Calvin Bastian

I’m a human 3D artist. My Attack on Titan fan-made short film is a project I started in 2022 and released in June 2024. I redesigned all of the Titans myself. I didn’t use any AI, and I never made any money from this short film. To be honest, I originally didn’t want to talk about this. In order to discuss it, I actually had to subscribe to X Premium. Throughout 2025 and 2026, I started seeing more and more comments like this on my YouTube channel: “Your one and a half years of work? I can make that with AI in 30 seconds.” “I can do it in one minute.” “I can do it in 90 seconds.” So I started looking into it. The first AI short film I found was actually made by modifying footage from my original film, while being presented as an AI-generated work. I felt pretty disappointed. If you think AI can make something better than what I made, then please create something better from scratch. I’ve always found it difficult to accept being mocked while my work is also being taken and reused. Since 2018, I’ve been focused on creating the things I genuinely love. I’ve done it simply because I love creating, and I’ve never made a single cent from these works. As a result, my financial situation has actually been quite difficult. For a while, I was really struggling with the thought that maybe I should have spent the past few years trying to make as much money as possible. Was trying to make a living by creating the things I love just a foolish fantasy? Then I watch Orb: On the Movements of the Earth. There’s one line in the series that really stayed with me: “Being wrong doesn’t mean it was meaningless.” So recently, I’ve slowly started to accept something. If I don’t make the things I love, I don’t think I would be happy even if I had a job. I’ll keep looking for a way forward. Whether that means working harder, finding ways to make money so I can continue making short films, or finding some other way, I still want to keep creating the things I love.