The landscape of today’s world is not a welcoming place; people who choose to pursue different styles of art are heckled and forced off platforms because of their choice. DeviantArt, Twitter, and Facebook. These are just a few sites that banned me for even daring to post; couple that with false DMCA strikes, and you have a hotbed for getting banned right off the platform. I got tired of trying to engage and putting money down for memberships only to be treated like trash, but more on that later.
Question #1: What is ProjektKawaii?
It’s a home for my projects, mainly Parallel Echo, a novel I am writing, and expanding my world through visuals.
Simply put, this is my safe haven to display my art without bias. It also doubles up as a portfolio for future projects and for control over what I can post without fear of being banned or deplatformed.
I also needed a place I could really flesh out my characters and worldbuilding through my blogs; I can’t do that anywhere else. I tried to do the social media thing, but people made me lose my will to share publicly. I know I should just ignore it, but it’s just so damn hard.
Question #2: What is your creative outlet, What do you use to make your world?
My characters are made with DAZ3D. I use Genesis 8 and more recently Genesis 9 figures, using Iray or Octane Render for that finished polish. Sometimes I bring it over to Blender; the Eevee render works nicely here for more stylized pieces, and I also use Octane Render here as well. But DAZ and Blender are only good for set pieces, not worldbuilding.
That’s where AI comes into play. Using AI models, I can get world locations and backgrounds/backdrops, which helps with the creative process. AI is also used for ideas and for help in my worldbuilding. I’m looking into making short films. My tools of choice are Adobe Photoshop for pictures, Adobe Premiere and After Effects for video, and AI for the rest. My process is very involved with AI woven into the process; a huge chunk of the work is manual, with AI only being there for touch-ups and polishing. How much AI is used depends on my mood for the day but never 100%.
But overall I am leaning into AI a lot more, trying to learn its system and staying ahead of the curve. I know AI isn’t everyone’s cup of tea; I get it. I don’t want to be harassed over it either.
Question #3: Who are your characters, Where did they come from?
To make a long story short, my characters are DAZ3D models using Genesis 8 and Genesis 9 figures. They start out that way; AI is used to convert their likeness into digital assets I can use in illustrations for more control. I lost a lot of work when my HDD broke. I am rebuilding and working on a new process with better backup techniques.