I've seen so many discussions in the world of modeling and kit bashing, blogs, Reddit etc... about the use of artificial intelligence in our hobby.
I'm amazed at the fury against the use of AI; on Reddit, I even read that some people think AI users are "shit".
All this fury really makes me sad and weird, even if I I can imagine who's behind these comments. So this is my humble point of view; let me give you two very simple comparisons:
Samuel Morse patented his electric telegraph system in the United States in 1837, and postmen were very pissed off.
Antonio Meucci, just 17 years later, created the first working prototype, called the telettrophone, and I assure you, if blogs and forums had existed, all telegraphers would have gone wild against this new technology.
Some might argue, however, that these are communication tools that don't fall within the scope of artistic values.
Well, then, we can observe that until 1826, only painted reproductions of facts, panoramas, events, portraits, etc. existed, and that painting was considered one of the six main arts:
Architecture, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Poetry and Literature, and Dance.
When the first photographic image was taken in 1826, painters evidently stood as the sole defenders of the pure art of reproduction. Of course, because if reproducing a panorama required technical study and brushes, with the advent of photography, all you needed was a camera, a good angle, and the press of a button. Sacrilege!
The succession of frames in sequence then led to the birth of cinema, first with text underneath and in black and white, then in color with the original soundtrack. Today, cinema is indeed called the "Seventh Art." Not to mention photography.
Perhaps this example is closer to our world and way of seeing things.
But if that's not enough, let's get even closer.
15 years ago, when I modeled with Milliput and SuperSculpey, I could only make copies of my works by duplicating them with silicone rubber molds and epoxy resin.
Each time, I started from the wire core and added material. The first weeks of work were entirely dedicated to sculpting the base of the human figure. Always the same. Always same process and same rough base figure just with different pose, but not yet any added value. Then weeks to refine. Finally, weeks to produce the molds and replicate the figures. Molds that, at best, lasted a dozen copies and then were thrown away.
Luckily, e-Sculpting arrived, bless SculptGL. I saved a ton of time and material, and I was able to store my miniatures in the "new molds" (the STL format) without risking losing, ruining, or remaking them. I no longer had to start from the wire.
I feel sorry for those who sold Super Sculpey and wire, but the advent of e-sculpting changed my approach to this hobby.
And I wasn't angry with those who no longer sculpted with their hands but used a mouse! In fact, I had to roll up my sleeves and learn a new technique: less on the real piece and more on the virtual piece.
Then, nowaday, came AI: Meshy mainly.
The many hours (much less than working with Super Sculpey or Milliput, anyway) spent modeling STL files were reduced to just a few hours. You give it an image, and it returns an STL file that's 80% faithful to the original and error-free. The remaining 20% is modeling techniques with software to add, modify, correct, and make it more similar to the original. Still hours of work, but many, many fewer and of a different nature.
So what?! What is your problem with the AI? That now much more people can do that?
Dont you like the result? Well, believe me, I am not offended if you don't visit at all my creations.
After almost 18 years in this kind of hobby... where I don't sell, never sold, only given away for free.... I don't have to run after deliveries or customer worries... they don't tell me what to do but I do what I want, and I don't remake the same fucking Ironman 100 times to earn a few pennies by selling it secretly...
After 18 years of doing what I do solely because I love Marvel Comics and I love XCOM… and I love seeing over a thousand different characters all in the same scale (90mm scale, my scale...), which I assure you all lined up look amazing on my shelves…
...well, after going from clay to 3D printing…
...after doing practically every character from Marvel...
...I don't think I have anything to prove to anyone about using or not AI... so…: thank goodness Meshy AI exists, saving us a ton of time; Life is short, and I need to get to 3,000 Marvel figures!! Hurry!
And I'll always share everything for free... because what Marvel put on the market through Eaglemoss I bought as it should be, and what I would never have found on the market I built myself, and I'm happy to share it with those who don't know how to build it and can't buy it because it doesn't exist. For free.
Gentlemen, mates, this is the future; it is not the strongest species that survives, but the one most capable of adapting.
Skif
