AI Art Weekly #33
Hello there my fellow dreamers and welcome to issue #33 of AI Art Weekly! 👋
This week, Google released Bard to all of humanity, excluding us Europeans 👿 Coupled with their other announcements, it made for an intriguing week in the world of AI. I personally can’t talk about anything else anymore with people I meet. Sadly, my real life friends are a bit annoyed by now 🙄 But, I’m happy that there are now 1700 of you lovely people that want to listen to what I’ve to say 🥰 So, let me tell you about some cool stuff that I found this week:
- Sketching the Future lets you control video generation by drawing keyframes
- HumanRF is a new high-fidelity method for video-to-3D reconstruction of humans in motion
- Interview with AI artist petravoice
- Two new ControlNet hands models
- StablilityAI released their Stable Animation SDK
Cover Challenge 🎨
This week we’ll be exploring the theme of deconstruction. I’m looking for individual components, such as the breaking down of a complex system into its fundamental parts, or the analysis of a concept into its underlying assumptions and contradictions! The reward is another $50. Rulebook can be found here and images can be submitted here. Come join our Discord to talk challenges. I’m looking forward to all of your artwork 🙏
Reflection: News & Gems
Sketching the Future: Applying Conditional Control Techniques to Text-to-Video Models
The most exciting development I’ve seen this week goes to Sketching The Future. This method enables us users to sketch keyframes of a video to guide the generation process with ControlNet by interpolating frames between the inputted sketches and then running the new interpolated frames through Text-to-Video Zero. The output is nowhere near Gen2, but the whole process looks super fun!
Sketching the Future demo
HumanRF: High-Fidelity Neural Radiance Fields for Humans in Motion
We’ve seen a lot of progress in video-to-3D reconstruction of humans in the past months. HumanRF is the latest one and it’s pretty impressive. Compared to other methods, it’s able to reconstruct humans in motion from multi-view video input, and enables playback from novel, unseen viewpoints with a resolution of 12 megapixels.
HumanRF examples
StableSR: Exploiting Diffusion Prior for Real-World Image Super-Resolution
Enhance! Most TV shows when I was growing up always depicted technology in the silliest of ways. For example having the ability to zoom in on a blurry low resolution image and magically enhance it to a point where you can read the license plate of a car that’s 2 miles away. This is of course not possible in real life, at least everybody thought so until maybe a year ago… StableSR is a new method for real-world image super-resolution that is able to generate high-resolution images from low-resolution ones. It might not be able to decipher blurred license plates yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future we’ll be able to reconstruct the Mona Lisa from a 10x10 pixel grid 😅
StableSR comparison with other models
CoMoSpeech: One-Step Speech and Singing Voice Synthesis via Consistency Model
AI adoption into our daily lifes is happening everywhere, one thing that bothers me the most though, is speed. So when I read things like “150 times faster than real-time” I get excited. CoMoSpeech is a one-step speech and singing voice synthesis model that is fast. It might not generate state of the art audio quality, but being able to generate things in real time opens up new avenues that otherwise would be closed. I’m thinking about everything on-demand here, in-game conversations with NPCs that react to your behaviour, or movies that get generated on the fly.
CoMoSpeech speed comparison with other models
HACK
This one looks interesting. HACK (Head-And-neCK) is a novel parametric model for constructing the head and cervical region of digital humans. It aims to disentangle the full spectrum of neck and larynx motions, detailed facial expressions as well as appearance variations, offering more personalized and anatomically consistent controls that are compatible with CG engines.
HACK reconstructions of paintings
Stable Animation SDK
StabilityAI released their Stable Animation SDK this week which enables developers to generate animations with Stable Diffusion through Stability’s API endpoints. Integrating Stable Diffusion into apps and web applications is an increasing need. So far I’ve personally relied on Replicate or spun up my own servers, but running your own GPU servers can get costly, especially when they’re just in an idle state. So more options for on demand API’s are most welcome.
Stable Animation features
More papers and gems
- LEO: Generative Latent Image Animator for Human Video Synthesis
- MS-NeRF: Multi-Space Neural Radiance Fields
- AvatarReX: Real-time Expressive Full-body Avatars
- Relightify: Relightable 3D Faces from a Single Image via Diffusion Models
- PHC: Perpetual Humanoid Control for Real-time Simulated Avatars
- ReDiffuser: ReGeneration Learning of Diffusion Models with Rich Prompts for Zero-Shot Image Translation
@itspetergabriel is hosting an animation contest together with @StabilityAI. The competition got extended until 26 May at 7pm BST. Time to revisit deforum 🔥
@FluorescentGrey put together an one hour plus full length feature ‘film’ with AI. It’s the 1st part of a 3-part horror anthology homage to the movie “The Thing” from 1982 and it premiers in 4K on the 17th of May.
@NyricWorlds announced Nyric this week, an AI text to world-generation platform for digital communities. First trailer looks promising!
I stumbled upon @kevinbparry’s tutorial on his viral “10 Types of Magic” short where he explained how he used AI interpolation to create neatless transitions between stop-and-go frames. Interesting watch and cool to see how AI enables new ways of creating when applied creatively.
Imagination: Interview & Inspiration
This week in AI Art Weekly we talk to Petra aka @petravoice. Petra is an artist who explores emotions, mood and circumstances and uses her vision to broadcast rare states and moments using AI. Her work has been exhibited in Tokyo, LA, Paris and Rome. Let’s jump in.
What’s your background and how did you get into AI art?
My father was an artist, and I always have been interested in all kinds of art. I studied at art school as a child and got a bachelor degree at State University of Culture and Arts. My field of expertise is social-cultural activity, but it is related to the world of creativity. When I first learned about AI, I realized that I could bring my knowledge to life without possessing technical mastery. All I needed was my vision. Previous summer with the help of my husband @weirdnikita (also a well known creator) I experienced AI possibilities and minted her first NFT.
“tender tune” by Petra
Do you have a specific project you’re currently working on? What is it?
While I have a wide range of interests and don’t like to focus on just one thing for too long, I’ve been particularly enjoying exploring the intersection of photorealism and painting in my recent work. Over the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with different techniques to achieve this effect, which can be challenging to achieve with raw AI. I’ve found that combining my own artistic vision with the capabilities of AI has been a rewarding creative process, but it’s also required a lot of extra effort and attention to detail to get the results I want. I’m excited to continue developing these skills and techniques as I work on new projects in the future.
What drives you to create?
Creating for me is a way to express myself and to bring my ideas to life. It’s a way to explore my imagination and to push the boundaries of what’s possible. I find that creating allows me to tap into my creative potential in a way that I haven’t been able to in other areas of my life. It’s both my hobby and my work, and it’s something that I’m truly passionate about.
I love that there are no rules when it comes to creating. You can let your imagination run wild and there’s no one to tell you that you can’t do something. It’s a completely freeing experience. And the fact that I can create and control my own universe is incredibly empowering.
At the same time, the support I receive from the community is also a huge source of inspiration for me. When I see that my work resonates with people and that they find it interesting and engaging, it motivates me to keep going and to create even more. Knowing that I’m making a positive impact on others through my work is an incredibly rewarding feeling, and it’s one of the main things that drives me to continue creating.
“safe and sound” by Petra
What does your workflow look like?
My workflow is quite dynamic and involves different stages, from getting inspired to the final product. While I do find inspiration in the real world and current events, most of the time, I experiment and find inspiration during the creative process. I love to try out different things and combine various ideas to see what unique result I can come up with.
As for tools, I use different AI models such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, along with various software programs to edit and refine my work. As well, I am using software programs to fine-tune the details, colors, and other aspects of my work until I am satisfied with the final product. Overall, my workflow is a blend of experimentation, iteration, and a love for the creative process.
What is your favourite prompt when creating art?
I don’t usually share my prompts, as it’s personal to me and part of my private creative process. However, I can share some of my life hacks that help me create. If you have a specific idea but don’t know how to bring it to life, try describing everything you’re thinking, imagining, and associating with it, including the atmosphere and small details. This will help you create a more unique image. I also suggest using many different artists names to avoid replicating one artist’s style and instead create your own unique recipe. Lastly, try using dynamic compositions, compelling narratives, and various techniques and characteristics to enhance your artwork.
“FlirtGPT” by Petra
How do you imagine AI (art) will be impacting society in the near future?
Certainly, I believe that AI art will continue to grow in popularity and be used by many artists in the future, even those who currently may be skeptical of AI. As technology continues to improve, AI tools will become more advanced and accessible to a wider range of people. I see AI art as a helpful tool in the creative process, allowing artists to experiment and explore new possibilities in their work. I think AI art will continue to make an impact on society by expanding the boundaries of what is possible in the art world.
Who is your favourite artist?
From well-known range I would mention several artists. I love AES+F’s thought-provoking digital art pieces that combine technology with traditional art elements. Alex Gross’s unique style and social commentary in his paintings really stand out to me. Jenny Saville’s figurative paintings are incredibly powerful and evoke both vulnerability and strength. And also one of my favorite are David Hockney, Steve Hanks, Gerhard Richter, Martin Kippenberger, Francis Bacon and many many more! From the NFT space the most inspiring for me are following: Marina Ahmadova, Solyaev, Lume, sonya mova, can’t mention all, but many more for sure. I can’t stop to admire every new artwork from them.
“out of body” by sonya mova
Anything else you would like to share?
Dear fellow creators, don’t ever stop making art. It’s important to keep creating even if you don’t always feel inspired or your work doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. Don’t be afraid to take risks and try new things, even if they don’t work out. And remember, it’s okay to take a break and step back from the fast-paced world of NFTs. Don’t blame yourself for not keeping up with the constantly changing trends. Give yourself time to rest and enjoy the beauty of the real world. Keep creating, stay true to yourself, and don’t give up on your dreams.
Creation: Tools & Tutorials
These are some of the most interesting resources I’ve come across this week.
There are two new ControlNet models in town which are using MediaPipe hand landmarks for guidance.
@yankooliveira released a Photopea extension for Automatic1111 which lets you modify images in a Photoshop like editor directly within your browser before modifying them further through ControlNet or img2img.
@vizsumit shared his LoRA learnings for style and person/character training this week.
Reddit user u/PrimeFixer developed what feels like a Ebsynth web version to apply Stable Diffusion generated style effects to videos. I’m especially impressed with the UI/UX of Flick. First 45 seconds are free, so give it a try.
I updated my “Midjourney Archive Downloader” chrome extension. New version opens the download form in a new tab, so the download process doesn’t get canceled when switching tabs. I want to add prompt as metadata next so we can organize Midjourney images offline.
a deconstructed sculpture of the human body, covered in red paint, in the style of deconstructed art, dark reflections, dima dmitriev, floating structures, abstracted nature, realist detail, mirrored --s 750 --ar 3:2 --v 5.1 --style raw by me. Prompt by @moelucio.
And that my fellow dreamers, concludes yet another AI Art weekly issue. Please consider supporting this newsletter by:
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Thanks for reading and talk to you next week!
– dreamingtulpa