October 13, 2025

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how to improve capturing old photographs by improving your scanner settings. After reading this, Jim Nowak sent me a tutorial on an even better way to capture old photos - using polarized light. 

While I haven't played with this personally, the results are stunning and I can't wait to try this.

Barton Lewis emailed an interesting question on how to adjust keyframes in Adobe Premiere Pro to get smoother moves.

The answer was too complex for an email reply, so I wrote a tutorial about it.

The rules governing closed captions are changing significantly with the WCAG 2.1 spec. Bob O'Brien shared his research.

If all this is true, it will affect caption content, timing, video players and, most importantly, budgets. If you create captions, you need to read this.

I'm currently narrating an audio book on an AI chatbot. As you may know, I'm plus/minus on AI. I think tools powered by machine language can be very useful, but that generative AI - in all its forms - is very dangerous; especially to folks that earn their living creating media.

As I was narrating, I came across this quote: "By 2050, an estimated 95 percent of Internet content will be AI-generated, making authentic human storytelling a crucial differentiator for leaders who want to make a lasting impact." (The author's did not provide a source for this statistic.).

While it is reassuring to know that human story-telling is likely to be valued in the future, it is enormously depressing to think about wading through 95% garbage to find the 5% that's original and valuable. (Screaming FaceBook headlines are a classic example of trash drowning out quality.)

Many of us are deeply worried about how we will make a living in the future. AI works faster than we can, it can be used by neophytes, and it makes media creation extremely cheap - in content and budget. These are very hard to compete with.

However, as Coke discovered to its embarrassment, using AI to tell a compelling story is still not there. AI can only repeat what's already been done; and, generally, repeat it badly. It can't create and it can't - yet - effectively touch our emotions. 

This puts two key skills in our corner: visual story-telling and relationships. Telling compelling stories with pictures is essential, regardless of whether we are creating commercials, wedding videos, corporate training or feature films. Emotional connections come, not from stringing together random images but in connecting images that generate an emotional communication with an audience. Emotional connection - with our clients and our audiences - is the cornerstone of human communication. 

While an understanding of AI will be useful in understanding where we can best fit in, it has never been wise to compete on price; especially now in the age of AI. It is increasingly difficult to compete on speed. But it is still possible and necessary to compete based on understanding the needs of the client, the needs of the story, and the hunger in an audience for powerful, effective story-telling; and not just regurgitated pap.

Until next Monday, stay healthy, stay hopeful and edit well.

TUTORIALS & REVIEWS

» Use Polarized Light to Capture More Detail in Old Photos (Tutorial)

   » Written by Jim Nowak, this details better ways to capture old photos.

» Add and Modify Keyframes in Adobe Premiere Pro (Tutorial)

   » Adobe changed how keyframes work in their latest version.

» Potential New Rules for Closed Captions (Tutorial)

   » New rules may require greater accuracy, timing and playback features.

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