Let me explain the Illustrious series, currently the hottest model series. The first model in this series, "Illustrious-XL," is based on SDXL's kohaku-xl-beta5 with fine-tuning, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it has revolutionized anime-style image generation. In this article, we'll explore its features, strengths, and compare it with other models to understand the appeal of Illustrious-XL.
Basic Overview of Illustrious
Illustrious is a model specialized primarily in anime styles. In simple terms, it could be described as the "anime version of Flux.1." While conventional models often showed inconsistencies in character details (especially hands and feet), Illustrious has overcome these issues. The birth of this model has made anime-style image generation more precise and diverse.
Here are the key points to note:
Overwhelming Training Scale
Compared to previously mainstream AnimagineXL and its derivative models, Illustrious has a significantly larger training dataset, resulting in the ability to generate more diverse images.
Evolution in Character Depiction
The issues with hands, feet, and fingers that were frequently pointed out in conventional SDXL models have been greatly improved. The old days of "well, six fingers is fine" are over. Additionally, the expanded training scale has enabled various posing capabilities. This eliminates the need for repeated seed hunting or preparing multiple pose-specific LoRAs.
Perfection in Anime Specialization
While SDXL-based models generally excel at depicting landscapes and objects, they had weaknesses in detailed character depiction. However, Illustrious has overcome this, achieving overwhelming quality in anime-style images.
Differences from Other Models
Comparison with Animagine
Animagine has been popular among users for its ability to generate relatively stable images with simple prompts. Among conventional SDXL models, it had learned the most diverse characters and compositions, receiving high praise particularly for generating copyrighted characters. However, Illustrious surpasses it in scale and precision, significantly outperforming in detailed depiction. It has learned art styles, characters, and poses that were missing from Animagine's training, enabling more diverse image generation. As mentioned earlier, character inconsistencies have also become dramatically less frequent.
Comparison with T-ponynai3
T-ponynai3 was uniquely praised among SDXL models for its nearly perfect foot depiction. This was the result of extensive training data on human feet (perhaps due to the model creator being a foot enthusiast). In contrast, Illustrious has received extensive training not just on feet but on hands and the entire body, surpassing T-ponynai3 by achieving high quality across all aspects - feet, hands, and faces.
Comparison within SDXL
SDXL-based anime models were generally praised for their highly detailed backgrounds and props. Illustrious maintains this standard, generating at the same level as Animagine and Pony series.
Important Notes About Illustrious
LoRA Compatibility Issues
Like all SDXL-based models, Illustrious has low LoRA compatibility with other models. Just as Animagine-based LoRAs aren't compatible with Pony-based ones, Illustrious series requires its own dedicated LoRAs.
Prompt Design Tips
It basically supports the same prompting method as Animagine. Unlike Flux.1, natural language description isn't necessary. Quality tags work similarly - tags like Pony's "score_9" aren't needed, and it responds to tags like "masterpiece, best quality." Generally, any tags found on danbooru can be used.
The Future Brought by This Revolutionary Model
The emergence of Illustrious marks a revolution in the history of AI models generating anime-style images. While Flux.1 excelled at photorealistic image generation, it wasn't particularly strong with anime-style images. Therefore, Animagine and Pony were widely used for anime-style image generation, though these models had inherent consistency issues.
However, with Illustrious's arrival, users can now more easily enjoy generating high-quality anime-style images.
Particularly for users aiming for "high-quality image generation without inconsistencies" in anime styles, Illustrious is truly an ideal model. Its potential is limitless, and it will undoubtedly become beloved by more creators in the future.
Conclusion
Illustrious is a model that has brought revolution to anime-style image generation. There are already numerous derivative models available, so if you find one that interests you, please give Illustrious a try.
