Happy Holidays - Easter Edition! - Link to the zipped folder on Dropbox + links for zipped old stories - Updated 4/19/23

Hand-drawn or CGI. If you started with a blank screen or sheet of paper, it's cool to post it here! Please note - this forum is for posting drawings, not links to external sites.
Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Happy Holidays - Easter Edition! - Link to the zipped folder on Dropbox + links for zipped old stories

Postby Viridian » Sun Apr 16, 2023 2:54 pm

Rusty Shackleford wrote:or maybe a thread on using 3D programs - although with AI is there any space for us anymore?

I agree with ghostofmyeyes: we often hear the cliche that [insert innovation here] didn't replace [old art form] - if anything, it heightens the value of original artwork. AI makes a lot of things easier and allows creators to fill in gaps that they otherwise would pour a lot of wasted time into. But it doesn't completely replace original work, and people who make those creations are more valued because they can.

But it does pose a huge challenge: those who learn AI tools will GREATLY lift the skill floor for creations.

There's one category that my AI work almost entirely makes redundant: photomanipulations. That's because AI models basically are photo-manips but better - to an extent. What passed as a "good" manip was basically find a good source image, maybe blend the face with a different body, then blend it into a quicksand background. A lot of the QS community went mad with basic Photoshop tools back then. Now, looking at the most popular threads in the Photomanip forum and it's [celebrity] in quicksand, and AI can easily do that, either through raw image generation if the celeb is well known enough, or through photomanip techniques but run through AI. And a prolific AI creator can churn out hundreds of these faster than a photomanip creator. So if someone really wants a hundred unique images of Chloe Grace Moretz in quicksand, give me an hour. There's no room for mediocre photomanips with AI models doing the same thing.

Similar with QS stories. To be frank - and as a former QS writer - most QS stories are also generic and mediocre. Even the ones I really liked in the past by authors like Crypto and DerMudGecko aren't written in a unique style; they focused on shaping the content to be on the things that interested them as QS fetishists. The writing itself wasn't literary greatness nor was the content unique and original. These days it's mostly fanfics of characters in quicksand scenarios. AI does this better.

A wave of anti-AI protests were about AI replacing artists. But established artists who are proud of their unique styles (like AcidTester pointed out in another thread) have no reason to be afraid - AI doesn't do what they do. It was more the average tier of artists who are already making derivative works who felt threatened that other people with less training and skill can produce superior work. But the solution isn't to blacklist AI artists. It's a challenge to make THEIR own work stand out from what AI can do.

That's why I've gone on about sixgunzloaded doing a great job with this set. Firstly, not many people are still making extended quicksand sequences using 3D modelling software. Secondly, it's done really well. Thirdly, it's something that AI can't do. I generate ONE good scene. Do enough workarounds and I might even get a consistent character face. But I can't create a 3D scene. I can't weave together a cohesive story with AI frames because I can't generate the same thing twice. And AI has huge limitations on what it can generate, such as complex scenes, multiple characters.

If anything, learning both 3D modelling and AI models can generate extremely amazing still shots since you combine the best of both worlds - the 3D environment that you choose to create plus the detailed enhancement that the AI can process. Creators who are making single frames using Poser (or heck, Second Life) will see far better stylistic or photorealistic results if they use AI -- if that is the end result they want.

But as someone who is probably at the leading edge of AI QS art - I'll say bluntly that I cannot create The Rise of Esme with AI.
Viridian @ deviantART: http://viridianqs.deviantart.com/

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sixgunzloaded
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Re: Happy Holidays - Easter Edition! - Link to the zipped folder on Dropbox + links for zipped old stories

Postby sixgunzloaded » Wed Apr 19, 2023 8:34 pm

Rusty Shackleford wrote:So this story is just fantastic. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into creating this long and epic tale. Very enjoyable to see a continuation of your prior stories and see that universe expand. I have lots of technical questions, but I'll save those for a private message (or maybe a thread on using 3D programs - although with AI is there any space for us anymore?)

Thank you also for the old posts. Would you have some of your older work as well (I'm thinking the space pirate series which I don't recall seeing before). Thank you for sharing your work with us!


Thank you so much, Rusty! :D I'm truly happy you enjoyed it! I'll put the space pirate sequence in Dropbox as soon as I'm done with this post. I'll throw in the Supergirl story as well, in case anybody wants to see it again. Fair warning about the space pirate scene though... That story was rendered with the old Poser 4 renderer, so the qs in it looks a bit odd compared to the newer stuff. There's a funky grid pattern to it that I didn't know how to get rid of at the time. In comparison, T.R.O.E. uses the exact same figure to create the qs but the results this time were far more satisfying.

I definitely want to continue to expand the Muddyverse and introduce more characters. I'm already in the planning stages for the next chapter.
I'm looking forward to having a technical discussion with you! Please feel free to PM me whenever you like. :D I too, worry about 3D becoming obsolete with the advent of AI. But only a little. I think, sooner or later, someone will come up with an algorithm that will make consistent results and storyboard formats possible. But I also think Viridian and Ghostofmyeyes are correct. For now at least, there are plenty of things 3D can do that AI can't. And the 3D market is still strong. We'll see how long that lasts.

Viridian wrote:Here are a couple of AI renders.


Thank you! Both of these are beautiful! I especially liked Layla. It's amazing to see them like this. It's like someone decided to make a live-action movie out of my story! Way cool. :D

Viridian wrote:So if someone really wants a hundred unique images of Chloe Grace Moretz in quicksand, give me an hour.


Is that an offer? :mrgreen: :lol: Just kidding!

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