Build a character sheet and keep it consistent across scenes

One original character, built once and reused everywhere. Part 1 makes an approved hero image and three sheets (turnaround, expressions, outfits). Part 2 attaches those sheets to put her in four different scenes with no drift in face, hair or clothes. Part 3 adds a second character and stages both together without their identities mixing. Anyone who will later ask a model for "the same character again" attaches this pack to every scene, pose and mesh.

The brief

Zuri Vex is one of four heroes of VOLTARIS, an invented hero shooter. Other VOLTARIS playbooks start from the sheets made here: Rigged 3D character and Key art and store assets.

Approach

Part 1, the sheet:

1. 1HeroGPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, two takes
2. 2ApproveKeep-list updated to match the take
3. 3TurnaroundSunburst, hero as identity reference
4. 4ExpressionsHero only, one layout sentence
5. 5OutfitsHero only, outfits named by position
6. 6File the setOne collection per character

Part 2, scenes:

1. 1Load referencesHero first, turnaround second
2. 2Identity paragraphKeep-list pasted verbatim
3. 3Scene paragraphPlace, action, shot and light
4. 4GenerateGPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, 3:2, high
5. 5Inspect and fileFace at full size vs hero

Part 3, two characters:

1. 1Second heroGPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, style-only reference
2. 2Attach castThree references, fixed order
3. 3Labeled promptNames, keep-lists, then staging
4. 4ScenesSunburst, 3:2, same identity block
5. 5InspectOne character at a time

A reference sheet answers questions a model would otherwise guess: what the back looks like, which sleeve carries the chevron, how the face reads when she frowns.

Generate one hero image first, approve it, then generate each sheet from that hero, attached as the identity reference. Never generate the sheets from text alone: each text-only run invents a slightly different person.

The method in three rules:

• Approve one hero before anything else. Everything downstream inherits its mistakes, so this is the cheapest place to fix them (Repair at the cheapest stage).
• Write the keep-list once and paste it into every prompt (Write a keep-list). The "Fixed" line of the brief becomes a sentence you reuse word for word (Decide what stays fixed). In scenes, the same paragraph opens every prompt: you change the scene paragraph, never the identity paragraph.
• Give each reference one job, and attach only what that job needs (Give each reference a role). A reference brings everything in it, angles included. In this run, adding the turnaround to the expression sheet turned every head to three-quarter view (Give references a role). In scenes, say what each is for: "Reference 1 is the character's identity. Reference 2 is her approved turnaround sheet: use it for angles and for parts the first image does not show."

In scenes, add a scene paragraph that names camera and light. Shot size, camera height and light direction keep the model from improvising a close-up that hides the outfit.

With two characters, the method has two more parts:

• Make the second character in the first one's style. Generate Marlow's hero image with Zuri's hero attached as a style-only reference, and say so: "Reference 1 is for STYLE ONLY... Do not copy the person in it." Without that sentence, the model tends to give the new character the first one's hair, palette or outfit.
• Label every reference with a name, and write the staging. In the scene prompt, say which references belong to whom ("References 1 and 2 are ZURI... Reference 3 is MARLOW..."), repeat each keep-list under its name, and add "Do not mix their features or clothes". Then write who stands where and does what. Names in capitals are easy for the model to match between the reference list and the action.

Models, as of October 2026:

• Capability: text to image for the hero, then image to image with reference images for the sheets and scenes.
• Model used: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst for every step. It accepts up to 10 reference images, which leaves room for a turnaround per character, follows long prompts closely and renders full-body sheets with a clean shared ground line.
• Alternative: Nano Banana 2.1, tested on the same turnaround prompt. It also held identity and returned a larger 2752x1536 sheet, with a cooler crimson jacket and softer shading than the hero. See Compare models on your brief to run that shoot-out on your own character or cast.

Steps

Part 1: Build the reference sheet

With the Scenario MCP: run model_run on model_openai-gpt-image-2-5-sunburst with referenceImages as an array (["asset_..."], even for one image; a bare string is ignored), width, height and quality: "high". Use numOutputs: 2 for the two hero takes. Launch the three sheets with wait: false and collect them with one jobs_wait call.

Part 2: Keep her consistent across scenes

Four scenes of the same character (a sunrise market, a night rooftop, a garage workbench, a frozen rink), for key art, story beats, social posts and loading screens.

With the Scenario MCP: keep the identity paragraph in a variable and loop over a list of scene paragraphs. Call model_run on model_openai-gpt-image-2-5-sunburst with referenceImages: [hero, turnaround], width: 1536, height: 1024, quality: "high" and wait: false, then one jobs_wait for the batch.

Part 3: Put two characters in one scene

Two characters in one image is where consistency usually breaks: blended faces, an item that jumps from one to the other, positions the model picks. Here a second hero, Marlow, joins the cast and both are staged in two scenes.

With the Scenario MCP: pass referenceImages: [zuri_hero, zuri_turnaround, marlow_hero] in that order, every time. Changing the order silently changes what "Reference 3" means.

Check the result

Check the sheet

To test the usual advice, a second expression sheet was run with two references: the hero as identity and style, the turnaround to confirm the braids, with numbered cells. The expressions were right, but every head turned to three-quarter view. The turnaround is full of angled views, and the model carried them over.

The hero-only sheet kept every head facing the viewer and goes into the collection. Add a second reference only when the first one is missing something the sheet needs, and say which part of it to use.

Two smaller deviations were accepted and recorded instead of re-rolled:

• Right profile, not left. The turnaround's side view shows her right profile where the prompt asked for the left.
• No chevron on the back view. The back view drops the sleeve chevron.

Neither changes identity. Both are written in the collection's description so nobody "fixes" them later by accident.

Check the scenes

Look at the face first, at full size, next to the hero. Small differences are easy to miss in a full scene and obvious once three images sit side by side.

As a control, the market scene was also generated from text only: the keep-list written out in full, no references attached. The result is a plausible roller-blade hero who is not quite Zuri:

• Hair: a glowing cyan headband where the hero has a silver clip.
• Earrings: larger hoops.
• Jacket: a darker wine magenta, cut differently at the collar.
• Face: a wider, toothier grin and a different jaw.

Without references, the keep-list describes a category of person, not one person.

The first garage take: rejected. That prompt had her fitting a new wheel into a raised roller blade. The skate came out muddled: one oversized glowing wheel overlapping the frame and wheels that no longer matched. Small mechanical parts held in hands are where image models break; the retake gave her a simpler action (a screwdriver in an open blaster) and passed. In the retake the second blaster sits in the holster on her right thigh, where the prompt said left: the action explains the empty holster, and the holster side is staging, not identity. If a later shot depends on which hand draws, write the holster side into the keep-list.

The rink scene with the outfit sheet held the face, braids, chevron and knee guards. The parka came out hip length where the sheet shows it to mid-thigh. For a loading screen that is acceptable; for a skin you sell, it is a reject, because the item must match what players buy.

The other two scenes1 / 2

Check the two-character scenes

Both labeled scenes passed. One small departure: in the island scene Zuri reaches with one hand, not both. The brief does not fix her hands, so the take was kept.

As a comparison, the same three references were sent with a short, unlabeled prompt: "Use these images. The two characters on the rusted edge of a floating salvage island at sunset. The older one hands the younger one a small glowing power cell."

Both identities held, which shows how much the attached references carry on their own. What was lost is control: the model sat both on a rusted wall, chose a tighter framing, and cut Zuri's skates at the bottom edge. Marlow happened to land on the left, but nothing in the prompt held him there.

For a single social image that may be acceptable; for a storyboard where screen direction and full-body staging must stay the same from shot to shot, it is not.

One drift to watch: Marlow renders a little more detailed and realistic than Zuri, in his hero and in both scenes. When the cast's heroes differ in rendering, the scene drifts toward one of them. Make every hero in the same style before you stage them together, or name the style reference explicitly, as the prompt above does.

Marlow's hero, two takes1 / 2

Check yourself4 questions

1Two expression sheets for Zuri. The prompt asked for "every head turned straight to the viewer". Which sheet goes into the collection?

1. ATake A: three-quarter heads look more dynamic, so the sheet is better
2. BTake B: every cell is what was asked, head angle included
3. CTake A: it used two references, so it holds identity better

Answer: B. A cell that differs from the request is a reject, even when it looks good. Take A added the turnaround as a second reference and inherited its angled views; Take B used the hero alone.

2Both hero takes put the chevron on her right sleeve, while the prompt asked for the left shoulder. Everything else matches the brief. What do you do?

1. ARe-run the hero until the chevron lands on the left
2. BApprove it and move the chevron on each sheet later with Edit with Prompts
3. CApprove the take and change the keep-list to "white chevron on her right sleeve"

Answer: C. The approved image becomes the source of truth. Fixing the text to match the picture is free; fighting the picture costs a new hero.

3Two takes of the market scene. A stranger shown it next to the hero should say "same person". Which take goes into the collection?

1. ATake A: the chevron, gloves and wheels are all there, so identity holds
2. BTake B: hair clip, earrings, jacket and face match the hero
3. CEither one: at scene size they read as the same character

Answer: B. Take A came from the keep-list text alone: a cyan headband instead of the silver clip, larger hoops, a darker jacket. Only the attached references hold one person from run to run.

4The prompt places Marlow, the taller character in the hat, on the left and Zuri on the right, both standing and full body. The scene opens a storyboard. Which take passes?

1. ATake B: both identities held, which is what matters most
2. BEither one: pose and framing can be fixed in the edit
3. CTake A: identities held and the staging follows the prompt

Answer: C. Both takes kept the identities; only the labeled prompt kept the staging. Take B sat them down and cut Zuri's skates at the frame edge, which fails "both full body".

Make it repeatable

• Save the identity pack. Keep the hero, turnaround, expression and outfit sheets in one collection per character, plus a text note with the exact keep-list sentence and the identity paragraph (in the collection description, or in a Text node in the Node Editor). Every later prompt pastes it verbatim. With a cast, keep one identity block per character, so a scene prompt is "cast list + scene", assembled the same way every time.

• Use a ready-made App for the next character. Under Workflows, Apps, the Platform tab lists Character Turnaround - 6 Angles (Camera-Locked) (new camera angles from one reference) and Character Expression Sheet (a 3 by 3 expression grid from one reference). Costume Sheet does a related job: it extracts named clothing items from a character image. Run them on your approved hero and compare with your own prompts before standardizing.

• Build your own workflows (Package it as a workflow or skill). In the Node Editor:

  • Sheets: an Image input node (the hero) and a Text node holding the keep-list; a Prompt Builder that joins the keep-list with each sheet's layout sentence; three Image Generator nodes (turnaround, expressions, outfits) set to GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst; an Approval node after the hero, so nobody spends credits on sheets for an unapproved design.
  • Scenes: two Image input nodes (hero, turnaround), a Text node with the identity paragraph, a Text input exposed to the user for the scene, a Prompt Builder that joins them, and an Image Generator set to GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst at 1536x1024. Add an Approval node before anything is shared.
  • Two characters: three Image input nodes in a fixed order, two Text nodes for the identity blocks, a Text input for the scene, a Prompt Builder that joins them with the "Do not mix" line, and an Image Generator on GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, with an Approval node before export. See Approval and review steps.

  See Build your first workflow.

• Publish it as an App. Use Edit App so the whole team gets the same layout, and writers and marketers can request scenes without touching the identity paragraph. See Publish a workflow as an App.

• Batch many scenes. Feed a list of scene lines through Split Text and a Loop node. See Batches, loops and logic.

• For larger casts, try the Multiple Characters Story App under Workflows, Apps. It takes three to seven character references plus a genre and theme, and returns a six-scene story video. It suits an ensemble; for one character, your own workflow gives more control.

• Train later, not first. A trained character model pays off when you need hundreds of images of the same character. For one character's first fifty images, references are faster and cheaper, and need no training run. See Train a character or object model.

Runs and time

Part 1, the sheet:

The hero run makes two images, so it costs about twice a sheet; the shoot-out and the rejected sheet are the only spend you can skip.

Part 2, scenes:

Six runs, about 2 minutes with the runs in parallel. Every scene costs the same, so the total grows with the number of scenes.

Part 3, two characters:

About 3 minutes in all. Each scene costs about the same; a third reference adds very little. The price shows on the Generate button before you run.

Variations

• Animation and film: add a height line-up of the whole cast and a mouth-shape sheet for lip sync, both generated from the same hero.
• Animation and storyboards: write the scene paragraph as a shot description (shot size, lens, action) and generate a sequence; keep screen direction fixed across shots by writing "Marlow on the left" in every shot of the sequence. See Storyboard from a script.
• Marketing: one character across a campaign's formats, or the cast staged for a poster. Make the scene at 3:2, then cut every store format from it with Key art and store assets, which uses this cast.
• Mascots and brand characters: replace the outfit sheet with a "do and don't" sheet (approved poses, forbidden colors) and keep it next to the brand guide.
• Creatures and vehicles: a turnaround works the same way; name what the camera sees in each view ("rear view: tail and exhaust visible, no face"), because models drift back toward the side they know best.
• Creature and rider: label the creature as a character too, with its own keep-list; the "Do not mix" line matters even more when both share colors.
• Learning and publishing: for a picture-book cast, make the expression sheet first; readers judge a character by its face more than its clothes. For one guide character across a course, keep a fixed pose library in the scene paragraphs ("pointing at a board on her left") so layouts stay predictable. For a teacher and a student in recurring classroom scenes, keep the same camera so learners recognize the setting.
• Seasonal skins: use the outfit sheet as reference 2 and name the outfit by position, as in Part 2, step 6.
• Video: use an accepted scene as the first frame of a clip. See Animate a still.
• 3D handoff: the approved hero image is enough input for Rigged 3D character, which starts from it directly. Generate an extra front view in a strict A-pose with empty hands only when the hero pose hides the arms or hands.

If it breaks

• A badge, braid or bag switches sides between views or scenes. Write the side twice, relative to her body and to the viewer: "on her right sleeve (viewer's left in the front view)". Check that the turnaround is attached; it carries that information. If it still flips, accept the hero's version and update the keep-list.
• The style drifts from the hero. Name the hero as the style reference too ("match its shading, rim light and material finish"), and keep the background plain. With a cast, make every hero in the same style before you stage them together.
• Heads or bodies turn when you add a reference. The extra reference carries its own angles. Remove it, or name the one thing to take from it ("use reference 2 only to confirm the braid color") and repeat the angle you want.
• Views come out at different sizes or float. Ask for "same height, same scale, feet on one shared ground line" and keep the background plain; scenery invites perspective.
• Back or side views invent details. Describe what the camera sees and does not see in that view. For a stubborn view, generate it alone and paste it into the sheet.
• Every take changes the face. Your reference may not be attached. In the Scenario MCP, referenceImages must be an array; in the app, check that the thumbnail shows under Reference Images before you click Generate.
• She looks older, younger or rounder in a scene. Move the hero to reference 1 and say "Reference 1 is the identity". A turnaround as the only reference gives smaller faces and weaker identity.
• Hands and small mechanical parts melt together. Give her a simpler action with fewer small parts in her hands, as in the garage retake.
• The outfit leaks between references. When you attach an outfit sheet, name the one cell to use ("the MIDDLE outfit only") and list its items.
• The scene is a close-up that hides the clothes. Name the shot size: "medium-wide shot, full figure visible".
• Items swap between characters. Put each keep-list directly after the name, in capitals, and add "Do not mix their features or clothes". Remove items both share (two cyan glows invite confusion).
• Positions swap. Write left and right from the camera, and attach the references in a consistent order.
• One character is much smaller or cropped. Ask for "both full body" and name the shot size. State the height relation in words: "a head taller".
• Faces converge. Add a turnaround for the character who drifts, and describe the facial differences you care about (age, skin tone, beard).
• One cell or one detail is wrong in a good image (a wink, a missing prop). Fix only that region with Edit with Prompts instead of re-rolling, or regenerate the sheet with numbered cells and the failed item written in capitals. See Edit one thing.