Recently, Teacher Xiaolai discussed the Disco Diffusion AI painting tool in his “Regular Investment Life Class”. This tool can convert text into images. This means that even if we don’t understand painting, we can use Disco Diffusion to let AI help us create the images we want.
Over the past few days, I finally had some free time to research it and looked up some tutorials. In fact, some video tutorials are very detailed, but many friends still feel that such an advanced tool is far from them and hesitate to try it out.
Of course, during the process of watching tutorials and practicing, I also encountered a small setback. Following some tutorials, I kept failing, and I paused for about a day or two. I told myself that I couldn’t just give up; I had to learn this painting tool.
Then I learned it, and when I looked back, I found that it was actually quite simple. You don’t need to know too many complicated steps, and even if you don’t understand English, you can easily grasp it.
This means that with just a few simple key settings, you can start your journey into AI painting.
Let’s get started
Preparations Before Starting: You need a Google account and a computer that can run Google Chrome.
(I think this might be a barrier for many friends, but this AI painting tool is developed by Google, so you understand. Of course, you can also try it on other browsers to see if it works.)
Step 1: Google Search for Disco Diffusion
1. Select the latest version Disco Diffusion v5.4 [Now with Warp] (if there are new versions, choose the latest), then click to enter.
2. After entering the main page, find the first item under [1.Set Up] and click to run it, as shown in the image below:
3. At this point, a warning will appear. Continue clicking [Run Anyway].
4. Click [OK].
5. When T4 appears, this step is set up. Otherwise, repeat the operation until T4 appears.
Step 2: Go to [3.Settings]
As shown in the image below, the “batch_name” is the name of the folder where the AI drawings are stored. To facilitate later identification and retrieval, you can set a name, such as “20220711”.
The “width_height_for_512×512_models” refers to the image’s “width and height” dimensions, which can be set according to the size of the image you need. Note that the image width and height must be multiples of 64.
Step 3: Scroll Down to Enter Prompt
As indicated in the image, Disco Diffusion can convert text into images, and the “text” here refers to the text placed here.
Note the following two points:
1. The edited text must be placed within [” “], otherwise, AI cannot recognize it.
2. This text must be in English. If you don’t understand English, it’s okay; just use a translation tool to translate it. I did it this way.
3. The text format is “describe the type of painting + content + style”. The more specific you are, the more accurate the drawing will be. When you first enter, the system will provide an example that you can follow.
Of course, you can write something like “mountains, water, sunrise + Monet style (Chinese style)” as well.
Step 4: Enter Diffuse!
Here, you only need to set one item, which is [n_batches], as shown in the image below. This refers to the number of drawings.
Note: The more drawings, the longer the drawing time.
Of course, you can let AI draw several at once and then choose the relatively better one. To save time, I usually let it draw two at most (this time I chose to draw one).
Step 5: Start Creating
Once all the above settings are done, click the [Run Code] — Select — [Run All]. The rest is just waiting (the first operation will take a bit longer).
Drawing Demonstration
Now, let’s take a random example and see what AI can draw. This sentence is inspired by the beginning of “Ordinary World”, and the image style is in the style of Zhang Daqian.
Then, translate it using Google Translate and copy and paste it into “Step 3”.
As shown in the image below:
When we first click [Run Code] — [Run All], the system will prompt to link to Google Drive; just click the link.
Continue to link your Google account.
Click to allow…
After a while, you will see the entire drawing process, as shown in the image below:
How to Find Saved Paintings?
1. Click the “folder” icon on the left, as shown in the image below (the folder we just named).
2. Click the “three dots” icon next to the image and choose [Download] to save the image to your local device.
The image below is the work created by AI in the style of Zhang Daqian based on the instructions given earlier.
In Summary
This is the entire simplified process of using Disco Diffusion for drawing. In this process, you don’t need to know what all those complex English words and symbols mean, nor do you need to understand English. You just need to set a few key steps and have a rough idea of what these settings mean, and you can start painting.
Alright, hurry up and give it a try…
Finally, I want to add that after using this AI painting tool, I realized that painters need not only basic skills but also imagination. For us, it means expressive ability; the clearer and more accurately you express, the better the computer can recognize it, and the more beautiful the painting will be (this shows how important writing is, haha).
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me through the methods below.
