PP Enhanced (Portraits Portraits Everywhere Overhaul - WiP)
Shipwreck_Jones
Member Posts: 1
Wut Iz?
I really liked the idea of the PPE (mod that gave portraits to every character with a speaking role in BG 1 & 2), but found the portraits rather disappointing. Now, to be clear, I have zero doubt that the mod took a tremendous amount of time and effort to put together, and certainly appreciate all the work that all the contributors put into it. I just want to see the mod improved, and this is my attempt to do so. As I see it, the PPE suffers from four main problems:
1. Portraits inconsistent with character models and/or personality
2. Inconsistent art quality
3. Inconsistent picture quality
4. Inconsistent art style
I aim to rectify this by creating new portraits using a combination of A.I. and photoshop. I've already created about 275 portraits, but will probably want to revisit the first 50 or so, as my quality standards kept going up as I worked.
Why am I posting now?
I'm reaching out to the community now for two reasons. First, I was wondering if anyone wanted to contribute. PPE has approximately 3,600 portraits in it, and figure it would take me about 4 years to finish if I did it all by myself. Naturally, I would welcome any help. Many hands make light work, and all that.
And since I was going to post anyway, I figured I would ask if anyone had any input. I'm thinking about switching A.I. image generators, and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I've been using Dream by Wombo, but have been experiencing errors sporadically over the past two weeks, which will temporarily bring progress to a standstill. On the plus side, the free version doesn't have any image generation limits, is easy to use, gives good results, and allows the use of reference images that influence output. However, it also doesn't allow any sort of masking (allowing you to preserve parts of an image you like), the interface is mildly annoying, and, as mentioned previously, it has been experiencing periods of downtime recently.
Of course, I'll hop on their discord to find out what I can about Dream, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for alternatives.
Requirements:
1. Relatively Free or Completely Free (in order to maximize potential contributors)
2. References Images OR Masking (in order to reduce the amount of work that needs to be done in an image editor.)
3. High Quality Final Product
4. Reasonable Image Generation Times
Nice to have:
1. Completely Free
2. Reference images AND Masking
3. Easy to setup and use (but I will make tutorial videos if I have to)
4. Offline (so we don't have to worry about changes to monetization, changes to image generation limits, changes to the program or models that we have no control over, and times of heavy usage)
5. Fast Image Generation Times
I was thinking about trying Stable Diffiusion, but saw how complicated it was and decided to ask around first. And, yes, there are plenty of articles about A.I. image generation, but a lot of them are either trying to sell you on something and/or written by A.I. Moreover, the landscape is changing rapidly. And, if you're wondering why I didn't do a bunch of research before starting such a large project, it's because the scope of the project gradually grew from me just wanting to make 6 custom portraits for a party for my own playthrough.
Thinking About Contributing?
You don't need any paid software, high end hardware, or specialized skills. I do highly recommend the use of a photo editor, as it will make life much easier. However, A.I. handles all the heavy lifting, and I will probably make some video tutorials in order to make getting into it as easy as possible. Thus, the only things you really need are some free time and a desire to help.
Coordination
I have already made a spreadsheet to keep track of my work. If people are actually interested in helping, I'll convert it to a Google Doc and create a Discord.
Image Comparisons
I have uploaded some before and after comparisons to this post. I am also providing a link to additional comparisons. Hopefully, they’ll help get people interested in helping.
And, yes, I’m aware that my images are in the wrong format. I will use a Photoshop Action to batch convert all the images at once.
I really liked the idea of the PPE (mod that gave portraits to every character with a speaking role in BG 1 & 2), but found the portraits rather disappointing. Now, to be clear, I have zero doubt that the mod took a tremendous amount of time and effort to put together, and certainly appreciate all the work that all the contributors put into it. I just want to see the mod improved, and this is my attempt to do so. As I see it, the PPE suffers from four main problems:
1. Portraits inconsistent with character models and/or personality
2. Inconsistent art quality
3. Inconsistent picture quality
4. Inconsistent art style
I aim to rectify this by creating new portraits using a combination of A.I. and photoshop. I've already created about 275 portraits, but will probably want to revisit the first 50 or so, as my quality standards kept going up as I worked.
Why am I posting now?
I'm reaching out to the community now for two reasons. First, I was wondering if anyone wanted to contribute. PPE has approximately 3,600 portraits in it, and figure it would take me about 4 years to finish if I did it all by myself. Naturally, I would welcome any help. Many hands make light work, and all that.
And since I was going to post anyway, I figured I would ask if anyone had any input. I'm thinking about switching A.I. image generators, and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I've been using Dream by Wombo, but have been experiencing errors sporadically over the past two weeks, which will temporarily bring progress to a standstill. On the plus side, the free version doesn't have any image generation limits, is easy to use, gives good results, and allows the use of reference images that influence output. However, it also doesn't allow any sort of masking (allowing you to preserve parts of an image you like), the interface is mildly annoying, and, as mentioned previously, it has been experiencing periods of downtime recently.
Of course, I'll hop on their discord to find out what I can about Dream, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for alternatives.
Requirements:
1. Relatively Free or Completely Free (in order to maximize potential contributors)
2. References Images OR Masking (in order to reduce the amount of work that needs to be done in an image editor.)
3. High Quality Final Product
4. Reasonable Image Generation Times
Nice to have:
1. Completely Free
2. Reference images AND Masking
3. Easy to setup and use (but I will make tutorial videos if I have to)
4. Offline (so we don't have to worry about changes to monetization, changes to image generation limits, changes to the program or models that we have no control over, and times of heavy usage)
5. Fast Image Generation Times
I was thinking about trying Stable Diffiusion, but saw how complicated it was and decided to ask around first. And, yes, there are plenty of articles about A.I. image generation, but a lot of them are either trying to sell you on something and/or written by A.I. Moreover, the landscape is changing rapidly. And, if you're wondering why I didn't do a bunch of research before starting such a large project, it's because the scope of the project gradually grew from me just wanting to make 6 custom portraits for a party for my own playthrough.
Thinking About Contributing?
You don't need any paid software, high end hardware, or specialized skills. I do highly recommend the use of a photo editor, as it will make life much easier. However, A.I. handles all the heavy lifting, and I will probably make some video tutorials in order to make getting into it as easy as possible. Thus, the only things you really need are some free time and a desire to help.
Coordination
I have already made a spreadsheet to keep track of my work. If people are actually interested in helping, I'll convert it to a Google Doc and create a Discord.
Image Comparisons
I have uploaded some before and after comparisons to this post. I am also providing a link to additional comparisons. Hopefully, they’ll help get people interested in helping.
And, yes, I’m aware that my images are in the wrong format. I will use a Photoshop Action to batch convert all the images at once.
0
Comments
Will you be doing both BG & BG2? Also could you do IWD:EE as well. Oh yes i don't think you need to do the main companions. I think at this point we all have our customized favorites, at least put an option in your installer to let us keep our own, that would be great. As soon as this project is done i will do a full run through BG-BG2-TOB, you got me really excited again!
This was a huge missed opportunity in PPE.
This was a huge missed opportunity in PPE.[/quote]
quite an excellent idea!