Toolbox: Using AI tools to create comics, images and videos

In this month’s Toolbox, we are discussing how you can use AI tools to create comics, images and videos.

Buckle up, today, we ride.

AI Comic Factory

The first tool we are looking at is the AI Comic Factory. This is a simple little application that is available for download as well.

My journeys started at this ZDNet article which told me about the tool and how to get started

You simply need a story prompt, choose the panel layout, and hit generate. You can choose various comic styles and include captions as well.

You get a nice little comic story.

I came across two versions of this, one at the official website, AI Comic Factory Website, and one on the Hugging Face AI community platform.

The interesting thing is the Hugging Face has a place to add a style/character prompt for free.

The official AI Comic Factory has a premium option as well, which gives you more options.

So, I found a nice little story prompt about a lonely robot and created a little comic.

The first one I created was Batman and Catman, saving Gotham and developing a brief romance.

Check it out and see what you can come up with!

MainWP Man with Gemini (formerly Bard) and Canva

MainWP Man using Gemini (formerly Bard) + Canva

I wanted to create a very short comic with MainWP Guy. I don’t know if you all remember; we introduced him years and years ago in this article.

This time, I used Gemini to create the story and output the images. Personally, I was blown away that I could do all of that with Gemini. Gemini will actually output images with prompts.

I used the story we created years ago, let Gemini clean it up a bit, then I used it as a story prompt and Gemini created four images with the captions.

From there, I took the images to Canva where I found a template, and I dropped them in the template so they would all be on one page.

One thing, Gemini changed the name of the villain Slother to Sloth, so the image created a villain named Sloth that looked like a sloth.

Either way, it still worked.

ArtFlow for images and videos

A few weeks ago, I was interested in how I could create images using AI tools that includes my face.

My friend Joel created several images that he used on LinkedIn with his own face, in various modes, in various styles and it really got attention.

So, how could I do this?

The first option is Dall-E, especially if you have a ChatGPT Plus account. As of now, I do not have that, so I looked for another option.

I came across a video on YouTube that showed me how to do this using the ArtFlow app.

So, I gave it a whirl for free.

The first thing I had to do was to train a character (which is me). It asked me to upload 10 images.

From there, I used it to create images of myself in various settings and styles. I experimented with it as well.

The app creates several various styles as a default, including this one below.

Here are a couple more I created with me.

As you can see, there is a watermark since I am using the free account. If paid for premium, I can download without the watermark.

Now, with the ArtFlow app, you can also create a video with your own face or someone else.

So, I sat out to do that one as well. I created a video of me (with hair) dressed in a three-piece suit, joined by a lady, looking all James Bond-like, telling people about MainWP.

You can see it here.

AppFlow Video

Amazingly it let me download the video, but it has a Watermark. Pay for a premium plan and you can remove that from your videos.

There is a beta feature to create your own stories which I have yet to play with, but I may give it a go soon.

HeyGen to create videos.

AI-powered videos are intriguing. As you saw with ArtFlow, I was able to create a video there.

I also checked out HeyGen. According to the website, the use cases include Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Learning & Development, and Personalized Video.

How shall one use these types of videos? That is a great question, because if everyone starts using them, the novelty will wear off.

The voices are okay, but certainly not to the level of a professional voiceover. We must keep that in mind.

However, if you need to create a large quantity of videos for something and either don’t have access or the budget for professional actors and voice overs, this may help.

The pricing plans are modest and can help mitigate costs in this area.

Below is the short video I could make with the credits given for a free account. It isn’t bad, but not the same as a real person, in my opinion.

Wrapping it up

Should you use AI tools to create images and videos for your business? I can’t answer that for you. I think it has a place, but we have to be careful.

The quality of the avatars are not as good as a professional actor, actress or voice over.

It is possible to use your own voice with HeyGen and ArtFlow for their videos. The videos are pretty decent, but, as one person told me, come across as creepy.

Keep that in mind if you choose to use either. At this point, it is a novelty and could be something different.

I wouldn’t completely rely on those videos, but the better you get, they may have higher quality. After all, you have to train the avatar.

I am excited about the comic production from AI tools. I hope to experiment more with that in the future.

Have you experimented with AI for art and videos? What did you think? Let us know in the MainWP Users Facebook Group.