The AI age is upon us. Everywhere you look, generative tools are reshaping how we make art. At Rival we’re not watching from the sidelines – we’re rolling up our sleeves and putting these tools to the test. We’re a small, artist‑led studio, and like most indies we don’t have Marvel‑sized budgets or armies of animators. What we do have is curiosity, grit and a hunger to tell stories in new ways. That’s why we’re about to embark on a wild ride: taking scenes from Spirit Racer – a YA novel written by our creative director – and reimagining them in convincing live‑action, 3‑D and 2‑D animation using AI.
This post lays out what the experiment will look like. It’s casual and honest because that’s who we are. We’ll hit roadblocks. Some results will be rough. But by sharing our process we hope to learn, inspire others and maybe even spark a few breakthroughs.
Spirit Racer
Spirit Racer is the first instalment in the Aleja Garcia series. It follows Aleja, a misfit street racer who inherits her grandfather’s cursed medallion and is thrust into the Race Eternal. This supernatural tournament takes place in Astra, a realm between life and afterlife, where spirits, fallen champions and vengeful gods compete for dominion over Earth. Aleja is the only living racer on the track, and she must master a mysterious “Mind Forge” power to survive. The book blends heart and high‑stakes action across realms – think Percy Jackson meets Speed Racer – it’s a ride.
For readers interested in checking it out, here’s the Amazon link to the e‑book: Spirit Racer on Amazon.
Why use AI?
We’ve been dipping our toes into AI for a while now – generating voices with Eleven Labs, using image models for matte paintings and concept art, and experimenting with tools like 3DAI Studio to create meshes. We’ve learned that AI can save time and unlock new ideas, but it’s not magic. Too often AI wants to steer you toward generic, predictable visuals. To make compelling work, you have to set the brief and course‑correct the machine.
That’s what this project is about. We’re treating Spirit Racer like a client brief where tone, action, pace and character are paramount. Our job is to harness AI’s power and pull it into line with a specific vision. We’ll deliberately resist the urge to let the tech dictate style or narrative. Instead, we’ll push the tools to serve Aleja’s story.
Industry inspiration
IdeaRocket’s round‑up highlights projects like a fan‑made Volvo spec ad created with Runway’s Gen‑3 model, a surreal short called Robot that mixes AI and stop‑motion, and a music video where AI stitches together vintage Billy Joel footage. More recently, a Liquid Death spec ad made entirely with Google’s Veo 3 video model went viral. Tools like Veo 3 allow polished spec ads at studio‑grade quality without agency backing, reflecting a broader creative wave where fan‑made ads give brands free reach and cultural momentum. There was no client brief, no budget and no marketing department – just a handful of creatives exploring what AI could do. These examples remind us that the frontier is wide open: small teams can produce work that looks finished and professional, and they prove that AI‑generated videos can hold their own alongside big‑budget commercials.
A blank canvas
So how are we going to tackle Spirit Racer? Honestly, we don’t know yet – and that’s the point. This project starts with a blank sheet of paper and we’re going to figure it out as we go. That might mean modelling simple 3‑D meshes and re‑texturing them using AI, filming ourselves and running the footage through motion‑capture pipelines, breaking the scenes into layers to process them individually, or doing something totally different. We’ll be keeping an eye on industry trends and borrowing tricks whenever they fit, but we’re not locking ourselves into a workflow upfront.
The toolset will evolve, too. We’re embracing whatever we can get our hands on. Some tools will come from big tech companies, others will be indie experiments, and some will be pipelines we cook up ourselves. The only constant is that we’ll share what we learn – the successes, the messy bits and the outright failures – so others can benefit.
What we hope to discover
We’re not looking for a silver bullet. Instead, we’re setting out to answer a few high‑level questions:
- Can AI help a small, artist‑led team deliver cinematic scenes under a strict brief? We want to understand if we can hit the tone, pacing and character of Spirit Racer without compromising quality.
- Where are the limits? Every tool has blind spots. The Liquid Death ad shows you can achieve polish, and we’ll be probing where the tech breaks and figuring out hacks to get around those obstacles.
- How do we stay flexible? If we discover a new AI model that’s better suited for a particular shot, how do we integrate it without derailing our pipeline? The ability to pivot will be crucial.
Join us for the ride
Because we’re charting unknown territory, we don’t have a roadmap yet. That’s intentional. The fun lies in exploration: testing, failing, learning and iterating. We’ll post updates as we experiment with different techniques, share how we built a particular shot, and highlight industry developments that inspire us. If you’re curious about AI filmmaking, you’ll get a front‑row seat to our discoveries. If you’re a client or collaborator, you’ll see that we approach new tech with honesty and a sense of adventure. If you’re a fellow artist, we’d love to hear about your own experiments.
Stories like Spirit Racer deserve to be told in ways that match their scale and imagination. We believe AI can help small teams reach for the epic without losing their indie soul. As Aleja races through realms to save her world, we’re racing to understand where technology fits in the creative process. Let’s see where this journey takes us.
