Welcome to this week’s edition of Architecture Insights. The first one of 2024.

There is no doubt that Midjourney is the leader in AI text-to-image generation, but it comes at a cost. This week we'll explore five similar, free options.

AI News for Architects & Designers

1. Microsoft Copilot releases on ios and Android phones. (Learn more)

Summary: The popular AI chatbot is now available on all phones and provides free access to the otherwise paid version of gpt-4.

2. Midjourney version 6 has improved the feature of adding custom text into images.

Summary: Perhaps you want AI to generate a few images of concepts for your firm’s new office building? With this new update including features like company names or symbols in the generated image has become more responsive and accurate.

Example prompt: “A one-story office building made of a timber exterior with the name “X architects & co.” written along the wall above the door.”

3. Google releases video AI named VideoPoet. (Learn more)

Summary: A big development in the AI space as we move to developing text and images into video.

5 Free Alternatives to Midjourney

We all know about Midjourney, but it requires a paid plan to access it.

As of the date of writing this, January 2024, the cheapest plan to use Midjourney goes for $10/month.

This led us to explore other free options that provide value for architects.

Below are 5 AI image generators that come with free versions.

Let’s try inputting the same prompt into each one and comparing the results.

Prompt: A modern home with a city skyline backdrop, a view looking outward from the home's interior.

DALL-E

A well known software already, DALL-E can be accessed for free through ChatGPT. You can also access it by signing in to your Microsoft account on Copilot or visiting bing.com/create.

It only offers 50 free credits in the first month and 15 every other month subsequently after.

The quality of the images is the closest you will find to Midjourney.

Rating: 8.5/10, images are high quality and users receive unlimited usage for free.

Nightcafe

Nightcafe is one of the most user-friendly platforms on this list. The quality and speed of the renders are great. It also offers an advanced prompt guide for beginners.

The database includes custom models from DALL-E to Stable diffusion. The downside is that it only offers 10 free credits a month.

Rating: 7/10, offers lots of custom models and styles but only creates one image at a time.

DreamStudio

DreamStudio provides users with high levels of control and another user-friendly interface. This includes the ability to manipulate image size, fine-tune prompt matching, adjust steps within the diffusion model, and determine the quantity of generated images.

It is an open source model meaning it has been trained by every single user who uses it. This creates the possibility of a range of different design styles when images are generated.

Rating: 7.5/10, the vast amount of customizability is great for trying of different rendering styles. The downside is that only 25 free credits are given and they don’t reload every month.

Canva (Magic Media)

When you upload an image, Canva ensures that the design matches precisely with its colors and subject. This is useful for architects when uploading images for reference and trying to get the most accurate results.

Rating: 8/10, high quality images and offers 50 free credits to start. Also integrates right into Canvas main interface.

RunwayML

Runway is the best at generating text or images into 3-5 second short videos. This is great for giving architectural renderings some life and there are more than enough seconds (credits) of free video generation to use.

Input your prompt the same way you always do or upload an image of your design and have Runway do the rest.

Rating: 8.5/10, this is the perfect tool if you want to transform renderings into short clips.

Resources & Tools

Check out the Make a Sheet ChatGPT plug-in to export information from ChatGPT into a csv. file to use in Excel or Google sheets. (Try here)

Special mention to Leonardo AI, it would have been number 6 on this list had we gone that far.

AI Image of the week

Thank you for reading this week’s issue, check past issues here. Share this newsletter with colleagues, friends, or anyone interested in the combined world of architecture and artificial intelligence.

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Until next Friday,

A.I.