At Camera club the other week we were doing some desktop photography with various items that each of the members took in. I took along a couple of pieces of n gauge electric railways, track and a few associated model buildings. I laid them on an old piece of hessian, crumpled up in the background to resemble mountain scenery. The idea was to play around with various depths of field, going from shallow depth of field with an f2.8 aperture to playing about with in camera focus stacking. I enclose one of the images as a reference.
A couple of days later I thought about AI fill on Photoshop and wondered what could be done. So I imported the above image and selected all of the the background (all of the hessian ). Then I simply typed two words into the AI fill box " mountain scenery" and the following image is what Photoshop created. Certainly you can tell that its a model train and model buildings . You can also see some the slate outlines at the back of the station building have been carried into the back ground. However, the scale of the background to subject is remarkably good and the creation of the rail track bed is quite remarkable. I find the whole thing quite frightening and it will soon be harder to tell what was a real photograph and what was a digital recreation.
I'd like to like your post Bob, but it's too frightening to contemplate the potential for misuse the new technology provides. Looking on my phone (which let's face it is mostly where "news" and "information" are gathered from now) the picture could easily be genuine at a scrolling glance.
As you say frightening Bob, to get that track bed and the base to the building...
Bobs_Retired said:A couple of days later I thought about AI fill on Photoshop and wondered what could be done. So I imported the above image and selected all of the the background (all of the hessian ). Then I simply typed two words into the AI fill box " mountain scenery" and the following image is what Photoshop created. Certainly you can tell that its a model train and model buildings . You can also see some the slate outlines at the back of the station building have been carried into the back ground. However, the scale of the background to subject is remarkably good and the creation of the rail track bed is quite remarkable. I find the whole thing quite frightening and it will soon be harder to tell what was a real photograph and what was a digital recreation.
I will click "Like", because it highlights the real concerns of AI.
But used in the right context, can be very good. I bet you could even make what is an N gauge model train, rolling stock and tracks etc, could become very lifelike. Imagine creating that as a short video, the train moving along the track, sound effects, even the fading of the sun.
And we thought using the green-screen and later clever working with CGI were out of this world.....
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
Pretty wonderful isn't it. I had a try with at new AI feature, just using a blank background and typing in things like 'steak, chips, onion rings, beer' or fish, chips, peas, tea, bread & butter'. some very mouthwatering images appear ... . On the more usable side, my sister's friend always asks for my Photoshop help around this time of year with some calendars she makes, based on places a gang of them have visited during the year. This year's theme was Wales, and I was asked to create an image to suit 'Under Milk Wood', by Dylan Thomas. I found a picture of a wood, inserted the person required, photographed a milk carton and hung in in various positions on the trees. It took a couple of hours. Afterwards when I thought of it, I just typed in something like milk bottles growing on trees and the AI did it in a second. Pretty good too ... . Certainly good enough for my needs. I think eventually Photoshop will charge extra for that feature, as there may be some royalties to pay along the line.
Another new Photoshop feature worth trying is the AI powered 'Remove ' tool. I was in Buxton the other day and as it was a nice day my sister and I followed the Snowdog trail, which is currently on at the moment - various statues of the Raymond Briggs Snowdogs, all painted in different designs. Getting a clear shot was difficult, due to all the pesky kids ..., but on this one the problem was two drunks - one trying to fasten the zip on the others coat ... . Eventually I took my shot and thought I would sort it later. I tried the new 'Remove' tool and was astounded how well it did. I just brushed over the two guys and left it to it - about 5 seconds. It probably should have had a bottom edge to the windows frame, but still an excellent job I thought ... .
Yes the windows just don't look right though in truth its done a pretty good job. However, I think the drunks trying to fasten their coats would have made a great silent movie