Balanced conic rectified flow

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kim, Shin Seong, Kwon, Mingi, Jeong, Jaeseok, Uh, Youngjung
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kim, Shin Seong
Kwon, Mingi
Jeong, Jaeseok
Uh, Youngjung
author_facet Kim, Shin Seong
Kwon, Mingi
Jeong, Jaeseok
Uh, Youngjung
contents Rectified flow is a generative model that learns smooth transport mappings between two distributions through an ordinary differential equation (ODE). Unlike diffusion-based generative models, which require costly numerical integration of a generative ODE to sample images with state-of-the-art quality, rectified flow uses an iterative process called reflow to learn smooth and straight ODE paths. This allows for relatively simple and efficient generation of high-quality images. However, rectified flow still faces several challenges. 1) The reflow process requires a large number of generative pairs to preserve the target distribution, leading to significant computational costs. 2) Since the model is typically trained using only generated image pairs, its performance heavily depends on the 1-rectified flow model, causing it to become biased towards the generated data. In this work, we experimentally expose the limitations of the original rectified flow and propose a novel approach that incorporates real images into the training process. By preserving the ODE paths for real images, our method effectively reduces reliance on large amounts of generated data. Instead, we demonstrate that the reflow process can be conducted efficiently using a much smaller set of generated and real images. In CIFAR-10, we achieved significantly better FID scores, not only in one-step generation but also in full-step simulations, while using only of the generative pairs compared to the original method. Furthermore, our approach induces straighter paths and avoids saturation on generated images during reflow, leading to more robust ODE learning while preserving the distribution of real images.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_25229
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Balanced conic rectified flow
Kim, Shin Seong
Kwon, Mingi
Jeong, Jaeseok
Uh, Youngjung
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
68T07, 68T45, 65C20
I.2.10; I.4.9; I.2.6
Rectified flow is a generative model that learns smooth transport mappings between two distributions through an ordinary differential equation (ODE). Unlike diffusion-based generative models, which require costly numerical integration of a generative ODE to sample images with state-of-the-art quality, rectified flow uses an iterative process called reflow to learn smooth and straight ODE paths. This allows for relatively simple and efficient generation of high-quality images. However, rectified flow still faces several challenges. 1) The reflow process requires a large number of generative pairs to preserve the target distribution, leading to significant computational costs. 2) Since the model is typically trained using only generated image pairs, its performance heavily depends on the 1-rectified flow model, causing it to become biased towards the generated data. In this work, we experimentally expose the limitations of the original rectified flow and propose a novel approach that incorporates real images into the training process. By preserving the ODE paths for real images, our method effectively reduces reliance on large amounts of generated data. Instead, we demonstrate that the reflow process can be conducted efficiently using a much smaller set of generated and real images. In CIFAR-10, we achieved significantly better FID scores, not only in one-step generation but also in full-step simulations, while using only of the generative pairs compared to the original method. Furthermore, our approach induces straighter paths and avoids saturation on generated images during reflow, leading to more robust ODE learning while preserving the distribution of real images.
title Balanced conic rectified flow
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
68T07, 68T45, 65C20
I.2.10; I.4.9; I.2.6
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.25229