Newsletter

Introduction

Alright — here we go. First edition.

I've wanted to do this for a long time: a simple, useful newsletter that brings together what I've been watching in motion design, AI creative work, and software. It'll take a few issues to find its rhythm, but I'd rather start than overthink.

I've also just launched a new site with Simon Ziri — finally a proper home for courses, the podcast, and tutorials. Still early days, but it feels good to have somewhere solid to build from.

Motion & Design

A bit late to mention it, but After Effects quietly added a really handy "Quick Offset" feature a while back — lets you shift layers and keyframes faster. Worth catching up on if you missed it. Release notes

In Cavalry, you can now import other scenes as assets and use them like pre-comps — they stay linked, which is brilliant. The new "Export as Project" option has already saved me a few times. And I keep seeing the Spherize filter pop up in people's work; seems to be having a little moment. Release notes

Also spotted something cool from the Canva Creative team: they've started releasing open-source tools for Cavalry. The first one's called Quiver, which lets you fire Figma designs straight into Cavalry — I think it even handles images. Very cool start. Overview

And one more to watch — Riveo, a new motion/video tool from the Forge & Form folks. Haven't tried it yet but it looks promising. Site

AI Creative

This one's still a live experiment for me. I'm being asked to explore AI-generated video for real projects now, and I'll be honest — I've got mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's uncomfortable. I've spent years learning to craft things by hand, and suddenly these tools promise to do that with a prompt. It can feel like feeding the noise machine.

But that discomfort has become a bit of a compass. When I feel that edge — that mix of resistance and curiosity — it usually means I'm about to learn something. So I'm treating AI less as a replacement and more as a collaborator I'm still figuring out. Sometimes it's magic, sometimes it's junk. The work now is about learning which is which.

A few things I've been exploring:

• Reformer Pro Audio — a great example of human-AI interplay done right. You make the sound yourself — your breath, your voice, whatever — and the AI turns it into targeted Foley. Keeps the play and control in your hands. Krotos Reformer Pro
• Weavy — a node-based workspace for AI image and video generation. I've been testing more node-based setups lately; it's clunky, but there's something interesting about treating AI like a modular design tool rather than a black box. Weavy
• Higgsfield.ai — they're experimenting with controllable camera moves in AI-generated video, and even their homepage is worth a scroll — packed with prompt ideas and visual cues. It's the kind of thing that makes you realize how much design thinking is starting to merge with prompt craft. higgsfield.ai

No big conclusions yet. I'm not trying to become an "AI creative." I'm just trying to understand what's actually worth keeping when everything becomes possible.

Software

I used to get excited for Apple keynotes. Now I get that same buzz for OpenAI Dev Day. This year they announced Agent Builder — a visual way to create AI agents without writing code. Feels like a glimpse of where tools are heading. Coverage

I've also been building more in Cursor, and spun up a small site — cavalrytools.com — to collect the scripts I'm making. It's rough and might change completely, but it's nice having a place to drop experiments.

If you like reading about how things get built:

• Stripe Press keeps publishing sharp books and essays around systems and software. Stripe Press
• Dan Hollick's Making Software is shaping up to be a deep, long-form dive into how software really gets made. Still early, but ambitious. I saw him at Config this year. He's a great speaker and educator. makingsoftware.com

Closing

A few bits before I go:

• The new site's live (though some parts in progress).
• New Cavalry tutorial on random-number blending: YouTube
• Quick studio setup short: link
• Recent animation work for AILP: LinkedIn

Thanks for reading! If you're reading this elsewhere and want to subscribe to this newsletter, head to my website. You'll find it in the header and footer. jackvaughan.com