If we rewind the timeline a few months, we would witness a different scene trending on social media - AI portrait photos.
In 2023, the 9.9 Yuan Meiduck camera became the first true "hot item" born in the AI era. During this year's May Day holiday, a clay filter took the spotlight in the social circle.
The popularity of clay effects started spreading across various platforms, introducing new ways to play with it. Users on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) discovered that applying a Disney cartoon effect to the original image before using a cartoon-style filter for the clay effect resulted in an even cuter outcome.
TikTok blogger @Jacob created a creative video titled "Turning Photos into Clay Animation," garnering over 300,000 likes and shares.
The popularity of the Meiya Duck Camera lasted for a month, but this time Remini's clay special effects only heated up during the May Day holiday.
AI filters need to "get rid of AI"
Realism, beauty, and novelty are essential elements that propel these filter effects to bestsellers.
To achieve the "realism" in images, Zhang Yueguang, the founder of MiaoYa Camera, emphasizes the need to "get rid of AI" when developing technical models.
In the early stages of AI-generated images, the materials fed to large models for training were mostly high-definition model portraits, resulting in initially generated images that felt "obviously fake." Achieving "realism" requires that the training materials for the models must consist of a large number of real photos, and the models themselves need precise tuning.
The essence of "realism" lies in the technical prowess and corporate influence behind the application, with both complementing each other.
In the current image editing industry market, there are mainly two forces at play. One is the vertical applications, including a series of products under Meitu and numerous emerging applications. In the Chinese market, Meitu Xiuxiu undoubtedly holds a leading position.
As a "veteran" in the image editing industry, Meitu Xiuxiu, born in 2008, has now made significant strides in the AI era with its own AI visual large model, MiracleVision, and continues to maintain a crucial position in the domestic market. Last June, Meitu launched seven AI-related tools (WHEE, KaiPai, WinkStudio, etc.) in one go.
With the accumulation of portrait technology, the assistance of AI large models, and mature applications, Meitu has become one of the first to benefit from the AI wave. According to the latest data, Meitu has 250 million monthly active users, a 2.6% year-on-year growth. The image and design product business has grown by 52.8% year-on-year, with over 9.11 million paid subscribers, reaching a historic high.
The other force comes from various internet giants. In the early days of mobile internet, Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance all made moves to acquire or create their way into various fields, with image editing being one of them.
Zhang Yueguang, the founder of MiaoYa Camera, once revealed that MiaoYa Camera is a startup project incubated internally by Alibaba's entertainment division. The cloud computing service supporting its application base comes from Alibaba Cloud, and the decisive factor determining whether the generated images are realistic and stunning is the team's self-developed AI model "Tiziano."
Apart from these two forces, there is another potential variable in the market—image editing functions built by social platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu.
TikTok and Xiaohongshu come with built-in photo/video editors to lower the barrier for users to share content, encouraging more participation in community building and boosting user retention.
TikTok goes a step further by integrating AI components into the content upload window. Xiaohongshu also heavily promotes self-developed filter templates, such as the animation style of "Rick and Morty" or the game style of "The Sims," which have all trended within the Xiaohongshu community for a period of time.
The Predicament Behind Photo Editing
With the support of technology and corporate influence, each app showcases its strengths, fiercely competing on the path to help users "capture beauty."
While beauty judgment is subjective, the trend of beauty is objective.
Image editing apps often optimize their products according to the current aesthetic trends. For example, when the masses started pursuing a high forehead, the "adjust hairline" feature was added; when the focus shifted to the head-to-shoulder ratio, the "small head" feature was launched. Filters like the vintage style or natural makeup are also introduced to align with the current trends.
The trend of beauty is changing rapidly, and many apps have seen the profit potential brought by these trends. By allowing users to experience the most popular filters first, they can seize a competitive edge in the market.
After Remini's clay special effects gained popularity during the May Day holiday, many users paused at the subscription fee of 68 yuan/week. Seizing this opportunity, Meitu Xiuxiu launched clay special effects on May 6th and immediately offered them for free, earning praise from users for being a cost-effective choice.
This is actually a common practice for Meitu Xiuxiu, where many trendy filters are initially offered for free to attract users, then later switched to a subscription model. When the trial period ends, a window automatically pops up inviting users to renew their membership. The subscription fee is paid monthly, with Meitu Xiuxiu's VIP membership priced at 15 yuan per month.
The combination of "free trial + subscription model" has long been the norm for image editing applications, but things have changed somewhat after the introduction of Miao Ya Camera.
"The first day of charging for AIGC products means no more charges in the future." With this idea in mind, the founder of Miao Ya Camera, Zhang Yueguang, placed the payment step upfront, asking users to pay 9.9 yuan before experiencing the product.
After payment, users can upload over 20 of their own photos to instantly generate various styles of portrait photos, making it convenient and quick. The "small change" pricing strategy reduces the psychological barrier for users, and the 9.9 yuan Miao Ya Camera has become the first truly popular AI application.
Some choose to use teaser content to attract users to subscribe to memberships, while others opt for a one-time purchase approach. Regardless of the profit model, they all face the same challenge - the product's fleeting popularity and lack of sustainability.
Various filters and effects often have a brief moment of fame before quickly fading away. Why is there a lack of long-term development? The key lies in the final element - "novelty."
"Ecology" is the core
"Novelty" seems to be the easiest but is actually the hardest element to achieve.
Whether it's AI portraits or clay effects, they all bring users a sense of anticipation akin to opening a blind box, prompting them to download apps, visit websites, and try out new filters.
However, "novelty" tests the ability to continuously innovate. This is not easy to accomplish.
Zhang Yueguang, the founder of Miao Ya Camera, has also pondered this issue in interviews. His answer lies in product "ecologization."
Ecologization involves platforms providing simplified design tools, inviting some professional users to create templates together, testing them internally before launching them to enrich the community ecosystem.
For example, Xiangsu is a special effects open platform under ByteDance, providing creators with exclusive tools for quickly creating effects and props. Douyin has introduced multiple support policies for special effects artists, such as launching Douyin prop design competitions, offering million-dollar prizes, and providing special certifications on personal pages for special effects artists.
The income structure of special effects artists is becoming more mature. In addition to platform incentives for special effects usage and event bonuses, Xiangsu platform also helps special effects artists connect with commercial opportunities for business expansion.
Through the collaborative efforts of platforms and individuals, many special effects artists have embarked on a professional path, continuously enriching the Douyin community ecosystem. Xiangsu platform is constantly optimizing its tools, evolving from only being able to create 2D filters to now offering a comprehensive range of 3D makeup, interactive AR, and functional templates.
This mature co-creation model seamlessly connects tool-based products with community ecosystems, breaking free from the constraints of purely functional tools.
After a new special effect is created, not only does the Douyin community provide traffic support, but special effects artists can also engage in independent promotion and operations. Special effects artist @Aky gained fame with the creation of the "Hairband Face Mask" effect, which has been used by 53.15 million people. @Aky's Douyin account continues to attract followers.
Following the success of the "Hairband Face Mask" effect, her "Celebrity Makeup Transformation" series of effects, along with the refined operation of her account, has garnered 150 million views. Currently, @Aky's account has nearly 2 million followers.
This collaborative operating model generates continuous positive feedback between special effects artists and the community, providing the potential for sustainability of creative content in the community. With a growing variety of user editing options, the playability has greatly increased, turning community platforms like TikTok and Xiaohongshu into major variables in the field of image editing.
Apps like Meitu Xiuxiu and Qingyan Camera are also continuously exploring the path of ecosystem development. The emergence of "AI filter artists" may gradually professionalize, similar to TikTok special effects artists, as only a stable commercial cycle can create a competitive advantage.
Looking back at the birth of three explosive hits, H5 emerged in 2014, peaked in traffic in 2017, and its business model fully unfolded; while the achievement of "earning over ten thousand a day" by Miaoya Camera came less than nine months after the release of ChatGPT; the alternating "highlights" between Remini and Miaoya Camera took less than a year. The next explosive trend of "clay special effects" may come soon, and the opportunity will only belong to companies capable of constructing ecosystems.
