Midjourney has launched a new AI model called V7. It’s the company’s first new model in nearly a year. The update introduces, among other things, a personalized mode and a new, faster rendering option called Draft Mode.
Barely a week after OpenAI integrated its new image model into ChatGPT, Midjourney releases a new AI image generator. Midjourney was one of the pioneers of AI image generation, but it’s been almost a year since the company launched a major update. The new model is called V7 and is available as an alpha version.
V7 brings several improvements compared to the previous version. According to Midjourney, the image quality is higher and the generated images contain more coherent details. Hands, objects, and body parts in particular are said to be significantly improved. Users can now also work more easily with textual and visual prompts.
Another important innovation is the default activation of model personalization. Users must first manually unlock this feature, which takes about five minutes. Once activated, it can be turned on or off at any time. Personalization should help the model better understand what users desire and find visually appealing.
Draft Mode
With Draft Mode, Midjourney aims to speed up the iteration process. In this mode, images are generated ten times faster at half the normal cost. Although the image quality in Draft Mode is lower than in standard mode, the aesthetics remain consistent according to the company. Users can easily scale up from a Draft image to a higher quality version.
Draft Mode also works with voice input in a so-called voice mode. Users can then verbally suggest adjustments, after which the system automatically generates an adjusted prompt.
V7 is being launched in two modes: Turbo and Relax. Turbo is twice as expensive as the standard version of V6. Drafts are cheaper and cost half as much. A standard mode will follow at a later date.
Some functions such as upscaling, editing, or retexturing will continue to rely on the older V6 model for now. Midjourney promises to update this functionality in the future.
Updates
Midjourney plans to regularly add new features over the next two months. One of the major planned updates is a new way to use fixed characters and object references. The company also states that the overall performance of the model will gradually improve.
Users are encouraged to share their experiences and creations and provide feedback. The company plans to hold a community-wide vote in the long term to determine development priorities.