🚀 Midjourney Office Hours Highlights: August 6th

The latest Midjourney office hours focused on major upgrades to video quality and core features, while candidly addressing ongoing operational and engineering hurdles. The leadership outlined release priorities, explained delays, and reaffirmed their commitment to foundational improvements despite setbacks and technical challenges.

🎥 High-Resolution Video Model Expansion

Midjourney is preparing to release a significantly higher-resolution video generation mode, raising output to approximately 720p. This feature will be exclusive to Pro and Mega subscribers due to a threefold increase in operational costs, rendering it impractical for Relaxed mode or broader deployment. Feedback from early testers indicates clear quality advantages over traditional upscaling methods, making it especially valuable for professional users. The decision to proceed was primarily driven by the feature's deployability despite its higher user cost.

⚡ Turbo Video Feature and Technical Debt

Plans for a Turbo video mode have encountered substantial engineering setbacks caused by accumulated technical debt, leading to major delays and uncertainty about the feature's future. The difficulties proved more extensive than anticipated, with leadership suggesting the possibility of skipping or indefinitely postponing Turbo mode to avoid further complications.

⏳ Reevaluating 2.5-Second Video Clips

The team is reconsidering the addition of a 2.5-second video generation option. Technical issues arise due to incompatibility with existing video extension increments (currently 1 or 4 seconds), leading to awkward extension experiences for users. Based on these challenges and anticipated community feedback, the feature might be abandoned or substantially modified.

📁 Mood Boards: Boosting Discoverability

Mood boards, previously underused due to lack of visibility, will soon be promoted to their own dedicated tab in the interface. This change aims to encourage broader adoption and easier access, addressing current discoverability shortcomings.

🏢 Data Center Transition and Challenges

Midjourney is in the midst of transitioning between two data centers to support increased capacity and lower operational costs. While one facility is meeting expectations, the other is hampered by ongoing reliability issues. The team may ultimately abandon the problematic data center to prevent further engineering disruption and maintain service quality.

🛠️ Version 7.1 and Version 8 (V8) Development

Efforts are underway to integrate select Version 8 (V8) features into the upcoming Version 7.1 (V7.1) release, targeted for the end of August. Leadership estimates a 50% chance of successful partial integration. Meanwhile, the full launch of V8 is slated for several months out, as the team prioritizes quality and foundational improvements over incremental updates to V7.

🖌️ New Style Explorer Feature

A Style Explorer tool is scheduled for introduction in V7.1 by the end of the month. The feature will start as a simple utility, with plans for further enhancement and expansion over time, paving the way for richer creative control.

🎯 Additional Stretch Goals and Improvements

Potential upgrades such as improved friend-centric collaboration and enhanced Draft mode are under discussion but remain uncertain for the V7.1 release. These features are currently considered stretch goals and their delivery is not guaranteed at this stage.

🔔 Summary and Release Focus

Confirmed upcoming releases include the high-resolution video mode for higher tiers, the initial Style Explorer, and possible limited V8 feature integration in V7.1. The development strategy centers on focused delivery and foundational improvements, even as the team navigates technical and operational setbacks.

TL;DR

🎥 High-Resolution Video Model Expansion: A 720p video mode is coming for Pro and Mega users, offering superior output but at a higher operational cost.

⚡ Turbo Video Feature and Technical Debt: Turbo mode faces indefinite delay or cancellation due to severe technical debt and engineering difficulties.

⏳ Reevaluating 2.5-Second Video Clips: The planned 2.5-second video option is being reconsidered or may be altered in response to technical and usability concerns.

📁 Mood Boards: Boosting Discoverability: Mood boards will become more accessible with a new dedicated tab, aiming to increase usage.

🏢 Data Center Transition and Challenges: The ongoing data center shift is improving capacity but is marred by issues at one location, which may be abandoned.

🛠️ Version 7.1 and Version 8 (V8) Development: Select V8 features may make it into V7.1 by August's end, though full V8 is several months away as foundational quality is prioritized.

🖌️ New Style Explorer Feature: A simple but expandable Style Explorer tool will launch with V7.1 to empower creative workflows.

🎯 Additional Stretch Goals and Improvements: Collaboration and Draft mode upgrades are being explored but have not been confirmed for V7.1.

🔔 Summary and Release Focus: The team is committed to focused feature delivery and strong foundations despite operational and technical difficulties.

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