Midjourney just dropped a bomb last night by releasing the ‘Remix’ Mode. This gives minute controls over your generations like never before. If you are thinking this is just another version of the ‘Version’ feature then sadly you are also in the group that I was just a while ago. The more I dived deep into the feature, the more mesmerized I got. Therefore, I just wanted to clear some confusions and at the same time share some of my findings with you all via this post.
How to Enable Remix Feature in Midjourney?
First things first. As this doesn’t add a straightforward button like remaster or can be accessed via adding prompts like —testp. —creative, —ar x:y or —version 3 etc, it has become quite confusing for many. But just like all other features of Midjourney, it;s actually pretty easy to enable once you know it. Just go to private chat with Midjourney bot or any server where the bot is added, type /settings and hit enter. A menu opens up with all your Midjourney image generation settings. There at the bottom lies the Remix mode. Just toggle it on to enable it. That’s it. Though it’s not gonna add any button or extra option to your generations. Instead, whenever you hit the ‘Variation’ button in any of your generations with the Remix mode enabled, it’s gonna open up a dialogue box to further edit your prompts and hit submit.
What Does Midjourney Look Like Without ‘Remix’?
So far we had only three options to dial our desired image via prompts in Midjourney.
- We go with Variations. With different style modes (e.g. v 3, testp, creative etc) and aspect ratios we get 1, 2 or 4 variation out of a single prompt. Then we generate variation of the version closest to our preference and keep repeating this until we get a suitable result. In this method we keep pushing the A.I. to a certain direction to get our desired result.
- If no Variation appeals to us then we do a reroll. In this way the A.I. runs the algorithm again and gives us a different set of images. Whereas in case of variations it generates based on the previous step, reroll makes a completely new generation while keeping everything intact until the previous step. If you do a reroll of the base prompt, it disregards your previous generations and creates absolutely different set of images.
- This is where the generations become even more unpredictable compared to the previous methods but also gives you much greater control. In this method you change the prompt by introducing, removing or changing words and directions within the prompt. But this doesn’t stay anchored to the previous image at all. In stead it generates a completely new image based on your newer prompt.
We generally try to get our desired result by combining all three methods and sometimes even do post processing in graphic editing software.
What does ‘Remix’ Mode do to Your Images in Midjourney?
Have you ever thought to yourself, this image looks perfect but I just need this in a different aspect ratio? Or, have you ever generated an image that you really like the style of how the image looks and wants to add different things and/or aspects to the image but cannot do so? Whenever you try to make changes by applying change to the prompt it generates something different altogether. Now ‘Remix’ has come to put an end to that problem. Now you can change your prompts, add, modify or delete certain parts of your prompts all while having the option to build up those around the image the that you really like. With the Remix mode on, whenever you press any ‘V’ button, instead of creating variations of the image, it open up a dialogue box. There you can modify the prompt to your preference for the fine tuning the image needs. In that manner the generated image is just a variation of the previous image but also modified by your prompts.
Usages of ‘Remix’ Mode I Have Explored So Far
- Changing Aspect Ratios : As we have already seen, aspect ratios play a huge role in our prompts. With the same prompt square mode, landscape mode and portrait mode aspect ratios give three completely different types of results. And we use this feature to create one type of images or the other. Have you ever faced such situation where you really like an image but think it would look much better in another aspect ratio. So, you rewrite the prompt and change the aspect ratio say from 2:3 to 3:2 and voila…wait, it’s a completely different image. Whenever you rewrite the prompt any way in Midjourney, it generates completely new results. Creating variations of an image but with a different aspect ratio has always been impossible. Then ‘Remix’ came along. Now you can just remix the prompt of the image you like and change the aspect ratio. Now it creates a variation with your desired aspect ratio making the A.I. generated arts much more predictable, human driven and your own.
A beautiful giant tree growing in the middle of an ancient vast Victorian library indoors. a magic portal is embedded in the library tree. Fantasy digital art, fantasy style art, fantasy hearthstone art style, fantasy game art by greg rutkowski, –ar 3:2 –testp
In this image the second image is a variation of the first by just changing the aspect ratio while the third image is a new roll of the same prompt just by changing the aspect ration. You can see how those two differ. BTW I got to learn this amazing prompt from Kris Kashtanova. She has an amazing Youtube Channel full of superb learning materials worthy of paying a visit.
little house surrounded by trees in fantasy world, diorama, tilt shift, miniature –testp –creative –ar 2:3
Here the remixed version retains the style of the initial 2:3 image and does an amazing job of creating 3:2 version of it. But when you roll the prompt independently, it creates completely different style altogether.
- Gender Swap : This is a fun feature of the Remix function that I played with. Here I created a female character for my personal project. I wanted to see if I could change the gender while keeping technically the same picture. I first changed the “woman” in prompt with “man” and that changed the facial textures little bit. Then remixed it further by changing it by “young boy, male man” to specify my intent on a male person more. And one more variation later it’s a boy.
https://i.mj.run/791200c6-d45c-4ddc-a6e1-5e8cc3f2c1e4/0_2.png a dystopian world, a woman seeks destruction, fantasy magic, closeup, realistic –ar 16:9 –iw 0.75
a dystopian world, a young boy, male man seeks destruction, fantasy magic, closeup, realistic –ar 16:9 –iw 0.75
dystopian world, a young boy, male man seeks destruction, fantasy magic in black robe, closeup, realistic –ar 16:9 –iw 0.75
- Building up an Image Step-by-step : By this method you can build up an image step by step instead of writing all the prompts in the beginning. For example, in this image my initial prompt was “a landscape”. Out of four I went with V4 as it had a mountain in it and remixed it with “a landscape with ocean and beach”. The V3 was nearest to what I wanted. And I also wanted an image with 3:2 ratios. So, I remixed it with “a landscape with ocean and beach with few humans –testp –creative –ar 3:2”. It was an artistic one but I wanted a more realistic one. Therefore, two more remixes later I was awarded with something pretty close to what I initially imagined. After few touchups and corrections in graphic designing software this image will be ready to go.
a landscape
a landscape with ocean and beach – Remix
a landscape with ocean and beach with few humans –testp –creative –ar 3:2 – Remix
a landscape with ocean and beach with few humans, photorealistic, like an original photograph, tilt shift, diorama, minimalistic –testp –creative –ar 3:2 – Remix
Situations Where ‘Remix’ Doesn’t Work in Midjourney
As I have seen changing the aspect ratio works best with images that contain several elements. In case of single subject images where the subject is in close up format, attempting to change the aspect ratio results in a distorted image.
https://i.mj.run/13bcf857-4d38-4ee3-9e0e-35db633873c5/0_1.png a dystopian world, a woman seeks destruction, fantasy magic, in the style of greg rutkwoski, realistic –ar 16:9 –iw 0.75
sugar skull 3D, hyperrealistic, isolated, floral skull –testp –creative –ar 3:2
As you can see all my attempts in that aspect failed. In another scenario I wanted to change the color of a deep blue skull to white but surprisingly it turned darker and then again brighter with slightly different style. But it didn’t give me what I wanted. These are the limitations at present. As it is still in beta stage, hopefully these can be resolved in future updates.
My final thoughts
With the way A.I. tech is advancing, I think we are still experiencing just the baby version of it. Every now and then new features are being released which changes the whole workflow manifold. The ‘Remix’ function might hold much more versatility than we can imagine and we might just be scratching the surface of it. Feel free to post your findings in the comments and help everyone grow together.
