Blockchain Projects
This is a post to update the Patrons and Sponsors of the ‘Moment Of Truth’ project, as well as the investors and those interested in the ‘Aimagining’ spinoff.
It may also interest those reading this in the future as to what formed the basis for the foundation for GAN artwork generations, how I conjoined differing grammatical cues for GAN generation, then how this promulgated investigations into cryptocurrency with its respective marketplaces for these creative artworks - nonfungible tokens or NFTs.
Undoubtedly, the hype needs to be diffused as this has already been a six-week project to date, likely ending in June 2022, with a sizable portfolio of quality illustrations for the ‘Moment Of Truth’ novel. Those who have invested are overdue this update.
Kickstarter
In short, I raised twenty (20) Patron package investments each contributing $56 AUD, which is AUD $1008.00. I also received three (3) Sponsor investments of AUD $500 which is AUD $1,500 AUD. In addition, I was very lucky to secure an investment of AUD $2,000 AUD from one (1) investor.
Note - This investor payment is counted as a partial expense item as the requirement is to pay this money back before the end of the 2022 tax year.
In sum total, my small Kickstarter campaign raised AUD $1008 + AUD $1,500 + AUD $2,000 = AUD $4,508 of which AUD $1,000 remains working capital. I am very grateful to everyone involved to make this art creation and novel writing project a reality.
Budget
My bank records show expenditure as follows;
GAN Creation - High-resolution VQGAN + CLIPS generations - sum total AUD $750 for the ‘Moment of Truth’ project and $750 AUD for the ‘Aimaging’ project producing approximately 9,000 GANS - Sum total AUD $1,500 (converted to = $1082 USD of which $1 USD = 1 GAN generation creation credit);
Generated Photos - Media promotion package - Two (2) month trial only - AUD $28.81 = Sum total AUD $57.62;
Artbreeder.com - Character creations for the ‘Moment of Truth’ novel - December 2021 till June 2022 at AUD $12.99 per month which is AUD $91 total - likely further generation of 200 medium quality GANs from this activity;
Murf.AI - Media promotion package - Two (2) month trial only - AUD $56.36 = Sum total AUD $112.72;
Officeworks - 2nd computer screen for production - capital asset - Sum total AUD $477;
Crypto.com - Purchase of Ethereum crypto-currency and Tezos and Doge coin for gas transactions and account verification expenses - ETH chain in Niftykit and Objkt.com - AUD $100 (72.50 USD);
CreateStudio - Software for animation creation - wrong software and was refunded - $67 USD or AUD $93.59;
Filmspring - Software for animation creation (once off) - AUD $53.00;
GetTerms - Website usage and privacy policy (once off) - AUD $70.66;
Artlist.io - Audio files for animation creation (once off) - $14.99 USD = AUD $21.72;
Techsmith - Camtasia 2021 for final film and animation creation (once off) - AUD $210.97
Moonpay - Purchase of Ethereum crypto currency - failed NiftyKit connection - AUD $126.55
Krop - Creative pro account - trial portfolio account $9.99 USD (twice ) - AUD $24.97
CRO SAINT JULIANS - Purchase of Ethereum crypto currency - Doge & Tezos- AUD $42.55
Squarespace - Aimagining site / Alexanderhayes.art sites - AUD $88
FastSpring - AI application ‘ArtsBreak’ app - AUD $56
Unstoppable Domains - Polygon - Seyahrednaxela.xyz - AUD $29.46
Google Domains - alexanderhayes.art and aimagining.com - AUD $36
Living Writer - six (6) months use for composition of story - AUD $90
NovelAI - six (6) months use for composition of story - AUD $95
Total Budget
AUD $ 1,500 + $56.72 + $91.00 + $112.72 + $477 + $100 + $93.59 + $53.00 + $70.66 + $21.71 + $210.97 + $126.55 + $24.97 + $42.55 + $88 + $56 + $29.46 + $36 + $90 + 95= TOTAL SERVICES & ASSETS SPEND - AUD $3,375.90
Reserves
I have a $500 cash reserve still on hand and account expenses of $100 a month for the next five months.
There are still 130 generation credits remaining on the main ‘Moment of Truth’ GAN account. I have pulled down only half of the 450 generated collections to date with about 1/3 of my statement still to generate which I estimate to be another 200 credits required on top of the existing 130.
There are 300 generations in total in the Aimaginings GAN account of which I still have 50% to pull down.
In essence, there is likely to be close to 900 generations of 10 images per generation so that’s a whopping 9,000 GAN artworks of which 40% are likely to be low grade, around 30% medium resolves yet a 30% super high-grade result is exceptional.
That is around 250 artworks of exceptional resolve … each high-level GAN is worth $250 USD floor price if sold.
Sundry
Over a three-month period, I have spent around $300 on coffee/meals and deposited money to various other expenses such as VueScan software for the scanner of which I am using to scan old photos which will be used in the novel.
Other expenses include additional trial apps through the Apple app store such as NightCafe AI, Starry AI, or WomboArt for credits to generate GANS using AI. These generations are my parallel investigative works and provide me solid market comparisons validating my choice in full generation using my primary provider.
Sale
On the 16th December, 2021 I heard that I had generated a sale of one (1) artwork for exactly AUD $500, of which I paid 50% in commission to the art dealer. This payment was managed by Jacinta Gascoigne on behalf of owner Jason Milazzi in Melbourne, Australia.
This sale effectively set the floor price for all GANs at that point being 0.1010 ETH or $492 USD trading dollars. Floor price is the lowest price for collection items, rather than the average item price, and is updated in real-time. Dutch auctions are not included in floor price calculations.
My take-home payment for this work was AUD $250 less gas fees and GST taxation. If this is the basis for core value then $250 AUD take home is a fair stake in this enterprise…. provided I can sell more and break even with returns for everyone.
Transfer
The artwork ‘My Original Statement 01’ was successfully transferred from the main OpenSea account containing the Moment of Truth works across to Patron, Paul Carstairs. This was my first ever GAN image created as well as the first-ever image minted in OpenSea.
This was a test of the capacity of the artist to transfer to a nominated digital wallet address that IFPS lodged resource as an NFT.
This was also a confirmation that the gas-free Polygon chain minting with OpenSea as the most viable option for lodging artworks. Gas fees were incurred while trying to remove or transfer work out of Rarible, convolutions of scale with Niftykit (plus unnecessary monthly fees) as well as issues with the manner in how the World Of V community operates as an NFT marketplace (despite their nice UI ).
This type of experience is costly as gas fees chew through hundreds of dollars in this ‘poke the bear’ investigative approach. I admit I’m flying blind in this area most of the time and Paul’s advice and help has been great in as to what not to do which has saved me further grief … hence his ownership of the first GAN created and minted in this project.
Screenshot: Whereby meeting regarding GANs on 13th December 2022.
Moment Of Truth Project
The project is well underway and I am processing and curating the artworks created before loading them to the project image repository. Visit the Moment of Truth project page which contains details for the entire process to date which I’ll happily explain over the phone.
Aimagining Project
This project has produced surprisingly beautiful results and will likely spin out to be another whole section and arm of the original Moment of Truth project. Visit the Aimagining project page which contains details for the entire consultative potential, which one day may prove feasible to pursue further.
