Back Track

Figure 1. Tyhry and Tyna visit Erre market on Tar'tron.
Click on the image to see an enlarged view. Image generated by Whisk.

 As described in my previous blog post, I started experimenting with Whisk back in January. For this blog post (below) I returned to a scene that I first developed as a depiction of a market on the planet Tar'tron where aliens walk the streets and spaceships floating through the sky. 

Tyhry and Marda replicoids.

I slightly modified the Whisk-generated scene of the market setting from what was originally generated back in January so as to now include my fictional character Tyhry at the left side of the storyboard image (see Figure 1, above). I imagine that is a young Tyna (an analogue of Tyhry from the Asimov Reality) driving the hover car. 

The image shown to the left is from an alternate version of this scene where there are four passengers in the hover car and a less gaudy night sky. Tar'tron is close to the Galactic Core, so the sky should be filled with stars and nebulae.

Further down on this blog page are some short (8 seconds duration) videos that were all generated by Whisk Animate. Some of the videos for this science fiction scene (shown below) are set to play automatically, but others need to be started by clicking on the play button ( ➤ ). Only one of these videos has an added audio track 🎵.

Figure 2. An alternate market scene.

I crafted a text prompt for use with Whisk Animate, with the goal of converting the static image in Figure 1 into a short video: "A night time market scene with a large amount of activity as shoppers explore the stalls of the market along both sides of the street. A hover car moves down the street towards the camera while a large futuristic alien spaceship floats from right to left across the starry sky. 

Figure 3. A similar market scene (square).

 Some of the spaceship’s glowing lights slowly flicker off and on. The hover car is moving continuously from the start to the end of the video. There is  much movement and activity in the market. The humanoid alien merchants and the shoppers move through the market stalls along both sides of the street. Three robed figures walk quickly up the street in the far background. Two additional light-skinned robed figures near the stalls on the left are arguing and gesticulating. A ten-year-old girl drives the hover car as it moves along the street towards the camera on the right side of the street. The woman in the foreground smiles and waves to the driver of the hover car. The blond woman turns and waves towards the hover car and then she walks towards the hover car as it approaches. The girl in the hover car waves to the woman and shouts a greeting."

Figure 4. Tyhry to the right in a robe.

I asked Gemini to make a modified and improved version of my text prompt (above) and Gemini suggested: "Scene: A bustling, vibrant night market scene under a star-studded sky. The air is thick with the sounds of alien chatter and exotic spices. Stalls line both sides of a narrow street, glowing with colorful lights and filled with moving humanoid alien merchants and shoppers.

Tyhry's flashy jumpsuit.

 Action: A sleek, futuristic hover car, driven by a ten-year-old girl with bright, curious eyes, moves steadily down the street towards the camera, its headlights illuminating the lively scene. Simultaneously, a large alien spaceship, adorned with flickering, glowing lights, floats slowly from right to left across the starry sky above.

Market Activity: Alien merchants with iridescent skin and unusual appendages gesture and call out to shoppers. Light-skinned human figures, wearing simple robes, argue animatedly near the stalls on the left, their gestures sharp and emphatic. In the far background, three robed figures walk quickly up the street, their forms silhouetted against the market's lights.

Interaction: A blond woman in the foreground, wearing a flowing, brightly colored garment, smiles and waves warmly at the approaching hover car. She then turns and begins to walk towards it. The girl in the hover car smiles back, waving and shouting a friendly greeting.

Camera: A steady, forward-moving camera follows the hover car's approach, capturing the dynamic activity of the market and the majestic passage of the spaceship above."

The first Whisk Animate-generated video, above, used my text prompt for the static market scene and then used Gemini's text prompt (see above in red) for the video. The following video (below) was made by using the Gemini-generated text prompt for both the static image and then also for the video. In this second video, both Tyhry and some of the aliens seem very happy, even bouncy.

I liked the next video (below) as a stroll through the market with the camera pulling back to match the movement of the hover car. Tyhry walks while Tyna drives the hover car. Watch for the alien on the right hand side of the scene that has a strange arm.

Whisk Animate only once made doors for the hover car that open and swing out to the side like conventional car doors. In the next video (below) the doors had complex hinges that allowed them the be open in multiple positions, high and low.

The video (below) is another version of this market scene. Tyhry seems to signal to Tyna that she should move on, while Tyhry heads off down the street.

The next video (below) was amusing because it looks like one of the aliens is helping direct the hover car through the narrow streets. That alien seems to have a magic baton that is only visible part of the time. Maybe this is a HiTek™ device that uses nanites... exactly the kind of advanced technology that Tyhry is searching for.

The next video (below) shows the hover car's doors opening to the side. This is the only Whisk-generated video that had doors like this.

 I decided to take an image from close the the end of that hover car door opening video (above) and use it as a starting point for a new video. Sadly, Whisk Animate changed the door style.

For the video shown above, I can imagine that that is Marda and a Marda replicoid who get into the hover car. You can turn on the audio for this video.

In the next video (below) an alien gets into the hover car and does not even need an open door.

I then tried to make both Tyhry and an alien get into the hover car as passengers. As shown in the videos below, Whisk Animate found many ways to fail to get these new passengers into the hover car.

Another passenger fail by Whisk Animate (below).

Whisk Animate seemed to have a theory about one person getting into the hover car maybe forcing another person to pop out of the hover car.

Some of the Whisk Animate-generated images reminded me of a clown act... how many people can get into this hover car?

I was left wondering if this scene is simply too complicated for Whisk Animate. 

Next: Animating alien creatures.

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