[HN Gopher] Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies
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Show HN: I built an After Effects for dummies
Author : michaelaubry
Score : 162 points
Date : 2020-08-04 20:52 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (storycreatorapp.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (storycreatorapp.com)
| saadshamim wrote:
| out of technical curiosity, how do you render the video? is the
| whole thing like a canvas element?
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Combination of several rendering techniques.
|
| The idea is as long as you have all the information the user
| wants in in each layer. Then you can do a lot of things with
| this understanding.
|
| The major pieces of information you need to collect while
| working on a 2D plane are these.
|
| - The x,y coords - The width and height - A path to the asset -
| additional properties like colors and opacity
|
| From having this critical information stored nicely means you
| can email it to a graphic designer and have them decode it and
| follow the "map".
|
| You can send it to a client side process and have it interpret
| the information.
|
| You can send it to a server and have it interpret the
| information.
|
| You can do a one shot kill and build a system that pieces them
| together using one approach.
|
| You can send each layer to a different process. You can create
| a specialized technique for each layer type.
|
| The key is collecting the information. The actual rendering can
| be done in many ways. FFMPEG, canvas, screen shots, send it to
| a human lol. Using OS commands, etc.
| bitcoinmoney wrote:
| Awesome product. Seems like I could use this.
| boothead wrote:
| Whoa, very cool!
| davjhan wrote:
| This is insane. The home page is super clear and the product
| itself is very slick to use. Good job on defining the right
| vision on the product and prioritizing the exact set of features
| to launch with to solve the specific niche problem space
| (podcast/video promotors on instagram). You seem to have a good
| handle on feature creep.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| I love it. It's funny because I think I spent way too much time
| on this relative to the advice I was getting.
|
| If I didn't have great people in my life then I would be stuck
| on a never ending feature rabbit hole.
|
| When I start my next company I plan to have more balance
| between MVP, user interviews, pre sales, business metrics,
| market research, etc.
|
| This venture was purely intuition and a major desire to build
| this :)
|
| The great thing is I love building this product.
| miguelmota wrote:
| Awesome demo! It's really intuitive to use.
| lefrenchy wrote:
| This is an awesome looking product, I think it will really take
| off for small shops that want to be able to quickly put out
| content. Nice work, wishing you the very best!
| [deleted]
| Kye wrote:
| Mowgli is a very good dog.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| He's the best.
| yarone wrote:
| I am a big fan of Wave Video Maker which looks similar, at a
| glance. I will take a look at this. Congrats and good luck.
| bgdam wrote:
| Dude this is fantastic. Also you really need to charge more.
| Start by doubling the prices for all the plans. It's easily worth
| it and people will pay.
| alecfreud wrote:
| great, here come more Gary V style videos...
|
| kidding aside, this is awesome. excellent work.
| [deleted]
| maximevoisin11 wrote:
| Amazing ! Can you make it collaborative ? If yes, then you have a
| "Figma for video editing" : you made After Effects online and
| collaborative. Huge ! (and then I'd want to invest ;) )
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Yes and I know exactly how to do it.
|
| - is it a part of my vision: yes - does it get me excited: HELL
| YES - do I understand if there is a need in the market: no - do
| I currently have the resources to build it: no
|
| I'd like to first secure some runway. I've been bleeding out
| for awhile.
|
| Second, I would like to talk to users and if this is a serious
| problem worth solving and not just something that is cool. Then
| I am all for it ready to hit it hard.
|
| Some things that get me pumped for the future.
|
| - realtime collaboration - simple keyframe animations - vast
| library of templates - guided/interactive video creation - API
| for other developers and organizations to create video
| maximevoisin11 wrote:
| Love it.
|
| Happy to make intros in the YTber community if they sound
| like an interesting persona to talk to.
| nishanth_v wrote:
| In the pricing section I see there's a limit on videos. Is this a
| monthly limit or total limit. For example, free tier says 5
| videos, is that 5 per month?
| michaelaubry wrote:
| This is per month.
|
| I am still experimenting with the pricing and do have paying
| customers.
|
| I find the average user needs anywhere between 5 videos a month
| to 10. These are serious users who are consistent with their
| posting and are making a return.
|
| Those who are learning and new to the content game can get a
| few videos rendered per month to see if it's for them.
|
| Agencies are a different persona though and they would most
| likely need more than 10.
| txu wrote:
| Super impressive work since I first saw it on IndieHackers.
| Congrats!
| michaelaubry wrote:
| I quit my job over a year ago. Been bootstrapped on savings. I
| picked up a gig last year and only made $30K in 2019.
|
| Hoping my efforts pay off.
| rememberlenny wrote:
| I signed up. This is immediately useful and totally worth the
| cost. Loving the easy video captioning.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Hell yeah!!
| xenospn wrote:
| Looks awesome! BTW, the 'About' page has a missing image (I'm
| assuming it's you).
| michaelaubry wrote:
| I think there is an issue on mobile. Should work on desktop.
| I think the CSS doesnt have a height set or something.
| [deleted]
| dceddia wrote:
| Nice job! It looks like a ton of effort. What's the tech stack
| for something like this? All homegrown? I've wanted to mess
| around with screencast editing but programmatic video stuff in
| general seems daunting.
| jamalx31 wrote:
| Honestly, one of the best products I've seen this year.
| Wistar wrote:
| And probably the most complimentary HN comment section I have
| ever seen.
| kanobo wrote:
| I was excited to see at least some AE features in the browser or
| more-than-beginner type editing -- but it's more akin to iMovie
| or a basic templated editor? Impressive nevertheless for one
| person to bootstrap, congrats.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Fair enough.
|
| I needed to get an MVP out and start figuring out ways to make
| money before I completely go into debt.
|
| My goals for the future are to give more customization to the
| motion graphics and to feature some of the core elements a
| professional in hurry will need. Nothing too complex but just
| right.
|
| You can also think of it being a mix with other types of video
| editing tools. I do plan to roll out keyframe animations when I
| get some cashflow. I am excited for that.
| epberry wrote:
| I think the focus on speed and bundled content is important.
| These are the two biggest weaknesses of After Effects today imo.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Yes bundled content is a big pain point of mine. My biggest
| pain points with After Effects.
|
| 1. When I want to create a creative video I typically look on
| Envato for inspiration. Then I pay $30 to Envato on top of the
| $270 a year for After Effects. Then I have to learn how to
| install the template or asset. I wanted a marketplace and
| library integrated with the tool.
|
| 2. I also want the After Effects experience to be like Figma ,
| Canva, or Sketch for making videos quickly. I don't want to
| fiddle with too many knobs and counter intuitive tools. While
| they are powerful and After Effects will always be GOAT. Its
| too much sometimes, especially in a world of speed and
| iteration.
| mmerlin wrote:
| For the four letter acronym clueless (FLAC? ;) like me...
|
| GOAT = greatest of all time
|
| https://www.acronymfinder.com/Greatest-of-All-Time-(LL-
| Cool-...
| batt4good wrote:
| What kind of stack did you use for this awesome project?! I've
| never really known how to get started with an app like this
| outside of wrapping a bunch of functions around ffmpeg.
| arvidkahl wrote:
| This is an extremely impressive product. Signed up a couple weeks
| ago, it's spectacular.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Hell yes. You're a smart man.
| splatzone wrote:
| This is so cool! Some specific thoughts
|
| - My finger slipped and it wheecht me out of the editor before
| I'd finished editing the video - maybe it could prompt me to
| confirm if I want to leave the editor/save my work if I've made
| changes?
|
| - Is it possible to disable the browser right click/context menu
| on the timeline? I expected to get some additional options but
| got the browser context menu instead
|
| So cool! Well done
| jacobwsmith wrote:
| Fantastic landing page - I feel like I got a quick understanding
| of what the offering was and how it could help me.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Nice. That's good. I feel like I can continue to improve.
|
| Things I am focused on are making it easy to find the type of
| content the user wants to create and sending the user down the
| path to success in the least amount of steps possible.
|
| I think the messaging is always a work in progress. I am glad
| it makes sense and is clear.
|
| Who do you think this tool is for?
| aldanor wrote:
| Looks pretty awesome.
|
| Minor nit: hitting backspace to delete a clip (pretty common in
| editing apps) forces the browser to go back.
|
| You might also want to catch other types 'leave page' events and
| ask for confirmation so that the user doesn't lose their work
| accidentally.
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Thanks for catching that. Hot keys have been a pain. I also
| found an issue with copy pasting inside text boxes.
|
| I promised myself and my startup friends I wouldn't touch code
| until I handled doing marketing and sales.
|
| It's on the backlog now, thanks for letting me know. This
| feedback goes along way :)
| stopachka wrote:
| Mousetrap is the best shortcut library I've used, and can
| help you do this well, catching a bunch of edge cases
| thrownaway954 wrote:
| THAT... IS... AWESOME....
|
| dude you really out did yourself. usually i criticize people
| because their product homepage doesn't tell nor show anything
| about their product so i'm confused about what it does and how to
| use it.
|
| YOU... DID.. IT... PERFECTLY
|
| your homepage not only tells me exactly what this does, but shows
| me to the point where i'm excited to use it. good on you. others
| should learn from you.
|
| my one thing that i noticed (and this could be a revenue
| generator for you) is the lack of templates currently. the more
| templates you have for us noob video editors, the better. not
| only that, but allowing the community to contribute and/or sell
| their template would be a HUGE win for you.
| jamalx31 wrote:
| 100% his landing page feels like a breath of fresh air
| comparing to other landing pages mess
| michaelaubry wrote:
| Thank you :)
| michaelaubry wrote:
| This means a lot. I have spent some time getting it down. A lot
| of blood, sweat, and tears haha.
|
| I agree with the templates. I am trying to allocate my time
| wisely and I think expanding that will be major.
|
| I am drawing up a way to make it even easier for people to
| create amazing videos.
|
| When you click "add new video" I plan to make it interactive
| and guide you along every step.
|
| Your options will be
|
| Do you want to create a video
|
| - from scratch - from a template - for your podcast - for your
| product - for your brand
|
| Based on the selection I will walk the user through an simple
| experience. Have them upload their assets, select a vibe, enter
| some information, etc. Then generate the video data and put it
| on the timeline.
|
| I am doing sales, customer support, engineering, and design. So
| once I can get some runway I will be able to roll it out.
|
| To be honest I hate sales and marketing. I just want to build,
| and if I can get to ramen profit. Then I can pay people to do
| what I hate.
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