Diffusion Models Generate Images Like Painters: an Analytical Theory of Outline First, Details Later

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Hauptverfasser: Wang, Binxu, Vastola, John J.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Wang, Binxu
Vastola, John J.
author_facet Wang, Binxu
Vastola, John J.
contents How do diffusion generative models convert pure noise into meaningful images? In a variety of pretrained diffusion models (including conditional latent space models like Stable Diffusion), we observe that the reverse diffusion process that underlies image generation has the following properties: (i) individual trajectories tend to be low-dimensional and resemble 2D `rotations'; (ii) high-variance scene features like layout tend to emerge earlier, while low-variance details tend to emerge later; and (iii) early perturbations tend to have a greater impact on image content than later perturbations. To understand these phenomena, we derive and study a closed-form solution to the probability flow ODE for a Gaussian distribution, which shows that the reverse diffusion state rotates towards a gradually-specified target on the image manifold. It also shows that generation involves first committing to an outline, and then to finer and finer details. We find that this solution accurately describes the initial phase of image generation for pretrained models, and can in principle be used to make image generation more efficient by skipping reverse diffusion steps. Finally, we use our solution to characterize the image manifold in Stable Diffusion. Our viewpoint reveals an unexpected similarity between generation by GANs and diffusion and provides a conceptual link between diffusion and image retrieval.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2303_02490
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Diffusion Models Generate Images Like Painters: an Analytical Theory of Outline First, Details Later
Wang, Binxu
Vastola, John J.
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
Graphics
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
F.2.2; I.3.3; I.2.10; I.2.6
How do diffusion generative models convert pure noise into meaningful images? In a variety of pretrained diffusion models (including conditional latent space models like Stable Diffusion), we observe that the reverse diffusion process that underlies image generation has the following properties: (i) individual trajectories tend to be low-dimensional and resemble 2D `rotations'; (ii) high-variance scene features like layout tend to emerge earlier, while low-variance details tend to emerge later; and (iii) early perturbations tend to have a greater impact on image content than later perturbations. To understand these phenomena, we derive and study a closed-form solution to the probability flow ODE for a Gaussian distribution, which shows that the reverse diffusion state rotates towards a gradually-specified target on the image manifold. It also shows that generation involves first committing to an outline, and then to finer and finer details. We find that this solution accurately describes the initial phase of image generation for pretrained models, and can in principle be used to make image generation more efficient by skipping reverse diffusion steps. Finally, we use our solution to characterize the image manifold in Stable Diffusion. Our viewpoint reveals an unexpected similarity between generation by GANs and diffusion and provides a conceptual link between diffusion and image retrieval.
title Diffusion Models Generate Images Like Painters: an Analytical Theory of Outline First, Details Later
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Artificial Intelligence
Graphics
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
F.2.2; I.3.3; I.2.10; I.2.6
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.02490