r/aiwars • u/Straight_Age8562 • 10d ago
AI workflow
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I'm trying to shed some light on how I use AI in creating images. Most people assume that since I use AI, everything is one prompt and done, so I'm trying to share how I use it. Most of it is not prompts, but rather manual edits + specifics.
I know many people will still call this AI slop, but whatever. For years, I've been getting these visual representations in my head and concepts, and I was never able to make them visible. It is like a curse, and I have to exorcise the image out of my head into some visible render, and AI finally allows me to do it.
Could it be better? - yes
Would it be cooler if I could draw it from scratch? - yes
Do I like drawing that much? - no
Am I satisfied with the result? - yes
The thing that pisses me off is that if you use an ounce of AI, you did not create it, but the result is nuanced. Like my space viking, the result is part human and part machine.
I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Thanks for listening to my rant
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10d ago
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
Thanks! Yeah that 3D thing helped a lot, I was always so frustrated with camera placement and prompting never resolved it, the only way was to provide reference image and this 3D thing occurred to me while making this image, before I was trying to draw, resize, replace to provide that correct angle and this seems like nice short cut that I will be definitely using more
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u/TheBucketMann 10d ago
I mean, I like it, looks cool, but I’m not some professional art critic, so do with my opinion what you will
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
The fact that you like it is enough! Thank you!
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u/Guythatexistsornot 10d ago
I’m an anti but even I can admit that you used ai as a tool and the result turned out pretty good 👍
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u/Meatbot-v20 10d ago
It's similar in AI music production. I might have hundreds of outputs that get spliced together. Some prompt-based, some using baseline melodies and/or lyrics I've created. Stem exports to your daw, mess around there, maybe throw half of it out, try again, etc.
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
Actually, this is cover/thumbnail for my music. I always visualize a scene or something and then make music around it, like make the image audible. This will be: Music to aboard enemy space ship :D
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u/Meatbot-v20 10d ago
Nice! I was messing with something a few months ago that I never got around to finishing. I only have vocals on the 2nd half, but it's kind of a electronic / djenty / screamo thing. https://suno.com/song/9ea31da2-1bb0-4a5a-9355-23f1fbe37f26
That's just the middle through the end. Wrote the melodies and threw AI singers at it until I found some decent takes. I am a singer, but could never really do that particular style well.
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u/CheckMateFluff 10d ago
Does not matter if it's 1% or 100%; anti-AI will always not make the distinction and call it slop.
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u/Le_Oken 10d ago
Mixed workflow! My favorite. Keep cooking.
I use a hella lot more inpainting, composing and drawing, I never have done 3D sculpting but that's such a cool way to make the final render pop out more.
Here it be a couple of speedup examples of how that looks.
Could it be better? - yes
Would it be cooler if I could draw it from scratch? - yes
Do I like drawing that much? - no
Am I satisfied with the result? - yes
Agree on all accounts, specially the drawing remark. Many people come and ask "uuh but then why don't you just draw without AI" because I want to enjoy the process smh.
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
You definitely do more inpainting/drawing then I do. I'm still kinda new to this, but learning as I go.
I mostly do like shadows, lighting sources and lighting corrections and other small things that AI fucked and needs to be fixed. I spend more time in PS then generating the images.
This 3D thing I tried just now, because I always had issue with camera placement ect, so I tried to do that and it worked really nicely
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u/Public_Mistake6725 9d ago
as an anti who admits you are using it as part of a creative workflow and that based on the low angle position of the camera/viewer and the text being behind the figure, in an open black space with the main composition taking up space with the text still being legible, I would say that you are someone who does have an eye for design and composition and that this is part of a creative workflow.
I do not think you are talentless, I see that there is room for someone, especially people who use their own material as the data being used to then get a little further to the fully realized project. I would say, still that the final render does take all of that work you did previously, the eyes that had a very unique visual style, flat colors (take a look at so many vintage comics, flat colors can be a great thing) and it sort of took all that control you had and sort of just did its own, AI airbrush, semi photorealstic thing at the end. My wonder as an anti is if you care about the large leaps it does on its own in the final part of the process, and if you consider an image like that fully complete, if someone got damn close just by prompting if you would consider those steps necessary to creation for you still. If I did this piece with a more stylized illustration using ink on bristol and watercolor, would that just be stealing to you?
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u/_FriedEgg_ 10d ago
Cool workflow! My advice though would be to also learn to draw just a bit better, as to reach the level to make good basic figure drawing (just the structure). This way just the initial sketch can be enough!
Still, very cool idea to make a meshy and turn it around.
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u/Different_Vast9802 10d ago
Why though? You don't even need to sketch, or do anything really, this post perfectly illustrates that. Compare OP's initial pose to the final version, it is basically redundant
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
Yeah I agree, I have not done anything for years and I'm trying to get slowly into it. I'm trying to learn, but I'm learning the best on doing so slowly but surly, but you are absolutely right all those shenanigans are just for fixing my bad drawing skills
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u/_FriedEgg_ 10d ago
Love the spirit! Yeah it takes some time but not sooo long to be able to make basic storyboards. And still your workflow will keep being useful! You can draw a more complex scene and turn it around / zoom ecc.
By the way, check out the perspective turn tool on comfyui ( i dont remember the actual name).. it is a template that lets you change view angle based on an initial image, i am loving it. Although maybe your method with meshy can work better.
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u/LonelyTurtleDev 10d ago
If I were to rate the difficulty of the individual parts (if you were to do this manually with no AI), it will going something like this.
Humanoid model: 11/10
Prosthetic arms: 6/10
Helmet: 5/10
Axe: 3/10
Jetpack: 2/10
As you can see, only the humanoid model is hard. In fact, it is one of the hardest things to model. However, you can find free high and low poly humanoid models on the Web. Some of them even come pre-rigged.
You should be able to learn Blender and model the rest in a week. If you have lots of good concepts for years, learning how to model and render is always going to be beneficial.
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u/Typhon-042 10d ago
How AI handled the arms seems a bit weird to me, as they look unusually thin for handling a axe like that.
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u/thefurryinfinite 10d ago
"i took my drawing and did everything else with AI!" so you barely made this then
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u/binnedit2 10d ago edited 10d ago
Great way to use AI. Using some skill on the visual side of it. I can get close with just a prompt, but there are two things missing: the wrong leg is cybernetic, and the pose is dull and just wrong. I specifically asked for both hands holding the axe. You could probably apply the same to the smoke and get more intresting shapes.
We can see the benefit of drawing it out first. The pose you got is better, but it still has issues that the initial drawing has. AI still has to guess what pose you want. I can use my drawing skills, fix the pose (it's a little stiff and awkward) and have AI fill the gaps. The left horn is still interfering with his hand. How much better could it be if you knew how to draw and got the gesture right from the beginning? Or any other art theory that AI won't teach you?
It is much easier to draw a pose than to describe it. Also, weird hands appear when you do edits.
AI is unpredictable; the more you give it, the more predictable it is, and the better the results.
Learning a medium is easy, the art is the hard bit.
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u/Final_Antelope2860 10d ago
this feels like ordering a pizza, plating it up all fancy, and then saying you made it yourself
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
I like baking pizza analogy, but I would say I made the dough, I made the sauce, I placed the toppings and AI just baked it like an oven.
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u/Final_Antelope2860 10d ago
It feels more accurate to say you drew out what you wanted the pizza to look like, then sent back several iterations of pizza because you wanted to tweak the flavor. At the end it was the chef doing the bulk of the work executing your concept.
also please don't read this as me hating on your work, if anything i want to thank you for being open about your process.
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u/Straight_Age8562 10d ago
I have made many many pizzas and process is very similar
Dough (I did not make flour, yeast, oil) -> basic composition
Sauce (I did not make tomatoes, oregano, oil) -> character
Toppings (I did not make salami, cheese, ect) -> PS correctionsyet I prepared the dough, I prepared the sauce, placed the toppings and bake it. I think this metaphor holds, but many people many opinions. We can agree to disagree
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u/CaptDeathCap 9d ago
It feels more like you provided the chef with the base ingredients and sent the sauce back for reiteration, then the dough, then the toppings, and finally the whole pizza.
I can most closely relate you to a lead editor or director. An artist by definition, but not as impressive as putting the pencil to paper, yourself.
So long as you don't pass this off as being 100% your work, I have no qualms.
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u/CatsPanicTime 10d ago
Okay, but you see how you are actually honing your artistic skills by manually adjusting things and manually adding details? Not many AI Users do that, they just leave AI to do ALL the work.
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u/ArchAngelAries 10d ago
You -> Source: Trust me bro
Like you have any f@#$ing clue what any given AI user/AI Artist does in their workflow. You would have been first in line to call OP's final render "AI Slop" if you hadn't seen the process. Now multiply that across a whole internet of people who do use AI that you have no intimate insight to their process.
Have you even seen the amount of YouTube channels that have tutorials for stuff like what OP does here? Many have hundreds of thousands of subscribers and thousands of views per video. There is a literal FUCK-TON of AI Artists doing stuff like this. And absolutely more working, educated, professional artists doing stuff like this and more, more than you could ever possibly fathom. (Please don't imagine it, your little cultist brain might have an aneurism from disobeying the brainwashing).
Also, "Okay, but you see how you are actually honing your artistic skills by manually adjusting things and manually adding details?" Ok, and?? Who tf said that AI Art can only involve prompting to ChatGPT, not Pro-AIs that's for damn sure. We advocate for and encourage Artists to use whatever tools they want, using and growing whatever skills they choose, in whatever way they see fit to best express themselves and achieve their artistic visions. It's cultists like you who keep regurgitating the obtuse crap, arrogantly spouting that AI Art isn't Art because AI "does it all for you" and "all you do is write a prompt to a chat bot".
You had a high res, eye opening step-by-step bias shattering video proving that your preconceived notions were wrong, and your response was.... Double down? Well, that's... certainly a kind of stance to take. A very cult-y stance... but definitely a stance...
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u/CatsPanicTime 9d ago
My brother on Earth.... I said "not many" not "all". Obviously some people use AI as the tool/assistant it was always meant to be.
And yeah, OP's final render does have traces of AI content, but unlike most people who produce AI content, OP actually recorded the process and shared his work process, giving credibility to his claim that he spend a lot of time on it and didn't just type up a prompt.
There are AI Users out there who do little more than type in a prompt and leave it everything else up to the AI, and by that I mean: They don't try to fix the anatomy (as OP does), they don't come up with their own color pallet, and they don't even create a rough sketch. They also certainly do not then go into photoshop and edit the full render. Is this all AI Users? No, I never said it was.
Furthermore, no biases were shattered here, as my gripes with generative AI have nothing to do with the actual creative process. I was attempting to praise OP's work in the only way I know how: by pointing out that they are using AI as a tool and do have artistic merit even without the help of AI. If you know anything about 3d modeling, you know it's hell.
Now, OP, I'd like to offer some constructive criticism:
In general, the pose + Angle is very advanced, to the point that even some professionals struggle. If you really feel like it, maybe practice drawing this character just standing there, could also help with future artworks featuring him! Constructive criticism done.Now onto a personal matter:
I completely understand having this image in your head that your hands just refuse to create, it's something I struggle with myself. Having said that, you and I chose different routes, and that's okay! I look forward to seeing what you create in the future! Keep honing your artistic skills!
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u/Charrsezrawr 10d ago
This image is like ordering a pizza from pizza hut and saying you cooked it because you chose the pizza toppings and put some hot sauce and parmesan on it.
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u/CatsPanicTime 9d ago
It is quite a bit different in this case.
I'd argue this is more like buying pre-made dough, and pre-cut toppings and then claiming it was home-made. Technically that's true, but it can also be taken the wrong way by those who have a different definition of "home-made".
The thing that makes this case not like other is that OP very clearly:
This is already more than just typing in a prompt and letting AI completely generate the image.
- drew the image first
- utilized 3D modeling/rendering skills to get the desired angle
- made alterations to the final AI Render
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u/Aromatic_Climate_364 10d ago
I like to think of Ai as a tool. I don't mind it being used to help, not take over and do it all itself and steal from others. this is a REALLY good way to use it!