0 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.625 Hello 1 00:00:04.625 --> 00:00:07.725 I am Choi Sang-kyu, and I'm developing an AI that draws webtoons 2 00:00:08.200 --> 00:00:10.000 We are doing a really interesting job 3 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.750 So I would appreciate it if you enjoy my presentation 4 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:17.000 By any chance, do you know a webtoon called 'Solo Leveling'? 5 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.850 This work, for example, invested 800 million won and generated about 100 billion won in sales 6 00:00:21.200 --> 00:00:24.150 As high-quality webtoons are becoming popular 7 00:00:24.150 --> 00:00:28.000 it is getting recognized for their potential as high-profit content like games 8 00:00:28.350 --> 00:00:30.600 To seize such opportunities, many production companies are 9 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:36.000 challenging this market by introducing division of labor through collaborative group creation 10 00:00:36.250 --> 00:00:38.000 However, due to the concentration of labor, 11 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.500 various issues such as excessive labor or 12 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:42.500 leadership problems are occurring 13 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:47.500 So we are trying to innovate the limits of traditional production through AI 14 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:52.200 But the biggest problem is that we need to be able to produce webtoons with AI 15 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:53.850 But does it work? 16 00:00:53.850 --> 00:00:56.750 In fact, there are quite a few obstacle that we need to overcome 17 00:00:56.950 --> 00:00:58.850 The first thing to mention is 18 00:00:58.850 --> 00:01:01.500 Recently, there have been controversies about infringing on the rights of authors 19 00:01:01.500 --> 00:01:04.000 and various issues such as the issue of learning rights 20 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.976 To avoid such controversies, it is inevitable to use AI in a form 21 00:01:08.976 --> 00:01:11.050 that only uses the author's drawing style 22 00:01:11.450 --> 00:01:15.500 Because we don't want to replace nearly 9,000 webtoon creators 23 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:17.550 In order to collaborate with them 24 00:01:17.550 --> 00:01:20.950 We have set the business direction accordingly from the beginning 25 00:01:21.150 --> 00:01:25.000 Until June, we used to take about 5 days for about 200 pages of work 26 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.300 Currently, for about 40 sheets we will take about two to three hours 27 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:32.250 to reproduce the author's drawing style 28 00:01:32.750 --> 00:01:35.100 And secondly, it's extremely important 29 00:01:35.100 --> 00:01:37.250 to have characters express in rich emotions 30 00:01:37.250 --> 00:01:41.000 You can understand that becoming a webtoon artist involves 31 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.800 going through these processes for quite a long time 32 00:01:43.800 --> 00:01:47.000 But currently AI is the capable of these aspects 33 00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:50.950 As we are in our own way are webtoon creators 34 00:01:50.950 --> 00:01:53.000 and experts in the webtoon field 35 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:55.150 and because we have trained extensively in these aspects 36 00:01:55.150 --> 00:01:58.150 Through these efforts, we have been fine-tuning 37 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.250 and incorporating a lot of these so-called natural expressions, 38 00:02:01.250 --> 00:02:03.050 and currently working on resolving these issues 39 00:02:03.450 --> 00:02:06.450 And lastly, it is necessary to create and differentiate the production process step by step 40 00:02:07.100 --> 00:02:10.100 The most common request I get with webtoon production companies is 41 00:02:10.100 --> 00:02:12.400 if we could separate the layers 42 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:14.550 When considering AI technology 43 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:17.150 you can see that it is practically an impossible request 44 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:19.600 After hearing such requests 45 00:02:19.600 --> 00:02:22.250 we generate the elements that can be called the foundation, 46 00:02:22.250 --> 00:02:26.850 which is coloring on the sketches when producing what is commonly referred to as webtoons. 47 00:02:26.850 --> 00:02:30.450 Production companies then overlay layers on top of these elements, 48 00:02:30.450 --> 00:02:33.900 proposing the most satisfying approach to meet the needs of production companies 49 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:37.000 and in response, production companies have shown a great deal of enthusiasm for this approach 50 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:39.450 While overcoming various hurdles like this 51 00:02:39.450 --> 00:02:42.850 And that is how we are now able to produce webtoons with AI 52 00:02:42.850 --> 00:02:45.600 Now, we are contemplating on 53 00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:47.200 how can we make profits with this 54 00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:52.250 First, we believe that we need many production partners 55 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:57.100 and we have proposed the idea of using AI to handle some of the tasks 56 00:02:57.100 --> 00:02:59.700 that production companies currently manage through outsourcing 57 00:02:59.700 --> 00:03:05.450 The content we are proposing to production companies mainly involves 58 00:03:05.450 --> 00:03:08.000 outsourcing the final editing and post-production aspects of the current production process, 59 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.000 which are usually handled by outsourcing companies 60 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.200 If you entrust us with your work in the future, if you provide us with the continuity, 61 00:03:13.200 --> 00:03:15.400 we will generate what I mentioned earlier, 62 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:19.600 which is the so-called foundation, containing sketches and coloring that corresponds to that continuity 63 00:03:19.600 --> 00:03:21.000 When the production company receives that again 64 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.700 They'll layer it with their desired expressions or direction 65 00:03:24.700 --> 00:03:29.100 After the request, we can enhance the quality with AI 66 00:03:29.100 --> 00:03:33.900 and provide you with much higher-quality results in a much shorter time 67 00:03:33.900 --> 00:03:37.000 Just doing this alone should provide plenty of reasons for production companies to consider using our services 68 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.250 In addition to this, backgrounds are often used in 3D these days 69 00:03:41.250 --> 00:03:44.600 However, there are cases where these backgrounds do not match the art style 70 00:03:44.600 --> 00:03:48.300 So, we convert these backgrounds to match the art style 71 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.800 by adjusting using AI 72 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:54.900 Then you can have much more flexible expressions than existing works 73 00:03:54.900 --> 00:04:00.700 We believe that this alone is enough to convince production companies 74 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:03.950 If we gather many production companies by doing this 75 00:04:03.950 --> 00:04:06.600 These production companies actually have many works 76 00:04:06.600 --> 00:04:10.550 Every year, about 3,000 to 4,000 works are created 77 00:04:10.550 --> 00:04:12.950 So, we take those works and we 78 00:04:13.750 --> 00:04:17.450 in a way, we enhance the quality of old works and re-release them 79 00:04:17.450 --> 00:04:19.550 You may have heard a lot about revised editions 80 00:04:19.550 --> 00:04:22.600 We can easily adapt such works to the latest trends 81 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.200 We are determine that we can transform them 82 00:04:25.200 --> 00:04:27.500 For example, even with the old black and white comics 83 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:30.150 we can provide coloring or styling 84 00:04:30.150 --> 00:04:32.150 or for works with unsatisfactory artwork 85 00:04:32.150 --> 00:04:36.100 I believe some of you here may think of certain authors immediately 86 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:40.350 We can remake the stories of those authors' works 87 00:04:40.350 --> 00:04:42.800 or if you have a one particular work 88 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:44.850 if we study that work as a whole 89 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:48.900 and if you provide us with the contents, then for the prequels, sequels, spin-offs, etc 90 00:04:48.900 --> 00:04:51.000 we can create them on our side 91 00:04:51.200 --> 00:04:53.100 In fact, it's a win-win situation 92 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:55.450 Because we utilize what they have 93 00:04:55.450 --> 00:04:57.000 Without putting in much effort, 94 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:00.150 we can create new added value together 95 00:05:00.650 --> 00:05:03.600 Lastly, as mentioned earlier, our goal is 96 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.150 to create high-quality webtoons 97 00:05:06.150 --> 00:05:10.000 To challenge such things, we have been doing these things so far 98 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.300 We can say that we have been prepared for this 99 00:05:12.700 --> 00:05:15.950 For now, regarding the picture you are seeing here, 100 00:05:15.950 --> 00:05:18.700 Although the same artist draws it, the quality is quite different. 101 00:05:18.700 --> 00:05:21.800 The reason is when artists do weekly serialization, 102 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.800 they are not able to fully demonstrate their drawing skills 103 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.350 They can only demonstrate about 50-70% of their skills 104 00:05:27.350 --> 00:05:28.650 But with us 105 00:05:28.650 --> 00:05:32.300 they will be able to fully demonstrate their skills to 100% 106 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:34.850 In that case, the readers of this artist will 107 00:05:34.850 --> 00:05:37.150 wonder if the artist has always drawn this well 108 00:05:37.150 --> 00:05:41.000 So this is what you'll experience if use our service 109 00:05:41.300 --> 00:05:45.600 Also, when the continuity is first released, you can consider it as the final version 110 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.250 and you have no time to test such things 111 00:05:47.250 --> 00:05:49.000 But when you work with us, 112 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.800 By testing these elements along the way, 113 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.000 we can introduce a process that allows for the validation of direction and stories 114 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.350 Through this, readers can experience 115 00:05:57.350 --> 00:05:59.000 much stronger stories 116 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:01.000 Finally, by incorporating impactful scenes 117 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.150 using our AI-based effects, 118 00:06:04.150 --> 00:06:07.400 you'll be able to have a much more immersive experience 119 00:06:07.400 --> 00:06:10.400 Through this, we are confident 120 00:06:10.400 --> 00:06:14.400 that the existing readers will also experience something very new 121 00:06:14.400 --> 00:06:16.400 We were originally a team that created 122 00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:18.300 high-quality webtoons on Watcha using Unreal Engine 123 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:22.000 And fortunately, an AI expert also joined our team 124 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.100 We consist of a combination of experts in both webtoons and AI 125 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:26.050 which is quite rare to have in this market 126 00:06:27.150 --> 00:06:29.700 John Lasseter at Pixar once said that "The art challenges the technology, 127 00:06:29.700 --> 00:06:32.150 and the technology inspires the art." 128 00:06:32.150 --> 00:06:36.750 We believe that AI technology is another moment that can inspire art 129 00:06:36.750 --> 00:06:39.700 and we will do our best to make significant changes in this market 130 00:06:39.700 --> 00:06:40.900 Thank you for listening