Claude Code Just Automated My Freelance Editing

0:00Just now, Cloud Code has successfully helped me create an infinite automatic generation of photography shorts or reels. Let me explain a little bit because right now, I just do a little bit of freelance work for a photographer. And a way that certain photographers, especially like couple photography, get clients is that they post reels on Instagram [music] where basically you just showcase your work. And the style I'm sure maybe some people have seen it before, especially if you're looking into this kind of stuff and photography in Japan or just

0:31travel places. The style is basically, okay, [music] the photographer it starts with a short video of the photographer taking photos of the couple doing something. And then [music] usually some captions that say like, okay, you know, you decided to choose me for photos in Japan or for getting cinematic photos. And then it just showcases a bunch of the photos in grids usually. So, sometimes [music] it's just an individual photo and then sometimes it's like a grid of three or four and so on where you see a lot of the photos together. [music] And basically what I created just now is a program that connects with DaVinci

1:08Resolve where initially you start off with the program and then this is in like a web browser. And then with the program you can create the grids um like it connects with the library of photos that you have in [music] your laptop, in my laptop. And then essentially I just drag and drop these photos into the grids. And then I click a button that creates it in DaVinci Resolve [music] exactly the same. So, and it has the captions there as well. I just need to

1:37drag and drop in [music] a video. Basically, we choose from all the behind-the-scenes videos that he has of him taking photos of the couple. Um and I can automate that as well as long as I have a a file a folder directory that points to those those uh videos. And so, the aspect that I've already automated is that instead of choosing [music] the the photos, what I've done is essentially create rules around [music] what should be in certain photos. And basically, what has happened is I created a button in the program [music] that just mixes all of it and then

2:15creates the whole thing for me. Essentially, [music] the rule is to have at least 12 of them. So, we make 12 grids and then it populates the photos based on a random selection of ones, twos, [music] and threes. I haven't included fours yet. I might add that to the rule, but I've been working with CloudCode to build this thing [music] for maybe like three or four days. And this is part of Destroy Tadium because honestly, this type of editing, I think it doesn't really require that much brain power other than just choosing the best photos, but right now we're mixing [music] the photos because that's what we we want to try

2:53out. However, I can extend this program to just select from one folder where it's the same couple and the rules remain the same. We try to aim for a close-up shot, uh a medium shot, a wide shot in the grid of three. And then the vertical photos are the only ones that will ever be in one, the grid of one. And then for two, it can be a mix of horizontal and vertical. So, we I

3:15created all these rules with CloudCode. [music] And then the program is now created. I just tested it, and it created a timeline basically that is solid, that I actually thought each photo was selected in a really good way. It's from different projects, and [music] now I can just hit a button and it's done. It's We can just make a lot of these. Um and of course, if it doesn't look good, I'm going to fix it. And that's the whole point of having the whole manual [music] aspect of it where I can drag and drop photos of my choosing and [music] see it in a preview as well. I I worked with

3:50CloudCode to build that aspect of it, too. And the whole [music] like tag system and everything. I think there is an app out there that can already do this. My [music] my friend was using it previously. Interestingly, I didn't even look at it. I didn't look at it at all cuz I was like, "You know, I kind of just want to build my own thing." And Project Destroy Tedium has just it been in my head. So, whatever I'm doing, I'm kind of thinking, [music] "How can I do this in a better and faster way?" And this is the result of it. And I feel I felt so good after

4:19seeing [music] timeline. I was just like, "This already looks so good." And I'm I'm happy about it. I'm like, [music] "Yes, we made this thing where all it takes is hitting a button." And right now, we still need to add the video and [music] select the captions, but we'll have a pool of captions where, you know, they're the best performing ones and we can just rotate them or make them

4:39according to whatever the beat BTS is. And just Yeah, it's it's a system. It's just something that [music] we're doing to attract more clients, basically, for the photography business. And it doesn't need to be like an amazing work of art for these shorts. They're just They're just made because it's a showcase of the photographer's

5:00work. [music] And it's just a way to have people see his work so that they book him. That's it, right? It's customer [music] acquisition. Just getting leads, just getting exposure. And like I said, it doesn't need to be amazing artistically. [music] Um it's a it's a tried-and-true formula where a lot of photographers have done this. [music] And it's essentially just me now creating an automated system to achieve that kind of [music] video uh for shorts. And man, it feels good to to finish it and and just have it and now be able to press a button and [music] get it done. So, yeah. That's uh that's

5:36what I wanted to talk about. It's sort of a side project for Destroy Tedium. It doesn't align with the whole flows that we have for the skill flow and the podcast flow and then the main channel video for YouTube [music] flow, but it is a flow that I am getting paid for that I can now [music] just automate. So, arguably that's even better. Yeah, that's a little extra project that we haven't really talked about too much in terms of the development, but having it be done in

6:09front of me and used, it feels so good. I don't know how to describe it, man. It's like I was just cheering when I when I saw it. It's like such a good feeling. I don't know how what else makes me feel this way sometimes [music] other than maybe playing some games with friends and and winning or something. I don't know. It's like it's a really really strong sense of victory and accomplishment because it did take some work to go back and forth and the initial iterations were like, "Oh, this is crap. This is not good. This doesn't look good." There was a lot of back and

6:44forth. It wasn't instant. It this took some time, even though it was a short amount of time like under a week, but still. But yeah, that's that's the project and in terms of I don't know I don't know if we need to talk about a lesson, but I guess the lesson is just keep going cuz at a certain point I was considering giving up because I felt like I felt like it just wasn't working very well, but the the last [music] prompts of me just telling it more rules, of adjusting the whole setup, of of just like seeing it through, you know? Of really iterating [music] and bringing it and thinking

7:19about it and really brainstorming and thinking, "What can this [music] be? What do I want it to be? What do I want it changed?" And just keep going. And then eventually [music] it it can get to a place where you're just really happy with it. That's what happened for me, so even though [music] it wasn't a long period of time, it's still sometimes

7:37like you don't you don't know, right? Because people don't really do it this way. [music] It wasn't It wasn't like my friend my photographer friend who's also [music] my client basically told me that I should be using the app that he uses, but I'm just like it's still there's still that element of having to pay for that app and then do it on the phone and then select the photos and all that stuff and just it's there's so much friction there. There's so much like I don't I want to make my own thing, you know, I really want to make my own thing and that's sort of how I've always been

8:10to be honest. I don't really Yeah, there's [music] there's a part of me that just doesn't like just going with what's already out there if that makes sense. Something weird in my nature, I guess. [music] Either way, that's that's it for this one. In terms of lucidity, yesterday was really good. I that's one I was saying that I feel better [music] and now I feel even better [laughter]

8:31having created this thing. [music] It's just seeing the work finally progress and yesterday actually we I created a a game with my friend, just a prototype [music] of a prototype. So it was based on a prototype that I created 8 years ago and I won't really showcase it too much because I think the idea is really really cool and I want I want it to have something out there first before I showcase exactly what it is. Let's just say it's supposed to be a rhythm game and it is a rhythm game. The new one is more so a rhythm game compared to my original prototype 8 years ago when I

9:01created it in Unity and AI as we know it wasn't a thing so I kind of had to like do it all myself. Unity was a big help, of course, but after I created it then, I basically gave up on it because I didn't know how to further it. I didn't have the conviction or my abilities now to actually see a project through. Now I have that ability and me and my friend, the one who introduced me to AI [music] in the to begin with, yeah, I mean, if you've watched the first Adventures episode, you know his name already. It's Philip. So Philip helped me with um, just working through

9:38the beginnings of creating this game. And we sat for a good 2 hours just literally talking about the game, understanding all of its rules, thinking about how it's played, basically developing my prototype into a version that I feel like could be satisfying. [music] Like an actual version one of the game to be achieved versus just [music] a rough idea of what I had 8 years ago. And so, we did that for 2 hours. We wrote a huge prompt. I downloaded Codex, paid for the subscription, and then we used Astra to basically help us with the architecture of the game and brainstorming and everything. And it created a huge huge

10:20file, [music] MD markup file where it's just telling us the whole plan of the game based on what we wrote [music] and just like fleshing it out and asking a lot of questions and I'm just going back and forth with it over and over figuring out the details of each rule. And we basically created a first version, very very very small version where it is more like just a very fast demo. And I I like it so far. It's It's a little It's definitely deviated from my original idea. And I want to bring back

10:52some of my original ideas a bit more. [music] However, for one day or should I say three to four hours is how [music] how long we worked on it. For three to four hours, that was that was pretty solid to go from just my first version prototype and [music] like having the rules laid out and just thinking things through and then just like being able to play a demo immediately. That was really really cool. So, that was another project that I worked on [music] yesterday and I got to use Codex. Using being on Astra on medium or high takes up credits so fast. I'm on the plan

11:27where it's just I think plus, so it's around $20 a month and it used the credits so fast. It was crazy. I I've never used credits that [music] fast before. So, I think for architecture, that's when you're supposed to use Astra for building [music] simple, I guess, game mechanics and features. That's more so you go down to Soul or for UI stuff, [music] it's apparently Luna. I learned this through Gemini because whatever questions I have that I feel like it doesn't really require one of my paid [music] paid plans to to ask. I don't want to I don't want to ask questions that I feel like Gemini can answer for instance for

12:04instance or one of the other free free ones that I'm [music] using. So, right now I'm using both Claude Code and Codex. So, yeah, this is this is interesting. This is very interesting. I I feel like I haven't used [music] it enough to see the differences yet, but as we keep working on these things, I will notice the differences. And we reached 100% a 99% I should say for usage of Claude Code yesterday, so we

12:29couldn't use it to help build the game. So, that's why I used Codex [music] instead. And for the Claude Code, we're still on the $20 plan as well. And then today was when I when it reset [music] and that's when I finished the, I guess, automatic photography shorts automation workflow. These These things are going. We're moving and it feels really good [music] and I feel like we just got to keep it up. There are some projects that I also want to help some somebody I met

12:59recently through a friend of a friend. So, and see if I can create something that can help them. [music] And I'm not charging them or anything. I just want to be able to use these tools to help other people with solutions with with their problems, find solutions, [music] and really practice using these agentic tools, AI agentic tools, I guess, or coding

13:20tools, whatever you want to call it. [music] Yeah, it's been a it's been a fun 2 and 1/2 months using these tools. And I think the more I get into it, the more we're going to get better. I think we're approaching 3 months actually, so I suppose we can say 3 [music] months. So, 3 months of using these tools, I feel like we're we're getting We're learning so much, and we're already [music] achieving so much with it. I think the the first build that we did with our productivity app, that was such a trap, such a waste of time. Like, these are the tools I need to be making. [music]

13:50And that's the whole point of my Claude Code in 30 Days video, where I used it for my first 30 days, and that's the lesson I learned. And obviously, I'm continuing [music] with that lesson and not getting tied up making something that's useless. So, but I really should finish that video. [music] But, it feels so different, you know, working on a video compared to like working on these tools. They're like completely different things, and I feel like I'd rather work on tools than

14:13make videos [music] for my main channel. But, there's got to be a There's got to be a way to make main channel videos where it doesn't take [music] as much work, but they're still a lot of the value of what I've learned [music] expressed in more or less a concise way. So, I I will have to figure out that system [music] as we go. It's going to be the main channel flow, or I guess the the YouTube flow, I suppose, cuz this is the podcast flow, so we will discover a YouTube flow, and we have a photogra- photography reels flow done as [music] well. Yeah, Project Destroy Tedium, it's

14:48going. I'll catch you guys in the next one.