxin
Feb 02 '23
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i love how its always due to a labour shortage, when in reality they just didnt want to spend the money to hire people. People are willing to work for the right pay.
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u/TheZapster Feb 02 '23
There was a shortage of labor willing to accept our pay offer of $9.99/hr, hence there is a labor shortage!
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u/Buckhum Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
From the linked article:
the reported salary of low-rung anime illustrators was as little as $200 a month
So if they work at "benign" schedule of 50hr/week, that's still only $1 an hour. Shit's pretty fucked yo.
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u/400921FB54442D18 Feb 02 '23
What's really fucked is that executives looked at that and said "nah, an actual human being's labor isn't worth paying $1/hour for."
At some point we should start suing business schools for teaching people to devalue human life.
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u/nooneimportan7 Feb 02 '23
The thought of humans probably never crossed their mind.
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u/TacitusMortuus Feb 02 '23
Humans is a contraction for "HUge MANSions", of course they love them.
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u/DescriptionSenior675 Feb 02 '23
Okay, but who are those execs? Who at Netflix or whatever company is currently in the news for being fucking awful is actually making these decisions? Can we name them?
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u/claimTheVictory Feb 02 '23
No, and this is only the start.
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u/DescriptionSenior675 Feb 02 '23
I think it ends when personal accountability is put into place for those kinds of people.
Rich greedy fucks are 100% the source of every problem we are facing, and it's suuuuper obvious lol
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u/FishFloyd Feb 03 '23
whispers
maybe the issue is less with human nature and more with the systems of power and social structures that actively reward this behavior
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u/claimTheVictory Feb 02 '23
Yes, but that observation could have been accurately made at any point in human history since antiquity.
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u/Tchazarnek Feb 03 '23
True, but just because something has always been one way, doesn't mean it needs to continue.
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u/trembleandtrample Feb 02 '23
There's a reason we don't teach kids economics or about money, because they'll catch on that thi sentiment system is completely inhumane.
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u/rerunderwear Feb 02 '23
Then they wouldn’t be cash cows & worker bees for the privileged passive-incomers
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u/rpoliticsmodshateme Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
The people who make the absolute most money in our society contribute absolutely nothing to it. They just take, take, take. Like bloated parasites. And then they have the nerve to look down on us like we’re ants. Better an ant than an engorged tick.
If your primary means of income is “my money makes money” kindly board a SpaceX rocket directly into the sun and take the company’s owner with you. Shareholders, landlords, hedge funders, get fucked.
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u/Blazing1 Feb 03 '23
They make money on other people's hard work
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u/rpoliticsmodshateme Feb 03 '23
They need to get a damn job and make money on their own hard work.
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u/mortalcoil1 Feb 02 '23
When you are taught about the widget factory, you never ever learn the names of the people who work there.
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u/Ok-Brilliant-1737 Feb 02 '23
Not the solution. The solution is statute law that overturns the court precedents finding that “increasing shareholder value” is the only fiduciary duty of executive management.
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u/Metro42014 Feb 02 '23
It's already not required https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/16/what-are-corporations-obligations-to-shareholders/corporations-dont-have-to-maximize-profits
But that doesn't stop people from behaving like they are.
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u/glymao Feb 02 '23
This is in Japan which is pretty notorious for this bullshit. Young people growing up in an environment that paint animation careers in a better light than they really are. Graduate to find the reality of an oversaturated industry and years (!!) of unpaid internships and they get abused a lot.
These days very few Japanese animation graduates are willing to stay in the country to get a shot of being a big studio's apprenticeship. Most just work in China for an actual wage and much better labour protection.
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u/carolinax Feb 02 '23
Which is insane if you think about it. China, South Korea and Malaysia are hotbeds for outsourced animation.
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Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
A little digging shows it’s not $200/month. OP’s article is ironically an AI generated version of Vice’s article. Doing a little more research shows they get paid by the number of scenes they work on which can actually be much less. No one has the exact shows but its known that illustrators at one of their studios made $34 per scene.
The lowest paid Netflix illustrator working at a Japanese studio makes $12,000USD/year. However this is attributed to the low volume work. The problem arises with the fact that the average illustrator pay in the US is $64k/year. So overall illustrators makes less than the rest of the entertainment industry but Netflix is paying even less than that.
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u/OfCourse4726 Feb 02 '23
nah i would never believe this. there is no way skilled labor in japan is 200. these guys could work in a convenience store and make 5x that. the minimum wage in a country like vietnam for 1 month's labor is actually 300 usd. 200 in japan for 50hrs is completely made up. you couldnt even afford rent with that.
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Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 13 '23
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u/jkman61494 Feb 02 '23
Those same employers are likely going to learn why no one wants to work for them when they are killing off remote or even hybrid.
Just went to a workforce development conference for where I live. Someone with KPMG led the summit and was babbling about our area has 1700 unfilled jobs and how do we solve it.
I asked the guy a question about any studies done about workers going remote with companies out of the area and he just got aggressive saying he's hosting cheesesteak days to bring people back and they have a great parking lot (that the workers have to pay on) and they need people back in the office!
But then goes back to complaining why they can't find talent. That lot costs nearly $300 a month and we live in an area where salaries are about 50% of what you'd expect in an I-95 corridor city
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u/Aaod Feb 02 '23
Having to pay for parking at work because the company insisted on not building in a walkable area is one of the dumbest things. YOU CHOSE TO BUILD HERE WHERE EVERYONE HAS TO DRIVE!
The remote thing is so true as well here in the Midwest so many people got sick of the lower pay and shitty commutes so they went remote or found other jobs and now companies are complaining they can't hire enough skilled experienced workers. Well are you willing to hire entry level and train them up so they become experienced? Hell no! Are you willing to raise wages to match or beat what those remote places are offering? No we can't afford that. Well what do you offer then? We do a pizza party once a month! Ridiculous.
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u/regeya Feb 02 '23
In the US, the same percentage of working age people are actively working as there was 30 years ago. The thing is, the percentage of the population above prime working age has grown. When they report that less people are working and willing to work, they report people who are 18 and older. This includes retirees.
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u/robot65536 Feb 02 '23
Making retirement impossible is an important part of their plan to maintain an oversupply of underpaid workers.
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u/regeya Feb 02 '23
The part that confuses me is encouraging retirees to be angry at working age adults for not being willing to work at higher rates than they were. The only way to increase that number without retirees rejoining the workforce is to have working-age adults break the record set in the 90s. And they won't interrogate the implication that "nobody wants to work anymore" hits their own generation, that record setting workforce participation rates of the 90s are considered a pathetic failure now.
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u/Kraz_I Feb 02 '23
Well, the people who aren’t in the workforce today are different from the ones before the 70s. Back then, it was mostly women in single family homes and retirees. Today fewer people manage to retire and I don’t think any single demographic is dominant in people outside the labor force. Students maybe
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u/Dry_Boots Feb 02 '23
They can't possibly afford to pay anyone more, while raking in record profits...
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u/LogJamminWithTheBros Feb 02 '23
Companies and the wealthy think they deserve labor and our reward is the privilege of work.
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u/Flat_Ferret_9014 Feb 02 '23
It’s about the Free Market, in that there is no market of free workers
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u/Waytooboredforthis Feb 02 '23
I went for a job interview as an EMT, I kinda knew dude who was interviewing me, he was bitching about how no one wants to be an EMT anymore and they were struggling to find people. When I asked about pay he said, "We'd start you out at $10 an hour."
Why the hell do they think they're struggling for workers?
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u/jollyreaper2112 Feb 02 '23
I run a far smaller chance of killing people at McDonalds for more an hour. Blows my goddamn mind we pay EMT's so little with how important they are. Our society is fucked.
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Feb 02 '23
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u/Waytooboredforthis Feb 02 '23
God only knows. A friend of mine slipped a few weeks ago in a parking lot, cracked her head, 5 minute ambulance ride cost her almost two grand. I ended up removing her stitches later for free because she was scared of incurring more debt.
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u/Jasondeathenrye Feb 02 '23
I want you to work an incredibly stressful job, where theres a small chance to be killed for less than a McDonalds employee. Back in my day I made less than half that, and the cost of living was drastically lower, and I didnt complain.
/s
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u/Waytooboredforthis Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
Not to mention the hours. I don't mind working long hours if I'm paid decent, I used to work as an energy efficiency contractor, paid $28 an hour, OT after 8 hours each day, great health insurance, I didn't mind putting in the time. But $10 to stabilize folks? I'll do that shit for free out of my own pocket before I work for an ambulance company that charges $2k for a 5 minute ride to the hospital but pays their employees like that.
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u/richalex2010 Feb 02 '23
A friend was doing skilled labor hand soldering surface mount components for critical medical equipment during the pandemic. He struggled to stay at the job when he'd stop at Walmart for groceries on the way home and they were advertising higher starting pay for stocking shelves.
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u/Waytooboredforthis Feb 02 '23
It really is a shame that the folks we need most are often paid so little and expected to stick it out for their passion towards it. I don't know how on god's green earth so many people in similar situations are mad at the wal-mart employee for being paid more and not at their own employer.
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u/Nonsenseinabag Feb 02 '23
Netflix also loves dropping studios the second they unionize, too.
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u/ConeyIslandMan Feb 02 '23
Come on! Who doesn’t want 8 cents per hour viewed????
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u/InSixFour Feb 02 '23
Is that really the going rate?
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u/GrumpyButtrcup Feb 02 '23
No...
Netflix purchases IP rights for production value plus ~30%. Contracts are negotiated independently. In comparison TV shows are leased for ~60% of their production value but IP rights are retained by the original producer. This means they are looking to make money by having a hit TV show that will sell merch and collect royalties.
As far as contractual streaming, there is no available information regarding streaming rates as it's been documented that these are also individually negotiated on.
This model is what made Netflix the powerhouse it is. They fiercely outcompeted the major networks because producers would rather get paid up front rather than gamble on hopes and dreams.
That means that every single 1-season Netflix series was profitable to the production team where a 1-season TV series is a net loss to the production team.
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u/tuckedfexas Feb 02 '23
I wonder if that’s why they cancel so many shows after one or two seasons? Rather than let a show build a following and give the production studio leverage to negotiate a better deal.
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u/GrumpyButtrcup Feb 02 '23
Anecdotally speaking, I've seen testimonials of production studios who admit that working for Netflix is better than any TV studio. Netflix usually purchases the IP and then let's the studio do their thing with minimal involvement. Most TV shows never blow up to absurdly lucrative proportions like Seinfield, Friends, HIMYM, GoT, Sopranos, etc. So it would make sense that selling IP rights for a paycheck, even a single season, is far more lucrative than any TV studio contract.
I don't have any knowledge of the cause of how frequently we see 1-season series so often.
Although it is true that Netflix's model has come under fire from other well-funded competitors, streaming rates are absolutely negotiated. You can bet that Friends had a higher payout per stream than Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long blog ever did.
Unfortunately we may never know reliable statistics about this as we will only ever see what is publicly reported on.
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u/Chronis67 Feb 02 '23
Judging by what you say about Netflix letting the studio create the show with little intervention, I'm a bit curious if the 1 season cancellation is a long term plan. If a show doesn't blow up instantly, they can cancel and sit on the rights, in hopes that it gains a big enough following in the coming years for a new season.
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u/spellbanisher Feb 02 '23
How come it's always a "Labor shortage" but never a wage shortage? The article says even top animators only make $1400 to $3800 a month.
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u/diarrheainthehottub Feb 02 '23
Wow, you could make the same working nights throwing freight.
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u/Wolfgang1234 Feb 02 '23
Manual labor sounds easy but it's still pretty common to see someone hired, just for them to realize they can't finish half a shift. Not to disparage the work of animators, but simpler work can still be difficult.
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u/roflcopter44444 Feb 02 '23
It's more for the amount of schooling and hours put into being good enough to considered to animate at a professional level, the wages seem low.
Manual labor mainly comes down to fitness but the reality is that these days most people aren't in great shape and are too impatient to give the bodies time to get up to speed.
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u/phyrros Feb 02 '23
Manual Labor comes at the penalty that you simply can't do it as long.
You can animate at a professional level for 50 years+ whereas you can't do it with manual labor. Thus everyone in a manual labor workfield should earn more than the equivalent in a less demanding career path as they have less time to earn their pension
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u/Estilix Feb 02 '23
"No one wants to work
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u/wongrich Feb 02 '23
"its that pesky welfare! otherwise they'd be so desperate they'd want to be exploited by me!" /s
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u/RuffledScales Feb 02 '23
"How else will I hire people if they aren't threatened with starvation and homelessness if they say no to my offer?"
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u/azurleaf Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
When you can buy a self checkout to do the job of 3 cashiers for a quarter of the price, plus have them available 24/7 without calling out... an MBA doesn't consider that a hard decision.
Same with AI. When they can render a passable show for dirt cheap, where you don't have to worry about workers unions, scheduling conflicts, talent acquisition, contract negotiations, actors getting themselves cancelled... it's a no-brainer. They'll go for AI every time.
It's not about whether or not it's the right thing do to, it's about what makes the most money.
I'm waiting for the first chatGPT sitcom that kicks the WGA to the curb. I'm curious how much of a riot they're going to make.
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u/Barange Feb 02 '23
To be fair, the tradeoff is massive increases in theft and a necessary reinvestment in loss prevention tech or staff. They are cutting short term and some longer, more required costs such as the cashier's miniscule wages and increasing current liabilities and future expenses immensely. The numbers just haven't been realized or had a dramatic enough increases yet to force a corrective change.
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u/PrintShinji Feb 02 '23
Same with AI. When they can render a passable show for dirt cheap, where you don't have to worry about workers unions, scheduling conflicts, talent acquisition, contract negotiations, actors getting themselves cancelled... it's a no-brainer. They'll go for AI every time.
The problem is, its not passable. The backgrounds (the whole focus of this short) are pretty bad. Any animator would get chewed out on it because it doesn't fit at all. Even after the "human" passes, its atrocious.
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u/gentlegreengiant Feb 02 '23
"This is a business, not a charity!" - one of the execs probably
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u/400921FB54442D18 Feb 02 '23
one of the execs
You mean, one of the people who literally get free money from that business every quarter? Paying executives bonuses regardless of the quality of the job done looks like charity to me.
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u/thejamielee Feb 02 '23
realistically they were testing a cost cutting measure and are hiding behind the claim of a labor shortage. they’ll probably A/B test this against some other new animated content that paid human talent produced and make a decision. do not be surprised if this becomes a norm for streaming platforms where the only human talent will be voiceover work
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u/Black_Moons Feb 02 '23
do not be surprised if this becomes a norm for streaming platforms where the only human talent will be voiceover work
AI is coming for voiceovers too. Some of the english vocaloid voice banks are pretty decent when the tuner is on his game. Im sure some AI equivalent will be coming out soon.
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u/Anonymous7056 Feb 02 '23
You can already use AI to make people say whatever you want, provided you have enough sample data.
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u/Wild-Plankton595 Feb 03 '23
Iirc James Earl Jones allowed them to AI-ify his voice for future Vader things
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u/Brushner Feb 03 '23
AI voice is near perfect already. https://youtu.be/F2y2bIlfbfI
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u/Shvingy Feb 02 '23
That eleven labs ai is being used to make a full audio book of the king James Bible voiced by Joshua Graham from fallout nv. Voice acting is dead by next year
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u/ParmaSean_Chz Feb 02 '23
“Please pay us a fair wage for our efforts”
Billion dollar company: “guys there’s a labor shortage we don’t know what to do other than use robot scab workers”
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u/hovdeisfunny Feb 02 '23
Workers - "Actually, we'd be happy to work for you if you just paid us a bit more, gave us decent healthcare, and generally treated us like human beings."
Employers - "No idea what we could possibly do to solve the problem, labor shortage, nobody wants to work anymore, etc."
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u/immaownyou Feb 02 '23
Person that makes 7 figures sitting on their ass: "Do you guys even deserve to get paid more, kids can draw"
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u/tetrisattacker Feb 02 '23
Reminds me of that time on Twitter that a bunch of coal workers got laid off and the journalists (piss be upon them) response was to "learn to code".
Turns out we won't really need journalists in the future, or very many coders. Wah wah.
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u/theepi_pillodu Feb 02 '23
Hey, we tried using the ai and see if we can fire you guys. I understand our customer base is pissed, probably we will wait the AI to get better.
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u/Aggressive_Chain_920 Feb 03 '23
I have no problem with AI being used for animation. Its natural that this will be the future of animation. But pinning the blame on labor shortage is kinda dumb.
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u/rymotion Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
The AI: i got this new anime plot. basically there's this high school girl except she's got huge boobs. i mean some serious honkers. a real set of badonkers. packin some dobonhonkeros. massive dohoonkabhankoloos. big ol' tonhongerekoogers.
Netflix exec: what happens next?!
AI: transfer student shows up with even bigger bonkhonagahoogs. humongous hungolomghononoloughongous….
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u/DarkAnnihilator Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23 •
![]()
Hello. Can you make the most generic anime plot with teenage boys as the demographic?
Sure, here's a generic anime plot with teenage boys as the demographic:
The protagonist, a teenage boy, is an average student who leads a mundane life until he discovers he has a unique ability or power. He meets other teens with similar abilities and they band together to fight against a common enemy threatening humanity. Along the way, they face personal challenges, build relationships, and learn important life lessons. They must overcome their own limitations and work together to save the world.
Can you come up with stereotypical villain with a backstory and also names for all the characters?
Certainly! Here's a stereotypical villain with a backstory, as well as names for all the characters:
Villain: Name: Makoto Backstory: Makoto was once a brilliant scientist who was betrayed by his colleagues and subjected to cruel experiments that gave him immense power but also twisted his mind. He now seeks to destroy the world and recreate it in his own image.
Protagonist: Name: Tatsuya Backstory: Tatsuya is a kind-hearted but socially awkward teenage boy who possesses a hidden power that he has yet to fully understand. He is chosen as the leader of the group tasked with stopping Makoto and saving the world.
Other Teenagers:
Ryu - a confident and hot-headed teenage boy with the ability to control fire
Akiko - a strong-willed and independent teenage girl who can manipulate water
Yasu - a cheerful and playful teenage boy who can create illusions
Yori - a calm and collected teenage girl who can bend space-time
Together, Tatsuya and his friends must overcome their own insecurities and learn to work together in order to stop Makoto and save the world.
What are the insecurities?
Here are some common insecurities that Tatsuya and his friends may face:
Tatsuya - struggles with social anxiety and feeling like he doesn't fit in
Ryu - has a tendency to act impulsively and doesn't always consider the consequences of his actions
Akiko - has trust issues due to a difficult past and has trouble opening up to others
Yasu - feels like he's not taken seriously because of his playful demeanor
Yori - has low self-esteem and doesn't believe in her own abilities
These insecurities can cause friction and conflict within the group, but they also provide opportunities for growth and character development as they learn to support each other and overcome their challenges.
Can you write a tragic death of one of the protagonists for the final battle?
Certainly, here's a tragic death for one of the protagonists during the final battle:
As the group faces Makoto in the final battle, Yasu sacrifices himself to save the others. Despite his playful demeanor, Yasu had always been a key member of the team, using his illusions to distract Makoto and protect his friends. In the heat of the battle, Makoto launches a deadly attack that would have killed Tatsuya and the others. Yasu steps in front of the attack and uses his powers to create a final, massive illusion, taking the full force of Makoto's attack and dying instantly.
His death is a devastating blow to the group and a turning point in the battle. It inspires Tatsuya and the others to fight even harder and they eventually succeed in defeating Makoto. However, they are left with a deep sense of loss and grief over the loss of their friend. Yasu's selfless sacrifice serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of friendship and bravery, and inspires Tatsuya and the others to continue to fight for what's right even in the face of danger.
Edit. This is almost every teenager anime ever
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u/ymgve Feb 02 '23
Makoto Backstory
pretty good name for a villain
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u/IrritableGourmet Feb 02 '23
The hero/protagonist of the novel Snow Crash is literally named Hiro Protagonist. And it works.
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u/sittingnotstill Feb 03 '23
big upvote for Snow Crash reference, delivering pizzas never sounded so cool.
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u/Goatiac Feb 02 '23
As the group faces Makoto in the final battle, Yasu sacrifices himself to save the others.
DUDE, SPOILERS
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u/TwilightVulpine Feb 02 '23
Along the way, they face personal challenges, build relationships, and learn important life lessons.
That's already doing more than some fantasy anime out there.
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u/-s-u-n-s-e-t- Feb 03 '23
Yup.. Most modern isekai trash isn't even trying to present any serious challenges or god forbid make anyone learn life lessons.
The protagonist is just an overpowered self-insert that defeats everyone at the blink of an eye, while a harem of girls throw themselves at him. I don't mind wish-fulfillment in media, but at some point it gets so ridiculous, I genuinely don't understand how anyone can take it seriously
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u/jazir5 Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23
They've gotten so lazy with the concepts they're transporting generic professions to an Isekai world and it fucking blows the other characters minds. Isekai has reached creative bankruptcy.
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u/hendricha Feb 02 '23
Yori is best girl.
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u/EmoEnte Feb 02 '23
I am so unreasonably mad that it killed off Yasu, he was my favorite by a lot
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u/NtheHouseNaheartbeat Feb 02 '23
I cried at the death. Top 5 anime contained within a single comment ever. Thank you for your work😭💚
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u/WTFwhatthehell Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
Honestly that seems like a slightly above average offering....
I tried feeding it what you got back into ChatGPT
Here is a description of a story, could you please create a title and an outline for the first arc of a 3 arc story:
[text block]
Title: "Heroes Unite: The Rise of the Teen Titans"
Arc 1 Outline:
- Introduction of Tatsuya as an average student leading a mundane life
- Discovery of Tatsuya's unique ability and meeting of other teens with similar abilities
- Formation of the Teen Titans to fight against Makoto and protect humanity
- Personal challenges and building of relationships among the Teen Titans
- Confrontation with Makoto and learning important life lessons
- Overcoming of personal insecurities and limitations by the Teen Titans
- Building of trust and understanding within the group as they face Makoto's minions
- Final showdown with Makoto and the sacrifice of Yasu
- Inspiration from Yasu's selfless sacrifice to continue fighting for what's right
- End of Arc 1 with the defeat of Makoto and the beginning of the mourning process for Yasu.
Could you please write an outline for the second arc and give descriptions of the antagonists and new characters they protagonist will meet.
Arc 2 Outline:
After the defeat of Makoto, the Teen Titans are left to pick up the pieces and come to terms with the loss of Yasu.
New threats emerge as the world tries to adjust to the aftermath of the battle.
The Teen Titans discover that Makoto was part of a larger organization that seeks to control and manipulate people with powers.
The Teen Titans must come together again to stop the organization and prevent them from achieving their goals.
Along the way, they meet new allies with powers and face new challenges that test their strength and resolve.
Antagonists:
The Organization - A secret society made up of powerful individuals who seek to control and manipulate people with powers for their own gain.
The Commander - The leader of the Organization, who is a charismatic and ruthless individual who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
The Enforcers - The muscle of the Organization, made up of individuals with powers who enforce the will of the Commander.
New Characters:
Jiro - A wise and powerful mentor who has experience with powers and helps guide the Teen Titans on their journey.
Kira - A teenage girl with the ability to control air and a fierce determination to stop the Organization.
Takeshi - A teenage boy with the power to control the earth, who is a loyal friend and fierce warrior.
Emiko - A teenage girl with the ability to control light and dark, who possesses a mysterious and guarded past.
As the Teen Titans face the Organization, they must overcome their own limitations, build trust with their new allies, and learn to work together in order to save the world once again.
Describe the crescendo of arc 2.
The crescendo of Arc 2 occurs when the Teen Titans, along with their new allies Jiro, Kira, Takeshi, and Emiko, face the Organization in a final, epic battle. The stakes are higher than ever as they fight to prevent the Organization from achieving their goals and controlling the world.
The Teen Titans must use all of their skills and abilities to overcome the Enforcers, who have been trained to use their powers for evil. Meanwhile, the Commander, with their charisma and cunning, tries to sway the Teen Titans to their side with persuasive words and offers of power.
As the battle rages on, the Teen Titans find themselves at a disadvantage, facing overwhelming odds and seemingly insurmountable challenges. But, with their unwavering determination and support from their friends, they push forward and find a way to turn the tide.
In a dramatic moment, Jiro sacrifices himself to save the Teen Titans, inspiring them to fight even harder and overcome their limitations. They finally defeat the Commander and the Enforcers, and save the world from the grip of the Organization.
The crescendo of Arc 2 is a moment of triumph and triumph over evil, as the Teen Titans prove their bravery and strength in the face of adversity. The victory is bittersweet, as they remember their fallen comrade Jiro, but they emerge from the battle stronger and more united than ever before, ready for whatever challenges may come their way.
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u/Un7n0wn Feb 02 '23
Yori having the ability to control the fabric of reality, but thinking she's worthless is actually a fucking mood. This AI generated anime is better than the last 3 isekai I tried to watch.
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u/DullwolfXb Feb 02 '23
What's this referencing? It sounds familiar.
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u/AnneMichelle98 Feb 02 '23
It’s an old Tumblr post about big anime titties
Edit: Here’s the KYM entry
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u/huxley75 Feb 02 '23
Can we all just appreciate this is a Slashdot link? Something Awful, Fark, and Slashdot used to be my holy trinity of Web sites.
Honorable mention to Kottke.
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u/Colorado-Sunshine Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 03 '23
I remember back when Slashdot’s comment section was awesome. John Carmack used to comment about game programming. People who had worked in intel would dish out old state secrets. These days it’s just crazy angry arguments with some asshole sprinkling in a dash of racism.
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u/TrepanationBy45 Feb 02 '23
Alright, this dude probably has stairs in his house 🤔
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u/AlsoIHaveAGroupon Feb 02 '23
I've never unsubscribed to slashdot or kottke. Still going strong in my rss reader.
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u/butters1337 Feb 02 '23
Wow when did slashdot update their website? Loads like trash now with all the trackers, JavaScript and shit.
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u/TheColt45 Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
Nobody is reading it. They used AI for the background images. It still is taking work from someone else but the whole anime isn’t made by AI.
Edit: As others have pointed out, animators only used the AI as a template, if that. Stupid advertising from Netflix.
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u/PerformerOwn194 Feb 02 '23
It’s so funny cause they didn’t even really use it. In the step by step they show in the credits the artist visibly ignored all the input from the Ai and just repainted the original sketch. It’s all propaganda to make people impressed with Ai
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u/P_Griffin2 Feb 02 '23
And unimpressed with Netflix.
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u/Cakeking7878 Feb 02 '23
Well to investors, hearing “we can potentially dramatically reduce labor costs while maintaining current content production” is the golden goose Netflix desperately needs but doesn’t have
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u/chmilz Feb 02 '23
After failing hard at blockchain and NFT's, they've circled back to AI.
slaps the trunk of the car "There's so much AI in here, you'll never know how you lived without it!"
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u/Chroiche Feb 02 '23
AI is literally a hugely profitable thing for them and always has been. They're very famous in the field for their recommender system contest.
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u/josguil Feb 02 '23
I’m not sure they ignored all the output from AI. I see for example they used the same color palette than the AI suggested, which was less vivid than the draft.
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u/tricksterloki Feb 02 '23
Which were finished by animators.
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u/dawiebe Feb 02 '23
Started and finished. The animators drew up a rough sketch first for the AI to work with.
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u/tricksterloki Feb 02 '23
If used properly, this technology could lead to more animators being hired because more might get made since the process is more efficient. I'd liken this to the early adoption of CGI in animation.
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u/B33rtaster Feb 02 '23
Or like with flash in the 2000s The budgets get cheaper, the pay unchanged, and profits go to the execs and stock holders.
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u/tricksterloki Feb 02 '23
That's capitalism in the nut shell. This technology might allow more independent artists, but it's going to be a challenge against established players.
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u/ahses3202 Feb 02 '23
Put in the hands of the artists this could really increase the amount of work a single background artist can do letting them then pick up more projects.
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u/ImitatesLife Feb 02 '23
Maybe I'm just not following your line of thought, but if there is a more efficient automated tool to create something, I feel like you need increasingly less people to work on it. Yes more product can be created, but it might equalize out the same number of current background artists or just less if the amount of product remains the same. Maybe in some future where you needed a whole team working on backgrounds, let's say 5 people, no idea what a reasonable number is, but that turns into 1 person monitoring ai systems and touching up the art it spits out. It's hard to imagine this creating more jobs in the field.
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u/Scodo Feb 02 '23
Depends on whether the bottleneck was in customer demand or in skilled labor to satisfy it.
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u/Doggleganger Feb 02 '23
It makes sense. It's long been the practice for the animation leads to draw the key frames, then teams of minions fill in the rest of the frames. Seems like you could have an AI do a lot of that work, which is very tedious.
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u/Tsobaphomet Feb 03 '23
A labor shortage in an industry where there are endless artists just waiting for a chance at work.
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u/DeathOfLife01 Feb 02 '23
Netflix is really like Let’s raise prices of our subscriptions while lowering the pay of our workers
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u/The_real_bandito Feb 02 '23
Illustrators get paid so low.
Anyone when it comes to AI, it’s coming to take your job. Just be a nice little person and just bend over because we don’t have a choice except to take it.
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u/thethrillman Feb 02 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
The anime short used AI to generate its backgrounds.
I think this is only the beginning for AI use in animation. I think AI will be used for filler animation and coloring as well. There may be a day where a large portions of animation production teams aren't needed as a large portion of a work will be made using AI.
While I think the use of AI in animation will allow the for the production of cheaper and higher quality animation with shorter production times. This being an overall positive for everyone. I don't think it will solve much issues in terms of the working conditions animators face especially in the anime world.
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u/PresidentBreadstick Feb 02 '23
The issue is the amount of Animators who’ll lose a job.
Though… given the near sweatshop conditions of some studios…
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u/Aeonskye Feb 02 '23
When I cut my render time In 3D design, my work load doesnt go down
It goes up - my job scales into my output
My company takes on more jobs, rather than make people redundant. Hopefully this means a studios output will increase either making episodes and scenes quicker, or working on more shows in the same time
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u/Hije5 Feb 02 '23
The headline is very misleading. They used AI to create background images for their "3 minute clips." I was over here thinking they made a whole anime with only AI. Characters, story, etc. were created and brought out by people.
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u/Smellz_Of_Elderberry Feb 02 '23
Netflix is ficking up left and right. First banning family shared accounts, now this? Lol they are about to go under.
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u/Dokibatt Feb 02 '23
Just what Netflix needs, a technology which will allow it to create content with even less soul.
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u/Gutotito Feb 02 '23
Which fans are pissed, precisely?
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u/SuperSecretAgentMan Feb 02 '23
Nobody is pissed. Except for me, at this article, for lying about how people are pissed to get clicks.
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u/Content-Boat-9851 Feb 02 '23
"It's expensive to pay people money, so we accused them of being lazy instead of admitting we are greedy."
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u/paulsteinway Feb 03 '23
"As an experimental effort to help the anime industry, which has a labor shortage"
labor shortage = "We don't want to pay artists and they won't work for free."
help the anime industry = "Turn anime into a business motivated only by profit."
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u/Imaneetboy Feb 02 '23
They quit paying writers a decent wage decades ago. That's why for over 20 years most new shows are unscripted reality TV. No writers needed.
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u/casualhobos Feb 02 '23
Aren't there thousands of struggling writers and artist out there?
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u/ScornfulChicken Feb 02 '23
The labor shortage is BS, everyone’s looking for unicorns to pay low wages to.
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u/kibblepigeon Feb 02 '23 •
There's no labour shortage, just companies unwilling to pay staff to get the work done.