Mid Journey Tests III

Midjourney is a lot of fun.  The trick is to be your own client, then you can judge what is a success and what is not.  I am not so sure how well this would work when you have to deliver something for a client who may or may not be at one with your point of view.

 

The following are more tests, generally in the area of mosaics that could be used as elements of a 3D scene.  Notice the whimsy of the bee person.  I didnt do that, I said swarm of bees and a hive and this is what it gave me.

 

Generally "vintage photograph of" produces entertaining images.

 

Mosaics of Bees 

Mosaics of Sea Creatures

 

Sumerian statuary of Alien Gods

Siggraph 2023

draft

This is a brief report on SIGGRAPH 2023 national conference held in Los Angeles, CA.

 

As always, one must choose between seeing and interacting with people vs. attending the technical program.  As the technical program is very expensive and since most of the value of the program comes from the published papers, this makes the decision a no brainer.  You either pay for an exhibition badge or a "everything but the technical program" badge.  There are those who think the technical program is the heart of SIGGRAPH but I think such people are living in the past.

 

In the same way, the electronic theatre, aka film show, is also a relic of the past and has no particular value in today's world.

 

Even Emerging Tech, usually the height of SIGGRAPH, was boring.  The one exception was the fabulous Sensorama curated by Scott Fisher of USC.  This was a recreation of a pioneering location based 3D entertainment.

 

 

People included but not limited to (and in no particular order) Terrence Massan, Maa and wife from Paris, Craig Reynolds, Scott Fisher, Bart Gawboy, Paul Debevic, Scott Fisher, Sylvester Sylvan, Jim Blinn, Ed Catmull, Mike Zyda, Andy van Dam, Jim Foley, Joan Collins, Diane Piepol, Rebecca Allen, Nick England, Mary Whitton, Jackie Morie, Tom Sito, Joseph Goldstone, Laura Scholl, Gene Miller, Debbie Deas, Julian Gomez, Copper Giloth, Jane Veeder, and many others.

 

 

Midjourney Concept Art II

More concept art generated with Midjourney.  Yes its a little tepid and too similar but I think that is mostly my fault.  Still we did get a certain distance.

Samurai fights prehistoric monsters

 

Samurai fights space men

 

Creatures from the tar pits

Midjourney Concept Art

Various concept art themes generated with Midjourney.

 

 

Revolutionaries At The Beach

Karl Marx playing beach volleyball

Karl Marx leading aerobics class

 

Karl Marx at the beach

Playing with Midjourney

 

After playing with Midjourney for a few days, I got what I consider plausible results on some of the topics I was interested in.  I dont really know how to use this program but I could see it immediately being useful for concept and look development as well as possibly image asset generation as part of a scene.

 

In the case of "concept art", such as the dinosaur in wrecked museum image, below, it is not intended to be a final in a scene or shot.  It is intended to communicate an idea to other artists where it will be reworked before something is created for the actual sequence.  The mosaics on the other hand, or the Sumerian relief, might be elements in an actual sequence or shot.  Imagine a scene with the interior of an ancient palace and some of these mosaics are elements on the floor or walls.

 

 

I Have no Faith in the People

At the end of the day there are some things that have happened and its hard to see that the relationship between the people and this country and its government can ever be the same.

No matter what I think or how things turn out with Trump I have to accept that a large number of Americans approve of that pig and dont think that any of the fundamental principles that I keep hearing about matter. The evidence that Trump is a criminal who tried to steal the election and who is undermining faith in this country for his own selfish purposes is as clear as it could be. Yet Americans, many Americans, love it. And they are racist. And they dont mind destroying national security as long as they get their pig and force policies down the throat of the majority of Americans. They dont give a fuck.

The electoral college still exists. It is completely plausible that the pig might win or steal the next election. Biden has done a good job but his numbers dont show it. If Trump becomes president again you can kiss your quasi democracy goodbye.

I have no faith in these people and it can never be forgiven. I am very disappointed.