# CHARACTER PLATES — generate once, reuse everywhere **Goal:** turn the casual reference photos into ONE clean, canonical, well-lit portrait per character (a "plate"). That plate becomes the single locked identity you attach as the GPT-images-2 reference for all 43 shots — far more consistent than feeding random snapshots each time. **Likeness setting: FAITHFUL** — both characters should closely resemble the real people, just rendered as cinematic generated persons. --- ## Workflow (do this first, before the 43 shots) 1. Generate **Hanley's plate** (prompt P1) with his reference photos attached. 2. Generate **Nicole's plate** (prompt P2) with her reference photos attached. 3. From each, pick the single best result. Save as: - `refs/PLATE_hanley.png` - `refs/PLATE_nicole.png` 4. (Optional but recommended) Generate the **3-view sheets** (P3/P4) for extra angle coverage; save as `PLATE_hanley_sheet.png` / `PLATE_nicole_sheet.png`. 5. For every shot in `D`: attach the relevant **PLATE(s)** as the reference image(s) — `PLATE_hanley` for his shots, `PLATE_nicole` for hers, both for two-shots. Keep the text anchor in the prompt too. > Plates are shot **neutral and clean** on purpose (even lighting, plain background). The cinematic lighting/grade comes from each shot's `D` prompt — the plate only needs to lock the *identity*. --- ## P1 — HANLEY plate **Attach references:** `hanley_CURRENT_threeq_01` (primary) + `hanley_CURRENT_front_03` + one more front. Set faithful likeness. > Clean studio character-reference portrait of Hanley — a 51-year-old Chinese-American man, solid sturdy build, full friendly face with a warm gentle genuine smile, healthy medium complexion, dark near-black hair worn slicked straight back with neat undercut sides and a little length gathered at the back, clean-shaven, warm dark eyes. Head-and-shoulders, looking straight into camera, relaxed natural expression. Even soft neutral studio lighting (large soft key, gentle fill), plain mid-grey seamless background, no heavy shadows. Photorealistic, true-to-life skin texture and pores, sharp focus on the eyes, realistic depth. Faithful to the reference photos. Neutral color, no stylization. Vertical portrait. ## P2 — NICOLE plate **Attach references:** `nicole_REF_shared_01` (primary) + `nicole_REF_lib_01`. Set faithful likeness. > Clean studio character-reference portrait of Nicole — a 30-year-old half-Chinese half-Japanese woman with refined Eurasian East-Asian features, slim elegant build, very long sleek straight dark-brown hair with a center part falling past her chest, warm expressive dark almond eyes with subtle liner, naturally arched brows, fair warm complexion, soft natural dewy makeup with a nude-pink lip, a warm gentle genuine smile, a thin delicate gold necklace. Head-and-shoulders, looking straight into camera, relaxed natural expression. Even soft neutral studio lighting (large soft key, gentle fill), plain mid-grey seamless background, no heavy shadows. Photorealistic, true-to-life skin texture, sharp focus on the eyes, realistic depth. Faithful to the reference photos. Neutral color, no stylization. Vertical portrait. --- ## P3 — HANLEY 3-view sheet (optional) **Attach:** same as P1. > Character reference sheet, three views of the SAME man side by side on a plain light-grey background, identical face and hair in all three: (left) front view, (center) three-quarter view, (right) profile view. Hanley — a 51-year-old Chinese-American man, solid sturdy build, full friendly face, dark near-black hair slicked straight back with undercut sides and a little length gathered at the back, clean-shaven, warm dark eyes, neutral relaxed expression. Even flat studio lighting, photorealistic, consistent identity across all three views, true-to-life skin. Faithful to the reference photos. ## P4 — NICOLE 3-view sheet (optional) **Attach:** same as P2. > Character reference sheet, three views of the SAME woman side by side on a plain light-grey background, identical face and hair in all three: (left) front view, (center) three-quarter view, (right) profile view. Nicole — a 30-year-old half-Chinese half-Japanese woman with refined Eurasian features, very long sleek straight dark-brown hair with a center part, warm dark almond eyes, fair warm complexion, soft natural makeup, neutral relaxed expression. Even flat studio lighting, photorealistic, consistent identity across all three views, true-to-life skin. Faithful to the reference photos. --- ## Acceptance checklist (before locking a plate) - Looks like the real person? (compare to refs) - Hanley: dark slicked-back hair + undercut, clean-shaven, sturdy/full face — NOT grey, NOT a beard, NOT slim. - Nicole: very long STRAIGHT dark hair (not wavy), Eurasian features, soft natural makeup. - Eyes sharp, skin realistic (no plastic/AI sheen), symmetrical, no artifacts. - Neutral lighting + plain background (so it reads as a clean identity reference). Once both plates pass, proceed to generate the 43 shots from `D`, attaching the plates.