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I love Envato. I used to make loads of After Effects promo videos back in 2016 using their Envato Elements library. I'm glad they're all in on generative AI now.
As soon as I signed up for the contest, I wanted to do a quick promo for the challenge. I had to wait for the weekend because of work, but in the meantime I was gathering assets in the workspace. Looking around the Envato library kept giving me ideas, and that quick promo turned into a 60-second video built from what I found browsing Envato: Stock references became characters, then the music, voiceover, fonts, and transitions all came from their big-ass library.
I think discovery is the most relevant "Human by Design" moment... not correcting a mistake or a design change. We do that too when we collaborate with other people, but discovery is an exclusively human sport. We are the curators of taste, the creative funnel of inspiration. Yes, tools make it faster, and we can now follow every spark to create whatever we want. But that inspiration comes mostly from the need for constant discovery in our ever-changing world. It is beautiful.
hey Andres - this is awesome! Great work. I see your explanation vid in the comments. For your best shot I'd recommentd re-submitting and including both videos in the main post just to be safe. 😃
You're right, Dylan. Thank you so much for letting me know.
The video explaining my process and the social links:
Video in 4K: https://youtu.be/mNFH8dNrqD8
X: https://x.com/andysaidso_/status/2076436004626379047
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/DatbUnxFhst/?img_index=1
"Discovery is an exclusively human sport" is a great line, and it matches what I keep seeing: the models can generate endlessly but someone still has to recognize the good option out of a hundred mediocre ones. Did the raccoon show up early in your search, or did you go through a lot of duds before landing on that character?
I love raccoons, I went to school in Toronto and I used to feed them leftovers at night on my way back home, you see them everywhere. I knew I wanted one with a short snout because that would look more “chicano” so I referenced the one I like from the thousands of options that...
bro took it to the next level, nice job man
Thank you Emmanuel!
love what you did here !
Thank you Zaoui!
omg me too! so many projects started with Envato Elements!!
Old school here, haha. Your stuff is amazing, I can't wait to see what you do for the Envato contest
thanks!!
this is really cool
Thank you Aminu!
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Created a fictional sci-fi film teaser using Envato as my main creative toolkit. 🎬📼 AI generated the possibilities, but I shaped the story, mood, and final creative decisions.
My Human by Design moment: turning a beautiful output into something with meaning.
#EnvatoChallenge #HumanByDesign
I decided to resubmit my video promo because I didn't put the explanation video showing my process while using Envato and those can be really helpful to other people that are going to be doing their Envato submissions.
I think discovery is the most relevant "Human by Design" moment... not correcting a mistake or a design change. We do that too when we collaborate with other people, but discovery is an exclusively human sport. We are the curators of taste, the creative funnel of inspiration. Yes, tools make it faster, and we can now follow every spark to create whatever we want. But that inspiration comes mostly from the need for constant discovery in our ever-changing world.
@dylansiegel thank you for the heads up
"Discovery is an exclusively human sport" is a great way to put it - tools speed up execution but they don't go looking for the thing that sparks the idea in the first place. What does your discovery process actually look like day to day, mood boards, random scrolling, something more structured?
@Envato | AirReborn by Liberate - Product Promo
7Human by Design Keys
The Human Behind the AI
When people see an AI-generated commercial, it's easy to assume that AI did all the work. In reality, AI was only one of the tools I used. Every important creative decision—from the concept to the final edit—was guided by me.
The project started with the story. I wrote the script myself, defining the narrative, pacing, and emotional direction of the commercial. Before using any AI tools, I already knew what message I wanted to communicate and how I wanted the audience to feel.
To bring that vision to life, I relied on smart prompting. Creating effective prompts was an iterative creative process rather than a single command. I carefully experimented with wording, style, composition, camera movement, lighting, and mood, constantly refining the prompts until the generated visuals matched my creative intent.
The AI-generated images and videos were only the starting point. I spent significant time reviewing the outputs, selecting the strongest results, correcting inconsistencies, and refining them to achieve a cohesive visual style. This process required artistic judgment and many rounds of adjustments to transform raw generations into polished scenes.
Not every shot came from AI. I manually selected stock footage wherever it strengthened the story or helped create smoother transitions. Choosing these clips was a deliberate editorial decision to ensure the final commercial felt authentic and visually balanced.
Sound played an equally important role. Rather than relying on automated music selection, I personally searched for and chose the background music that best matched the pace and emotional tone of the story. The soundtrack was selected to support the narrative, not simply accompany it.
Finally, I assembled everything through editing and montage. The rhythm of the cuts, scene order, transitions, timing, and synchronization between visuals, music, and storytelling were all crafted manually. This stage is where the individual elements came together into a single, coherent commercial.
AI accelerated parts of the production process, but it did not replace creativity, taste, or decision-making. Every stage involved human choices: writing the story, directing the AI through precise prompts, refining the generated content, selecting supporting footage and music, and editing the final piece.
This commercial is not simply an example of AI generation—it is an example of human creativity enhanced by AI. The technology provided possibilities, but the vision, judgment, and craftsmanship behind the final result were entirely my own.
I will attach the original ad in the comments, please provide feedback. Also here it is on some of my socials:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7482478758872924160/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGmNLiU97Og
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DavbZOCN1Rs/?igsh=MWN0YjZnanZuaXpyYQ%3D%3D
This is the original product promo. AirReborn by Liberate - hypothetical smoke cessation device.
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