Something for the Weekend - Part 248 - What goes up...

[davescm]

Hi,

A big thank you to all who took part in our previous 'Finest Cut' challenge. Who would have thought that so many ideas could start with a pizza cutter.

This week we start outdoors. This is the Saltburn Cliff Lift which is a funicular railway on leading down to the promenade and pier, in Saltburn on the north east coast of England. Constructed in the 1880s, it has been updated several times, but is still powered by water. The tank underneath the upper car is filled with water and when it is heavier than the car at the bottom it descends and pulls the lower car up, all controlled by the brakeman in the wheelhouse. At the bottom the tank empties and the upper car is filled. The water is pumped back to the top.

So that is the scene - what can you do to bring it to life?

When you post your response can you add just a few words on how you went about it. It may help others see the potential of different approaches, software, and tools to such a challenge.

The “rules”:

• Use the starter image as at least part of your own image entry.
• Anything goes, as long as it meets the forum rules on decency, copyright, etc.
• Anyone, and everyone, is welcome to have a go, whether you are a complete beginner or a Photoshop expert. This is not just for our forum “regulars”.
• The challenge is not limited to Photoshop. Any Adobe software can be used. 
• There are no prizes apart from the chance to practice, show off your skills, or bring a bit of humor and fun. Don't be shy, join in and have a go!
• The starter image is made available for you to use in this forum challenge only.

To download the starter image, hover over the image and click on the circle with the arrows at the top right. Then, when the image opens in its own window, right click and choose “Save Image As/Save Target As” (or similar depending on your browser).

When posting back your image — please use the blue reply button in this first post and use the 'Insert Photos' icon at the top of the reply box. If posting a comment on someone else’s entry, then please use the grey reply button next to their image post.

Have fun!

Dave

[davescm]

I like it Trevor, it looks well worth the trip to see the view, hence the need for the extra cars.
I do forsee a slight technical problem keeping the water defrosted at the top though! 🙂
Dave

[AlanGilbertson]

After all, who doesn't love an alien invasion? Well, except the cow. She does seem a bit confused. The alien on the right is looking at the BBC natural history crew filming the event. (They may have been abducted, or gone joyriding in the alien transport. If you come across them, tell them Broadcasting House wants its cameras back.)

Techie bits: Removing the carriages involved using the Object Seletion tool on each engine and removing the selection around the tank and wheels, which seemed the quickest way to select them, then GenFilling with the prompt, "remove." (This is more effective than the regular Remove tool for some situations.) The extra bits on the tanks and the insectoid "aliens" are 3D models from the Substance 3D collection, processed through Stager and/or Substance 3D Viewer. After extending the canvas with the Crop tool, lots of Remove tool and GenFill to finish things up. Oh, and the "mother ship" is at 70% opacity to give it aerial perspective.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Are you sure the Beeb will want it's gear back if it means sifting through Alien poo?

Are these Aliens into HiFi?  It looks like they have the world's biggest tweeters on to of the funicular undercarriage.

And I have just noticed the Robot Wars weapons on the front of the funiculars.  Giant pincer on the left, and one of those grab devices that is carefully designed to almost, but never quite make it, in those fairground toy grabbing machines.

[AlanGilbertson]

Auntie B is notoriously stingy thrifty, so they probably won't be too picky. As for the "tweeters," those are probably fearsome sonic weapons from second-hand punk stores on Regulus V. They're all the rage in alien invader circles, so I'm told.

[davescm]

I can't wait to hear David Attenbrough's voice over for that one, Alan. 🙂
Thanks for including the steps you took to make it. It is always interesting to see different approaches to an image.
Dave

[Suzanne Mathia]

[Trevor.Dennis]

Reminds me of the Running With the Bulls that loonies do in Spain.  It's supposed to be the true origin of the secret to being chased by a bear... which everyone knows.  Of course, not everyone can out run a funicular rail car, and it is super easy to trip.

[davescm]

The health and safety team will have something to say on that one Suzanne! Of course, as one of the cars goes up and the other down, we are left guessing as to which competitor is in imminent danger. 🙂
Dave

[JR Boulay]

I saw the same ones near Kyiv.

[davescm]

Suitably recoloured cars, JR. 🙂
Dave

[JR Boulay]

Suitably recoloured cars, JR

The most difficult part was the terminal at the top.

[jane-e]

Ukraine!

Jane

[Trevor.Dennis]

This took two mninutes with Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash.  Apprently Firefly is now offering the Google model, which means we can use our Gen Creds (the Nano Banana image generator/editor is not free).  I am a long way from working it out, but YouTube is full of videos about it.  https://gemini.google.com/

[Trevor.Dennis]

I promise I am not going to rely on this Ai going forward, but for now, it is so much fun, and AFAICT no Generative Credits were involved.   Ged is going to have a wonderful time with his imagination.

[AlanGilbertson]

Gemini 2.5 Flash was free until 1 September (which is a holiday in the US). After that it will use GenAI credits, like Firefly Model 4 Ultra or the FLUX, GPT Image, and Imagen models. In the announcement on the Adobe blog Hannah Elsakr wrote, "For a limited time, Adobe Firefly will offer paid customers unlimited generations with Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. The offer is available through September 1 for Adobe Firefly and Creative Cloud Pro paid members — including up to 20 generations for new customers on Firefly's free plan."

[Trevor.Dennis]

Thanks Alan.  I only happened across it yesterday, and have been confused because Nano Banana has a payment plan, but Gemini 2.5 Flash was working at no cost for me.  I have only made three images with it so far. 

About a week ago I got a canvassing email from PanosFX and I was close to paying for its Cartoonizer.  I'd asked Dave Jane what they thought of the PanosFX tool, and then happened across Gemini 2.5 for the first time and realized it had made a lot of Photoshop add-ons irrelevant.  Perhaps that is not entirely true now you have confirmed that the Google tools are not free after all.  I'll check out your link.  BTW  It has been 1st September for the last 21 hours here. 🙂

[davescm]

It looks like a psychadelic album cover from the late 60s, Trevor. 🙂
Dave

[AlanGilbertson]

@davescm Yes! That's exactly what it looks like! I was trying to figure out what it was reminding me of, and that's it. Even the melty-smelty Dalí watch is part of that style.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Thjis is the prompt I used:

'Redo my original image in the style of Salvador Dali. Give the rail carriages long extended legs and drape a melting watch over the fence.'

I must try Gemini again to see if it wants some credits.  I'm not entirely sure what features are 'Standard' and what features use Premium Credits.  I still have a full quota of Premium credits that expire in four days time, so I really ought to have a play with them.

[AlanGilbertson]

You have a CC Pro subscription, so your 4,000 AI credits will renew each month.
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

[War Unicorn]

"Playthings"

[Trevor.Dennis]

Any Genesis fans here?  This one reminds me of this track from Wind and Wuthering.

[davescm]

I'm trying to decide is it a very large and monstrous cat, or a train set. I'm going with the former, James. 🙂
Dave

[Gord@APL]

Attempting to channel the Reverand Awdry...

[davescm]

Ah, they must be friends of Thomas then. I like the expressions. 🙂
Dave