How can Cradle effectively develop and distribute its AI storyboarding tool, Plots, to meet the needs of creative professionals while addressing ethical considerations in video production?

Objective

This research investigates how Cradle can effectively develop and distribute its AI-powered storyboarding tool, Plots, to support creative professionals while addressing ethical concerns in video production. Plots is designed to generate animated storyboards with camera movements, offering exports as GIFs or MP4s.

Methodology

• Approach: Qualitative research using semi-structured in-depth interviews. 31 questions were asked including probing questions.
• Participants: Eight professionals from the creative business field. Chosen using purposive sampling. The number of participants was based on thematic saturation.
• Tool Tested: Early prototype of Plots.
• Analysis: Thematic analysis of interview transcripts.

Key Findings

• Target Audience: Students, schools, young creatives, and small production companies.
• Main Appeal: Accessibility, ease of use, and affordability for users with limited resources.
• Market Differentiator: Animated camera movements in storyboards.
• Ethical Concerns: Transparency about training data and fair use of artists’ work.
• Professional Feedback: Participants were open to using Plots if it meets quality and usability expectations.

Recommendations

– Data suggests that professionals think the main attraction of Plots would be that it makes storyboarding and preproduction accessible and easy to use for young creatives who don’t have a lot of experience or a big budget. The recommendation to Cradle is to target students, school, young creatives and small production companies. No distinction between corporate videos or creative fiction videos needs to be made in the target group.

– Based on the data, it is recommended to price Plots competitively so the target audience with a smaller budget can afford to use it. This way Plots could be the cheaper alternative to existing storyboarding programs, and market itself as cost-effective.  A possible alternative that was found for this, would be to sell Plots to schools, so they can then distribute the program for an affordable price to their students.

– As Plots is still in early development, is still open to improvements. The most important improvements that are recommended to implement before distribution are: Quality that matches other AI models, implementing the moving images, and a UI that looks professional and is instinctive as well as easy to use.

– Some professionals shared concerns with how Plots is trained, and where it gets is data from. The recommendation is to add a disclaimer to Plots about how data is gathered.

– To prevent concerns of this tool being a replacement for human artists, it is recommended to Cradle to clearly market Plots as a tool for artists to use, and not as an AI model that could replace them

– Where possible, it is recommended for Cradle to include the improvements that were found in the data analysis such as:

• Editable prompts and images
• Uploading custom artwork
• Collaborative tools
• Integration with industry-standard software

Recommendations for further research

– It is recommended to conduct further research when Plots has all functionalities, as this can lead to answers that are less speculative, and it allows for more realistic user testing.

– A further research into market competitors is recommended, as data shows that some professionals expressed doubts about Cradle being able to keep up with competitors that possess higher budgets and bigger teams. A further research into this can also help with determining a price point for Plots, as data suggests that pricing competitively is important towards Plots’ success.

Conclusion

Creative professionals are open to using Plots, especially if Cradle implements the feedback gathered. The tool’s unique feature of animated camera movements has potential to differentiate it in the market. Ethical concerns are manageable with transparency and responsible innovation. With thoughtful development, Plots could become a valuable asset in the creative business industry.