fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) Thank you to everybody who submitted for the first round! It feels good to be back and was really great getting to read your first songs of the season, the results for which will be taking place tomorrow. But before that, let me introduce you to the second challenge of the season. For this round, we will be asking you to utilise the Midjourney AI to create an image that will form the foundation of your entry. This image will be intended as the single cover for your song, and we want the lyrics themselves to be linked to and be inspired by your generated image. The songs that we receive are always full of such interesting and beautiful usages of imagery, but sometimes it can be hard to picture, or what we have in our mind may not be the same thing that you had envisioned: I believe that this challenge could be a brilliant way for you all to creatively showcase the imagery of your song by using the AI to create a striking cover. This might sound a little convoluted at first and you might have questions about this so let me break it down a little and make it as straightforward as possible. Midjourney is simply an AI that creates art based on prompts that you input. The AI will create 4 examples from the prompt you input, and from there you can select which image you want to be further enhanced. Here is an example I made for some visual representation of how it works: The prompt that I decided to use for this example was “fountain and Aurora Hug”, because I wanted to see what the AI could create using the usernames of our judging panel! The first selection of images I received were these: This was a nice starting point and I was surprised that the AI managed to make them with a pretty vague prompt, so I decided to try out a more elaborate one to see if it could generate something I liked better, by inputting “a surging fountain and colourful Aurora embrace each other in a beautiful Hug” I received these images (you can also include art styles in your prompt to be even more specific, eg. realistic, cartoon, anime, minimalist etc) : I liked these creations better and in particular was interested in the bottom left picture. In this case, I wanted to see what else the AI could create using that image as its guide, so I clicked the “V3” button to see the variations that the AI would create for that image: The AI then generated these four different variations of the prior image I selected. I felt most drawn to the bottom right image this time, so I clicked the “U4” button to receive a final upscaled version of this image: And here the AI presented me with my final image for the prompt I input! Of course I could always go back and try another prompt or look at other different variations if I wasn’t happy with this image, but in this case I thought it worked out pretty well! additionally here are some other examples showing the different specific styles you can request from the AI: I hope that these examples are useful and that you can create something stunning from the AI! We are asking you to create your own image using the AI and to use that image as the inspiration behind the lyrics for your song. Your song should capture the overall mood of your image and create any narrative spanning from the image that you wish. You can create ANY image of your liking using ANY prompt of your own creation, thus the possibilities for this challenge are endless. Get creative, make a beautiful image, and write a song that pairs with your created image! (We will NOT be judging your generated images themselves, but rather your lyrics and how they relate to your image and your interpretation of the challenge. The image itself will not be a part of our judgement, so don’t worry too much about specifically trying to visually impress. If you want to add any text to the image, for example your username and the title of the song, feel free to do so). Here is a specific explanation of how to use the Midjourney AI on Discord (it’s actually pretty simple and if I could figure it out with how technologically inept I am, then I’m sure anybody can): 1. Firstly if you don’t already have a Discord account, you’ll want to start by making one. It’s easy and free so just sign up. 2. Once you have your Discord account ready, go to the Midjourney site (https://midjourney.com/home/?callbackUrl=%2Fapp%2F) and click “Join the Beta”, this will send you an invite to the Midjourney Discord so that you can use the AI there 3. Once you’re in the Midjourney Discord server, you’ll see different rooms in the server along the side. You can pretty much ignore most of them as the ones we are interested in are the newcomer rooms titled “newbies-X” with the X being whatever number. 4. Click on any of these newbie rooms and you’ll start seeing the art that the AI has created for other people in the room. 5. To have the AI start creating your own art, you’ll want to type in /imagine into the chat box, it should then automatically ask you for your prompt which you can then type in afterwards. Once you press enter and send the prompt, the AI will start creating your art, which usually only takes about a minute. 6. When the AI has generated an image for your prompt you’ll see four different examples and then be presented with some options below in various buttons titled “U1”-“U4” and “V1”-“V4”. In this case, the U buttons are used for upscaling an image and the V buttons are used to create variations of an image. Midjourney offers 25 free image creations when you join, which should probably be enough for everybody, after which if you want to continue creating they’ll ask you to join Midjourney’s paid service. Obviously, ignore this! If you run out of your free uses then you can just make a new Discord account with a new email address and you’ll be able to continue using the AI there (I’ve tried this work around and it works hehe). You can also use this video as a quick guide too: https://youtu.be/PbsJiaiR580 If anybody is still unsure on how to use it, please just let us know and we’ll try and help you out! If anybody is unfamiliar with Discord and strictly doesn’t want to engage with the Midjourney AI, we will also accept entries that utilise images that are not of your own creation, or are created in alternative method (eg. if you wanted to draw, paint, or digitally design your own image instead). However, we definitely encourage you to instead try out the AI and create your own personalised image there as it is genuinely really fun, creative, and could provide some amazing and vivid inspiration. If you’re familiar with any alternative AIs then you can also use them to generate your image as opposed to specifically Midjourney. Judge’s Tips: This is a more abstract and creative challenge but don’t over complicate it, you can write about absolutely anything that you desire so just try and channel your feelings and inspiration into something that you want to write about at this moment. Try and incorporate the imagery from your AI picture into your song, as this will help make your writing really vivid. Using the art to help visualise the imagery and beauty of your lyrics will make for a really striking entry. You have free reign with the mood, concept, narrative, and theme of your entry this round. Get creative and evoke something unique that will leave an impression in our minds. Ultimately, you can use the AI as an extension of your writing that will show off the creativity, the beauty and the uniqueness of your lyrics. If you are struggling with creating an image, look at it more as something that will strengthen your entry and an opportunity to showcase your creativity, as opposed to something that is there to challenge you or hold you back, which is not our intention! If there are any questions about this challenge, if anything needs further explanation, and if anybody needs help using the Midjourney AI, please just tag us and we will respond asap! Entries are due via Google Form submission by Thursday, February 2nd 11:59PM eastern time @Legend E @Kylie Jenner @Julia Fox @worldwide angel @JonginBey @Hooker Barbie @XO_Life @Euterpe @Remmy @Element @Invisibility @Blue. @TruGemini @8thPrince @mxtthewdelrey @beatinglikeadrum @EpicSongFan @JoeAg @DatChickDoe Edited January 28, 2023 by fountain
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 8 minutes ago, Legend E said: LOVE THIS OMG probably our most creative challenge for GH so far, whew!
Julia Fox Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 okay but i already sent my song @Aurora Ty for your review! I’m glad you liked it and I’m glad to show you a new side of my songwriting
JonginBey Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 For some reason, my brain is not computing what we’re being asked to do
Hug Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 4 minutes ago, JonginBey said: For some reason, my brain is not computing what we’re being asked to do Just use an image-generating AI (Midjourney is the name of the encouraged one) to generate an image that you will use to inspire your lyrics. It's effectively a free round
JonginBey Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 6 minutes ago, Hug said: Just use an image-generating AI (Midjourney is the name of the encouraged one) to generate an image that you will use to inspire your lyrics. It's effectively a free round Makes more sense. Thank you!
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 11 minutes ago, JonginBey said: For some reason, my brain is not computing what we’re being asked to do Like Hug said we want you to use the AI to create an image that will serve as the inspiration for your song. There’s a guide to using the Midjourney AI in the challenge post, as well as examples of how it works, and a video too. Some ideas for how you could fulfil the challenge are, for example, creating an image of a person that you’d like to write a song about, or creating an image of something that showcases the imagery you’d like to use in your song. You can create anything you want, and thus can write about anything you want.
Euterpe Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 Looks like I’ll be doing something related to colors. That’s my go to when writing and looking at images.
Julia Fox Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 BET red carpet walking style vintage shirt that showed your chest with hair black hat that you touch everytime you look through a man with your eyes as blue as your so called yacht above the sea of the fishes you promised them they were the ones
Aurora Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 Whew, time for Round 2 already? We hope you really get creative with this one. It's a big ask, and very different for Golden Hit, but we know it's going to inspire some of the best pieces of writing ATRL has ever seen. Don't prove us wrong! 12 hours ago, Aurora said: 👁️ Golden Hi(n)t(s) 👀 🗣️⚔️ 💃✅ 👻🤍 🚫💡 💤🚶 🌃🌏 📥🌑 💵👶 🫵🚮 🥶🧊 ⬆️⏰ 1️⃣👫 💎💃 📤💔 Bumping these for the new page. These are my hints as to my personal (not overall) rankings for your R1 submissions. To crack this code, you might want to turn the volume up to the Max...
Aurora Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 3 minutes ago, Julia Fox said: BET red carpet walking style vintage shirt that showed your chest with hair black hat that you touch everytime you look through a man with your eyes as blue as your so called yacht above the sea of the fishes you promised them they were the ones Not you already being done(?), what kind of serve. I'm already intrigued as to the vibe of your song by this artwork... the challenge IS working as intended, yes! If you still have access to it, you should upscale the bottom right one! That's my favourite.
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 4 minutes ago, Julia Fox said: BET red carpet walking style vintage shirt that showed your chest with hair black hat that you touch everytime you look through a man with your eyes as blue as your so called yacht above the sea of the fishes you promised them they were the ones The top left is my fave are you going to narrow it down to just one or keep it like this? That could be an interesting artistésque choice too
Invisibility Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 27 minutes ago, Aurora said: Whew, time for Round 2 already? We hope you really get creative with this one. It's a big ask, and very different for Golden Hit, but we know it's going to inspire some of the best pieces of writing ATRL has ever seen. Don't prove us wrong! Bumping these for the new page. These are my hints as to my personal (not overall) rankings for your R1 submissions. To crack this code, you might want to turn the volume up to the Max... Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Omg I got 4th I think Shaking crying throwing up if true
worldwide angel Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 does our prompt have to be the title?
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 1 minute ago, worldwide angel said: does our prompt have to be the title? Nope, it can be anything you like
worldwide angel Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 Just now, fountain said: Nope, it can be anything you like perfect
Julia Fox Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 1 hour ago, fountain said: The top left is my fave are you going to narrow it down to just one or keep it like this? That could be an interesting artistésque choice too I will keep my entry as it is since it came very free and I actually love it tbh i think the lyric preview doesn’t say that much of the overall song tbh so you better be ready for the unexpected
Julia Fox Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Aurora said: Whew, time for Round 2 already? We hope you really get creative with this one. It's a big ask, and very different for Golden Hit, but we know it's going to inspire some of the best pieces of writing ATRL has ever seen. Don't prove us wrong! Bumping these for the new page. These are my hints as to my personal (not overall) rankings for your R1 submissions. To crack this code, you might want to turn the volume up to the Max... The way I don’t know if I’m 2, 6, 7, 9, 13 or 14 Edited January 28, 2023 by Julia Fox
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 22 minutes ago, Julia Fox said: I will keep my entry as it is since it came very free and I actually love it tbh i think the lyric preview doesn’t say that much of the overall song tbh so you better be ready for the unexpected I like it too, I see it this way as like multiple different interpretations/perspectives of the man throughout his life
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 Working through the rest of my reviews at the moment!
Julia Fox Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 3 minutes ago, fountain said: I like it too, I see it this way as like multiple different interpretations/perspectives of the man throughout his life okay that’s interesting because the song has nothing to do with that lol I mean I like that because the song meaning can be very open but I think when you have the overall song you’ll get it better and I hope you like what’s about since it’s not a very deep meaning to start with
fountain Posted January 28, 2023 Author Posted January 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, Julia Fox said: okay that’s interesting because the song has nothing to do with that lol I mean I like that because the song meaning can be very open but I think when you have the overall song you’ll get it better and I hope you like what’s about since it’s not a very deep meaning to start with Oop yeah I’ll probably get a better understanding once I’ve read the song hehe, but I like the look and sound of it so far
Aurora Posted January 28, 2023 Posted January 28, 2023 I love this challenge, and felt inspired to try out Midjourney too since I'm a novice when it comes to the AI takeover... after about a dozen attempts I managed to generate something I was pretty happy with, and fit the Renaissance-era artwork vibe I was going for: I used the prompt “beautiful lady in evening gown with golden sequins, golden ratio, fibonacci sequence, renaissance style painting” to generate the following series of images: I felt the most drawn to the bottom right, and after a myriad of variation and upscaling attempts, landed on the following image: After I was happy with the base image, I opened it up in Photoshop and digitally expanded it a little on the leftmost side, adding a jewel case template and text to make my newest CD single cover for “Fibonacci Sequins”, coming SOON™️: What I've learned from this experience: AIs still struggle to make decent looking humans... specifically hands. I had some scary, Everything Everywhere All at Once looking **** in some generations. Even the version I landed on that I liked looks a bit witchy. Perhaps I can use this for songwriting inspiration? That said, this was still very fun, and I would definitely recommend giving the AI generation portion of the challenge a go!
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