Rhapsody: A lyric video creation assistant
24 Aug 2018 | Sujay
Creating lyric videos is a labor-intensive process that requires precision, creativity, and countless hours of manual work. When I partnered with Post Office Studios in Mumbai, I discovered an opportunity to revolutionize their workflow through automation—without sacrificing the artistic control that makes their work exceptional.
The Challenge
Post Office Studios, led by Advaith, specializes in comprehensive video production for clients worldwide, including brand advertisements, lyric videos, and motion graphics. Their reputation for quality work with prominent artists comes with a significant challenge: the manual lyric video creation process.
The team’s workflow involved:
- Manually synchronizing lyrics with audio tracks
- Frame-by-frame positioning of text elements
- Repetitive styling and animation tasks
- Time-intensive quality control processes
A typical lyric video required 4-5 days of focused work, with much of that time spent on repetitive tasks rather than creative decision-making. The challenge was clear: How could we streamline their workflow without compromising creative control?
Developing the Solution
After extensive discussions with the Post Office Studios team, we identified Adobe After Effects as the optimal platform for automation. This approach would preserve their existing workflow while introducing intelligent automation for repetitive tasks.
I dove into Adobe’s extension framework and developed Rhapsody—a specialized plugin designed specifically for lyric video creation workflows. The plugin needed to:
- Automate timing synchronization between lyrics and audio
- Provide intelligent text positioning and styling
- Maintain full creative control for editors
- Integrate seamlessly with existing After Effects projects
Implementation and Results
The initial version of Rhapsody was completed within two weeks of intensive development. The Post Office Studios team immediately began testing the plugin on their active client projects.
The results exceeded our expectations:
The first lyric video created using Rhapsody
The Impact
The first project completed with Rhapsody delivered remarkable results:
- Production time reduced from 4-5 days to 2 days
- 50% productivity increase while maintaining quality standards
- Enhanced creative focus as editors spent less time on repetitive tasks
- Faster client turnaround enabling the studio to take on more projects
Key Takeaways
This project reinforced several important principles about automation in creative industries:
- Automation should enhance, not replace, creativity
- Understanding the existing workflow is crucial before implementing solutions
- Collaboration with end-users leads to more effective tools
- Incremental improvements can yield significant productivity gains
Rhapsody demonstrates that thoughtful automation can transform creative workflows, allowing artists to focus on what they do best—creating exceptional content—while technology handles the repetitive heavy lifting.