New essay for @every, by @afterimage We believe we will look back on Astra as a turning point in how creatives use AI in video work. For many months we were experimenting with different AI video approaches: generative workflows in ComfyUI, procedural animation with Python, motion design through the Cavalry and After Effects MCPs, and more. All of these were fundamentally limited by a lack of control. Generative models could sometimes make cool images, but changing one thing without disturbing everything else was difficult. Many of these generative tools weren't (and still aren't) built for true professional workflows. On the other hand, general models starting around Opus 4.5 were decent at writing python code to deterministically edit images and videos, but the models were really bad at “seeing” the images and videos they were supposed to be editing, which made them impractical. The day Astra launched, just from the rumors and marketing, our internal sense was "this might be the one". Then, when we saw the level of 3D detail people were able to achieve with Astra in Blender, we really suspected the model was finally able to "see" and iterate toward things that actually looked good. While everyone raced to build cool (but often useless) demos of 3D worlds, we got interested in something else: compositing 3D assets into live action footage at commercial-grade quality. To this day, we are quite surprised by how few Astra demos focus on this ability. It feels like a breakthrough for us. We tested a range of processes, from traditional VFX skills like masking and tracking to hybrid approaches like compositing Blender renders and generative imagery with real footage. At the highest levels, Astra doesn’t replace someone with true domain expertise in VFX artistry. But, through these tests, it started to feel for the first time that the LLM was actually a viable tool in the kit. It worked well in concert with other tools to make professional results we could actually see ourselves using. The coolest part about all this is that it makes it easy and painless to attempt visual effects on even the smallest projects and most off the cuff videos. We’re excited about the combination of casual footage and visual maximalism. Effects can now be completely over the top without feeling like the whole reason a shot exists. Full "Vibe Check" with video examples & side by side Astra vs Sol comparisons (gift link) ➡️ every.to/vibe-check/vibe-che…

THIS. More of this! Excellent concept - hope they make more. Bravo, @lee94josh & team.

AIRLOCK EP 1 -⊙- Dario Amodei How does the public feel about today’s AI leaders? We showed an interview with Dario to a wide array of people outside of tech: health care workers, coffee shop owners, audio engineers, bar backs. "He doesn't seem so hopeful... he's supposed to be giving people hope" "His voice speaks to me more than others" "He's saying slow down but not stop... he's concerned about the future but still wants to make that money" "He seems more level-headed than Elon Musk... who is just kind of insane" "I don't know that there is a good direction for technology right now" This is the pilot episode of Airlock, a show about technology hosted by people outside of the tech industry. People in the tech spend a lot of time hand wringing and hypothesizing about what "regular people" think. Nuances can be lost in polls, headlines, viral tweets. Airlock skips all that and goes right to the source. Airlock is an original Afterimage experiment. Ep 2 drops Tuesday.

many have asked me how such a video comes into the world! well, I didn't know either before we embarked on this! you could not ask for better shamans than the @afterimage team. this process forces you to put tremendous compute into compressing what you want to say, and how. you need a professional Holstein Friesian cow, too.

it's not everyday that you get to spend the day touching grass, surrounded by cows in rural connecticut (and get to work with your friends @afterimage!)

Unleash your cow. For @turbopuffer Afterimage 011 ◍

A Snoopy outside my window. iPhone + Astra (+ SAM 3.1 + Aleph 2.0) An @afterimage VFX experiment

Wings. An Afterimage Visual Experiment Sept 4, 2026

The @pierrecomputer videos are awesome.

Built for machines. For @pierrecomputer Afterimage 010 ◍ a

quiet on set

quiet on set

🌐"THE NETWORK" by @afterimage The Network is an Afterimage software project targeted at our biggest recurring internal pain point: finding new high quality creatives to work with, across many styles and roles, very quickly, on a project basis. We work with startups on sprint timelines and often need to find specialists (eg VFX artist, drone op, animators with specific style) quickly based on approved creative directions. And we’re always looking to expand our stable of core collaborators (DPs, editors, producers, directors). The talent pools exist, but it can be quite difficult + time intensive to source the right people. It's mainly a top of funnel problem. And nothing beats a trusted referral, but intros can’t always materialize in the order of hours or a day. This summer, @kguptz joined Afterimage on Special Projects and pitched The Network to solve our problem. The product blends human curation with automation. Creatives only get added to The Network if they’ve made something our team has reviewed and explicitly “liked”. But the product is also smart and self-sustaining. New projects are surfaced, based on our existing database, for us to review at our leisure, leading to a intentional expansion of creatives on our radar over time. This careful balance between slow curation based on our own taste and smart automation based on those inputs is at the heart of the product. The Network can be searched colloquially in all the ways you’d hope and expect. Not going to lie: we’ve spent more time this year than I’d like to admit building internal tools that went nowhere / died in usage after the novelty wore off. The Network was different from the jump. People on our team were hacking their way into using it before Karina even officially pushed it “live”. Since having the product, we’ve hired people from The Network on every single project we’ve worked on. "please check the network for that" is now a constantly repeated internal phrase This is something we’d likely pay hundreds of dollars a month for if we needed to. The upside of finding the right creatives to work with on a given project can be worth thousands of dollars. And, if we stumble into someone we love who becomes an A+ collaborator of ours for years, that value is essentially unquantifiable. @kguptz brought a level of initiative, creativity, and attention to detail on this project that inspired me. She is a star. Building a utility that reached such immediate intense internal PMF has been fun. More Afterimage software projects of different kinds will likely come later this year. We don’t have any immediately plans (aka the spare time or resources) to “productize” this in the near term. But if you (a) like hacking on creative software projects, or (b) would be interested in being a beta tester / design partner on The Network if we ever open it up a bit, pls DM us @afterimage!

Storyboards for some upcoming videos with @afterimage for @angles_hq So excited to share these when they come out :))))

Afterimage HQ Update #2 Emma Chamberlain Perforated Bar Cart Featuring tea from Te Company, Tea Habitat, Tea Source, and Red Blossom.

the future of media is interactive. incredible work by @avec and the @afterimage team.

6000lbs of ice. An event for @avec Afterimage 009 ◍ b

Once again: Tells a universal human story Barely shows the ui Shoot it’s IRL (somehow the ai companies understand this the best) Top tier editing A+ @afterimage

The Cold Email Hotline. An event for @avec Afterimage 009 ◍ a

Generation to generation. For @reve Afterimage 007 ◍ b