Consistent Character Variants

Red haired character

Overview

In just a few minutes, you can generate compelling, consistent character variations using Scenario, all starting from a single reference image. This technique is invaluable for game designers, novelists, or artists developing their characters across various ages, time periods, locations, or professions, while still preserving the fundamental essence and recognizability of each character.

Consistent character

The process is straightforward and can be completed in a few simple steps:

  1. Choose Your Reference Image.
  2. Use a Reference Image with a matching mdoel.
  3. Create variations through prompting.
  4. Refine your preferred results.

We will provide you with a fully reproducible workflow. Follow along to familiarize yourself with the steps, or apply it to your own styles.

Step 1: Choose your Reference Image

For this particular workflow, we are going to leverage a Reference Image to guide our generations. When choosing a reference image, follow these guidelines:

  • Single image on a solid color background.
  • 1:1 square aspect ratio.
  • Ideally 512x512 or above.
Reference image guidelines

You can download the reference image we used for this article by clicking here.

Step 2: Use a Reference Image with a matching model

The model we used in this article is our Consistent Character “Olivia” Model which can be accessed by clicking here. We have already loaded the reference image onto the model to create the character consistency.

We used this model to generate the reference image provided. Using the same AI model for both the reference (original) image and variant creations usually ensures the best style cohesion.

Import your reference image into the Reference Image section and select Character Reference from the drop-down menu. You can experiment with the Influence parameter to strike the perfect balance between retaining the core characteristics of the reference image and introducing desired variations. Start with a value around 20-25 and explore higher or lower values incrementally to find the optimal aesthetic balance.

Step 3: Create Variations through prompting

Now we are at the exciting part! With the settings in place (the model and Character Reference), you can generate diverse character variations by crafting text prompts that describe your desired changes. Here are some ideas to get you started using the following prompt template:

"(character description), (outfit description), (background description), short curly red hair”:

Time Periods: Transport your character to various historical eras, from ancient civilizations to futuristic settings, by including relevant descriptors in your prompts.

Ancient Egypt woman, linen dress, pyramids, desert sands., short curly red hair

Locations: Place your character in different geographical contexts, from bustling cities to serene natural landscapes, by specifying the desired environment.

Astronaut woman from the 1970s, vintage spacesuit, lunar module, cosmic backdrop, short curly red hair

Aging: Develop prompts that depict your character at different life stages, from childhood innocence to the wisdom of old age.

young child, short curly red hair

Clothing Styles: Experiment with various fashion styles by including details about the desired attire, from elegant evening gowns to rugged adventurer outfits.

Roaring twenties flapper, beaded dress, jazz club, lively dance floor, short curly red hair

Professions: Depict your character in different occupations, each with its unique look and accessories, by specifying the desired vocation in your prompts.

modern business woman, holding a briefcase, wearing a feminine suit, short curly red hair

The possibilities are endless, and you can combine various elements to create truly unique and captivating character variations.

By modifying the character description, outfit details, and background elements while preserving key identifying phrases (like the hair description), you can generate a spectrum of variations that still maintain a cohesive connection to the original character. Consider generating multiple images per prompt to increase the variety of options.

Step 4: Refine your preferred results

Enhancing

Utilize Scenario's built-in tools to refine your character variations further. Experiment with different Enhance presets and scale factors to find the best balance between creative details and maintaining style consistency with the original character. Apply the same Enhance presets to all the selected character variations to ensure cohesive visual quality across the set.

To find Enhance, simply select one of your image generations and look for the button on the right hand size of the image zoom. You will be prompted to choose a Style and a Preset.  The style should be whatever most closely matches the style of your image - in this case will use a Standard style. A Precise Enhance will change very few details, where Balanced and Creative will add more details respectively.

Conclusion

By following this step-by-step process, you can swiftly generate a rich series of character variations that span time, place, and style while maintaining a consistent core identity. First, select the AI model and a quality reference image. Then, configure the Character Reference settings and explore character variations using well-crafted prompts. Finally, enhance and refine your favorite character variants for optimal results.

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