Showing my work

Sometime during the summer of last year I started experimenting with writing software to transform videos using machine learning libraries, primarily VQGAN+CLIP, and started posting them around different corners of the internet.

My initial purpose in exploration of the medium was actually an effort to develop production techniques for an independent movie project I have been working on.

There were so many enthusiastic responses to these experiments and people were asking me if I could teach them how to could create their own videos or commission work.

As I began fielding these requests, I suddenly found that I was spending less time experimenting and sharing as much as I had been before, since my attention was more on figuring out how to deliver on the commission work and less on my own explorations.

I began to wonder why I was feeling less fulfilled while being busier than ever working on art and getting paid for it.  My reflection on this question coincided with my encountering the book "Show your work!" by Austin Kleon.

The book, for those who haven't read it, is essentially a mini-manifesto on the subject of (I'm paraphrasing, here) how there is a kind of compound interest derived from authentically sharing one's creative journey and how one should not try to be some mysterious genius who keeps all their secrets to themself and then loses their goddamn mind while being trapped in a psychic crucible of their own invention.

I realized in reading this book that I so agreed with its core premise and that the frustration I was experiencing was directly tied to the fact that I had felt unable to share much about what I was doing, since I was working primarily on secret projects for other people.

I have been consistently inviting anyone who is interested in learning how to make their own videos using these technologies to sign up for my email list, since I had been planning on creating a big tutorial video and/or blog post and sending the word out when that was completed.

The problem is that a bunch of things have been getting in the way of that work and now I am feeling the weight of those few hundred email addresses waiting on my big announcement.  I'm already almost two months past when I said I'd have it done.

So this totally self-imposed pressure has been building up and I've decided that the best way to relieve it is to set aside pretense and secrecy and start documenting my journey out in the open, which frankly is what I've been wanting to do for a while, but I painted myself into a bit of a corner when I was predicating it on a big software and tutorial release.

I should say, I am still planning those things, but it's is somewhat complicated by the fact that both my techniques and the available technology options are evolving very rapidly, so having a periodical software release and accompanying blog post may be a better solution.

We will see.