Runbo Li

Runbo Li

CEO of Magic Hour

Runbo Li is the Co-founder and CEO of Magic Hour, where he builds AI video and image tools for content creation. He is a Y Combinator W24 founder and former Data Scientist at Meta, where he worked on 0-1 consumer social products in New Product Experimentation. He writes about AI video generation, AI image creation, creative workflows, and creator tools.

Latest articles

Magic Hour original platform data: What Gets Counted? Dark editorial ledger illustration with one excluded row, lime and violet accents.
Videos

AI Video Reliability: How a Deletion Filter Nearly Halved the Measured Error Rate

· 5 min read
Conceptual optical-illusion print and magnifying glass beside Sure You Can Tell? Original Data.
Trends

70% of Extremely Confident Viewers Mistook AI Ads for Real in Our Test

· 5 min read
Conceptual unbranded product-ad print with a peeled corner revealing construction lines beside The AI Ad Reveal.
Trends

28.3% Would Feel Deceived After an AI Ad Reveal

· 4 min read
Conceptual paper timer and receipt-shaped bench beside the words Time Saved. Rest Rarely Named.
Trends

AI Saves Hours. Only 10.4% Name Rest and Recovery.

· 5 min read
A creator portrait on a film contact sheet beside a signed release form with unreadable scribble, red annotation linking identity to permission
Guides

AI avatar consent release checklist for creators and teams

· 10 min read
Contact-sheet-style artwork showing different face angles and lighting, with a red circle selecting the evenly lit, front-facing portrait.
Guides

Best source photos for face swap: pose, light and resolution guide

· 9 min read
A production desk before a shoot: shot list, mood-board fragments, reference frame, tape, pencil, a marked checklist and a film slate
Guides

AI video preproduction checklist: from brief to first render

· 10 min read
A director's desk with hand-sketched storyboard squares, lens notes and shot order numbered only by visual ticks, camera and film strips
Guides

AI video shot list template: plan prompts, assets and review

· 9 min read
Storyboard paper with a clearly distinct opening frame and closing frame, arrows showing a physical camera move between them
Guides

First-frame and last-frame AI video: shot design guide

· 9 min read
A circular strip of film physically joined end-to-start, matching first and last frames of a moving dancer, blue pencil arrows showing the loop
Guides

How to make seamless AI video loops

· 9 min read
A portrait contact sheet and hand gesture studies, one distorted frame circled in coral, a clean pose reference beside it; respectful realistic human anatomy
Guides

How to fix faces and hands in AI video

· 7 min read
Adjacent film frames with visibly inconsistent light levels, a red pencil zigzag marking exposure jumps, and a corrected strip with steady lighting
Guides

How to fix flicker in AI video: causes and practical repairs

· 7 min read
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