Stable Diffusion Consistent Character Animation Technique - Tutorial

Tobias Fischer
3 Apr 202334:11

TLDRThe video tutorial demonstrates a technique for creating animations using stable diffusion, focusing on character development and animation. The creator shares their process of developing the technique, using scripts to aid in the animation creation, and provides a step-by-step guide on how to execute it. They discuss the use of a turntable Laura and open pose for consistent character generation, and how they modified and extended the technique for larger scale animation sprite sheets. The tutorial also covers the installation of necessary packages, workspace initialization, pose folder creation, reference image generation, and the iteration process for refining the animations. The creator emphasizes the importance of taking time to perfect the initial images to ensure smooth and coherent animations. The video concludes with the implementation of the final sprite sheet in a game engine.

Takeaways

  • 🎨 The video discusses a technique for creating animations using stable diffusion, specifically for character animations.
  • 🛠️ The presenter developed scripts to aid in the creation of animations, aiming to make them accessible to non-programmers.
  • ⏳ The process involves several hours of work, including refining and cleaning up the animations, with the possibility of further iterations for improvement.
  • 📚 The original idea was inspired by a technique shared on the stable diffusion subreddit, which was then modified and expanded upon.
  • 📂 The tutorial covers the importance of setting up a proper workspace and organizing files correctly for the animation process.
  • 🖼️ The creation of a reference image and turntable pose picture is crucial for establishing consistent character appearance in the animations.
  • 🎨 The presenter uses a combination of stable diffusion and manual editing in programs like MS Paint to refine the character details and poses.
  • 🔄 The process involves multiple iterations, including an initial generation of images, followed by iterations to improve coherency and polish the animations.
  • 🔧 The use of an interpolation technique is optional and can be used to smooth out the animation and create a loop.
  • 📊 The video provides detailed instructions on how to run various scripts and tools to generate, clean, interpolate, and compile the animations into a sprite sheet.
  • 🎮 The final step is implementing the sprite sheet in a game engine like Godot, with the presenter sharing the in-game result of the animation.

Q & A

  • What is the main technique discussed in the video?

    -The main technique discussed in the video is creating animations using stable diffusion, specifically focusing on character animations and generating animation sprite sheets.

  • How long did it take the creator to develop the techniques shown in the video?

    -The creator spent a few hours working on the techniques and developing them.

  • What is the purpose of the scripts created by the creator?

    -The scripts were created to assist in the creation of animations using stable diffusion, making the process more accessible to those without programming experience.

  • What was the inspiration behind the original technique used in the video?

    -The original idea for the technique came from a user on the stable diffusion subreddit who demonstrated a method using a turntable Laura and open pose to achieve consistent characters without a specific character embedding.

  • What are the necessary Python packages required for the project?

    -The necessary Python packages include opencv, numpy, and REM BG.

  • How does the creator ensure that the generated characters are consistent?

    -The creator uses a reference image and a turntable pose picture to ensure consistency in the generated characters. This helps to maintain the desired look throughout the animation.

  • What is the purpose of the 'control net' in the stable diffusion process?

    -The control net is used to guide the stable diffusion process, helping to maintain the desired pose and features of the character during the generation of images.

  • How does the creator refine the character's appearance?

    -The creator refines the character's appearance by using an image editing software like MS Paint to manually adjust and improve specific details, and then running the edited image back through the stable diffusion process for further refinement.

  • What is the significance of the 'interpolation' step in the animation creation process?

    -The interpolation step is used to create smooth transitions between frames in the animation. It generates intermediate frames, which help to achieve a more fluid and连贯的 animation.

  • How does the creator implement the animated sprite sheet in Godot?

    -The creator imports the generated sprite sheet into Godot and sets it up within the game engine to create an animated character that can be used in the game.

  • What is the final result of the process described in the video?

    -The final result is an animated character sprite sheet that can be implemented in a game, with the character performing a series of actions such as standing, walking, and potentially other animations depending on the development process.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Introduction to Animation Creation with Stable Diffusion

The speaker introduces their recent work on creating animations using stable diffusion, showcasing two distinct results: a character animation and an orc attack animation. They explain the process involved, which includes developing techniques and utilizing scripts to aid in the creation of animations. The speaker emphasizes the accessibility of their methods, even for those without programming experience, and provides a brief overview of the tools and resources needed for the tutorial.

05:01

📝 Setting Up the Workspace and Initial Iteration

The speaker guides the audience through the initial setup of the workspace, including the creation of folders and the use of specific scripts. They detail the process of installing necessary packages, setting up the environment, and preparing the workspace with poses and reference images. The speaker also discusses the use of stable diffusion to refine character appearance, including the use of control nets and the importance of iterating to achieve the desired look.

10:04

🖌️ Refining Character Poses and Details

In this section, the speaker focuses on refining the character poses and details using image editing software. They demonstrate how to adjust character features, such as the face and clothing, to achieve a more polished look. The speaker also explains how to use masks and broad strokes to guide the AI in creating the desired character orientation and pose, emphasizing the importance of taking time to perfect the initial image to inform the rest of the animation process.

15:05

🔄 Iterating and Improving the Animation Sequence

The speaker discusses the process of iterating over the animation sequence, starting with the initial pose and progressively refining each frame. They explain how to use weight painting and denoising strength to morph one pose into the next, maintaining character features and smooth transitions. The speaker also covers the use of settings to control the coherency and order of the animation frames, aiming to create a more cohesive and polished animation sequence.

20:10

🌐 Finalizing the Animation and Creating a Sprite Sheet

The speaker walks through the final steps of the animation process, including extracting and cleaning the animation frames. They explain the use of scripts to remove backgrounds and prepare the frames for interpolation. The speaker also discusses the optional step of interpolation to smooth out the animation and create a loop. Finally, they demonstrate how to compile the cleaned and interpolated frames into a sprite sheet, which is then implemented in a game engine for a final preview of the animation.

25:11

🎥 Conclusion and Future Improvements

The speaker concludes the tutorial by summarizing the process and the results achieved. They acknowledge that while the animation may have some rough edges, the effort put in has yielded a decent outcome. The speaker encourages viewers to spend more time refining their animations and exploring better interpolation methods for improved results. They end with a call to action for viewers to like, subscribe, and comment if they enjoyed the video, and promise to catch the audience in the next tutorial.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Stable Diffusion

Stable Diffusion is a term used in the context of machine learning and artificial intelligence, specifically referring to a model that generates images or animations from textual descriptions. In the video, it is the primary tool used to create character animations and is central to the creator's technique for producing the visual content.

💡Pathfinding

Pathfinding is the process of determining the optimal route or path from one point to another, often used in game development and animation. In the video, the creator mentions using pathfinding in their attempt to develop the character animation, indicating a methodical approach to creating the movement and actions within the animation.

💡Animation Sprite Sheets

Animation Sprite Sheets are collections of images or 'sprites' that represent the different frames of an animation. These are used in game development and animation to create the illusion of movement by rapidly cycling through the images. The video's main theme involves generating these sprite sheets using the Stable Diffusion model.

💡Open Pose

Open Pose is a technology that refers to a system for detecting and recognizing human poses in images or videos. In the context of the video, Open Pose is used to standardize the character's poses for the animation, ensuring consistency across the frames.

💡Control Net

Control Net is a term related to machine learning models, where a 'net' or network is trained to control certain aspects of the generated output. In the video, the creator discusses using a Control Net to guide the Stable Diffusion model in creating the desired character animations.

💡迭代 (Iteration)

迭代, or iteration in English, refers to the process of repeating a procedure with the aim of achieving a desired outcome through successive stages of refinement. In the video, the creator uses multiple iterations to improve the quality and coherency of the animations, adjusting settings and making manual corrections each time.

💡Interpolation

Interpolation is a mathematical method of estimating unknown values from known values. In animation, it is used to create smooth transitions between frames. The video discusses using interpolation to add more frames between existing ones, enhancing the smoothness and continuity of the animation.

💡Stable Diffusion Web UI

Stable Diffusion Web UI refers to the user interface of a web-based application that utilizes the Stable Diffusion model. This interface allows users to input text and generate images or animations directly in a web browser. The video creator uses this interface to demonstrate the animation creation process.

💡Python Scripts

Python Scripts are blocks of code written in the Python programming language. In the context of the video, the creator has developed a series of Python scripts to assist with automating parts of the animation creation process, such as extracting images and cleaning up backgrounds.

💡Character Embedding

Character Embedding typically refers to the representation of a character's attributes or features in a structured format that a machine learning model can understand. In the video, the creator discusses a technique that does not rely on a specific character embedding, allowing for more flexibility in the types of characters that can be generated.

💡Anaconda Environment

An Anaconda Environment is a tool used in software development, particularly in data science and machine learning, to manage dependencies and packages for Python projects. In the video, the creator mentions setting up an Anaconda Environment to run certain parts of the animation creation process, such as the interpolation.

Highlights

The speaker has been working on a technique for creating animations using stable diffusion.

Two different results were showcased: a character animation and an orc attacking animation.

The character animation was a pathfinding attempt, while the orc animation was tutorial-based.

The process involved creating scripts to aid in the animation creation, designed to be non-programmer friendly.

The original idea came from an XYZ disk post on the stable diffusion subreddit, which used a turntable Laura and open pose.

The technique was modified and extended to create larger scale Animation Sprite sheets.

GitHub repository mentioned with scripts and a readme on how to run them.

The process began with downloading the code and installing necessary Python packages like opencv, numpy, and REM BG.

An anaconda environment with Python 3.11 was used, requiring tensorflow and tensorflow hub installations.

A workspace was initialized with specific folders for poses and reference images.

The animation process included creating a turntable.png pose picture and a reference image for stable diffusion.

The generation process involved using a control net and open pose fp16 enabled on low vram.

The speaker iterated over the animation, refining poses and faces for better results.

Interpolation was used to create smoother animations by finding middle frames.

A sprite sheet was generated from the cleaned and extracted images.

The speaker implemented the sprite sheet in Godot, showing the animation in-game.

The tutorial aimed to guide users on creating their own animations, even with minimal programming experience.