Andrew Lisowski, Co-founder of Descript, discusses working on Descript, web streams vs local storage, state machines, writing CSS with Radix, and monorepos in this supper club episode of Syntax.
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Quick takeaways
Descript offers AI-powered features for smooth audio and video editing, enhancing the user's experience.
Descript has transitioned to a web app, utilizing cloud processing for reliable AI effects.
To stay updated in web development, engage with interesting people on GitHub and create personalized tools to discover new projects and trends.
Deep dives
Descript's AI features enhance the editing experience
Descript offers a range of AI-powered features, such as transcription, voice clones, and smooth edits. Transcription allows users to easily edit their audio by transcribing it upfront and then editing the script. Voice clones have been improved and seamlessly transition cuts within audio recordings. Additionally, Descript has introduced eye contact, using AI to make it appear as though users are looking at the camera during video recordings. These AI features aim to enhance the user's editing experience rather than replace them.
Descript's transition from Electron to the web
Descript has made the transition from an Electron app to a web app, requiring certain functionalities to be moved to the cloud. This includes AI effects, which cannot be guaranteed on users' machines, and therefore need to be processed in the cloud. This migration enables Descript to offer reliable and accessible AI features. While the AI capabilities for editing audio are well-developed, adapting them for video editing is a more complex challenge. Descript continues to research and develop video AI features to enhance the editing process and offer a comprehensive solution for content creators.
Stay up to date in the web development field
To stay up to date with web development, Andrew suggests following interesting people on GitHub and engaging with their work. He also recommends creating tools or apps to discover new projects and trends. Andrew built his own personalized app on top of the GitHub API, which organizes GitHub home information and surfaces trending projects more effectively. This approach allows him to keep his finger on the pulse of the web development community and remain informed about the latest advancements and innovations.
Sick Picks: Lexical.dev and shadcn/UI
Andrew's first Sick Pick is lexical.dev, a text editor framework for building content editable applications. It is the successor to Draft.js and offers many improvements over its predecessor, including enhanced accessibility and a more seamless integration of UI components. Andrew's second Sick Pick is shadcn/UI, a component generator framework that helps to jumpstart projects by providing pre-styled design system components. It generates Radix components pre-styled with Tailwind CSS, allowing developers to quickly add and customize UI components to their projects.
Shameless Plug: DevTools FM podcast
Andrew plugs his podcast, DevTools FM, where he and his co-host interview creators of developer tools. The podcast delves into the motivation behind building these tools, lessons learned along the way, and explores future directions in the field. DevTools FM offers insightful conversations with passionate creators in the industry, providing valuable insights and keeping listeners informed on the latest developments in the developer tools space.
In this supper club episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Andrew Lisowski about working on Descript, web streams vs local storage, using state machines, writing CSS with Radix, monorepos, and more.