Until recently, creative media production services relied solely upon more traditional tools of the trade such as high-end PCs, cameras, tripods, lighting rigs and audio capture equipment. During the last 2-3 years Artificial Intelligence (AI) has slowly integrated into industry standard software tools such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite, providing new opportunities for content generation, refinement and streamlining of workflows and creative experimentation across various media.
Here are a few ways AI can add value to your video, audio and graphic design work (note that many of the links provided require subscriptions or the purchase of credits).
1. Storyboarding and Creative Visual Exploration
If your work includes concept development, environment design, animation or live action as a graphic designer, photographer or video producer, AI has the potential to become a useful tool when producing concepts, exploring styles and testing motion sequences. Storyboarding can be manually intensive when conveying narrative through detailed drawings, animation and even live action video clips. With some fairly basic groundwork to maximise effective use of AI technologies, such as the use of clearly defined sketches and focused text prompts, it is possible to generate:
- Atmospheres and mood boards illustrating a theme
- Environmental concepts and detail
- Lighting tests
- Colour palettes
- Character styles and clothing samples
- Sophisticated animation or video sequences
Most importantly, AI lets you “audition” ideas at a pace that was previously not possible. This does not replace the need for traditional media production skills – it simply speeds up the process of discovery and refinement.
Harmonise in Photoshop
Adobe Firefly Moodboards
Luma Labs Modify features
2. Editing and Post-Production Assistance
Video and film editors understand how edits make or break the pacing, emotion and overall feel of video production including the use of sound, colour palette, special effects and camera angle. AI technologies will not replace human decision and intervention any time soon. Efforts to completely automate creative processes using AI tend to decend into cliché, lack nuance and create with limited finesse – therefore human intervention and direction will remain for the foreseeable future. However, there are some useful AI editing tools added to software such as Adobe’s Premier Pro that aim to streamline the editing process with time saving features that enable AI to:
- Detect scenes within footage
- Search within footage by describing what you are looking for
- Extend footage using generative AI
- Create automatic captioning or transcription
- Enhance audio to improve clarity and remove background noise
- Colour correct footage with greater accuracy
- Remix the length of music in a video to fit the entire clip
These features are not revolutionary but quietly save hours, especially if you are a one-person production studio juggling multiple roles or rescuing footage from visual or audio issues during the capture process.
Adobe Premier Pro new AI features
Da Vinci Resolve new AI features
3. Sound Effects, Atmospheric Ambience and Score Creation
Score creation using tools such as Suno.com or Udio.com provide some of the most interesting and accessible methods for creating AI generated media content – they are easy to try out but also, with some practice, useful for creating unique soundtracks for your documentary or film production without the need for expensive royalty agreements.
With AI tools you can easily generate:
- Ambient drones and pads
- Industrial textures
- Lo-fi soundscapes
- Tension-building atmospheres
- Clean voiceovers (if you don’t have access to talent)
This is huge leap forward in media production because, unlike traditional audio libraries, you are not limited by the content and style someone else has recorded. You can shape the sound to the style of your world through text prompts, by uploading a simple melody guide created by a single instrument or even a sound effect simulated by the sound of your voice.
Suno.com AI Music Creator
Udio.com AI Music Creator
Adobe Firefly’s Sound Effects feature
Adobe Podcast (cleaning voice audio)
Losing Your Creative Voice
Many designers are reluctant to use AI tools as part of their workflow because they feel it threatens their craft or devalues their skills. The real challenge and craft is keeping your voice at the centre of the work. Anyone can press a button and generate something using the tools described in this article but remaining in control
The best use of generative AI is as reference material, a thinking partner, a way to test ideas or potentially as a filler when resources are thin but always returning to your own judgement, taste, and aesthetic. AI should not provide a style in itself, it should amplify and focus the one you already have.
AI should become part of the creative foundation — not a novelty. A tool or an assistant when brainstorming concepts, experimenting visually, gathering atmospheric references, refining early sequences and developing the “feel” of a piece.
Ultimately, AI never completely replaces the need for human creativity.
It extends it.
Find out more about AI related topics on this site:
AI and The Future Of Media Production
Why Every Freelancer Should Experiment With Generative AI
