May Show Off Thread 2025 - Plant Portraits

[Stezza]

Always interesting and entertaining, your images!

thanks Dana 

Stezza, your latest two images fit the challenge nicely, especially that last one!

I love Both of them!

thanks Agent

[Agent0013]

I have a few questions to ask whomever can give me advice:
1. Who here has tried some of the newest free AI Image Generators?
2. How good are they, and which one do you think is the best, and not so difficult to use?
3. Is the one you use most completely free to use for unlimited image generation?
4. Is it one that you would recommend to me or any other member here at PFDLives?

I am doing some research before deciding which one I want to start using, and the answers to the above questions will give me a more trusted outlook for deciding.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide. 
Cheers!

[eblank99]

Agent, I don't use any AI image generator. I want to be creative by myself and not let machines do that for me.

[Stezza]

I can't help with that either..

 

[Llola Lane]

Only AI I use is https://dream.ai/create ... It's fast simple and easy to use.  But... I use it mostly for making my textures.  I've also tried CoPilot that comes with Windows11... There are a bunch of free ones if you search.  Most are free with limitations.  I use the Wombo almost every day... it seems to fit my needs.  I suppose it depends on what you want to do with AI?  Hope my 2cents helps... lol.  hugzzzzzzzzz

[Agent0013]

Thank all of you for your responses. I do like doing most of the work myself, also, buit my PC is old and just about ready to give out. I am trying to get all my files onto my old 1 TB External. It is a long and slow process, and I have to do a little along as I can. 

Most of what I do using AI is generate backdrops and wallpapers that I can put in my own artwork. There is one app I have that generates heightmaps I can use for textures. It works similar to AI but not by typing in a prompt. It makes 8K resolution images. It's called JSPlacement. I often take it into PD Howler 12 for editing and modifications, and to make high quality heightmap generated 3D models. I can also do that in Bryce 7.1 Pro, where the images can be used to make models by shaping a Terrain or Symmetrical Lattice in the Deep Terrain Editor of Bryce. It makes some great looking starships and cities. Sadly, those models don't export very well, and are hard to import into other apps for further editing, because they are very high polygon count models. The models made using PD Howler are also, but they do export better. My PC is not able to handle high poly importing for some reason, nor will it upload those models to an online resource. I need a better PC, but I am still not able to afford getting one. (Now where is that Boo Hoo Emogie?) LOL

[Llola Lane]

Got a little off topic so I'm gonna bring us back... Plant Portraits... here are a few more from my SecondLife CANDLEWORKS Art Exhibit... ENJOY!

[Agent0013]

Excellent additions Llola. It might be a bit morbid of me, but I like the graveyard one the best, because I first saw it today, which is Memorial Day! We honor those who fought and gave their lives for our country!

All of your recent images are well done! 

[Agent0013]

And now for my latest, which also fits the challenge theme. A longish description is provided here:

Floater Ivy and Faerie

On a distant world we humans have named Aeviaer, there are several different plants that go through a special cycle, and a diminutive species of humanoid creatures are their caretakers. In this image is one such plant, being guided by one of those creatures, in the pinnacle phase of its life cycle.

This plant is a type of Aeviaer's Ivy, which has been given the name of Floater Ivy, of which there are several breeds. In it's pinnacle phase it has developed a bubble skin which is filled with the lighter than air gas we know as Helium; which the plant extracts from the air itself, and fills the bubble with. At the right time, the plant releases itself from where it has been rooted to the ground, and it floats up into the air.

Now as you can see in this image, the Floater Ivy's guide looks like the legendary fantasy creature we humans call Faeries, and she does indeed possess what might be called magic, but in reality it is actually an energy field that she can manipulate with her mind, more or less telling it what she wants it to do. You can see a rainbow aura when her energy field is active, In this case, she is using that energy field to guide the Floater Ivy over land masses only; because if it floats over any body of water, and its bubble ruptures at that time, it will fall into the water and die. She wants it to fall on land instead, where it will soon sprout roots, and begin extracting nutrients from the soil. The old bubble skin soon dries up and falls away.

At this point the plant becomes multiples of its breed, as much as 200 or more! As they grow they also spread out over the area around the landing point, by using the plant's Ivy like tendency to cover the land area. This Ivy produces a special fruit that becomes the main food of the Faeries. At this time she attracts a mate, and she and he produce a number of offspring that matches the number of Ivy Floater Plants in the new Floater Ivy Colony. The males of the Faerie species does not grow wings, however the females do. Any Floater Ivy plant that gets a male Faerie is rendered unable to develop a Helium Bubble; and when the time comes for the pinnacle phase of the Floater Ivy plants, the male possessed plant will die and return its nutrient rich body to the land. Meanwhile the female possessed plants will release themselves from their roots and float into the air, at which time the female Faeries become the guides of their own Floater Ivy plants.

We humans came to this world as explorers, looking for habitable worlds that had no intelligent life. Aeviaer does have intelligent life in the form of these Faeries, and their existence is so beautiful, that we have decided to protect this world from those that would take it from the Faeries! The rule has been established between us and the Faeries that other intelligent beings may visit and study the life on their world, but may not take anything from it, nor occupy any area of it in a permanent way. As we have already shown, the Faeries have a powerful energy field they can manipulate with their minds, and will use it to protect their world, so invasion would fail, if an intelligent alien species were to try taking that world! The Faeries can even combine their energy fields, to form a powerful shield around the entire planet, that acts like an Electro Magnetic Pulse, of very high power, disabling all electronic devices aboard the invasion fleet ships, effectively disabling their ships.

We humans helped set up an early warning system for the Faeries, in the form of a vast trillion unit cloud of detection probes. Any large fleet of ships entering their star system will be detected long before they reach the planet of Aeviaer! At that time the Faeries will go to protection status, working to prevent any landings.

These Faeries are only 7 inches tall, and yet they have abilites never found elsewhere in the known universe. Those abilities make them one of the most powerful beings known, so we are warning all other intelligent species that it would be unwise to try taking the planet Aeviaer!

Report written and recorded by Captain L. Cleveland Major XIII, of the Starship Wayfarer registry # EX-132639.

Credits:
Faerie - G2F Giselle 6 Renamed Canape` Dream Bringer, Stacia 6 textures.
Desire V4 Hair, Red Hair textures.
Fairylicious Skirt, & Fairylicious String, default textures.
Fairy Wings Deluxe, Default textures, except the antennae end lights, textured using one of my Amberlight 2 images.
FMEE Sky Sphere HDRI, all lights enabled.
Ivy Float Group - Moon Gate Ivy 1 x2, & Moon Gate Ivy 2 x2.
Helium Bubble - DAZ Studio Primitive Sphere, DAZ Studio Glass Shader - Refractive Index = 2.45.
Extra Lights - 1 Distant Light, slightly yellow, shadows enabled; 1 Linear Point Light, tinted green, shadows enabled.
Camera 1 - set to perspective view, to preserve the render angles and distances.
Rendered using DAZ Studio's 3Delight Render Engine, Render time 3h:26m:34s.

PD Howler 12 was used for postwork, to adjust color, saturation, and to slightly darken the image. I also added Nova glows to each of the antenna end lights, and the interior bubble green light. I used the Rainbow Lens Flare to add three different sizes of circular rainbow effects, to make the aura of the Faerie.

No AI generated images were used in this image.

[Llola Lane]

Excellent additions Llola. It might be a bit morbid of me, but I like the graveyard one the best, because I first saw it today, which is Memorial Day! We honor those who fought and gave their lives for our country!

All of your recent images are well done! 

Thanks Agent... never thought of it for Memorial Day since it is a Mexican inspired cemetery for Día de Muertos.  I'm glad you like it :)