I'm working on a small AI Discord Community you can join here: <a target="_blank" rel="ugc" href="https://discord.gg/ehhMrD4PQT">https://discord.gg/ehhMrD4PQT</a><hr />My Very First VAE Merge, which is found in one of my models on my old account. Feel free to test and/or use them. V3 is what I originally wanted the VAE to be, a VAE that adds subtle contrast/saturation/brightness.This will not fix an already overfitted/overbaked image as it's a VAE. Also the VAEs may effect images a bit too much for you personally, especially if you're doing hires/upscale/etc with IMG2IMG, but if you like the those images go for it. Works best for TXT2IMG. I personally like the VAEs for TXT2IMG mainly, and IM2IMG if the image is washed.Also VAE has a tendency to fix some minor background stuff sometimes, due to it properly doing that artifact/noise in that spot. Finetuned VAE basically has slightly different lighting contrast is pretty similar. Finetune V2.0 settings from the script vibe-coded by Claude Sonnet 4.5 that I used:<pre><code>- GPU: RTX 3060 12GB
- VAE Used: The Base Crystal VAE Merge on this page
- Dataset Total: 251 images (Overkill but Good for Variety)
- Resolution: 1024x1024
- Batch size: 2
- Epochs: 5 - Ended up choosing epoch 1 on testing, due to PC shutting off at epoch 3/5)
- Learning rate: 5e-6 (0.000005)
- Training mode: Decoder-only
- Optimizer: AdamW
- Loss: MSE reconstruction</code></pre>Note: Still doesn't do well in hires only for dark lighting images.All Finetune V2.5 settings:<pre><code>- GPU: RTX 3060 12GB
- VAE Used: The Base Crystal VAE Merge on this page
- Dataset Total: 55 images
- Resolution: 1024x1024
- Batch size: 1
- Epochs: 1
- Learning rate: 1e-5 (0.00001)
- Training mode: Decoder-only
- Optimizer: AdamW</code></pre>Note: Was gonna make a SD1.5 version but decided not to since they'd be extremely similar. Re-Categorized due to tool due to me wondering what the Google AI overview thought was a asset. This is what the AI Overview thought is a asset: <img src="https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/99a2abee-85b2-4e91-9db2-a8bac201f8bb/width=525/99a2abee-85b2-4e91-9db2-a8bac201f8bb.jpeg" />This is what the AI Overview thought is a tool:<img src="https://image.civitai.com/xG1nkqKTMzGDvpLrqFT7WA/1295fbd3-a19d-4bef-b3eb-15889c94d2a9/width=525/1295fbd3-a19d-4bef-b3eb-15889c94d2a9.jpeg" />

Crystal - VAE [SDXL/Illustrious]

Edited the saturation, brightness and contrast, slightly of V2.5.Settings used for the saturation, brightness and contrasted: -5% brightness, 10% contrast, 2% saturation. I recommend using this for final hires/upscale OR base image OR if you know how to use this VAE you can hires/upscale with it.Note: Also likes to add stuff if you hires with it. According to redactedpaws.

crystalVAESDXL_vaeV3.safetensors

VAE V3

VAE V2.5

VAE V2

VAE V1

A versatile and artistic Illustrious model merge family primarily based on ZU_KI's fantastic ZUKI anime ILL model. As always, this merge is tuned to my personal aesthetic preferences, and simply happens to give me the best (in my opinion) outputs from an Illustrious-based model architecture.

SteinIllustrious

Using extensive Merge Block Weighted merging, and experimenting with SuperMerger across about a hundred more variations, this is essentially V16 blended with the first six versions of the model in an effort to get back some of the aesthetics of those, while keeping the general improvements in the model over the last year. It would be impossible to list the exact recipe for hundreds of slight changes over months worth of experimenting, but essentially, this is closer to the original aesthetic style of SteinIllustrious, thanks to leaning heavily on the early versions in merging. As always, no Early Access gating.

CrystalVAE30_00001_.safetensors

steinillustrious_CuteV1.safetensors

SteinIllustrious Cute V1

SteinIllustrious V17-3

SteinIllustrious V17-2

SteinIllustrious V17-1

SteinIllustrious NuRay

SteinIllustrious V16

SteinIllustrious V15

SteinIllustrious V14

SteinIllustriousV13

SteinIllustriousV12

SteinIllustriousV11A

SteinIllustriousV10

SteinIllustriousV9E

SteinIllustriousV8

SteinIllustriousV7

SteinIllustriousV6C

SteinIllustriousV5

SteinIllustriousV4

SteinIllustriousV3

SteinIllustrious-Beta-1-L

SteinIllustrious-Beta-1

NuRay is a coalesced melting pot of several of my prior model merge families, which has once more outpaced its various component models. Drawing primarily from SteinIllustrious NuRay, this one carries the torch forward for that particular experiment, featuring a wide variety of capabilities, which I have attempted to capture across my sample images and their included prompts. This merge family will primarily be made up of a wider collection of experimental models resulting the features in the ForgeUI extensions Merge Block Weighted and SuperMerger, which I have begun using to draw out the potential of my older models and combinations of them. These models may be similar to each other, or may fall outside my preferred 'incremental' improvement method if they don't really fit anywhere else. Suggested settings: DDPM sampler, 36-50 steps, CFG scale of 4.5-6, Align Your Steps GITS scheduler. If your UI does not have these, Euler A produces similar, but less creative, results, as will other schedulers. A basic VAE should be baked in, but you can use any SDXL/Illustrious VAE that you prefer.

NuRay

Initial upload. No early access nonsense, as always.

nuray_v10.safetensors

v1.0

<h1 id="my-first-checkpoint-model">✨ My First Checkpoint Model ✨</h1>Hello everyone! 💜This is my very first checkpoint model, and I'm really excited to finally share it with the community! 🎉The model was created to produce vibrant illustrations with strong linework, sketch-like texture, expressive characters, and a stylized anime/comic aesthetic. It works especially well for:🌟 Character illustrations 🌟 Fantasy characters 🌟 Furries and anthros 🌟 Anime-style artwork 🌟 Magical and fantasy scenes 🌟 Dynamic compositions 🌟 Detailed costumes and environmentsThe model tends to generate:✨ Thick expressive lineart ✨ Visible sketch texture ✨ Rich colors ✨ Painterly rendering ✨ Detailed illustrations ✨ Stylized anime/comic look<hr /><h2 id="recommended-settings">⚙️ Recommended Settings</h2>Sampler: Euler aSteps: 35CFG Scale: 5Resolution: 896 × 1152<h3 id="hires-fix">Hires Fix</h3>✅ EnabledUpscaler: 4x-UltraSharpV2Upscale: 1.5xHires Steps: 15Denoising Strength: 0.35Hires CFG Scale: 4.5<hr /><h2 id="recommended-vae">💎 Recommended VAE</h2>crystal_vaev3.safetensors<hr />Thank you for checking out my first model! 💜I hope you enjoy creating with it as much as I enjoyed making it. Feel free to share your generations and feedback! ✨

EtcetraComix

etcetracomix_.safetensors

crystal_vaev3.safetensors

Etcetra_strTzen

✨ New merge version!🔥 Improved dynamic posing and character movement🖊️ Stronger, cleaner linework🎨 Enhanced comic-style rendering⚡ Better action scenes and more expressive compositions💜 Designed to create vibrant illustrations with dynamic poses while preserving the original sketchy comic aesthetic

etcetracomix_etcetraStrtzen.safetensors

Several months worth of changes, mostly from experimenting with Merge Block Weighted and SuperMerger settings between my various model families; I'd give a more specific changelog, if it wasn't a maze of several thousand settings every time. This is a blend between SteinIllustrious (latest version), Augenstein (prototype for V6, will be coming soon), and Furstein (adds more anthro/furry compatibility.) New details, new proportions, new scenery, and plenty of functionality.

steinillustrious_Nuray.safetensors

Files with SHA256: d9640d3b815115b0ea2cd98dd88caa79e8e966abd0522f88d4ee202c750c57e7