How to Create a Ton of Personal AI Avatars for Free or Cheap
In recent months you may have seen folks sharing their AI generated avatars which utilized AI to transform their likeness onto created images. I first learned how to do this by watching a Youtube video that walked you through how to setup a Google virtual machine, prepare your personal images and configure it to generate AI images. I was able to get through it and create some decent images but many of the image outputs were hit or miss. To create the images you use a text prompt to provide details to the AI about the type of image you want it to create. For example in the image below I modified the following text prompt I found to generate the image you see below it.
Dressed for dia de los muertos, looking at camera, absurdly highly detailed intricate digital fantasy medium shot illustration, masterpiece, highly detailed smooth professional makeup, beautiful eyes, in comic book style by artist frank miller
While it was fun to learn about the underlying technology of how these AI image generators work, it was challening and time consuming. It was a short time after I did this that many apps and websites began to start offering a simpler way to generate AI avatars.
I then stumbled on to AI Time Machine by MyHeritage. They offered a free and simple way to generate a batch of 160 AI avatars which included 8 versions using 20 of a possible 107 different themes. Some of the themes used for my AI avatars included a cowboy, Egyptian king and punk rocker. All I had to provide was 25 headshots. They give you tips on the types of headshots to use to help ensure good results. You can find more information on their blog post.
If you want to generate more images after the free batch MyHeritage offers the ability to create another 20 theme batch for $12. They also launched another service simply called Avatars which are themed based but not tied to specific time periods which I tried at a $5 introductory price and continued to get more results with generated images of my face onto a secret agent, Santa Claus and Tarzan just to name a few.
It’s pretty important to provide a good batch of images for the AI to use to generate your images. You want them to be clear solo shots of yourself with varied angles and expressions. Below are the 25 images I used to give you an idea of shots to use.
I will also note that I also tried the very popular Lensa app which spread like wildfire on social media. They offered a 50 avatar pack for $8. It also involved the same simple process but I didn’t find the images generated to be as good or varied as those generated with MyHeritage so I don’t recommend it as much.
I found the images generated by HyHeritage to be nothing short of amazing. The ability to create photorealistic images of me that don’t exist is uncanny. It’s a great way to test out how personal AI generated images work. I believe that My Heritage is still offering a free or reduced price service. You can check and get started by visiting their site here.
MyHeritage uses a third party AI service called Astria. This may be more technical and not as simple as MyHeritage but can be tested for as little as $5. You can visit their site directly to use their service here.
Originally published at https://krynsky.com on January 23, 2023.
