Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Next Stage

A promotional card from the 1989 DRK Next Stage! press conference. A prototype rally car made from officially-licensed parts was exhibited on a private course. This was several years before the final version was made available for sale.

SDForAll EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

SDXL 1.0 Grid: CFG and Steps

Prompt: `A modern smartphone picture of a man riding a motorcycle in front of a row of brightly-colored buildings.` Settings: Rendered using various steps and CFG values, Euler a for the sampler, no manual VAE override (default VAE), and no refiner model. All images were generated at 1024*1024. This is using the 1.0 version of SDXL. Summary: Subjectively, 50-200 steps look best, with higher step counts generally adding more detail. A CFG of 7-10 is generally best, as going over will tend to overbake, as we've seen in earlier SD models. Prompting and the refiner model aside, it seems like the fundamental settings you're used to using will probably still hold true for SDXL. Granted, prompting is a bit easier for photorealistic outputs now, and the refiner model might allow you to use fewer steps for the initial generation with the base model.

Origami EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

What is your favorite traditional origami model?

Mine is probably the crane or the jumping frog at this point, but I'm probably overlooking a ton of other cool traditional models. Anyone else have any they like to fold?

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Essentially Vaporwave

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) Since I was revisiting some of my attempts to use AI in my work, here's perhaps my very first attempt at combining vaporware with text-to-image generation. It's super messy and not really all that spectacular, but it's pretty cool to think that we've come this far in only two years. I mean, this (VQGAN+CLIP) was already impressive back in 2021, and it looks absolutely weird and incoherent next to even the first official public release of Stable Diffusion (from August 2022). This piece is one of those that I tend to ignore in my portfolio, as it's not all that great on its own, bit in with context, it helps to highlight the march of technological progress and changes to how I approach art in general.

New Communities EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Origami - Folds of the past and present.

normalcity.life

!origami@normalcity.life https://normalcity.life/c/origami A community about origami, on Lemmy. From what I can tell, this is the very first community of its kind on Lemmy; a bit surprising, if you ask me. I've been getting more into trying to fold my own origami designs, and I run the instance where this community is hosted. I guess you could say my stake in the community is two-fold, but I wish to build a community that's more than paper-thin. If you like creating origami or want to learn more about it, please stop by. I'll probably release the first of my freely-licensed designs here, assuming I can create anything that isn't an eyesore. It would be cool if others did the same, but a place to share knowledge and cool folds is the real end goal. So, that's really it: origami, but on Lemmy.

Origami EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Oversimplified Orca

This was one of my first attempts at using a repeating base pattern to create a more complex model. In other words, I basically folded a bird base in four smaller sections of the paper, which left me with several little subsections that I could fold in a way that added a more sculpted look. Since I was coincidentally using black and white paper and realized that I could fold the rear portion to look like a tail, I decided to try to fold a very oversimplified Orca. It has no dorsal fin, no anatomically-accurate underbelly, and little in the way of intrigue. Still, this is essentially my second design, and I think it's an interesting concept. I'm still not super happy with it, so I think I'll scrap it until I can create something better. Still, it's fun to share photos of folds like this, even when they aren't perfect.

Origami EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

ORIPA - CAD for Origami

github.com

ORIPA is the closest thing we have to CAD for origami. It's based on Java, although it does have binary builds for several major platforms. I couldn't get the Windows build to work, so I installed the OpenJDK and used the .jar file. The program is essentially based on editing a crease pattern, allowing you to visualize the final model in 3D. One of the killer features is that you can export the 3D view as a mesh, which means you could potentially edit it for 3D printing or create nice renders of your origami designs in Blender. It has many fold options available and should accommodate various origami styles. I think one of the more promising ways to use this is to use it in tandem with a physical prototype for designing origami, as this gives you a clean template when you arrive at a design that you like. Some people have also mentioned that they design origami in this program before they ever fold it, which seems fairly difficult to me. Still, it's the closest thing I've found to a CAD program for origami, and it has a lot of features that make it genuinely useful. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it is a true little open-source gem that I imagine is easily overlooked for people new to origami.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Abandoned

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) ~~I believe I posted the revised version of this piece a while ago, but this is the original version.~~ I checked, and it doesn't look like I directly posted this anywhere. There's another version I made using img2img with my dreambooth model that is marginally better. I'm always trying to combine ideas in new ways, and this one was more of a visual metaphor of how the appreciated aesthetics of vaporwave have changed over time. It feels like the indie photobased charm has largely gone away, save for a few places like our Reddit counterpart, r/vaporwaveart. The larger subreddit, r/vaporwaveaesthetics, has an affinity for glossy renders that are often a bit too clean and polished for my taste. I appreciate it when people try new things, and aren't afraid to stick with an art style they like, even if it isn't the most popular thing in the world. Still, vaporware has been around for long enough now that the true beginnings of our visual aesthetics are essentially long forgotten.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

The Entry

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) Similar to [The Gaze](https://normalcity.life/post/68529), this is a parody of Caleb Worcester's once-steadfast affinity with his formulaic art style that was designed to maximize revenue. Somewhat ironically, it seems that this art style is driving some traffic to this community here on Lemmy. I'm not saying I hate this art style, but I do think it's funny that even the first major public release of Stable Diffusion could nail it without much trouble. I think it goes to show you how unoriginal Caleb's stuff used to be. Heck, I even made a post ages ago on Reddit detailing how he had even failed to properly credit people when he used their CC-BY 3D assets. From what I can tell, though, he's straightened up his act and is really starting to produce some unique stuff, all in Blender. In any case, this piece was one of a few initial tests I did with Stable Diffusion, even before the weights were made publicly available. I've since grown to love how it integrated tightly with my existing Photoshop workflow, and it's allowed me to amplify the kinds of public-domain-licensed artwork I'm able to create.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 75%

At Sunset

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) My goal is to share basically the entirety of my public-facing art portfolio; I think we might be close to the halfway mark. This is another experiment in minimalism from a few years ago; I believe this was from the summer of 2021. Nothing too crazy here, but I do revisit variations on the theme of flat colors and bold lines now and again.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Statue Garden

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) I believe this is my most recent piece (as of 7/13/23). A classic mismash of vaporware tropes into a basic composition.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 80%

HugeWave

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) A piece inspired by the cover of Tatsuro Yamashita's Big Wave album. A fairly low-effort thing I did ages ago to try and add a film effect on top of an image, which itself isn't all that amazing.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Stuff from the Other Angle

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) [Original Video](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q/file/oRgxBazR) *The Other Angle* was one of the first video art pieces I made.  I made a background from *The Other Angle*, a view-from-cockpit video, by translating this background around behind an image of a cockpit to make it look a bit like a flight simulator. You can see the full video in my portfolio, which is fully CC0. Obviously, the inspiration for this piece was from Hiroshi Nagai. He has a few paintings of planes passing over cities at dusk/dawn, and I thought it would be fun to try and do a first-person adaptation. Even on its own, though, I think the background is fairly eye-catching.  Here's the cockpit image I used for that video. It's stylized and tweaked but based on an actual image from Wikimedia Commons.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Internet Exploration

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) Not much to say about this one other than it was one of my only attempts to create depth and shading using gradients. Mostly, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Intelline

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) A bit of a sequel to [Friendless Friends](https://normalcity.life/post/14841). This is one of the few posts I've received significant attention from on r/fakealbumcovers. All of the images I used to create it are obviously in the public domain if you're familiar with my stuff, and the whole piece is as well. This one and everything else can be downloaded for free at the link above.

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Navigation

[Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) A piece from June of 2022. Loosely based on the album art of [Navigator](https://i.discogs.com/KUjc372h-f9pFDLyFWxiNtX6XA4pfJWgTYC-LZGKGlA/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:593/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTY4NzAz/ODktMTQ0NDMwNTM1/NC04NjEyLmpwZWc.jpeg) by Omega Tribe. From the pre-Stable Diffusion era of my AI-assisted work, where I was experimenting with stylizing photobashed images from Creative Commons. I used [this tool](https://github.com/bryandlee/animegan2-pytorch), although Stable Diffusion's img2img feature and ControlNet have arguably made it obsolete. It is pretty fast to run on CPU, though, which might make it a fun filter for people with more modest hardware. I made a few other pieces in this style outside of vaporware for art requests on r/drawforme, although any AI tool usage has been banned for some time there. The sheer irony of moderators dictating how people should be able to spend their own time to fulfill free requests is hard to state. I ended up creating r/generateforme (and now !generateforme@normalcity.life) for people who want to fulfill art requests without restrictions about using AI tools. Anyway, this era of my art is still one of my favorites. It was when I was starting to see some promise with AI tools, and it allowed me to hide some of my lazy photobashing behind layers of stylization. I still bounce between using AI and doing things totally from scratch, but a lot of my best art has come from mixing the two in roughly equal quantities. As always, this is public domain, like all of my work. My art portfolio link is linked above if you'd like to check out and download my stuff.

Vaporwave EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Listless

soundcloud.com

A short slushwave-ish thing using a generated sample (and some Freesound vocal samples).

Vaporwave Art EuphoricPenguin22 • Now • 100%

Cinco DRK

 Let me tell you a story about a company. A company that shined as bright as the sun... Taiyou. Taiyou made cars for the international market, much like the other Japanese car brands you know. Taiyou is romaji for "sun," which is reflected in their slogan, "Taiyou no shita, subete ga kita!" In English, that means "Everything under the sun has come!" Taiyou wished to expand its market share, presence, and reach. It wanted to produce cars that were versatile and could handle anything. Unfortunately for them, the end of Japan's bubble economy meant investment money dried up quickly. As they were pouring money into R&D for a new car model, they had little money to spend on keeping the base model Cinco relevant. The company shuttered in early 1994, just two years after it had launched the Cinco DRK. Taiyou Corporation was formed on the outskirts of Chiba, Japan, in 1988. The sole founder, Takahiro Nakamura, was a renowned car mechanic enthralled with the tuning culture there at the time. After receiving investment money from an anonymous angel investor, Takahiro promptly started on his first design, the Cinco. The car was to be an affordable five-door design with a modest engine and a modest price tag. Only 100 1989 model-year Cincos were ever produced. Each one was hand-built by Nakamura and his small team of technicians. They sold well for such a small company, which led to more investment and growth. By 1991, the company had tripled in size, now employing well over 100 people and narrowing its focus on budget-friendly rally cars for up-and-coming amateur teams. They still kept producing base model Cinco cars, but they became less relevant in the market as time went on. This was primarily because Nakamura, now CEO of Taiyou, bet the company on R&D for rally-focused models instead of the budget-friendly base model. Every model of Cinco produced from the model years 1989 to 1993 is virtually identical. No climate control, no radio or cassette player, no power windows, and no option for an automatic transmission. The company essentially made the cars as cheaply as they could, which meant utilizing overstock and discarded parts from other manufacturers, forgoing any creature comforts from the era, and essentially focusing on providing affordable transportation. Many experts think the lack of focus on cheaper cars, especially to differentiate smaller companies from large competitors already providing better features on similarly-priced models, led Taiyou and many other smaller companies to file for bankruptcy in the early 90s. In any case, the R&D team, led by Nakamura himself, set out in early 1991 to design a car for amateur rally teams with little money to spare. They intended to create a set of parts that could be affixed to a base-model Cinco by the end-users, which would effectively make the cheap city car into something usable for off-road terrain. In the end, though, they decided that it would be easier to market the car if it was assembled from the factory with the upgrades installed. They called it the Cinco DRK, or *Dynamic Rally Kit*. This "kit" of parts helped to increase the engine performance to 240 HP, added more robust suspension, and removed excess weight from the interior. They also had a *Race Day Ready* version, which included factory-installed roll cages, racing seats, additional air intakes, and RF equipment. It was also tuned to make slightly more horsepower, although the difference in power was offset by the added weight. The DRK was made available to international customers in late-1992 for USD $14,999, although import and shipping costs increased the cost significantly. The cracks in Taiyou's misaligned focus were beginning to show, as sales were slow and the company was sinking into debt. Investors pointed out their significant losses on the DRK, which led to its discontinuation only 10 months after its launch in August 1993. The collapse of the company followed quickly. Out of money and unable to attract new investment, the company laid off its entire workforce in November 1993 and filed for bankruptcy in the early part of 1994. The company was eventually liquidated, and the remaining stock of 1993 Cincos was consequently sold off. Penniless and humiliated, Nakamura sadly passed away in his Funabashi apartment in September 1995. The cause of death was determined to be a heart attack, partly due to Nakamura's drug and alcohol abuse and also likely due in part to issues with chronic stress. *In reality, none of this is true. There was no company named Taiyou; this was an attempt at writing some fiction to go along with this piece.* [Entire Art Portfolio](https://mega.nz/folder/8IpUWbTR#u4CPi8B33YBxvGpbZOge8Q) In all seriousness, though, this is another attempt by me to create something realistic using Stable Diffusion. It's still one of my favorite pieces and was inspired by my previous effort with [Love Taste.](https://normalcity.life/post/60294) I thought these pieces went well with some light historical fiction, although my writing chops probably aren't as good as I've convinced myself they are. It took several hours to make the base image for this one as well, although the graphic design was pretty easy to slap on. I was inspired by the cover art for [Splendor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUYpXDtiH_M), a Casiopea single. Like all my work, this one is licensed into the public domain via CC0. You can find it and my other work at the portfolio link above.