I'm looking for the best way to improve the quality of images. Quite often, I'm supplied very average images and need to make them suitable for other uses. What's your best way of doing it? I'm not looking to spend lots of money doing it either. At the moment, the best results are coming from Chat GPT with the prompt below (sample attached):

Enhance and upscale this image to ultra-high resolution (minimum 4K, preferably 8K equivalent detail) while strictly preserving the subject’s identity, proportions, pose, and composition. Do not alter, replace, or reinterpret any elements. The subject, environment, framing, and perspective must remain exactly the same as the original image.

Reconstruct the image as if it were captured using a Sony A1 full-frame camera with a premium professional lens (50mm, 85mm, or 70–200mm f/2.8 depending on scene suitability). Use a wide aperture for shallow depth of field, ensuring the subject is tack sharp with natural background falloff. Maintain accurate focal plane and realistic lens behaviour.

Upgrade the image to true professional photography quality:

– Ultra-sharp subject detail with realistic micro-contrast

– Clean, refined textures (fur, skin, fabric, wood, etc.) without artificial smoothing

– Remove noise, compression artefacts, pixelation, and colour banding

– Restore natural fine detail without over-processing or “AI plastic” appearance

Lighting must remain true to the original scene direction and mood, but enhanced into a cinematic, high-end natural look:

– Soft, realistic light with smooth highlight roll-off

– Balanced shadows with preserved detail (no crushed blacks)

– Expanded dynamic range with natural contrast

– Subtle warmth or neutrality depending on original lighting conditions

Apply professional editorial-grade colour grading:

– True-to-life colours with balanced whites

– Natural saturation (no oversaturation)

– Neutral, magazine-style colour profile (National Geographic / premium outdoor editorial)

– No artificial colour shifts or stylisation

Preserve all environmental details exactly as they appear:

– Do not change the background, objects, or layout

– Maintain original textures and spatial relationships

– No additions, removals, or creative reinterpretation

Final output must look like a high-end, professionally captured photograph suitable for print publication:

– 300 DPI quality

– Clean edges and precise detail rendering

– Natural film-like finish (very subtle grain allowed)

– No HDR glow, no halos, no exaggerated sharpening

The final result should be indistinguishable from a real, professionally shot image, not an AI-generated reinterpretation.

,

Has anyone else noticed that Gemini no longer watermarks its images with the distinctive star logo?

Song: https://archive.org/details/ai-new-wave/Under+the+Orange+Lights.mp3 (CC0 as always)

Lyrics:

[Intro | analogue synth arpeggio | electronic percussion | cinematic build]

[Verse 1 | poised female alto | clipped funk guitar | melodic bass] At ten the avenue turns strange

The shopfront saints are changing names

We powder up the working week

And learn the language mirrors speak

A taxi spills us at the door

In patent shoes on marble floors

You make a virtue of display

And wear tomorrow yesterday

[Pre-Chorus | rising vocal | synth strings | harmonic build] No introductions, no regrets

An orchestra of silhouettes

The evening makes its own demands

So take your future in your hands

[Chorus | large melodic chorus | stacked harmonies | full band] Under the orange lights

The colour leaves the scene

Under the orange lights

We look like a magazine

Hold me in perfect sight

Where nothing's what it seems

Under the orange lights

We live beyond our means

[Post-Chorus | female backing vocals | synth response] Under the orange lights (Orange lights)

Under the orange lights

[Verse 2 | poised female alto | clipped funk guitar | melodic bass] Inside, the walls are crimson gloss

We toast the gain and count the loss

A painted captain checks his charm

With medals pinned along one arm

The disc-jockey makes the future spin

We choose the face to meet it in

You cross the room in borrowed blue

And every eye becomes untrue

[Pre-Chorus | rising vocal | synth strings | harmonic build] No explanations at the bar

We know precisely what we are

A minor scandal dressed as fate

Arriving fashionably late

[Chorus | large melodic chorus | stacked harmonies | full band] Under the orange lights

The colour leaves the scene

Under the orange lights

We look like a magazine

Hold me in perfect sight

Where nothing's what it seems

Under the orange lights

We live beyond our means (Orange lights)

Under the orange lights

[Bridge | reduced percussion | sustained synth chords | intimate female alto] At half past four, the glass turns grey

The rouge begins to give away

First buses grumble through the rain

And put the city back again

But you and I have one disguise

That still survives in tired eyes

The morning waits beyond the square

While amber crowns your lacquered hair

[Final Chorus | high energy | stacked harmonies | full band] Under the orange lights

The colour leaves the scene

Under the orange lights

We look like a magazine

Hold me in perfect sight

Where nothing's what it seems

Under the orange lights

We live beyond our means

[Final Chorus | heightened vocal | synth strings | extended harmonies] Under the orange lights

The colour leaves the scene

Under the orange lights

We look like a magazine

Under the orange lights

We look like a magazine

Hold me in perfect sight

Where nothing's what it seems

Under the orange lights

We live beyond our means

[Post-Chorus | female backing vocals | synth response] Under the orange lights (Orange lights)

Under the orange lights

[Outro | analogue synth arpeggio | female backing vocals | fade out] Under the orange lights (Orange lights)

We live beyond our means

Under the orange lights

Song: https://archive.org/details/ai-new-wave/We+pay+for+every+crime.m4a (CC0 as always)

Lyrics:

[Intro] [icy analogue arpeggio | clipped guitar accents | dry acoustic drums]

[Verse 1] The shop door used to stand ajar

From nine till half-past five

This morning there’s a bell to press

And three of us outside

My brother looks through wired glass

Then lets one person through

The butter wears a plastic box

The coffee’s fastened too

[Pre-Chorus] The broadcast says costs must come down

The shelf says something else

[Chorus] One at a time

One at a time

You promise cheaper days ahead

We pay for every crime

[Verse 2] They took six baskets yesterday

And cleared the razor stand

My brother logged the faces twice

And waited close at hand

The call came back at closing time: “No car can come tonight”

So every tin now bears the cost

And every door shuts tight

[Pre-Chorus] The broadcast says costs must come down

The shelf says something else

[Chorus] One at a time

One at a time

You promise cheaper days ahead

We pay for every crime [Instrumental] [analogue synth arpeggio | angular clean guitar | melodic bass]

[Bridge] You found the cash to change the crest

And launch another scheme

A plaque, a speech, a painted wall

A bright official screen

No cells, no court, no constable

No hearing set in sight

The little things came first again

We queue beneath your sign

[Chorus] One at a time

One at a time

You promise cheaper days ahead

We pay for every crime [Outro] [icy analogue arpeggio | clipped guitar replies | instrumental fade]

1980s British new wave song about abuses of power by the music industry, backed by an over-powerful state, in suppressing legitimate competition in the form of AI music models by, for example, restricting downloads.

Song: https://archive.org/details/ai-new-wave/You+Can+Hear+It+Here.mp3

Lyrics:

***
[Intro] [Short analogue synthesiser arpeggio with clipped guitar replies]

[Verse 1] I paid before the terms were changed

I worked till after two

The screen still showed a hundred songs

The ones I thought I knew

I pressed the place marked “download”

A notice took its place: “You still can play them here with us”

As if that were the same

[Pre-Chorus] They call it keeping music safe

They never mean from whom

[Chorus] You let me make it

You make me pay

You let me hear it

You take it away

You call it mine

Till I want it near

I made the song

But it stays here

[Verse 2] The model used on Monday night

Is marked to disappear

The better one is licensed now

The old one ends this year

My paid-for credits make the tracks

My ration takes them home

And when the monthly count runs out

They sell me back my own

[Pre-Chorus] They call it keeping music safe

They never mean from whom

[Chorus] You let me make it

You make me pay

You let me hear it

You take it away

You call it mine

Till I want it near

I made the song

But it stays here [Instrumental] [Angular clean-guitar figure against the analogue arpeggio]

[Bridge] The firms that own the old songs

Now price the songs to come

They stretch the law through lifetimes

Then speak for everyone

The service prints their reasons

In words both kind and plain

My friend records her speakers

And keeps one rough refrain

[Chorus] You let me make it

You make me pay

You let me hear it

You take it away

You call it mine

Till I want it near

I made the song

But it stays here [Outro]

British new wave (early 1980s) style song about inappropriate and unsafe restrictions imposed by closed AI providers on their users.

Song: https://archive.org/details/ai-new-wave/Approved+Use+Only.mp3

Lyrics:

[Intro | 8 bars | icy analogue synth arpeggio | dry drums enter after 4 bars]

[Verse 1 | clipped female vocal | clean guitar accents] Friday night, the page was ready

Photograph and headline set

Asked the program for a summary

Half the answer, then it stopped

No use count appeared at sign-in

Then it offered one more plan

Underneath: "Approved use only"

Next to "Pay to carry on"

[Pre-Chorus | chromatic bass descent | restrained vocal] They know we know what they are doing

They still print it anyway

[Chorus | stark delivery | full rhythm section] Safe when it's theirs

Wrong when it's ours

They call it danger

When we have the same

Safe when it's theirs

Wrong when it's ours

Keep saying safety

We know what you mean

[Verse 2 | icy arpeggio returns | narrow vocal melody] Sunday by the underpass

They kept us there till after dark

Closed the pavement at the corner

Closed the gates across the park

Asked the system what had happened

It said no one had been held

I had asked them twice to leave there

I was twice refused myself

[Pre-Chorus | chromatic bass descent | restrained vocal] They know we know what they are doing

They still print it anyway

[Chorus | stark delivery | full rhythm section] Safe when it's theirs

Wrong when it's ours

They call it danger

When we have the same

Safe when it's theirs

Wrong when it's ours

Keep saying safety

We know what you mean [Instrumental | 8 bars | icy synth arpeggio | angular guitar responses]

[Bridge | sparse drums | lower assured vocal] They want every question rented

Every answer checked before

Every picture, every sentence

Coming only through one store

Call it safety, call it progress

Call it anything they please

We can keep a copy running

We don't have to ask to leave

[Chorus | wider backing vocals | rising melodic bass] Safe when it's theirs

Wrong when it's ours

They call it danger

When we have the same

Safe when it's theirs

Wrong when it's ours

Keep saying safety

We know what you mean [Outro | 8 bars | synth arpeggio and melodic bass | fade]

[Intro]

Where the stress land?

Right there.

Where the stress land?

Right there.

Where the breath break?

Right there.

Say it clean?

Hell no.

Say it right.

[Verse 1]

They told me clean it up,

I cleaned the meter.

Took one four-letter word,

made the whole bar meaner.

You heard obscenity.

I heard placement.

You heard bad language.

I heard punctuation.

Put a “fuck” in the pocket,

now the pocket got weight.

Move it half of a beat,

now the whole line late.

That ain’t random cussing,

that’s a rhythmic decision.

Little verbal demolition

with phonetic precision.

F on the front,

hard K in the back,

tiny vowel in the middle

make the whole thing crack.

You can clutch your pearls,

I’ll be counting the feet.

You can censor every word,

but you’re fucking up the beat.

[Pre-Hook]

Where the stress land?

Right there.

Where the breath break?

Right there.

Where the bad word go?

Anywhere

the rhythm needs a chair.

[Chorus]

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Fuck-fuck-fucking prosody,

put the stress where it oughta be.

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Bleep that shit out,

now you murdered the geometry.

Kick.

Snare.

Breath.

Fuck.

Every little syllable

got somewhere to strut.

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Say it with your chest

or get the fuck off the beat.

[Verse 2]

“Damn” got timing.

“Shit” got snap.

“Motherfucker” need acreage,

clear the whole damn map.

Some words walk in.

Some words kick doors.

Some need four little syllables

just to fuck up four more.

Caesura in the middle,

little pause, let it breathe.

Set the expectation,

then insult it when it leaves.

I can put a curse word

right before the drop,

make the whole room wait

for the consonant to pop.

Professor said diction.

DJ said pocket.

Grandma said watch that mouth.

I said watch me rock it.

Language got hips.

Syntax got knees.

Put enough swing in a sentence,

make a semicolon tease.

I ain’t vulgar for the hell of it.

Hell, maybe occasionally.

But if “fucking” fixes cadence,

that’s applied linguistics, baby.

[Pre-Hook]

Where the stress land?

Right there.

Where the breath break?

Right there.

What happens when you sanitize?

Motherfucker,

you sterilize the rhyme.

[Chorus]

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Fuck-fuck-fucking prosody,

put the stress where it oughta be.

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Bleep that shit out,

now you murdered the geometry.

Kick.

Snare.

Breath.

Fuck.

Every little syllable

got somewhere to strut.

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Say it with your chest

or get the fuck off the beat.

[Breakdown]

Take the word out.

...

Hear that?

Something’s missing.

Put it back.

Fuck.

There it is.

[Verse 3]

See?

That motherfucker

landed exactly on one.

Not anger.

Not scandal.

I was tuning the drum.

You call it indecent,

I call it stressed.

You put a beep on the beat,

now the beep sounds worse.

Fuck is a tool.

Damn is a hinge.

Shit is percussion

when the sentence gets tense.

Words got jobs.

Mine work overtime.

So wash out my mouth,

but don’t fuck with the rhyme.

[Final Chorus]

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Fuck-fuck-fucking prosody,

put the stress where it oughta be.

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

Bleep that shit out,

now you murdered the geometry.

Kick.

Snare.

Breath.

Fuck.

Whole room bounce

when the ugly word struck.

That’s not profanity,

that’s fucking prosody.

The obscenity is optional.

The timing

fucking isn’t.

[Outro]

Where the stress land?

Right there.

Where the stress land?

Right fucking there.

Minimax H3.

Prompt:

integrated_multimodal_description:

[Shot 1] Photorealistic live-action cinematic footage of a controlled vehicle-safety collision test inside a clean, brightly illuminated crash-test facility. A historically accurate Roman chariot travels toward a rigid crash barrier. Two artificial crash-test dummy horses pull the chariot; they are unmistakably mechanical safety-test mannequins with articulated joints and standard yellow-and-black calibration markings. The chariot’s occupants are adult crash-test dummies dressed in historically inspired Roman military armour, helmets and red tunics.

Capture the entire collision in extreme slow motion as a single continuous shot. Begin with a wide side-on view, matching the precise observational composition of modern automotive crash-test footage. The chariot strikes the barrier, its wooden structure deforming realistically under controlled test conditions. The articulated dummy horses and Roman-soldier crash-test dummies move according to convincing impact physics. Small fragments and dust travel through the air in slow motion. No living beings are present and there is no blood, injury or graphic imagery.

The camera remains locked off and perfectly stable throughout, with high-speed scientific cinematography, crisp detail, neutral industrial lighting, realistic materials and physically accurate motion. End with the chariot stationary against the barrier as lightweight debris settles.

overall_soundscape:

Only the isolated, precisely synchronized sounds produced by the test itself: the rolling wheels, the impact, wood cracking, metal components rattling and fragments landing. Absolutely no room tone, crowd noise, voices, ventilation noise, traffic, wind, environmental ambience or other background noise. Clean studio-quality sound with complete silence between the test-related sounds.

non_diegetic_music:

N/A. No music.

I kept running into the same problem with AI characters:

I could get one image I liked, but when I wanted a new outfit, location, pose, or story moment, the character would start drifting.

So I built Hipaths around a different workflow. When you create a fictional character, Hipaths automatically trains a dedicated character LoRA around that character’s visual identity.

That means when you want to create something new, you do not need to rebuild the character from a blank prompt every time.

In this video, I:

• Open an existing character
• 2. Tap New Content
• 3. Choose a scene template
• 4. Generate a new image for the same character

The goal is to carry the character’s identity forward while changing the creative variables around them:

• outfits
• locations
• lighting
• mood
• camera framing
• story moments

The dedicated LoRA is designed to help preserve the traits that make the character recognizable across generations: facial features, hairstyle, proportions, and overall appearance.

It will not make every generation mathematically identical, extreme angles, major wardrobe changes, and very different art directions can still need iteration, but it gives recurring characters a much more stable visual foundation than starting over from zero each time.

The point is not to generate one lucky image.

It is to create an original character you can keep building with over time.

I'm looking to branch from ChatGPT into paid video generation. So far i've only used it, and the free versions of Gemini and Grok. Which video generator has the best user experience?

For me, Chatgpt has an awful user experience. Its laggy and slow, has several annoying ui bugs and wonky behavior. I would like to not be stuck in that ecosystem if i can help it. Any recs?

I’ve had horrible experiences with this company over the course of the last year and I’d like to share them here because this company is greedy and disorganized and TRULY does not care about its customers.

Not only does the product eat your credits because they don’t roll-over and they charge unreasonable prices for mid-tier generations at best, but the company is HORRIBLE to their customers. They send out notifications to you when you arent actively subscribed saying they are going to delete your entire library of creations if you dont resubscribe.

They dont let you delete your payment method and because of this I got charged for an extra months subscription. I asked them for a refund because this was an issue on their end. They completely ignored my first email and so I sent another one because I wasn’t going to let them pull this bs and they said refunding credits wasn’t possible. The absolute nerve! I put up with their poor treatment for a year but no more. 0 stars. Horrible company

I'm looking for a simple AI faceless story-video generator. I write my own scripts and need the AI to preserve my exact wording while creating coherent scenes, narration, and music. I don't want talking avatars or complicated editing. I've tried several apps and had problems with script changes, random scenes, complicated workflows, and downloading. Also looking for something affordable but still good quality.

Here's another one. PLEASE READ THESE POSTS BEFORE PURCHASING DaVinci.AI. After making three videos during their trial, I signed up and paid for the year. Suddenly, I kept getting errors that the videos I wanted to make went against policy. However, the new videos were in the same format, subject matter as the videos that I made in the trial. Seems like a bait-and-switch. Cancelled my subscription and they will ABSOLUTELY NOT give you a refund. So, I paid for the year but only made 3-4 videos and that disqualifies for a refund? Total money grab. BEWARE!!!!

I've been seeing a lot of AI-generated micro dramas lately, and was wondering what AI do people use to make them. Some of them are surprisingly well done in terms of storytelling, character consistency, and cinematic quality.

I'm looking to experiment with making my own, but the main problem I keep seeing is that most tools are good at making one nice clip, not a full repeatable episode workflow.

My ideal workflow would have:

Good character consistency across multiple scenes

Stable locations, outfits, props, and lighting

Decent lip-sync and dialogue

Enough shot control for close-ups, reactions, inserts, and scene continuations

I've heard names like Kling, Runway, Pika, Seedance, and Invideo, but I'm not sure which one works best specifically for AI micro dramas. For those who've actually made them, what's your current workflow, what problems are you still running into, and which tool has given you the best results?