Small delay and thoughts on AI clips?
Added 2025-02-02 15:49:35 +0000 UTCHey all!
Firstly I just want to let you guys know that the Swishy comic editor SwishStream has caught the sick, so the Got ya Girl drop has been delayed, but we are aiming to do a double drop of it and the next Splintered Cells drop together in a few days instead ๐
Feel free to wish them a little comment for a speedy recovery! ๐งก๐
Speaking of Splintered Cells, I've been tossing up the idea of using AI generation to bolster the comics for a while now, especially after seeing other TG/TF creators experimenting with it like TroubleTRO (who if you don't know has some fantastic FtF shifting comics out there if you haven't checked them out!)
The main reason I haven't really tried it yet is essentially for the moral reasons I'm sure you guys have heard a million times over when AI "art" is discussed.
In terms of complete "text to picture/video" generation, I have no real interest in that and there's a million people already doing that for shifting and possession content, so I'll stick to my comics.
However what I have examples of here is some test of one of the shapeshifting sequences that dropped last week for Splintered Cells 3, trying out the 'frame to frame' type generation.
I'm much more comfortable with THIS kind of generation personally because it's based on MY art that I made rather than using someone else's, but it's still a grey area because of the argument of how training data is acquired for this kind of thing.
So I want to ask YOU guys... what do you think about this? How do you feel about this sort of content alongside the comics?
And I want to be VERY clear with these next points as I'm sure you're wondering:
-This is NOT to replace the shifting sequences that are currently in the comics, this is alongside it. The comics will still feature the swishy edited versions you all know and love!
-I only aim to possibly include one of these per drop max, could be some shifting like this, could be part of a possession sequence, could be just a nice shot that I like and add some motion to for funzies, could be nothing at all in a drop cos I just wasn't feeling it.
-This ISN'T replacing my animation projects either, that is still on the go!
The animation project just reached another speed hump that I need time to work out that I just haven't had yet and I'm hoping to look at real soon since the holiday season is now over ๐
My last point would be that the only downside/hurdle I currently have is I can't include these in the PDFs as these are vid clips or gifs, so they might just have to be placed beside the PDF reader on the website (downloadable) that you then select and view separately?... If anyone has a better idea on how to incorporate them, I'd love to hear it!
Let me know what you think about all this, and which clip you liked best out of these!
Much love,
Nexy xx
Comments
Mmmmmmm that is Hot!!!! I love it my bexter the result is great!
Nariko
2025-02-05 10:23:46 +0000 UTCYeah, I think shots like that in particular would be pretty cool to see in 'motion'!
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:27:11 +0000 UTCHaha, it's SO hard to get past their NSFW filters... it's hard ENOUGH to make her grab her boobs let alone show them!
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:26:16 +0000 UTCFair enough! Thank you ๐
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:25:34 +0000 UTCHaha, can't agree more Kawee! It's quite the struggle in my brain too ๐
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:12:00 +0000 UTCYeah I totally agree it's still in the uncanny valley for sure, the point about using MY art was more about the moral issue than the quality issue. The quality of these engines are only going to improve exponentially from here, there are already plenty of 'animated' still images I've seen floating around that look 100% photo real and it's just gonna get even easier now that there's an open source AI engine just created for anyone to work on. I think at THIS point in time, if I do include stuff like this I'd be fine to keep it on the side as a 'gimmick'. People seem pretty divided about it (to be expected), and this kind of content isn't worth me investing time in to "get good" at generation as I'd rather use that time to hone other skills, but it's fine time-wise to just run some iterations of this on the side every now and again and see if any of these are worth sharing for the people who DO enjoy the gimmick ๐ That's where my thinking is at the moment at least! I might get sick of it real quick, who knows?
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:11:29 +0000 UTCThank you! ๐
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:03:56 +0000 UTCHonestly I think AI is a little more than just a trend at this point like NFTs were... AI generation is only going to grow exponentially and it's never going away. Artists are trying it because it's a new, powerful tool for creation, simple as that really! I don't agree personally that using it is 'lazy', it's a new tool that can be used very effectively alongside other tools. For example I wouldn't call someone lazy using a power saw to cut wood for a project instead of a manual hand saw, and I see this very similarly. I DO agree that it's made "making art" (using that term loosely) VERY accessible and so there ARE a lot of people who are just pumping out crappy "art", but that's because they are putting zero effort into refining their product or learning how to USE these tools properly alongside developing skills. Which is why for THIS example I posted, I wanted to be very clear that this isn't to REPLACE any artwork I'm currently doing like the comics or planning to do like proper longform animations, I'm still VERY happy to refine my skills using the manual hand saw to get a very nicely refined and accurate artwork rather than just go straight to the messy power saw ๐ But every now and again it's fun to turn that power saw on and just cut up some wood as long as it's MY wood I'm cutting up! The MAIN problem with this power saw though that IS an issue is that it was built based off of a BUNCH of other people's skills without their permission, and there lies the moral quandary for me... ....Yeah, the analogy is really stretching now but I'm sure you know what I mean ๐
Nexstat
2025-02-03 17:02:59 +0000 UTCI love your work, but try not to follow the trends of Ai please. Come to think of it ๐ค why are a lot of artist trying ai in the first place? To me, ai makes people lazy in some parts of being a very talented artist
Mr. Mysterious
2025-02-03 16:12:10 +0000 UTCI think it looks pretty good. Whatever you want to do is best, though.
Parker Joans
2025-02-03 02:47:13 +0000 UTCI think the biggest issue is that the final product tends to look off even if you are just using your own work. From the examples you posted nothing looked...right so to speak. So either you are putting out what is basically a gimmick post now and then that is going to look like that, or you'll need to invest time to try to make it look right at which point even if you don't think it will affect your content pipeline it probably will because humans are bad at time management when something is wrong.
Gadflow
2025-02-02 22:58:41 +0000 UTCI get the weirdest cognitive dissonance seeing this. Dang! Looks really good! My small Kawee brain tries to process it xD. Nice job Nexy! ๐ค
Kawee
2025-02-02 18:19:48 +0000 UTCMy vote would be no AI period, for the same reasons as Ramses the Fool. That being said if you decide to do it and it stays as an optional thing then it won't impact my enjoyment of your work.
Fusiondende
2025-02-02 18:12:26 +0000 UTCI like it, the 3rd is good. I wish they could be more nsfw rofl
Hozer91
2025-02-02 17:39:50 +0000 UTCI've been playing with AI myself a lot lately, especially video. I think it could be a great way to enhance what you already do, especially for BE or AE shots, which seem to work pretty well!
Ovidius Naso
2025-02-02 17:12:36 +0000 UTCGotcha, I totally understand! Thanks for that ๐
Nexstat
2025-02-02 17:05:01 +0000 UTCMakes sense! Thank you ๐
Nexstat
2025-02-02 17:01:29 +0000 UTCI can't get behind AI generated works, at all, ethically, all engines stopped. It feels like artistic cannibalism to me, and I know how dramatic that sounds. Don't take this as an ultimatum though, chief. I can bow out quietly, I don't want to make any waves.
Ramses the Fool
2025-02-02 16:58:04 +0000 UTCNot a huge fan of ai in general. Partly for the controversy partly because it feels a little soulless
marblepants
2025-02-02 16:56:00 +0000 UTCI agree it's quite uncanny, I'm not sure if that'd ever be something that the tech gets past or if it's just seeing these usually still characters in motion... ๐ค Thanks for the response!
Nexstat
2025-02-02 16:51:33 +0000 UTCTotally fair, I appreciate it! So if this was something that was simply posted alongside the regular drop so you could choose to view it or not, would that be something you would consider okay, or is it just the use of AI full stop in work like this that you can't get behind?
Nexstat
2025-02-02 16:49:27 +0000 UTCThe 3rd one is the best!
Lorenzo
2025-02-02 16:23:05 +0000 UTCI like the 3rd one!
TROUBLETRO
2025-02-02 16:01:42 +0000 UTCSpeaking for myself, I can't get behind AI gens, even if the machine is just cycling your works into its loop.
Ramses the Fool
2025-02-02 15:59:30 +0000 UTCIf you are more comfortable with using AI like that to help you in your work, I personally don't think it should be an issue.
CyberJam Jon
2025-02-02 15:58:51 +0000 UTCImo it looks very uncanny, I personally prefer no ai. I do however support the team!
AronR
2025-02-02 15:51:23 +0000 UTC
