#512: Update, CREF, and Ceremonial Face Decoration
Midjourney Prompts, Generative AI Art News and Tools
📣 Updating Prompt Hackers Format
As I announced a couple of days ago, Prompt Hackers is changing. We have a new brand and the newsletter is getting bigger and better. If you missed the announcement, here are the key takeaways:
Takeaways
Change of name to AI Art and Animation.
Emails are now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Still 5 quality MJ prompts a week, but now with additional content: GenAI news, tools, and more, all related to creating great AI art and animations.
⏳ Midjourney Office Hours Recap
A recap of the Midjourney office hours held on March 13th, focusing on several key developments and future plans for the platform. Here are the main points discussed:
Model Personalization: There's an ongoing effort to introduce model personalization based on users' image ranking history and preferences. This personalization may involve the use of style tuners linked to a user ID and possibly a date, allowing for the sharing of these personalized settings. Early tests have shown promising results, with a noticeable shift away from stereotypical depictions in generated images.
Style Reference Feature Upgrade: The team is contemplating an upgrade to the style reference feature, debating the release of the current version or waiting to improve it further. This decision is part of a broader discussion on resource allocation and the prioritization of upcoming version updates.
Color Reference in Version 6: There's uncertainty about including a color reference feature in version 6, as the focus shifts towards making version 7 a more significant upgrade from version 5 to version 6.
Communication Enhancements: Midjourney is working on improving communication on its website. This includes a new section for feature releases, feedback, polls, and bug reporting. Initially, the platform aims to facilitate direct communication from the team to the community, with plans to enable community-to-community interactions later.
New Feedback System and Leaderboard Function: Plans for a new feedback system that allows for more detailed responses and a leaderboard feature were mentioned, indicating an interest in fostering a more engaging community experience.
Stability AI Communication and Image Ratings Issue: There has been no communication from Stability AI regarding a recent fiasco. Additionally, issues with image ratings have been identified, with a group of users abusing the system, leading to the removal of the free fast hour reward. There are considerations for implementing anti-bot measures, but the focus remains on version 7 development.
📰 News-To-Know
Worried Creatives: Computer Weekly highlights personal accounts from professionals in various creative industries who worry about the competition from AI and the lack of government action to protect their rights. It discusses concerns from creatives about losing jobs to AI, the devaluation of human creativity, and the potential for AI to infringe on copyright laws.
Adobe - AI love affair: PYMTS talks about Adobe's ongoing integration of generative AI features across its various product lines, including digital media, digital experience, and publishing and advertising. Adobe has seen significant demand for these features, leading to plans to introduce new AI solutions. Notable enhancements include GenAI features in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Express, and the use of Adobe's Firefly creative AI model. Additionally, Adobe has integrated an AI Assistant into Acrobat and Reader for improved PDF handling.
🧰 Tools-To-Know
VideoTok - Creates viral TikToks and short form text to video with AI. Automate your video creation and get AI images, voices, effects, captions, and more.
Cassetteai - Generate royalty-free music from text prompts.
Watch List
Soulless Horizon - AI Dystopian Sci-Fi Short Film participating in the 2nd Annual International AI Runway Film Festival 2024. Seven different AIs were used to create the Short Film, including Midjourney, Runway, Pika Labs, and Eleven Labs. Created by Rolo.
👀 ICYMI - Consistent Characters
In case you missed it, Midjourney released a new tool to help generate consistent characters. It’s not perfect just yet, but it’s very nearly there!
Creating consistent characters in Midjourney using the newly introduced CREF (Character Reference) and CW (Character Weight) options. These features allow users to generate AI-created characters that maintain consistency across various scenarios. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the process:
Creating a Character in Midjourney:
Step 1: Start by generating a character using a prompt in Midjourney. Note that this doesn’t always work well with your own images (yet).
Step 2: After generating four initial images, select one that you want to use as your base character.
Step 3: Right-click on the selected image to copy its link; this link will be used to maintain the character's consistency in subsequent images.
Using CREF (Character Reference):
2.1 To create consistent characters, use the usual prompt command followed by your character description.
2.2 After your character description, add --cref and paste the link of your base character. This tells Midjourney to reference this specific character in the new image.
Now a minor drawback. Let’s say that your character is wearing a tutu and is dancing in a street. Now you want to move your character to a battlefield. You use --cref and ‘on the battlefield’, and hey presto, MJ generates your character on the battlefield - complete with tutu! This is where Character Weight comes in handy.
Using CW (Character Weight):
The CW option adjusts how closely the new images should adhere to the base character's appearance. Adding --cw 0 allows for changes to the character's clothing or other attributes while keeping the face the same.
🎨 Daily Inspiration
Today’s daily inspiration is all about Ceremonial Faces.
Ceremonial Face Decoration
Ceremonial face decoration is a profound aspect of cultural expression found across the globe, embodying a rich spectrum of meanings, traditions, and purposes. These decorations can be temporary or semi-permanent and are applied using a variety of materials, including but not limited to paints, dyes, clay, and plant extracts. The significance of these decorations is as diverse as the cultures they originate from, often serving as a means of social identity, spiritual protection, beauty enhancement, or a marker of important life stages and events.
In many indigenous cultures, face painting is an integral part of rituals and ceremonies. For example, among Native American tribes, face painting is not only an art but also a way of communicating the individual's role, status, achievements, and spiritual beliefs. Colors and patterns hold specific meanings, and the act of painting is sometimes as significant as the decoration itself, involving prayers and songs.
In Africa, face decoration is widely practiced, with meanings varying from tribe to tribe. The Maasai of East Africa, for instance, use ochre and other natural pigments for face painting to signify status, social position, and to prepare for ceremonies such as weddings or warrior initiations. Similarly, the Wodaabe nomads of the Sahel region engage in elaborate face painting as part of their Gerewol festival, a beauty contest among men to attract mates.
In the Pacific, Maori facial tattoos, known as moko, are a form of ceremonial decoration that carry deep cultural significance. These tattoos mark lineage, status, and personal achievements, and the practice is seen as a rite of passage. The intricate designs are unique to the individual and tell the story of their life, ancestry, and beliefs.
In Asia, particularly in India, face decoration plays a pivotal role in religious and cultural festivities. During the Hindu festival of Navaratri, for example, many participants paint their faces and dress up as deities, symbolizing the victory of good over evil. The use of color is symbolic, with red representing strength and yellow denoting happiness and peace.
Ceremonial face decoration is not only a form of personal and communal expression but also a living tradition that evolves while maintaining a link to the past. It serves as a visual language that conveys messages about identity, social cohesion, and spiritual beliefs, highlighting the diversity and creativity of human cultures. Despite the wide array of practices and meanings, a common thread is the use of the human face as a canvas to express deeply held values and connections to community and the natural world.
Midjourney Prompt:
close-up photographic portrait of [SUBJECT]. The face should, intricate, tribal-inspired art, patterns, reminiscent of beadwork and ceremonial embellishments, scheme, rich reds, oranges, blues
/settings: Version 6 and Stylize Med
What Next?
As always, treat my prompt as your starting point. Make it your own!
And Finally
If you like this prompt, don’t forget to add it to your own copy of the AI Prompt Pod. If you don’t yet have a copy, you can find out more HERE.