In recent months, I have been having some fun using machine learning tools like Artbreeder to generate portraits of my characters. The neat thing about this approach is that it lets you blend in-game screenshots of your characters, photos of real people, and/or actual human art into something unique. You will often have to be willing to spend some time fine-tuning the settings, and it helps if you approach it with an open mind and willingness to “discover” your character, rather than trying to achieve a specific effect.
I thought I’d share some of my more interesting creations and invite others to do the same. This topic isn’t limited to Artbreeder specifically; it you use other machine learning art tools, tell us about them and show us what you’ve been able to make.
Personally I’ve had better luck producing cool/interesting/not-horrifying portraits when I either mix in a couple illustrations or turn up the “Art” slider in compose mode to 0.5 or higher. When the neural net is trying to make a picture that looks like a drawing or painting, I find the effect more convincing than when it’s trying for photorealism.
Yeah, any “inhuman” features can cause really weird effects. I’d recommend using the tool to create your conception of the human actor who would play the character, then use photo editing tools to add the alien features.
Creating a “H’ajah” actor has been much easier than adding ridges that look good after the fact. I’m not great at this kind of photo editing though.
Bit late here, but caught this post on my browsing travels and must admit I think this is pretty neat! I’ve been messing around a little bit, aside from using the in-game image of each character, I’ve enjoyed just playing with random created faces. Coby was simple and not much going on, but Soa’ was a pain and as always she comes out with as best as I can be bothered with after ages of tinkering. But hey, was super fun!
Thanks for sharing the link Sophist.
Sorta’ weirdly gives me the impression of a “remastered” STO!
