Course Goal: To provide a comprehensive understanding of cutting-edge video generation techniques, focusing on Transformer-based architectures, diffusion models, and flow-based models, with a particular emphasis on the methods presented in the HunyuanVideo, CogVideoX, and Pyramidal Flow Matching papers. Students will gain practical experience in implementing and training these models using PyTorch.
Prerequisites:
- Successful completion of "Modern AI Development: From Transformers to Generative Models" or equivalent knowledge.
- Strong proficiency in Python and Object-Oriented Programming.
- Solid understanding of deep learning concepts, including CNNs, RNNs, and Transformers.
- Experience with PyTorch and the Hugging Face Transformers library.
- Familiarity with generative models (VAEs, GANs, Diffusion Models).
Course Duration: Approximately 8-10 weeks, with each module taking roughly 1 week.
Tools:
- Python (>= 3.8)
- PyTorch (latest stable version)
- Hugging Face Transformers library
- Hugging Face Datasets library
- Hugging Face Accelerate library
- Hugging Face Diffusers library
- Jupyter Notebooks/Google Colab
- Standard Python libraries (NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, etc.)
- Potentially, Weights & Biases or TensorBoard for experiment tracking
Curriculum Draft:
Module 1: Recap and Foundations of Video Generation (Week 1)
- Topic 1.1: Recap of Transformers and Generative Models:
- Brief review of self-attention, encoder-decoder architectures.
- Overview of VAEs, GANs, Autoregressive models, and Diffusion Models.
- Limitations of existing approaches for video generation.
- Topic 1.2: Challenges in Video Generation:
- High dimensionality of video data.
- Temporal consistency and coherence.
- Computational cost and memory requirements.
- Long-range dependencies and motion modeling.
- Topic 1.3: Introduction to the Papers:
- Overview of HunyuanVideo, CogVideoX, and Pyramidal Flow Matching.
- Key contributions and innovations of each paper.
- How these papers address the challenges of video generation.
- Topic 1.4: Setting up the Development Environment for Video Generation:
- Installing necessary libraries.
- Configuring GPU usage for large-scale training.
- Introduction to distributed training concepts.
- Hands-on Exercises:
- Review exercises on Transformers and Diffusion Models.
- Setting up the development environment.
- Exploring pre-trained video generation models (if available) for basic inference.
Module 2: Deep Dive into HunyuanVideo (Week 2 & 3)
- Topic 2.1: HunyuanVideo Architecture - Part 1:
- 3D Variational Autoencoder (3D VAE) for video compression.
- Spatial and temporal compression.
- Causal convolutions.
- Training objectives and loss functions (L1, LPIPS, KL, GAN loss).
- Context parallel implementation.
- Implementing and training a 3D VAE in PyTorch.
- 3D Variational Autoencoder (3D VAE) for video compression.
- Topic 2.2: HunyuanVideo Architecture - Part 2:
- Expert Transformer with Adaptive LayerNorm.
- 3D Full Attention mechanism.
- Text-Video alignment strategies.
- Topic 2.3: Progressive Training and Multi-Resolution Frame Packing:
- Concept of progressive training.
- Multi-resolution frame packing for efficient training.
- Explicit Uniform Sampling.
- Topic 2.4: Data Preprocessing for HunyuanVideo:
- Data filtering techniques.
- Video captioning and its importance.
- Implementing data augmentation strategies.
- Topic 2.5: Scaling Laws in Video Generation:
- Understanding the relationship between model size, dataset size, and computational resources.
- Discussion of the scaling experiments in the HunyuanVideo paper.
- Hands-on Exercises:
- Implementing the 3D VAE architecture in PyTorch.
- Training a 3D VAE on a subset of video data.
- Implementing the Expert Transformer with Adaptive LayerNorm.
- Building the full HunyuanVideo architecture.
- Setting up a progressive training pipeline.
- Experiment with different data filtering techniques.
Module 3: Exploring CogVideoX (Week 4 & 5)
- Topic 3.1: CogVideoX Architecture - Part 1:
- Expert Transformer with Expert Adaptive LayerNorm.
- Focusing on the unique aspects of CogVideoX's Expert Transformer design and its implications for video generation.
- Comparison with the Expert Transformer in HunyuanVideo.
- Topic 3.2: CogVideoX Architecture - Part 2:
- 3D Causal VAE.
- Differences and similarities between CogVideoX and HunyuanVideo's VAE approaches.
- Discussing ablations and design choices in the paper regarding the VAE.
- Topic 3.3: Progressive Training and Techniques in CogVideoX:
- Multi-resolution frame pack and resolution progressive training.
- Explicit Uniform Sampling for stable training.
- Comparison with the progressive training strategies in HunyuanVideo.
- Topic 3.4: CogVideoX's Approach to Long Video Generation:
- How CogVideoX handles long-term consistency and dynamic plots.
- Discussion of any specific techniques or architectural choices that address this challenge.
- Hands-on Exercises:
- Implementing key components of the CogVideoX architecture.
- Comparing the 3D VAE implementations of CogVideoX and HunyuanVideo.
- Experimenting with the progressive training techniques described in the CogVideoX paper.
- Potentially, adapting the HunyuanVideo codebase to incorporate elements of CogVideoX's architecture.
Module 4: Pyramidal Flow Matching (Week 6 & 7)
- Topic 4.1: Introduction to Flow-Based Models:
- Review of normalizing flows.
- Limitations of normalizing flows for high-dimensional data.
- Introduction to the concept of flow matching.
- Topic 4.2: Pyramidal Flow Matching - Core Concepts:
- The idea of learning a continuous-time transformation (vector field).
- Spatial and temporal pyramid representations.
- Piecewise flow for each pyramid resolution.
- Unified flow matching objective.
- Topic 4.3: Mathematical Formulation of Pyramidal Flow Matching:
- Detailed explanation of the training objective.
- Connections to optimal transport.
- Topic 4.4: Implementing Pyramidal Flow Matching:
- Building a basic pyramidal flow matching model in PyTorch.
- Implementing the unified flow matching objective.
- Topic 4.5: Inference and Renoising in Pyramidal Flow Matching:
- Handling jump points between pyramid stages.
- Adding corrective Gaussian noise for continuity.
- Topic 4.6: Temporal Pyramid for Efficient History Conditioning:
- Using compressed, lower-resolution history for autoregressive generation.
- Reducing token count and improving training efficiency.
- Topic 4.7: Comparing Pyramidal Flow Matching with Diffusion Models:
- Advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
- Situations where one might be preferred over the other.
- Potential for combining flow matching and diffusion techniques.
- Hands-on Exercises:
- Implementing a basic flow matching model in PyTorch.
- Building a pyramidal flow matching model based on the paper's description.
- Experimenting with generating data from a known distribution.
- Implementing the temporal pyramid for history conditioning.
- Comparing the performance of pyramidal flow matching with a diffusion model on a simple task.
Module 5: Advanced Topics and Applications (Week 8)
- Topic 5.1: Scaling and Optimization Techniques:
- Model parallelism and data parallelism for large-scale training.
- Gradient checkpointing and other memory optimization techniques.
- Mixed precision training.
- Using the Hugging Face
accelerate
library for distributed training.
- Topic 5.2: Advanced Video Editing and Control:
- Prompt engineering for video generation.
- Conditional generation with fine-grained control (e.g., using bounding boxes, sketches).
- Video inpainting and outpainting.
- Topic 5.3: Ethical Considerations and Societal Impact:
- Bias in video generation models.
- Responsible use of generative AI.
- Potential for misuse (deepfakes, misinformation).
- Topic 5.4: Deployment and Serving Video Generation Models:
- Brief overview of model deployment strategies (e.g., using Flask, FastAPI, or cloud platforms).
- Considerations for real-time video generation.
- Hands-on Exercises:
- Experimenting with different prompt engineering techniques.
- Implementing conditional generation with simple controls.
- Exploring model deployment options (optional).
Module 6: Project Work and Presentations (Week 9 & 10)
- Topic 6.1: Project Definition and Guidance:
- Students will work on individual or group projects applying the concepts learned throughout the course.
- Project ideas will be provided, but students are encouraged to propose their own.
- Guidance and mentorship will be provided by the instructor.
- Topic 6.2: Project Development:
- Students will dedicate time to developing their projects.
- Regular check-ins and progress updates with the instructor.
- Topic 6.3: Project Presentations:
- Students will prepare and deliver presentations showcasing their projects.
- Presentations should include a demonstration, explanation of the methodology, and discussion of results.
- Project Ideas:
- Implement and train a video generation model based on one of the three papers (HunyuanVideo, CogVideoX, or Pyramidal Flow Matching).
- Improve an existing video generation model by incorporating techniques from one of the papers.
- Develop a novel application based on video generation (e.g., video editing, animation, interactive storytelling).
- Explore and compare different video generation architectures (e.g., Transformers vs. CNNs).
- Investigate methods for improving the temporal consistency and coherence of generated videos.
- Develop techniques for fine-grained control over video generation (e.g., using sketches, bounding boxes, or motion trajectories).
- Train a model for a specific video domain (e.g., generating videos of human actions, natural landscapes, or animations).
Assessment:
- Hands-on exercises throughout the modules.
- Short quizzes to assess understanding of key concepts.
- Mid-term project or assignment (e.g., implementing a specific component of one of the models).
- Final project and presentation.
- Class participation and engagement.
Key Pedagogical Considerations:
- Code-First Approach: Emphasize practical implementation and experimentation alongside theoretical understanding.
- Paper Reading and Discussion: Encourage students to read and critically analyze the three key papers.
- Progressive Complexity: Gradually introduce more complex concepts and techniques, building upon the foundations established in earlier modules.
- Focus on Key Innovations: Highlight the unique contributions of each paper and how they address the challenges of video generation.
- Comparison and Contrast: Encourage students to compare and contrast the different approaches presented in the papers.
- Real-World Applications: Connect the concepts to real-world applications and potential use cases.
- Ethical Considerations: Discuss the ethical implications of video generation technology.
- Community and Collaboration: Foster a collaborative learning environment through group projects, discussions, and peer feedback.