🚀 Midjourney Office Hours Highlights: July 9th

Midjourney’s latest office hours highlighted a temporary slowdown in new releases as the team focuses on a major server migration to boost future performance and reduce costs. Meanwhile, work continues on creative tools, video features, and web improvements, with several confidential projects and model experiments underway for larger updates after the migration.

Mood Boards & Style Tools 🎨

A silent update has improved the performance of mood boards, particularly when using weight factors, with a formal announcement forthcoming. The team is considering adding a dedicated mood-board tab to increase feature visibility. Additionally, a simple version of the “Style Explorer” is targeted as the next major release, with more advanced style-control features planned for future iterations.

Video Model Roadmap 🎬

Significant progress has been made on video features: start/end frames and looping are now in testing, and a new Turbo mode dramatically reduces video generation time (from ~68s to ~20s), though at higher cost and aimed at professional users. Native 720p video mode is being tested, likely reserved for “Mega Plan” subscribers due to its expense, and is being benchmarked against upscalers. If server upgrades proceed smoothly, video pricing may drop. Other enhancements under consideration include new prompt options, “chaos” controls, and audio post-processing layers, though some features remain speculative or in early discussion.

Resolution & Upscaling 🖼️

There is ongoing internal debate between adopting native 720p video or relying on high-quality external upscalers. The team plans a few more days of testing to determine the best balance of quality and cost. The in-house upscaler is about a month behind schedule but may launch soon unless an external solution is chosen.

Infrastructure & Pricing 🖥️

A massive server migration, involving tens of thousands of machines, is underway and expected to take about 30 days. This transition is temporarily slowing research and new releases but is essential for unlocking faster speeds and lower costs in the long term. Once completed, management hopes to reduce video pricing and maintain the $60 Relax mode. These infrastructure overhauls occur every 1–2 years and are currently absorbing most engineering resources.

Web & Community Features 🌐

The team is exploring new website features, including a revamped front page and “explore” tools for video content. User profile enhancements are in testing, though no release date is set. Additional video exploration formats are in early concept stages, and the Storytelling team is piloting new features internally with guides and moderators.

Surveys & API Plans 📊

A forthcoming survey will assess demand for a standard commercial API and identify which user segments require it. Multiple survey rounds are planned, following the iterative approach used for video product refinement. The new questionnaire format will also allow the community to submit questions via Twitter.

Secret Projects & Future Directions 🔒

Several confidential projects are in development, with internal demos scheduled over the next month and larger public reveals planned for later in the year. Experimentation with the V8 model continues but is delayed due to the server migration. Users should expect a quieter month with fewer releases until the migration is complete, after which more substantial updates are anticipated.

TL;DR

🎨 Mood Boards & Style Tools: Performance improvements deployed; more discoverability and richer style controls are on the roadmap.

🎬 Video Model Roadmap: Major video features (looping, Turbo mode, 720p) are in testing; pricing and prompt enhancements are under review.

🖼️ Resolution & Upscaling: Native 720p vs. external upscalers is being tested; in-house upscaler may launch soon.

🖥️ Infrastructure & Pricing: Large-scale server migration is temporarily slowing releases but will enable faster, cheaper service and possible price drops.

🌐 Web & Community Features: Website and community tools are being expanded and piloted internally, with no firm release dates yet.

📊 Surveys & API Plans: API demand survey coming soon, with community input encouraged.

🔒 Secret Projects & Future Directions: Multiple confidential projects and V8 model work are ongoing; expect a slow month followed by larger updates.

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