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Can AI Beat VFX? (feat. ⁨⁨ErikDoesVFX)

2026-10-05 · case-study tutorial · Adil, ErikDoesVFX · recording, 8:16 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Post-production & finishing (also: Assets, references & consistency, Video generation & shot direction) · mode: Tutorial · tags: guest or collaboration, fiction, prompts shared, one creator's experience, series

In this video rematch with VFX artist ErikDoesVFX, Adil fixes viewers' weak VFX shots by briefing GPT-6 Astra connected to Higgsfield. From one brief, Astra plans the cuts, writes each prompt and assembles a laser-eyes sequence generated with Seedance 2.5; a tank explosion then goes through Blender, Houdini and After Effects, which Adil says gives much more control than a single 10-minute Seedance request. For a superhero short he builds a video character sheet from a 360-degree video of himself, and he concludes that inventing shots is easy while keeping an original shot intact takes much more specific direction.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Can AI beat VFX: Erik's viewers' bad VFX shots and the rematch challenge

  • ★★ Erik (ErikDoesVFX) asked his viewers to submit bad VFX shots and challenged Adil to fix them with AI, while Erik uses traditional VFX. — 00:00:00
  • ★ ErikDoesVFX: Erik says the first AI-versus-VFX video did very well on his channel and that they should do it again. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Adil connects the Higgsfield plugin to GPT-6 Astra; it comes with video generation skills built in, so the user does not have to write prompts, and he gives Astra the raw footage and the viewer's version as the brief. — 00:00:42 · Higgsfield MCP, GPT-6 Astra

00:00:58 — Higgsfield in Astra: the laser-eyes sequence from one brief

  • ★★★ In Adil's laser-eyes sequence Seedance 2.5 generates the videos while GPT-6 Astra finds the cuts, writes the prompt for each shot and assembles the result, all from one brief. — 00:01:11 · Seedance 2.5, GPT-6 Astra
  • ★★ Adil says the laser-eyes sequence took about 15 minutes of waiting for GPT-6 Astra, and all he did was write one prompt. — 00:01:58 · GPT-6 Astra
  • ★★ The Higgsfield plugin has set-up commands for connecting Blender and After Effects; for Houdini, GPT-6 Astra controls the interface directly through computer use, all from one chat. — 00:01:58 · Higgsfield MCP, Blender, After Effects, GPT-6 Astra
  • ★★ From one request, GPT-6 Astra builds the tank in Blender as a 3D model that can be positioned and animated, then goes to Houdini to make the explosion and control what flies off the tank. — 00:01:58 · GPT-6 Astra, Blender

00:02:06 — Tank explosion through Blender, Houdini and After Effects

  • ★★ In After Effects GPT-6 Astra rotoscopes the actors off the background so they walk in front of the fire and smoke, and in the same pass makes the sky gloomier, softens the distant background and adds wind and dust. — 00:02:37 · GPT-6 Astra, After Effects
  • ★★ Adil's first request using Blender, Houdini and After Effects took about 30 minutes, including the render. — 00:03:03 · GPT-6 Astra, Blender, After Effects

00:03:24 — Erik's feedback, the jet, and one prompt versus editable VFX

  • ★★ Adil sends the first tank render to Erik, who says the tank needs more detail and the explosion does not feel real enough; Adil adds a jet that blows the tank up and asks GPT-6 Astra to colour grade, which takes about another 90 minutes. — 00:03:36 · Color grading, GPT-6 Astra
  • ★★ Adil judges the revised tank shot a success: the explosion is far more realistic, the foreground reacts to it naturally, the tank breaks apart as wanted and the actors' original performance is kept. — 00:04:24
  • ★★★ Adil is not sure the Blender, Houdini and After Effects route was necessary, since one request in Seedance 2.5 gave a result in about 10 minutes, but says the app route gives much more control. (hedged) — 00:04:24 · Seedance 2.5, Blender, After Effects

00:04:52 — Superhero short: costume, video character sheet, location and assets

  • ★★ For his superhero short Adil gives GPT-6 Astra references instead of filming, describes what he needs and lets Astra pick the models, with one rule for all assets: plain grey backgrounds. — 00:05:20 · GPT-6 Astra
  • ★★★ Adil makes his character sheet as a video: he uploads a 360-degree video of himself and asks GPT-6 Astra for a video character sheet, which keeps him recognisable when the outfit or angle changes. — 00:05:46 · character sheet, GPT-6 Astra
  • ★★ Adil then adds the superhero costume to his character sheet, describes the hair he wants and asks for a full-body view and a close-up. — 00:05:46 · character sheet
  • ★★ Asking GPT-6 Astra for a location of gloomy mountains with a huge egg in the field, Adil specifies the egg as 50 meters tall so Astra knows what he means by huge. — 00:06:09 · GPT-6 Astra
  • ★ The chicken of Adil's superhero short gets its own asset sheet, looking like a very angry plush toy, and he adds a green bomb with a timer. — 00:06:09
  • ★★ With the assets ready, Adil explains the sequence of the superhero short to GPT-6 Astra: he flies into the valley, investigates the egg and fights what hatches out of it. — 00:06:09 · GPT-6 Astra

00:06:30 — Generating the fight scenes from the strongest takes

  • ★★ In Adil's Seedance 2.5 superhero short the fight kept breaking: getting the chicken's beak to make contact with him took many more attempts. — 00:06:39 · Seedance 2.5
  • ★★ Adil generated the superhero shots in Seedance 2.5 and built the sequence from the strongest takes across different generations. — 00:06:39 · Seedance 2.5
  • ★ Adil forgot to ask for green lasers and got yellow ones, which he kept because they look more believable. — 00:06:39

00:07:10 — Final thoughts: freedom versus keeping the original shot

  • ★★★ Adil concludes that making him fly gave GPT-6 Astra a lot of freedom, while keeping the original shot intact took much more specific direction. — 00:07:10 · GPT-6 Astra

00:07:25 — The finished superhero film

In the description and comments

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: ErikDoesVFX · GPT-6 Astra · Higgsfield MCP · Seedance 2.5

Also: After Effects · Blender · character sheet · Color grading · Houdini

Only in the description or credits: Claude

Also centred on ErikDoesVFX: I Challenged a Pro VFX Artist to Beat AI · AI vs VFX: Can Seedance 2.5 Beat VFX?

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