In 2024, the content of the UGC platform will be quietly iterated, the head effect will no longer be obvious, and AIGC will become one of the most important gameplay features of the UGC platform. With the help of the fission gameplay of "Challenge", AI special effects filters are popular on Douyin. The low threshold for participation is a major reason why this type of content can stimulate users' enthusiasm for participation. At the same time, it meets the personalized needs of users. Based on the special effects style, the generated AI content also has a certain degree of uncertainty, which can "open the eyes" for users. A box-like experience.

Author | He Jing (Beijing)

Kits can sing and change their hairstyle with one click. Recently, Douyin has become a trend of AI special effects videos. Users upload pictures, that is Video content can be generated.

We have observed that in 2024, the content of the UGC platform will be quietly iterated, the head effect is no longer obvious, and AIGC has become one of the most important gameplays of the UGC platform. In May, Remini’s clay-style filters became popular on the entire Internet, attracting the participation of nearly three million Douyin users. Since then, a series of AI filter methods such as felt filters, Conan animation style, picture book style, and oil painting style have become popular on Douyin. A creative guide for audio users.

With the help of the fission gameplay of the Douyin Challenge, the content generated by users using these special effects spread across the site, and has been on the Douyin Challenge list many times. Topics related to Conan animation style special effects "Apply to join "Conan Detective Team" has been played 2.68 billion times.

The rapid advancement of technology continues to enrich the gameplay. In just half a year, AI The filter gameplay has been upgraded from the previous "Tu Sheng Picture" to "Tu Sheng Video". The kitten singing "APT" has attracted 120 million plays on Douyin. You only need to upload a picture, and people or Pets can sing and dance with the help of AI special effects, and their facial expressions and body movements are mobilized. This type of AI special effects content has gradually become a hot spot on Douyin.

Recently, Douyin also launched a new year game called "AI Generates Singles of the Year". AI can identify and generate relevant annual singles based on pictures uploaded by users, and produce video content.

This change is the result of Douyin’s proactive adjustment of its internal ecology. In 2023, Miaoya Camera brought AI graphics into the public eye and also demonstrated its strong social driving force. In 2024, AI gameplay will gradually penetrate into Byte's multiple business lines. In May, Jiuying launched the AI ​​content platform "Ji Meng". Zhang Nan, head of Jiuying's business, said, "Douyin is a 'real world' The camera, with the help of GenAI technology, is a camera that dreams of becoming a world of imagination."

In May 2024, a clay-style special effect swept the entire Internet. This special effect originated from the AI ​​photo editing software "Remini". The weekly subscription price of Remini in China is 68 yuan, but on social media such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, users can subscribe without any threshold.Using this special effect for free, this ugly and cute style eliminates the aesthetic gap between "people" to a certain extent, triggers users' emotional resonance, and also demonstrates the possibility of AI application in the content ecosystem.

With the maturity of AI technology, such filters have begun to be "mass-produced", with special effects such as the "picture book style" that makes you feel like you are in a fairy tale world, and the "Monet's Garden" filter that allows you to become the subject of a painting with one click. It continues to bring novel interactive experiences to users, and has also derived a series of IP-linked gameplay, such as "The Sims" filters that switch to parallel worlds, and Conan animations. Paint-style special effects and the "Wizard Cat" that became popular through the re-release of the "Harry Potter" series. Under the social fission, AI filters have reshaped the way users interact with digital content.

Technology The rapid iteration of AI has also allowed the AI ​​special effects gameplay to change from quantitative to qualitative changes. By the second half of 2024, "Tu Sheng Tu" will gradually advance to "Tu Sheng Video".

The kitten smiled evilly and said, "I am not a delicate queen, I have strength and means." A series of special effects that allow pets to talk began to become popular. With the blessing of these AI special effects, what could have been done only by relying on The artificially dubbed and edited pet content begins to have expressions and personalities with the help of AI, and the "anthropomorphic" dynamics make the pets look more vivid. Douyin's hit song "APT" also entered this track, using special effects to make pets open their mouths to sing. The "APT Cute Version" mobilized the participation of 1.78 million users.

In the "Wool Roll" special effect, no matter what hairstyle or species, wool rolls can be dynamically generated, and even the style of painting is gradually outrageous. The topic "Everything can be wool rolled" has reached 2 views on Douyin. Billions of times, AIGC has become an important element of Douyin’s content ecology.

The reason why AI special effects can be spread across the Douyin screen depends on the fission gameplay of "Challenge". Wang Guohui, the former head of research and development of Douyin’s special effects team, explained in a podcast, “Inside Byte, special effects have been called props for a long time. This creative tool is an important starting point for Douyin and TikTok, helping ordinary people overcome psychological barriers. , relax and express yourself, in addition, the special effects also have more It has a strong following and demonstration effect, and Douyin places great emphasis on the mentality of following.”

The low threshold for participation is a major reason why this type of content can stimulate users’ enthusiasm for participation, just like the previous lip-syncing. , gesture dance and other follow-up content, it is almost no difficulty for ordinary users to create.

The emergence of AI special effects has "extremely simplified" creation. Users only need to upload a picture to generate a special effects picture or video. At the same time, this type of content meets the personalized needs of users. Based on the special effects style, the generated AI content also has a certain degree of uncertainty, giving users a "blind box" experience.

Technological progress also means The lowering of the threshold for creation and mass production after breaking through barriers continue to bring fresh interactive experiences to users. This is also the popularity of AI special effects.Reasons for staying high.

Zhang Yueguang, the founder of Miaoya Camera, has also mentioned before that this freshness needs to be based on "product ecology", that is, the platform provides tools to attract some users with professional capabilities to participate. to template production to innovate.

Various AI special effects templates on the Douyin platform are continuously fed into the content ecosystem, which is based on the "ecological" special effects production team that Douyin has built over many years. At present, Douyin's AI special effects production team is mainly divided into three categories: Douyin official, independent special effects artists and third-party AI special effects production teams.

On the home page of each AI special effects on Douyin, its creator will be indicated. For example, the "healing picture book style" comes from the official team of Douyin; the special effect of pet dancing "AI pictures can dance" is It comes from "Qiangqiang Baihui", a certified original special effects artist of Douyin; some pet singing special effects are generated on the mini program "FacePlay".

As early as 2017, Douyin had already established a special effects production team. At that time, the special effects were mainly static, such as early dog ​​head special effects, comic face changes, etc. The gameplay was mainly based on content uploaded by users. Go to "Doing Addition".

Content creation based on special effects has long become one of the core creative methods for Douyin users. The "Douyin Special Effects Data Report" released by Douyin in 2021 shows that in the first half of 2021, the Douyin platform average More than 100 new effects are launched every day; on average, one in every five submissions uses an effect.

Later, Douyin shouted the slogan "Everyone is a special effects artist" to attract external authors to join. Authors can make templates on the special effects open platform "Statuary", but there are certain skills for creators As for the threshold, some creators said in interviews that they need to be able to use some software such as PS and AE to design patterns, and they also need some 3D content production capabilities.

At present, most of the AI ​​templates of Douyin special effects artists, including "Qiangqiang Baihui", are created on the "Image Sculpture" platform. "Image Sculpture" will provide cash incentives, fan growth and multi-platform The platform also promotes support policies for creators who have successfully created blockbuster special effects. The platform will also provide special effects artists with business orders and a series of marketing activities. Therefore, most special effects artists rely on mass-produced special effects to achieve blockbuster hits.

For example, the special effects artist "Coconut Milk Cake" who created the "APT Cute Version" special effects uploaded a total of 269 special effects on Douyin, but only three had more than 50,000 interactions; the creation attracted 2.2 million people "Together with you", which uses the "AI lip sync" special effect, has uploaded a total of 617 special effects, and most of the special effects have been used in single digits.

There are also some AI special effects that are completed with the help of third-party platforms such as "AI Mate" and "FacePlay". Users usually find the corresponding templates in the platform to generate videos, and then upload them to social platforms such as Douyin. . These platforms mainly use membership payment models. For example, in the "FacePlay" app, weekly membership is 17 yuan and annual membership is 398 yuan. However, in its Douyin mini program, users can watch ads to redeem the rights to use templates. So far, Douyin’s “FacePlay” applet has been used by 110 million people, and “pet lip sync AI synthesis” is its flagship product.

With a large number of AI templates input into the Douyin ecosystem, users’ creative threshold has been continuously lowered, and the range of choices has expanded. You only need to upload pictures in the template you like to get the corresponding special effects content. .

Currently, special effects artists are working in "like The production model of creating special effects on the "Shaping" platform and uploading them to Douyin has led to a wider range of creative forces, but it is more like Douyin cultivating special effects production talents but unable to control the flow of talents. The AI ​​creation tool "Jimeng" launched by Jiuying solves this pain point to a certain extent. The core production technology is still in the hands of the platform, and users are the end users.

In February 2024, Zhang Nan, the former CEO of Douyin, devoted himself to the editing business after resigning. In May, the editing business launched "Jimeng". In December, media reports stated that Byte plans to improve Jimeng’s product priority and try to use new paths to create “Douyin” in the AI ​​era. Soon, Zhang Nan appeared publicly for the first time as the person in charge of editing and put forward similar ideas.

In his speech, Zhang Nan mentioned that the most important thing about Ji Meng is the power of imagination. "In the imaginary world, can there be a place like Douyin for recording and expression?" Where's the camera?"

The animal track is Ji Meng's first "imaginary world". Since October last year, a number of accounts based on animal AI special effects have quietly started.

For example, "Cute Pets Are Really Cute" takes a panda as the protagonist and uses AI technology to generate "anthropomorphic" daily life. In the video, the panda can buy food, cook, play with tiger friends, and even Painting eye shadow and playing the pipa are similar to the cat's part-time job and daily life. The style and content of such accounts are roughly the same, but a single video has hundreds of thousands of likes, and their fans increase rapidly. They have formed a new content style on Douyin.

At present, the growth of the UGC platform has peaked, and top Internet celebrities and popular carnival-style content are decreasing. At the same time, as the threshold for using AIGC is lowering, especially on the Douyin platform, users use AI filters have almost no technical threshold. This fresh way of generating content brings users a personalized interactive experience. This type of content continues to heat up on the platform.

However, these contents are currently unable to bear the creativity and imagination of the "real-time dream" vision, and their production model is still "mass copying." Whether it is the above-mentioned AI special effects filters or accounts based on AI special effects, there is a serious homogenization problem. A large amount of similar content will undoubtedly accelerate users’ aesthetic fatigue.

The popular Miaoya camera and clay special effects have no more success after the trend passed, and Remini has not been able to create clay so far.Special Effects 2.0. This low-threshold creation method also means that content iterates quickly. Although it can mobilize user vitality in a short period of time, it is not a healthy production model in terms of the platform content ecology. It needs to constantly introduce new things to maintain popularity. The core creative ability remains It cannot be replenished.