Make Money With Deepfakes (And Even If You Don’t Know How To Make Some)
If you scour Youtube and Tiktok today, you could see plenty of videos with people that look to be very real but are actually clever creations due to the latest breakthroughs in CGI technology. Let’s learn some steps on how you could make money with deepfakes, and some other tips for earning even if you don’t really know how to make them.
Would you like the hard way? Or the easy way?
The Hard Way
1. Learn CGI manipulation and rendering.
Why this is the most important yet most difficult part of your deepfaking journey is due to these reasons:
You must learn about computer graphics thoroughly
Because the world today is very visual in nearly everything, computer graphics is one of the most crucial fields in the industry that keeps the world functioning. It is very safe to affirm that anyone with in-depth knowledge about it could make a great fortune out of it.
If you are someone who knows deepfaking, then you can be declared as one of the most proficient in CGI technology. If you wish to be very good at it, you need to have a very deep understanding of computer animation and computer graphics in general – this takes a great deal of discipline which takes to this next key point.
It takes a long time to attain mastery
Like the transformation of kung-fu masters and music prodigies, becoming an expert in computer imagery doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of time – weeks and months will never be enough. you need to spend years learning about it.
In learning the art of deepfaking, you must learn video editing and computer animation. Only by blending together these 2 disciplines can you make a convincing deepfake video.
You need to buy a powerful computer
If you’re someone who’s just starting out with the work-from-home setting, chances are you can’t afford to purchase a high-end computer yet. Working with digital videos and computer imagery overall can’t be done efficiently with an average laptop or desktop PC. You need to have one with a high processing speed, high storage capacity, and high access rates.
You need to have a huge budget for this. It’s one difficulty you need to get through to be proficient deepfaker or in working with computer videos and animation.
Here’s your guide about having the right computer equipment for video editing.
2. Choose a video clip you want to make a deepfake with.
Now let’s assume you’ve already spent some time getting through the previous points. If you have, it should be the time to do some actual deepfaking. To pull it off successfully, you must choose a certain video to make a deepfake with carefully.
The most famous deepfakes actually stem from passion first, then “realness” second. What this means is that you have to select a video clip of a person that you’re so familiar with because only then can you mimic that person’s facial mannerisms and oral inflections digitally. Your favorite movie scenes should be a very good place to start.
3. Upload your deepfake creations and monetize them
Though the monetization part could be a bit tricky since you’ll need to deal with copyright infringement issues, there are plenty of content creators out there that are actually gaining streams of incomes due to their creations.
It is quite natural that you’ll have a hard time monetizing your deepfakes during the first few tries. Perhaps it should be in these next steps that you’ll get actual money.
4. Teach people how deepfake is done
Since it’s assumed at this point that you’re quite proficient with deepfaking already, how about teaching interested parties how you do it? By making watchable content about it, you could earn money through advertising, affiliate marketing, or through sponsorships.
5. Get hired by major film producers
This could be the hardest step here, but this will clearly give you the greatest gain. If you Google the name “Shamook”, you’d learn that he is a deepfake Youtuber who got hired by Lucasfilm, the entertainment company behind Star Wars.
Due to his dedication to his deepfaking craft, the guy is now earning a huge salary from a major film studio. If you’ve started doing the same and you keep at it for extended periods, it could happen to you as well.
The Easy Way
If you find the above steps to be painfully difficult, fret not. Here are the easy ways of still making money with deepfakes, even if you don’t get too deep into the technicalities behind it.
1. Choose a deepfake app and use it
If you hate the idea of learning the intricacies of CGI manipulation, you could choose those deepfake apps that you can download on your phone or your PC. Here are some of these you could try:
- FaceApp
- Reface
- FaceMagic
- Wombo
- MyHeritage
- Fakeme
- Speakpic
- Zao
While these are very user-friendly and could be used by nearly anyone, you have to accept that they are bound to technical limitations and can’t really address the “expert-level” stuff of deepfaking. As a beginner, you might want to use them first and then expand your proficiency further using professional CGI-rendering software like Blender and Maya.
2. Find existing deepfake videos and make commentaries about them
This is how you could make money with deepfaking even if you don’t know how to make them. Since there is plenty of deepfake content on Youtube and Tiktok these days, you could make video commentaries about them or video comparisons about them.
By discussing how good or bad those deepfakes are in technical detail, a very interesting video output would surely await the viewers. But here’s a precaution.
By doing so, you could earn the dislikes of their original creators and their fans. You have to be brave enough to handle the negativity behind it and focus on the money you could earn from the views that your deepfake analysis and commentaries could earn.
If you’re considering a career out of computer graphics, deepfaking could be among your best options. It’s both engaging and rewarding for both of you the creator, as well as the spectators.
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