Adventures in Chat GPT - Success or Fail?

I knew beforehand that Chat GPT is prone to errors - heck, it says so right on the screen you use to upload and edit your photos "Chat GPT can make mistakes." So, why bother using it? Welll, depending on what you ask for, and how many times you edit your photo, the errors may be something unique and interesting.

Take this image I did back in 2017. Nice enough, typical toys-on-table top setup with Godzilla added in using Photoshop. Nothing special. The photo was entered into the Chat GPT screen with the only edit being, "add a background'. The image turned out pretty decent and so far I'm loving the backgrounds Chat GPT generates (more on that subject to come). You can still tell that Godzilla was a cut-and-paste affair, but hey, these are toys and the original photo was nothing more than the product of a few minutes of idle time on the computer.

The second edit was a total surprise. The prompt was: "make it look like Godzilla is moving", thinking I would get a short movie-type file. Instead, several other things occurred:

-the position of Godzilla's legs are changed to imply that he's moving

-dust clouds appear around his leg and the vehicles also implying motion

-Godzilla's body is slightly adjusted to a different position within the photo

-the partial Jeep in the far right center has been replaced by a truck of unknown type

-and an entirely new armored vehicle of unknown type placed in the bottom left corner!

Fail or unexpected success? You tell me. I do like the second edit, but it's a little less 'me' and a bit more Chat GPT.

Ed

Original Photo

1st Chat GPT Edit

"add a background"

2nd Chat GPT Edit

"make Godzilla look like he's moving"

Forces of Valor (FOV) / Unimax Deep Dive: Pt 78 Set #93040 (2009) Battle Hardened Soldiers (UK 7th Armored Division) Pt 5 Pose 4

The fourth of fifth poses in FOV set #93040.

Ed

FOV British / UK Pose 4

Forces of Valor (FOV) / Unimax Deep Dive: Pt 77 Set #93040 (2009) Battle Hardened Soldiers (UK 7th Armored Division) Pt 4 Pose 3

Third of five poses in FOV set #93040.  I was thinking that I've got a couple of Formtech buildings that are appropriate for North Africa settings and as these FOV British figures are suitably attired for the North African campaign, that I should see what kind of setup I could cobble together.

Ed

FOV British / UK Pose 3

Forces of Valor (FOV) / Unimax Deep Dive: Pt 76 Set #93040 (2009) Battle Hardened Soldiers (UK 7th Armored Division) Pt 3 Pose 2

The second of five figures in set #93040.

Ed

FOV British / UK Pose 2

BREWERIANA: Menard's #279-4493 O-Scale Sprecher Brewery

Technically, this is not 'breweriana' - however, that's the name I gave to this on-going series of beer, wine, and spirits related collectibles so I'm sticking with it!

While the diminutive Plasticville and Marxville buildings were the staple of toy train layouts for many years, companies like Lionel, K-Line, and MTH did start making larger ones more suited to O-gauge layouts. However, they were rather bare bones, relatively plain, mostly unlighted, and not having a lot of details. Later, firms like Woodland Scenics and Menards would offer more detailed structures which were lighted and offered a ton of interesting details and of the two, Menards gave you more bang for the buck. They were made of cheaper materials which brought down the price, their lighting system didn't require expensive transformers, hubs, etc., and they feature gobs of details. All of this meant you could get large buildings in true O-scale for a relatively modest price comparatively.

When Menards came out with this Sprecher Brewery I had to get it for the layout. Sprecher is located in Milwaukee and as my layout was slowly becoming more Milwaukee-themed, it was a natural. The only issue I had personally was that Sprecher didn't come to Milwaukee until after I left in 1978. This was one brewery I never knew! Oh well, it's still a cool addition to the urban landscape of my Milwaukee North western layout. I never took measurements but the photo below shows how it fits in with the rest of the layout.

Ed

At the bottom middle, there is a socket to plug in the lighting transformer. However, if you don't want the cable and transformer showing, there is another lead under the building.

Stuffed just inside that opening is a dongle which allows you to plug in the transformer and hide the cable under the layout.