Thread by @GuyP

So maybe you're familiar with the weird world of DALL·E, but how much do you know about #Midjourney, the OTHER super-duper text-to-image AI?

Well, between you and me, it's gotten REALLY GOOD recently – here are some stunning examples that show why you should give it a whirl 👇🧵

DISCLAIMER: all images have been plucked from the stunning community gallery that Midjourney offers paid users - of which more in a bit!

PART ONE: SHE HAS THE *RANGE*

@Midjourney perhaps has a reputation for creating amazing but very AI-y images like these. Super awesome, but with the v3 model, MJ is capable of so much more...

🎞PHOTOGRAPHY
In theory #midjourney doesn't really 'do photographs': but that's not totally true. It DOES generate super-sharp convincing images that, if not quite 'normal photos', are definitely 'photo realistic.'

📸 PROMPTING PHOTOGRAPHY
And yep, just like #DALLE, MidJourney understands all kinds of photography prompts for gear and setup, like fish-eye lenses, Kodachrome film stock, Polaroids or long exposures.

🧑🏾‍🎨 2D ART
Onto illustrations! #MidJourney has the chops to deliver everything from vector-style graphics and watercolor paintings to ballpoint sketches, plus styles from a host of famous artists like Van Gogh.

🗿 IMAGINARY 3D STUFF
Can Midjourney build it? Yes she can! From dollhouses to actual houses, mocking up 3D work is just a prompt away with MJ.

🤪 SILLY STUFF
Who can resist some cheeky engagement-bait?
Jesus taking a selfie, with a GoPro, on a surfboard? Yep, it's all possible here.

PART TWO: NO RULES*, NO MASTERS! *OK, FEWER RULES.

Want to make content about illness, war, suffering, politics + heavy topics on DALL·E? (Or celebrities, for that matter?)

Right now, that's all BANNED. But on easy-going #Midjourney, only real 'adult' stuff is blocked. Go wild!

PART THREE: SHE'S GOT HER OWN VISION

Good stuff so far, but real talk: Midjourney will take liberties with your prompt if she wants. e.g, compared DALL·E (L), MJ (R) couldn't quite stick to the rules of pixel art...

When it comes to a prompt for 'outsider art', #DALLE was quick to adopt a classic scribbly look, whereas Midjourney is more like: 'how about an artist with a bit of formal training?'

Midjourney also has some go-to aesthetic crowdpleasers - yes, your image looks amazing, but be warned: she might be sending very similar images to everybody else!

OTOH: I tried prompting for some general images around work/offices/mental health and got usable results straight off the bat, that all look like they could go well together. No finickity prompt engineering required. Seriously impressive!

PART FOUR: PRAISE BE, IT'S LANDSCAPE + PORTRAIT!

Landscape / portrait images are only a prompt away! No more unfortunate cropping or prompt-consuming stitching: just sweet panoramas, cinematic widescreens, poster layouts & full-body portraits in an aspect ratio of your choice.

PART FIVE: USING MIDJOURNEY.

Somewhat at odds with the overall calibre of the tech, MJ exists only as a Discord bot. IMO, this is partly why people are sleeping on it – it's a bit confusing to the Discord-unfamiliar squares like me.

It's not even Slack!

Unlike #DALLE2, all generations are saved *automatically* (no more lost work, yay!) while everybody's pics+prompts are public + searchable by default, so you can browse images and prompts all day long - THIS IS SO FREAKING USEFUL.

💸 At $10/month for 100-160 images, vs #DALLE's $15 for 115-460, the pricing is hard to compare directly, but I expect comes out pretty similar? $30/month gets you unlimited (but eventually 'slowed down') use.
It's $50/month if you want to keep all your pics + prompts private.

IMO as a visual 'product' Midjourney is easily the most market-ready: you could easily imagine MJ tied into @Pitch or @Canva, or a poster-printing service: anywhere users want to create good-looking graphics fast (and most of 'em won't want to 'learn prompt engineering' first)

Wanna know more? Check out the full explainer on @Midjourney here:

dallery.gallery/midjourney-gui…

And for a weekly dive into the latest creative AI tools (and what they all ✨mean✨) sign up to my newsletter, PROMPT/RESPONSE: promptresponse.substack.com

If you've tried both, which do you prefer?