Second Keyframe Paint Animation Test Using Virtual Sub-Nesting

 

Here you go. A slightly better demo of what i am talking about in the previous post (virtual keyframe sub-nesting).  I explain in detail on the Studio Artist User Forum how to make it.  Check it out here.

First Keyframe Paint Animation Test using Virtual Keyframe Sub-Nesting

 

I immediately wanted to use Virtual Keyframe Sub-Nesting with the automatic features in Studio Artist V5.5 that let you convert paint actions that use or generate bezier paths into bezier embedded paint action steps.  This lets you auto-build key-framed paint animation running a single menu command.

An hour's worth of code refactoring and a continuous coffee drip lead the simple animation test above.

This proves the concept and tests the new code, but doesn't really show off the power of it. I'll put together a better demo of it later.

Fun Little Experiment Using Virtual Keyframe Sub-Nesting

 

Fun little experiment using the new virtual keyframe sub-nesting feature in Studio Artist V5.5.3.  I'm using a transition context with a single keyframe at the first frame position. I have a movie file key-framed there.

So the idea behind virtual keyframe sub-nesting is that Studio Artist can auto-generate virtual keyframes based off of that one manually specified keyframe (the movie file) at position 1.  And then the transition context does what it does, which is generate transition effects between keyframes (virtual keyframes in this situation). So you just saved yourself a ton of work, because you'd have to generate a folder of skip frame images, and then keyframe them all manually at the appropriate positions on the timeline to do what virtual keyframe sub-nesting does for you automatically.

Actually Studio Artist will auto-load a selection of multiple keyframes all in one shot, and then you can run a time line expand command to get there, but you still have to setup all of the skip frame images in a folder to do it the old fashioned way, so you probably never will do that.  But now you have no excuse not to experiment with it, since Studio Artist does all the work (notice a theme here we keep re-iterating in V5.5).

So i made a 2 step PASeq. Transition Context action step, followed by Vectorizer action step.  I ran it with no sub-nested virtual keyframes first for 120 frames, then sub-nested with a spacing of 4 frames, 8 frames, 12 frames.  I was using a linear fade transition algorithm for those.  Then i switched to a different transition algorithm, and bumped the spatial extent from 40 to 80 to 120 for the other 120 frame passes.

Steering the AI Generative Paint Spaceship

 

I don't even know how one would go about trying to construct something like this working manually in a conventional paint program. I do know it would take forever, be very tedious.  But it's really pretty easy to do it steering the automated AI Generative Paint spaceship that is Studio Artist V5.5.

The new generative paint preferences in V5.5.2 are pretty cool.  And as always, they bring to the surface any hidden bug issues associated with some far flung corner of the parameter space of the program.  Which we quickly see in automated stress test runs and squash like the bugs they are (Buddhists are cringing at that statement).

Remember, every update is generatively unique. Collect them all, because they are all visually distinct.

So what was i doing here anyway. Playing off 2 different image databases against each other, in a fight for dominance. Once was the gallery show source folder. The other was a folder of mug shot images and some other stuff i redirected the image folder background texture to use as a cache location. One of my generative paint preferences forced new image folder background texture edits for each newly AI constructed paint preset. I'm auto-generating selection masks for each gallery show cycle based generated from mutated Rank Filter IpOp effects. I've got a collection of wet presets in a favorites folder for start cycle processing working against an adaptive gradient optimizer end cycle setting (again, every time that runs it is different, constructed from scratch on the fly by the AI Generative System).

MSG Brush Load Generative Paint Strategy Demo

 

I set this up and knocked it out in less than an hour while doing something else completely different. My AI Generative assistant Studio Artist V5.5 did all of the work for me (i did setup the generative strategy it used).  The transitions between art images were automatically generated by Studio Artist as well.  

It is worth pointing out that the artwork generated in the example above is a tiny far off corner of the vast potential space of visual aesthetic looks one can achieve in Studio Artist. That far flung corner of potential visual looks kind of reminds me of 'out maxing peter max' to some extent, so a particular ghetto of the overall world of possible visual aesthetics.  You could dial it in to just be wood cut prints using MSG Brush load if you so desired (you can see a few hiding in there above).  Or you could head off to something completely different by setting up a very different generative strategy (with associated generative preferences).

Thanks to the WMF for the Whirling Dervish' track off of their 'Shipyard, Let's Dance' cd.  I think you need to have lived on Oahu to really appreciate the joke in that cd title. Check out the album cover art if you don't get it in the link above.

Every Point Release of Studio Artist V5.5 is Different

 

Just started adding some source data augmentation options to Studio Artist V5.5.1 in gallery show.  Data augmentation is what you do when training neural nets to jigger the system in a useful way for training.  You are manipulating the prior inherent in the system.  And you can do the same thing to your collection of source images when running gallery show.

This leads to an interesting observation which i was already thinking about. Every point release of Studio Artist V5.5 is different. By different i mean that the underlying AI Generative Algorithms are different.  Because we're always tweaking them, enhancing them, adding new things like data augmentation, new Smart Edits available to the generative preferences, etc. So every point release is going to have it's own feel to it.

This is kind of like Edition Prints, except it's edition software.  Each point release is visually unique. You will want to collect them all.

Using the Paint Synthesizer Background Texture Module as a 'Texture Synthesis by Example' Engine

 

So who knows what i used for the image loaded into the Image Background Texture in the Studio Artist V5.5 paint synthesizer?  The answer is posted in the Studio Artist User Forum.

Here's the thing. Both procedural and neural 'texture synthesis by example' are using a codebook.  And many of the best algorithms are really just slopping down sections of texture from the code book, joining them together to build the macro texture from micro texture pieces.  And you can program the paint synthesizer to do that as well.

Could it be better? Sure. When you do experiments like this, you can figure out what to add to make it better.  And i am open to your suggestions of course.