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What I Built
I built “Alien Planet”, an AI Video Transform Lens that turns an ordinary real-world video into a cinematic extraterrestrial world. As the user records, their surroundings are transformed into an alien landscape with glowing terrain, giant moons, futuristic skies, atmospheric clouds, cosmic particles, and sci-fi lighting.
The user remains the main character while the environment around them changes dramatically, creating the feeling that they have stepped onto another planet.
Why I Built It
I wanted to create something that feels like more than a normal visual filter. The idea is to give users a “What if I were on another planet?” experience that is instantly understandable and visually surprising.
The concept is intentionally simple: record yourself → watch your world transform → share the result.
I focused on making the transformation cinematic, immersive, and shareable while keeping the user's identity and natural movements recognizable. The dramatic before-and-after effect also makes it easy for viewers to understand the Lens immediately and encourages creators to experiment with different locations and videos.
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
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Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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Was going back and forth around different ideas and decided the most important client right now is me wanting to use the tools to create social media reels (based on a short series campaign) about the thoughts I have been sharing.
The them for these videos are about undiscovered/unknown species of animals not wanting to be discovered by human because really there is alot that comes with finally being "discovered".
I had to redo prompts and/or go back to original/earlier generations to push things in the direction that mostly aligned with what I was trying to convey. Like most times I was crunched on time and had to accept some generation as close enough after some attempts.
Used AI generation for images and video, and animal sounds from Envato stock assists. Brought together in Canva.
Hopefully will share some of my other ideas I worked on soon.
The wide pans are so discovery channel coded. This is so amazing!!
AI can generate a lot. It can’t decide what actually works.
This is my Human by Design entry which is a full product promo teaser, built entirely with envato’s AI toolkit, split into 3 parts in one video:
The hook: setting up the problem before you even see the product.
The build; every prompt, edit, regenerate, and dead end (yes, including the ones that didn’t work)
The result is a final cut polished enough for a real client to post today.
The moment that mattered most: mid-shoot, the AI video generation got flagged and blocked outright. No amount of re-prompting fixed it. So I stepped in and redirected the entire visual direction myself the shots, the pacing, the story beat it was supposed to hit.
AI can execute. It can’t make that call.
That’s the difference this challenge is really asking about not what AI can produce, but where a human still has to step in and shape it.
Made with Envato’s Gen AI + stock tools.
Soar for the laurels
You're divinely backed up
Congratulations 🔥🔥🔥
One day I want to open a bagel shop. For now, I got to prototype the whole brand instead, logo, packaging, poster, video using Envato's gen AI tools. It's a surprisingly solid all-in-one kit for image and video generation.
My Workflow
- Sketched the logo on paper first, pulling inspiration from Envato's geometric patterns, I go for a monochromatic, warm, geometric logo.
- Built the final logo in Illustrator, then handed it to AI with clear sketches and direction.
- Used AI to rapid-generate mockups across t-shirts, packaging, and posters.
- Iterated through a brand animation, testing multiple storyboard approaches before landing on the final version.
- Generate music via Envato AI then edit in After Effects.
My Human by Design Moment
My first animation storyboard for the logo was low-fidelity, so the AI output felt random. I assumed the fix was more detail, so I redid it with the final logo and tighter instructions. AI overcorrected. It added motion and elements I never asked for, and the result was more confusing, not less.
I made a different call. Instead of adding more, I stripped the storyboard down to just two frames: a start and an end. No extra instruction for AI to misread, no room for it to improvise.
Designers has design in mind, our goal is to visualise that vision. AI helps along the way, but only when I gave it clarity. Simpler instruction with examples what finally got a clean, consistent animation out of it, one I could adapt across other bagel without starting over.
Curious on how other make the AI works?
Youtube: https://youtu.be/-HQX598KRK0
AI VIsual DesignerAnimationBrand DesignAdobe After EffectsAdobe IllustratorEnvatoenvatochallengeaivisualdesigner
I love the color palette and grading of the photos too! They look so good!