3D print people figures

[Paul_in_Ricky]

Having played around with Meshy 6 I would be worried if I was trying to earn any money from paid downloads of figure files now eg on Cults. A simple screen grab put into Meshy 6 will effectively build an identical model

[Durley]

I agree Paul. I’ve just cancelled my Patreon subscription. 5 laser scanned figures for £7.70 a month with no influence over the subject suddenly looks like very poor value versus Meshy with the ability to create any figures you can imagine (as long as you don’t want a male sitting knees together of course!!!).

[philipy]

FWIW, having waited just over 24 hours, I tried Gemini again 30 minutes ago, picking up from where I got frozen out in the middle of a creation yesterday. It accepted 3 chat inputs today and then said again "Continue with Google AI Pro
You've reached your limit on 2.5 Pro until 28 Sept, 13:26. Try Google AI Pro for higher limits."
So it looks as though it is very limited unless you leave it a long time between attempts.

I've also come across what appears to be another inbuilt bias with no obvious way around it, similar to the leg spreading. I was trying to create a lady wearing the trad Welsh costume with the tall slightly tapered hat. Figure came out perfectly apart from the hat, which looked more like a battered tramps hat! It wasn't tall enough and the diameter increased towards the top, instead of tapering in, also it had a slightly curved brim rather than flat.

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That was where I got frozen out yesterday, so when I started again today, I started by asking if it knew what a Welsh ladies trad hat looked liked. It gave me a very long description and explanation and said that it is called a Welsh Hat. So next step was to say "Replace her hat with a Welsh Hat". Ok, it said and showed me exactly the same picture as before. So I said Remove her hat and got very nice picture of the lady with no hat... Then I got frozen out again!

Frustrating or what?!!

Out of interest I looked at Pro, you get one month free and then its 20 quid a month!

[Durley]

I don't know what the restrictions are on Gemini, but I still have access today!

I've created this image by starting with an image of a lady wearing a Welsh hat - any good Phil?

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[Durley]

Continuing to find new ways to amaze myself, I thought I'd try Meshy with some animals.

Here's my Irish Terrier Frazzle (usually to be seen terrorising passengers on my railway by chasing the trains around the garden).

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And here she is in Meshy 3D model form:

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[Paul_in_Ricky]

So it looks as though it is very limited unless you leave it a long time between attempts.

It's not a time issue, but a data issue.
There's only so much data the AI will process on a free account, also on paid accounts too.

If you were asking it to write computer programs, it would limit the length of question (and frustratingly sometimes the answer). Plus it also limits the total amount of data it will process, ceases and stops you from trying again for a period of time.
I assume something similar is going on with image creation/modification.

I think we just have to be grateful there's enough free access to allow us to complete our little projects. The amount of computing power needed for AI is pretty scary. They say that for every question answered a tree dies

[philipy]

Continuing to find new ways to amaze myself, I thought I'd try Meshy with some animals.

Here's my Irish Terrier Frazzle (usually to be seen terrorising passengers on my railway by chasing the trains around the garden).

Funnily enough, I did much the same a few days ago. Here is Luna our Cocker Spaniel on holiday back in April and also in Meshy form. She is often to be found terrorising ME, by finding new ways to get through the fence that is supposed to stop her getting on my railway!

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Interestingly, Meshy has turned her head to be 'fore and aft' instead of pointing slightly away from the camera, but has got confused by her harness.

[Durley]

Luna looks very sweet in both real and 3D model form Phil.

This article gives some estimates of power consumed by AI. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00616-z

It suggests generating 1000 images uses about 500 Whr of electricity. In the UK at current rates that would cost around 12p. By my estimates, that is about the same as running an electric radiator or a large electrical appliance (e.g. oven or washing machine) for half an hour, or driving about 2 miles in an electric car. So the cost/impact of this sort of use of AI is not negligible but, used in moderation, I feel we can have a reasonably free conscience.

[philipy]

Luna looks very sweet in both real and 3D model form Phil.

Thanks, she does turn heads wherever we go. Complete strangers will stop us whilst out walking to say how pretty she is and nobody believes us that she turned 13 a couple of months ago.
How old is your Frazzle? He looks quite young to me although I don't really know that breed.

This article gives some estimates of power consumed by AI. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00616-z

It suggests generating 1000 images uses about 500 Whr of electricity. In the UK at current rates that would cost around 12p. By my estimates, that is about the same as running an electric radiator or a large electrical appliance (e.g. oven or washing machine) for half an hour, or driving about 2 miles in an electric car. So the cost/impact of this sort of use of AI is not negligible but, used in moderation, I feel we can have a reasonably free conscience.

It isn't something that bothers me in this context, but then again, multiplied by however many million, I guess it might bother Mr Google!

[GAP]

Is the Gemini you are talking about just Google's AI bot or is it a specific AI model?

[philipy]

Is the Gemini you are talking about just Google's AI bot or is it a specific AI model?

Go to google.gemini and thats what we are talking about. It isn't the same as Google Assistant, if that's what you are asking?
https://gemini.google/assistant/?hl=en-GB

[Trevor Thompson]

I am absolutely amazed by what you have been achieving!

This is a much, much, better way of creating figures to populate our railways. I would say that it would be worth £20 for a subscription (for a limited time) to just create all the figures you are likely to need.

Particularly if like me you are after victorian figures. The lady in the Welsh hat is interesting - but from a practical perspective its not a dress that was worn on a regular basis - particularly by lets say quarry workers wives, who I want to sit in coaches and stand in cottage doorways.

I am still looking for appropriate photos - and there are not many victorian photos with working women in them!

Trevor

PS the printed dogs are very lifelike.

[philipy]

To avoid cluttering up with multiple posts:
Durley - thanks for the Welsh lady, thats an interesting way round doing it. Thanks.
Trevor - Yes I know it wasn't worn by working women, I just fancied it after seeing a picture of three of them in front of a cottage.

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Just to round off, I've just finished printing my first three figures from this system. The two seated are Gemini produced and then 3D-ified in Meshy. I had to file down the cap on the man because Gemini gave him one of those rounded US newsboy type things, and that is what you call a 'handlebar moustache!!. Other than that, the feathers on her hat are amazing, as are the laces on her shoes. I'm surprised that the system included them and even more surprised that Chitubox and my printer could cope with them!

The LH figure, standing, was cropped from a photo of three working men, but by then Gemini was being awkward so I simply imported the picture into Meshy instead and let it do the whole thing itself. It doesn't seem as crisp as the others and I'm not sure what it thinks he has hanging round his neck, but I'm not sure if that is because the original picture was not so good, even before I cropped it.

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[Durley]

Brilliant Phil. That moustache is particularly impressive! Having the ability to populate our railways with our own characters really opens up a whole new dimension to the hobby.

Hopefully I’ll be forgiven a slight deviation away from garden railways but I have just finished this is a 4mm/ft rendition of Alice Tubbs who was the crossing keeper at Durley Halt on the Bishops Waltham branch. I have a small EM shelf layout depicting Durley Halt in my study. ‘Layout’ may be a slightly grand description, it is basically a test track with some scenery added. This also explains my forum name.

Alice was an impressively devoted lady who worked as the crossing keeper from age 17, only retiring when the branch finally closed in the 1950s. There is a nice article about her here, I used the photos to create my mini Alice https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/200239 ... rley-halt/

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[Paul_in_Ricky]

I had to file down the cap on the man because Gemini gave him one of those rounded US newsboy type things

Doing a bit of research on old figures revealed that a lot of historic UK photos did show that style of rounded hats being worn. It may not seem correct, but maybe more so than many people would accept.

[Peter Butler]

Hopefully I’ll be forgiven a slight deviation away from garden railways but I have just finished this is a 4mm/ft rendition of Alice Tubbs who was the crossing keeper at Durley Halt on the Bishops Waltham branch.

Alice was an impressively devoted lady who worked as the crossing keeper from age 17, only retiring when the branch finally closed in the 1950s. There is a nice article about her here, I used the photos to create my mini Alice https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/200239 ... rley-halt/

IMG_5373.jpeg

Immediately forgiven... a wonderful real-life story and a very special tribute to her, and so many others, who dedicated their lives to the early railways.

[philipy]

That is superb. Back in my 4mm days, this sort technology wasn't available of course, and such realism wasn't even a dream.

[Trevor Thompson]

It just gets more amazing with every new post!

Trevor

I will eventually bite the bullet and have a go at using this technology.

[StuartJ]

I am still looking for appropriate photos - and there are not many victorian photos with working women in them!

Not working women, but does this help for Victorian passengers and staff/crew?

[Paul_in_Ricky]

Has anyone yet tried the option to rig their model and repose it in Blender yet ?