6 ms·

Perforce charges $500 for training training videos.. and it's AI narrated

53 points by TZubiri 3mo ago

TZubiri 3mo ago
I was like 10 minutes deep into the free version when I noticed that a couple of weird things could be attributed to the 'narrator' being a ChatGPT like speech synth. 1- The voice is not consistent across different videos. 2- Once in a while it does that thing where it sounds like a demon and changes the voice profile to a completely different person for a little while. 3- There's weird... pauses... that in some cases make sense, but in some cases it's just completely non-sensical "this is a very useful... feature" or "looking at your issue that you are... raising to them", it sounds like someone reading a Charles Bukowski poem. This happens the most often, once you see it it's like those optical illusion things where you can't unsee it. One cannot spend too much time evaluating products, and I feel that I have seen all that I needed to see, how good can a product of a company that does this be? And to charge 500$ for the complete course? I don't quite get it. Like is it really easier to generate a video with fake AI narration than just narrating it yourself? I think it would even be harder, only to make your reputation and brand 1000% worse? And the act of showcasing a free version of the course to 'get a taste of it', when in reality I'm guessing most would see the red flags and back away, thanks I guess. I just don't get it.
- exe34 3mo ago
  If it's all ai generated, it's only fair if I use STT to convert it and have an LLM summarise it back to what might have been the original bullet points used to make the training video. Or just send me the prompt.
  - fluoridation 3mo ago
    It's TTS. That doesn't mean the text wasn't written by a human.
    - redsocksfan45 3mo ago
      [dead]
    - exe34 3mo ago
      Oh suddenly AI isn't fair.
      - fluoridation 3mo ago
        Uh... Huh? Mate, nobody cares if you want an AI to feed you regurgitated summaries.
- Hnrobert42 3mo ago
  Having made training videos, doing a voice recording is a huge pain in the ass. So easy to flub and have to edit or re-record. Hard to maintain even pace. I haven't tried AI generated voices, but doing it manually is difficult.
nubg 3mo ago
The problem being? If the content is good enough and the narration fine (it took you a while to even notice), why does it matter? > Like is it really easier to generate a video with fake AI narration than just narrating it yourself? Yes? Also, they can iterate quicker (don't have to rerecord if content changes).
- paganel 3mo ago
  The problem is that I personally have a visceral hate against AI-voices.
  - wkjagt 3mo ago
    Same for me. And it's not even rational. Even if I know the information is good, I'm just so put off by it that I am unable to follow.
- MiroslavPokorny 3mo ago
  Maybe its me, but having a human narrate the text is one part of a guarantee that shows an actual team of a few experts took the time to prepare the text and review the finished product.
  - jstanley 3mo ago
    I too judge books by their covers.
    - HPsquared 3mo ago
      It's all information that feeds into the Bayesian.
    - mattmaroon 3mo ago
      Everyone does. That’s why publishers put care into cover art.
      - 3mo ago
ChrisMarshallNY 3mo ago
If you are using Perforce as an enterprise system, $500 is peanuts. Perforce can get pricey. We used to be a Perforce shop, in my last job. However, I continue to be amazed that Perforce survived Git. I assume its ability to handle large binaries has been what saved it. I seem to remember an HN posting, some time ago, about a new system, aimed at creatives, and that handles big binaries. It looked fairly good, but not sure how it’s doing.
- nylonstrung 3mo ago
  You're probably thinking of Lore by Epic Games which was announced recently and seems to be well-received so far and natively supported by Unreal Engine
  - ChrisMarshallNY 3mo ago
    Yup. That’s it. I remember when one of the engines (either Unreal or Unity), shipped with Perforce included.
    - flohofwoe 3mo ago
      There was also PlasticSCM, which was acquired by Unity a while back. I'm hearing differing opinions about whether it's good or bad though. https://www.plasticscm.com/ https://www.plasticscm.com/ https://unity.com/features/version-control https://unity.com/features/version-control
- forrestthewoods 3mo ago
  > However, I continue to be amazed that Perforce survived Git. Virtually 100% of non-indie devs use Perforce. Is Perforce good? Ehhh not really. It’s been stagnant for 15 years. Is Git capable of meeting game dev needs? It’s not enough close. No Git LFS does not count. Personally I think even Git is mediocre at best. But it’s all modern devs know. So there’s been very little progress towards version control that doesn’t suck. Very sad. Hopefully Epic’s Lore is good. Low odds. But not zero! And hey at least they’re trying.
vasco 3mo ago
And a coffee place near me charges €10 for a strawberry matcha drink, but we don't have to purchase either.
- lifestyleguru 3mo ago
  You keep hearing and saying that you don't have to go there, then suddenly there is nowhere else to go because all places are like this.
uf00lme 3mo ago
This tends to be the kind of thing you can get thrown in for free when negotiating. It's highly unlikely to be a deal breaker for anyone buying Perforce, if anything they may have done this to stop annoying cheap customers buying from them.
Othrya 3mo ago
[dead]
tosh 3mo ago
here is a free version of the first 4 chapters https://training.perforce.com/learn/courses/536/p4-helix-core-user-basic-free https://training.perforce.com/learn/courses/536/p4-helix-cor...

53 points by TZubiri 3mo ago

I was like 10 minutes deep into the free version when I noticed that a couple of weird things could be attributed to the 'narrator' being a ChatGPT like speech synth. 1- The voice is not consistent across different videos. 2- Once in a while it does that thing where it sounds like a demon and changes the voice profile to a completely different person for a little while. 3- There's weird... pauses... that in some cases make sense, but in some cases it's just completely non-sensical "this is a very useful... feature" or "looking at your issue that you are... raising to them", it sounds like someone reading a Charles Bukowski poem. This happens the most often, once you see it it's like those optical illusion things where you can't unsee it. One cannot spend too much time evaluating products, and I feel that I have seen all that I needed to see, how good can a product of a company that does this be? And to charge 500$ for the complete course? I don't quite get it. Like is it really easier to generate a video with fake AI narration than just narrating it yourself? I think it would even be harder, only to make your reputation and brand 1000% worse? And the act of showcasing a free version of the course to 'get a taste of it', when in reality I'm guessing most would see the red flags and back away, thanks I guess. I just don't get it.

exe34 3mo ago
If it's all ai generated, it's only fair if I use STT to convert it and have an LLM summarise it back to what might have been the original bullet points used to make the training video. Or just send me the prompt.
- fluoridation 3mo ago
  It's TTS. That doesn't mean the text wasn't written by a human.
  - redsocksfan45 3mo ago
    [dead]
  - exe34 3mo ago
    Oh suddenly AI isn't fair.
    - fluoridation 3mo ago
      Uh... Huh? Mate, nobody cares if you want an AI to feed you regurgitated summaries.
Hnrobert42 3mo ago
Having made training videos, doing a voice recording is a huge pain in the ass. So easy to flub and have to edit or re-record. Hard to maintain even pace. I haven't tried AI generated voices, but doing it manually is difficult.

nubg 3mo ago

The problem being? If the content is good enough and the narration fine (it took you a while to even notice), why does it matter? > Like is it really easier to generate a video with fake AI narration than just narrating it yourself? Yes? Also, they can iterate quicker (don't have to rerecord if content changes).

paganel 3mo ago
The problem is that I personally have a visceral hate against AI-voices.
- wkjagt 3mo ago
  Same for me. And it's not even rational. Even if I know the information is good, I'm just so put off by it that I am unable to follow.
MiroslavPokorny 3mo ago
Maybe its me, but having a human narrate the text is one part of a guarantee that shows an actual team of a few experts took the time to prepare the text and review the finished product.
- jstanley 3mo ago
  I too judge books by their covers.
  - HPsquared 3mo ago
    It's all information that feeds into the Bayesian.
  - mattmaroon 3mo ago
    Everyone does. That’s why publishers put care into cover art.
    - 3mo ago

ChrisMarshallNY 3mo ago

If you are using Perforce as an enterprise system, $500 is peanuts. Perforce can get pricey. We used to be a Perforce shop, in my last job. However, I continue to be amazed that Perforce survived Git. I assume its ability to handle large binaries has been what saved it. I seem to remember an HN posting, some time ago, about a new system, aimed at creatives, and that handles big binaries. It looked fairly good, but not sure how it’s doing.

nylonstrung 3mo ago
You're probably thinking of Lore by Epic Games which was announced recently and seems to be well-received so far and natively supported by Unreal Engine
- ChrisMarshallNY 3mo ago
  Yup. That’s it. I remember when one of the engines (either Unreal or Unity), shipped with Perforce included.
  - flohofwoe 3mo ago
    There was also PlasticSCM, which was acquired by Unity a while back. I'm hearing differing opinions about whether it's good or bad though. https://www.plasticscm.com/ https://www.plasticscm.com/ https://unity.com/features/version-control https://unity.com/features/version-control
forrestthewoods 3mo ago
> However, I continue to be amazed that Perforce survived Git. Virtually 100% of non-indie devs use Perforce. Is Perforce good? Ehhh not really. It’s been stagnant for 15 years. Is Git capable of meeting game dev needs? It’s not enough close. No Git LFS does not count. Personally I think even Git is mediocre at best. But it’s all modern devs know. So there’s been very little progress towards version control that doesn’t suck. Very sad. Hopefully Epic’s Lore is good. Low odds. But not zero! And hey at least they’re trying.

vasco 3mo ago

And a coffee place near me charges €10 for a strawberry matcha drink, but we don't have to purchase either.

lifestyleguru 3mo ago
You keep hearing and saying that you don't have to go there, then suddenly there is nowhere else to go because all places are like this.

uf00lme 3mo ago

This tends to be the kind of thing you can get thrown in for free when negotiating. It's highly unlikely to be a deal breaker for anyone buying Perforce, if anything they may have done this to stop annoying cheap customers buying from them.

Othrya 3mo ago

[dead]

tosh 3mo ago

here is a free version of the first 4 chapters https://training.perforce.com/learn/courses/536/p4-helix-core-user-basic-free https://training.perforce.com/learn/courses/536/p4-helix-cor...