A ready-made character gets you started. The six steps are where a character becomes yours. Each step asks about one part of the character, and each answer adds a few precise words to the prompt.
The six steps
- Identity: what kind of character it is, and the basics such as age, build and height.
- Face & coat: skin, hair, eyes, expression, and for animals their coat and markings. These are the details that make a character recognisable from shot to shot.
- Wardrobe: outfit, accessories and footwear. A wild animal can skip straight past it.
- Scene: where they are, the time of day, the lighting and the mood.
- Camera & style: the art style, framing, lens, aspect ratio and finishing touches such as film grain.
- Motion: only for the video prompt: what they are doing, how the camera moves, pacing, clip length and ambient sound.
Jump to any step from the row at the top. The steps before the one you are on are marked in the category colour, and the Live prompt shows how much of the character is filled in.
Beside each question's name, Clear empties it, and on a question with one answer to pick, Random picks another option for it. Use Random to try ideas for a single detail without touching the rest of the character.
Seven kinds of character
The first question, Character type, changes which questions you get asked. There are seven: Person, Animal, Anthro (an animal on two legs, with clothes), Animated, Robot, Creature and Fantasy.
- A Robot gets a chassis and plating instead of skin and hair.
- An Animal gets a species, a breed, a life stage, a coat colour and markings.
- A Creature gets a creature type and a hide.
- An Animated character gets an animation style, a role and an age vibe.
- A Fantasy character gets a race, from elf to something stranger.
When no option fits
Every question also takes your own words. Click + Write my own under the options and type it, such as "a scar through the left eyebrow" or "a patched denim jacket". Your words are used instead of the selected option. Some questions, such as Distinguishing marks, Breed or variant, Height and Ambient sound, are free text from the start.
Less is often more
You do not need to answer everything. A character with a clear face, one strong wardrobe detail and a scene is often better than one with forty answers. Fill in what matters for the pictures you want, and let the model decide the rest.