DeepSeek this, DeepSeek that. There’s no hiding from DeepSeek (if you’re chronically on X, like I unfortunately am). Well, turns out ChatGPT isn’t all they’re disrupting - they’ve got their own image model family.

We dive into that, plus Google’s purchase of part of HTC Vive and some new tools (welcome back, Automatic Duck!).

What do you make of all the DeepSeek updates? Click on the survey below (or just reply back).

Joey

First V3, Now Janus-Pro, DeepSeek’s DALL-E Competitor

DeepSeek AI has emerged as a formidable challenger in the AI industry. It offers a unique approach to artificial intelligence, focusing on transparency and efficiency. The Chinese startup has gained significant attention for its competitive edge against established players like OpenAI, despite operating on a fraction of the budget.

Going Deep

• DeepSeek emphasizes "truth-seeking" and factual transparency, providing insights into its decision-making processes and training data.

• The company operates on just 6 million USD, compared to OpenAI's 5 billion USD budget.

• DeepSeek's AI integrates real-time data sources for more accurate and in-depth responses.

• Critics have raised concerns about potential bias, noting the AI's refusal to answer politically sensitive questions.

• The company has released Janus-Pro, a new set of multimodal AI models. Licensed under the MIT license, it is a novel autoregressive framework that can analyze and generate images, with its largest model, Janus-Pro-7B, outperforming DALL-E 3 and other models like PixArt-alpha and Stable Diffusion XL on key AI benchmarks.

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SPONSOR MESSAGE

Blackmagic’s New 2110 IP Converters

Blackmagic Design's new 2110 IP Converters are here to simplify your transition to IP broadcast systems. With mini and rack mount models supporting 10G Ethernet, these converters integrate your SDI equipment into 2110 IP workflows effortlessly.

Blackmagic 2110 IP Converters Features

• All converters conform to the SMPTE-2110 IP video standard.

• Choose between Mini Converter or rack-mount models.

• Uses readily available 10G Ethernet for low cost installation.

• Re-syncs SDI inputs to a common PTP clock.

• Includes NMOS Protocol for building a virtual router.

• Low latency, open standard Blackmagic IP10 codec.

• Supports all SD, HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60.

Converters start at $365. Learn more at Blackmagic’s website.

Google Buys Part of HTC’s Vive VR Team for $250 Million

Google has acquired part of HTC's Vive VR team for $250 million, signaling a renewed push into extended reality (XR) technology. The partial acquisition of HTC's engineering talent aims to bolster Google's Android XR ecosystem, but it also raises questions about the future of competition and innovation in the VR market.

What’s The Deal

• Google is purchasing only a portion of the Vive engineering team, allowing HTC to maintain control over its core VR operations.

• The move is expected to integrate Vive's expertise into Android XR, potentially leading to advancements in mobile VR and AR platforms.

• The acquisition could narrow competition in the already niche XR market, potentially reducing diversity in VR offerings.

• The acquisition does not impact HTC Vive Mars, the motion tracking division that's used as an affordable camera tracking system for virtual production

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Let’s explore OpenAI's newly released ChatGPT Operator, an AI agent designed to automatically handle web tasks, and how it could potentially be used to handle film production-related tasks. 

💡 SynthLight introduces a new portrait relighting technique using diffusion models trained on synthetic face renderings, achieving high-quality results on real-world images without specialized equipment.

💫 Hailuo AI's T2V 01 (Director Model) provides precise camera control in video generation using natural language commands. Check out these sample prompts

🏞️ Freepik Retouch updates inpainting to replace people or objects with trained models

🎬 Dave Clark emphasizes that AI tools in film production are meant to enhance creative exploration, not replace traditional craftsmanship.

🦾 While AI may simplify some aspects of media production, many experts believe it will enhance rather than replace human creativity, allowing professionals to focus more on high-value creative work. Larry Jordan has a roundup of insights from various industry professionals.

👨‍💻 Automatic Duck has released Multicam Flattener, a tool designed to flatten and commit multicam clips in a Final Cut Pro timeline.

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