As a writer or artist, creating consistent characters is one of the most challenging yet essential things to achieve. Whether you want to create comic books, children's books, romance novels, or graphic novels, you need beautiful, consistent characters to tell your stories effectively. But how do you go about creating these characters? How do you make them consistent and with emotions in Midjourney?
I showed a few techniques in my past blog posts, on how to create consistent characters witt different methods. Today, I will take this to the next level and show you how to create amazing characters in a very few steps.
This came to mind after I watched the video series by Christian Heidorn @Tokenized AI by Christian Heidorn If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it if you want to learn how to create consistent characters!
I took his ideas and gave it a new twist.
Let's go!
Step 1. Create a Character Description
I went to Chat GPT and asked to create a character description. I liked this result.
Tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots
Now it's time to create the pictures and the poses.
I want to create 3 Reference Images so I can use them to generate my consistent character.
See in purple the instructions I added to the description, in order to create the 3 reference images.
Step 2. Create Character Full Body Shot (Image 1)
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Concept Character, White Background, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique, walking in a street. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 2:3
📝 NOTE: I didn't apply any style at the end (comic book, anime, steampunk, etc), or any other attribute).
I Generated a few images, that had already very good consistency.
UPSCALE 1 IMAGE open it in a new tab and copy image URL. (or, right click > Copy Image Address
Copy Image URL in a new tab (or Image Address)
Copy Image URL (this is image 1)
Step 3. Create Character Half Body Shot (Image 2)
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Concept Character, White Background, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique, walking in a street. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 2:3
Again I got many consistent images already UPSCALE 1 IMAGE Open it in a new tab and copy image URL.
Copy Image URL (this is image 2)
Step 4. Create Character Portrait (Image 3)
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Close-up face, Concept Character, White Background, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 9:16
UPSCALE 1 IMAGE Open it in a new tab and copy image URL.
Copy Image URL (this is image 3)
📝 NOTE: It didn't really matter, in the end, that the 3 images where not completely similar, because I will upload all of them 3 at once to generate my character.
Now you can already create a consistent character, by copy pasting the 3 images URL and adding the original prompt + --ar 9:16
📝 NOTE: the character doesn't have a red t-shirt and black jeans, but he came out with an incredible consistency after running the prompt multiple times!
Step 5. Create Consistent Character (3 Images + Prompt)
Copy-paste the 3 images URL in the /imagine prompt bar and add the original prompt
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/97qn-yivvGU, https://s.mj.run/SXK0esEm5rs, https://s.mj.run/EzQgdd6P-UQ, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 9:16
It was quite impressive to see the amount of similar characters even in the same output!
📝 NOTE: Since the original images where mostly vertical (in order to generate the full body-shot of the character to start with), when you try to add --ar 16:9 instead of --ar 9:16 or --ar 1:1, the character face won't always be in the shot. So using horizontal or square pics for the 3 original images may be one of the possible solutions to this.
Step 6. Create Concept Character - Multiple Poses
Now, you can re-run the prompt with the 3 images and add at the beginning: "concept character, multiple poses and expressions" to create different poses and expressions.
This is also very cool for promo images, sketching and more! PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/97qn-yivvGU, https://s.mj.run/SXK0esEm5rs, https://s.mj.run/EzQgdd6P-UQ, concept character, multiple poses and expressions, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 9:16
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/97qn-yivvGU, https://s.mj.run/SXK0esEm5rs, https://s.mj.run/EzQgdd6P-UQ, concept character, white background, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 16:9 (or 9:16, or 1:1)
Very high consistency and multiple poses in a very few steps
Now it's time to place the character in scenes.
We will first create a scene with the description of the character.
Then, we will take our character IMAGE and seed, and we will place the character in the scene. Easy.
Placing a Character in a Scene
Step 7. Upscale 1 Character Image and Copy Seed
I will upscale this image I got earlier. It is the result of a 3 Image prompt + description.
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/97qn-yivvGU, https://s.mj.run/SXK0esEm5rs, https://s.mj.run/EzQgdd6P-UQ, concept character, white background, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 9:16
Seed: 319591807
Copy Image URL and Seed.
Step 8. Create Character Description on a Setting
I create a character description on a setting without any image reference
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique sitting on top of a tank. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 16:9
UPSCALE 1 IMAGE
Copy Image URL
Step 9. Insert Character in Scene (2 images + seed parameter)
Now take the image reference URL, the image you just upscaled URL and run the SETTING PROMPT adding the seed at the end.
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/JKrayph0JVA, https://s.mj.run/pZcDnXyMftg, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique sitting on top of a tank. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 16:9 --seed 319591807
And there you go! This is one of the best ways to create consistent characters and put them in a scene in Midjourney!
Step 10. Create Character Description on a Setting (2)
For the second example, I created a prompt that gave me incredibly amazing results!
I added "wide angle shot, full body image" at the beginning, to give it more weight in the prompt, I added the character description and one action "running through a burning building". I re-run it a lot of times because it gave me amazing scenes!
Again, for the setting image generation, there's no reference image, only the character description.
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:wide angle shot, full body image, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique running through a burning building. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 16:9
UPSCALE 1 IMAGE
Copy Image URL
Step 11. Insert Character in Scene (2 images + seed parameter)
I go back to this image, I take the URL and the seed.
Seed: 319591807
Now take the image reference URL, the image you just upscaled URL and run the SETTING PROMPT adding the seed at the end.
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/JKrayph0JVA, https://s.mj.run/gLVj_L6_rL8, wide angle shot, full body image, tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique running through a burning building. Short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, black jeans and combat boots --ar 16:9 --seed 319591807
And, like magic, here is our consistent character running through a burning building with a wide angle shot! I was very impressed by how fast it was!
Is this the secret technique to creating consistent characters?
Now. In order to prove the point, I will re-run the exact same technique on another character that would make a great partner to our first character in a story.
Let's first think about a story background. I was so into trying these techniques that I haven't thought about a story, but now I got such a kickass character that I need to make him doing something! ...the problem is that I am not really inspired to write a comic at the moment..
I will show you how easy and cool is to create amazing stories with the help of Artificial Intelligence!
So let's see if AI can help me with that. I can use AI to overcome writers' block.
After all, creativity has some kind of inertia.
You need to get it started in order to make it flow.
I normally use Jasper as a Virtual Assistant, but this time, I will head over Chat GPT. If you have never used AI to write or as a virtual assistant, this will blow your mind!
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First things first: who is this character?
Before starting this experiment, I went to Chat GPT and simply wrote: describe a male character in detail for a comic book (very lazy promp).
Chat GPT gave me an entire character description and background, which is actually pretty sick! And I only wanted a physical description. I wrote a very quick and "lazy prompt" and, as usual, AI went the extra mile and gave me amazing ideas!
This is already great for a story, but, of course, if you are an author or an aspiring author, you can't just write lazy instructions and expect AI to write and format a book! Your job will be learning how to ask better questions to AI, so you can have exactly what you have in mind, and more. This the future of Artificial Intelligence for writers and authors!
But, for the sake of this experiment, since I wasn't thinking about writing a novel on the spot, I will start from here! I go again to Chat GPT, I will simply write my character description, I will add some details of what I know about the character and I will ask for ideas for a story and a possible partner.
These are 3 characters and descriptions from Chat GPT.
I asked to write 3 female characters description in the style of Jakes' description.
Jake "The Hammer" Johnson: Jake is a tall and muscular man with broad shoulders and a chiseled physique. He has short-cropped brown hair and a square jaw, with a prominent scar running down the left side of his face, giving him a rugged and intimidating look. He often wears a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt underneath, as well as black jeans and combat boots.
Sarah "Shadow" Lee: Sarah is a stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps.
Maya "The Phoenix" Rodriguez: Maya is a gorgeous toned and athletic woman with long fiery red hair and bright blue eyes. Her skin is lightly tanned from spending so much time outdoors. She moves with a confident and fluid grace. She often wears a red tank top with black shorts and red sneakers.
Emma "The Enigma" Smith: Emma is an elegant and refined woman with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her skin is fair and unblemished. She moves with a measured and precise grace. She often wears a tailored black blazer with a white blouse and black slacks. Her posture is always impeccable, and she exudes an air of confidence and control.
I had to tweak them a little bit and interact with Chat GPT a few times. This is because, as I am asking Chat GPT for character descriptions, AI often gives me details such as:
Her toned muscles and athletic build are a testament to her intense training in kickboxing and wrestling. Her bright blue eyes sparkle with a fierce determination, and her skin is lightly tanned from spending so much time outdoors.
Which are very good, but I don't want to add them in Midjourney at the moment, I am looking for something more simple, so I ask Chat GPT
"Describe them as if you were seeing them for the first time in a full body shot picture, only list physical details and appearance-related details"
So Chat GPT understand that it needs to snap out of the Story Mode and enter in Description Mode.
Creating Other Consistent Characters for the Story
Now, I will see what happens repeating the entire process for all of them!
It's faster than you may think!
Generate Image 1 (full body) "concept character, white background, walking in a street" + --ar 9:16"
Generate Image 2 (half body) "concept character, white background"
Generate Image 3 (Portrait) "close-up face concept character, white background "
Consistent Character 3 Images + Original Prompt
Consistent Characters Multiple Poses 3 Images + "concept character, multiple poses and expressions"
Setting Description Image Original Description + Setting description
Placing Character in Setting 1 Image + Setting Image + Setting Description + Character Seed
You just need to keep your prompts organized somewhere (e.g. Microsoft Word) so you can easily replace the description in the original prompts and replicate the process.
I noticed that writing a detailed character description following the template, seems to produce stunning consistent characters at the first attempt! They are not all the same, but there seems to be more consistency than usual with this technique. Try it yourself and let me know your results!
IMAGE 1
Create Character Full Body Shot
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Concept Character, White Background, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes, walking in a street. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps. --ar 2:3
Image Upscale + Copy URL
IMAGE2
Step 2. Create Character Half Body Shot
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Concept Character, White Background, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps.. --ar 2:3
Image Upscale + Copy URL
IMAGE3 Portrait Shot
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:Close-up face, Concept Character, White Background, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps. --ar 9:16
Image Upscale + Copy URL
UPSCALED (It doesn't matter if the images are a bit different)
3 Image URLs Copied
CONSISTENT CHARACTER (3 Images + Prompt)
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/r7AeeQhGlIk, https://s.mj.run/jcKDr8PvVNo, https://s.mj.run/OeQVlwIzfII, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps --ar 9:16
Incredible consistency in hairstyle, face and outfit!
The style is slightly different from our first character, and also some of the angle shots we got with the same prompts (I am already 10 steps ahead). This depends on the style of the original 3 SOURCE IMAGES and their angle shot. Anyway, this technique is giving amazing results in a very few prompts!
CONSISTENT CHARACTER Multiple Poses
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/r7AeeQhGlIk, https://s.mj.run/jcKDr8PvVNo, https://s.mj.run/OeQVlwIzfII, concept character, multiple poses and expressions, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps --ar 9:16
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/r7AeeQhGlIk, https://s.mj.run/jcKDr8PvVNo, https://s.mj.run/OeQVlwIzfII, concept character, white background, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps --ar 9:16
UPSCALE 1 IMAGE AND COPY SEED
Seed: 1225100394
Copy Image URL
Create Character Description in a Setting
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:wide angle shot, full body image, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes sitting in a cafe. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps. --ar 16:9
Beautiful images from multiple angle shots, now I need to place my character there!
UPSCALE 1 IMAGE
Copy Image URL
INSERT CHARACTER IN SETTING (2 images + seed parameter)
PROMPT - /imagine prompt:https://s.mj.run/eajYryVuYA8, https://s.mj.run/MnAFIceMxyA wide angle shot, full body image, stunning beautiful woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes sitting in a cafe. Her skin is pale and unblemished, and she has a few scattered freckles on her face. She moves with a graceful and fluid motion. She often wears a form-fitting black jumpsuit with various pockets and straps. --ar 16:9 --seed 1225100394
There you have it!
Name: Sarah "Shadow" Lee
Personality: Sarah is a skilled and disciplined fighter, with a quiet and focused demeanor. She is a master of stealth and reconnaissance, and often serves as Jake's eyes and ears during their missions. She has a dry sense of humor and is fiercely loyal to her friends, but can also be quick to anger if she feels that someone has betrayed her.
Background: Sarah grew up in a family of assassins, where she was trained from a young age in the art of killing. She became disillusioned with her family's way of life and left to become a vigilante, using her skills to fight for justice. She met Jake during one of her missions, and the two formed a bond based on their shared values and their love for combat.
Abilities: Sarah is a highly skilled assassin, with training in a variety of martial arts and combat techniques. She is especially skilled in stealth, and is able to move silently and undetected through almost any environment. She is also a skilled marksman, and can take out targets from a distance with deadly accuracy.
Weaknesses: Despite her physical and mental strength, Sarah has a tendency to become emotionally attached to her targets, which can sometimes cloud her judgment. She also has a fear of water, which stems from a traumatic experience in her childhood.
-----------
Introducing Emma "The Enigma" Smith
Emma "The Enigma" Smith: Emma is an elegant and refined woman with long blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her skin is fair and unblemished. She moves with a measured and precise grace. She often wears a tailored black blazer with a white blouse and black slacks. Her posture is always impeccable, and she exudes an air of confidence and control.
🎨 Generating Reference Images (again, great consistency to begin with!)
Personality: Emma is a complex and enigmatic fighter, with a calm and collected demeanor. She is a master of deception and often uses her intelligence and cunning to outwit her opponents. She is a private person who keeps her emotions and thoughts closely guarded, but is fiercely loyal to those she considers her friends. She has a dry sense of humor and a sharp wit, and often uses sarcasm to deflect attention from herself.
🎨 UPSCALED to create Reference Image
Background: Emma's background is shrouded in mystery, and she rarely speaks about her past. She has worked as a spy and a mercenary, using her skills to complete dangerous missions all over the world. She met Jake during a mission they were both working on, and the two quickly formed a bond based on their mutual respect and admiration.
🎨 Consistent Character
Abilities: Emma is a highly skilled fighter, with training in a variety of martial arts and combat techniques. She is especially skilled in hand-to-hand combat and is able to use her opponents' strength against them. She is also a master of disguise and can blend into almost any environment. Her sharp mind allows her to quickly assess a situation and come up with a plan of attack.
🎨 Character in Scene
Sitting in a cafe
Weaknesses: Despite her intelligence and cunning, Emma can sometimes be overly secretive, which can make it difficult for others to trust her. She also has a tendency to hold grudges, which can sometimes cloud her judgment. Additionally, her desire for control can sometimes lead her to take unnecessary risks.
Emma "The Enigma" Smith would be a great partner for Jake because her intelligence and cunning would complement Jake's physical strength. Her expertise in deception and strategy would enable Jake to outsmart his opponents, while her loyalty would ensure that she always has his back. Additionally, her mysterious background could provide an interesting subplot that adds depth to the story, and her tendency to hold grudges could create tension and conflict between her and Jake.
There You Go! Consistent Characters in Scenes in Midjourney
What do you think about this method?
Are you going to use it to create consistent characters?
Let me know in the comments!
Don't forget to checkout Chat GPT and Jasper, to create stories, character ideas, plot, storylines, learn more about genres, styles, and much more!
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AI is like a virtual assistant that never sleeps!
It is available 24/7 and it can be used for a variety of things. The GPT-3 language model used for Jasper and Chat GPT is incredibly powerful and can generate writing that is both engaging and informative. AI can be used to deepen your knowledge on any topic, write books, descriptions, marketing material such as social media posts, blog posts, and more. It can be used to ask questions, and automate processes. AI has already revolutionized many industries, and it's changing the way we approach to art, giving everybody the opportunity to express their ideas, in a shorter time frame, at a fraction of the cost! With the help of AI, creators can bring their stories to life like never before, and writing books faster and better than ever!
As you can see, I easily generated character ideas with Artificial Intelligence, so I could spend more time designing, and thinking about the story. So you can imagine what you can accomplish if you work with Artificial Intelligence to help you craft ideas. You can write any type of written content, in any format you want, with high quality text and stunning art.
You can publish your books and build a brand!
Read this blog post if you want to learn how to check what books sell on Amazon and how.
You will also learn how to create books with the power of Artificial Intelligence.
💻 Try Chat GPT, which is currently FREE and offer a paid plan (which I use, as Chat GPT is always busy, so I can have priority access)
🤖 Try Jasper for FREE with 10,000 words written by AI, over 60 templates and pre-made recipes, including hours of tutorial on how to write a book with the help of Artificial Intelligence (which I use for writing books, marketing, description, and most of all task automation!)
Stay tuned for new ideas!
You are welcome to use this post and take it to the next level!
Paolo Midjourney | Consistent Characters
👉 Part 1 - Consistent Characters in Midjourney
👉 Part 2 - Consistent Characters in Midjourney
👉 Part 3 - Consistent Characters in Midjourney
In the News: New FREE Midjourney STICKER Prompt Generator
A new prompt generator for stickers only! Create stickers, emojis, characters and more!
A part from the fact that this generator is for stickers only, the main difference between this and the Midjourney Prompt Generator is that this tool has a very clean and neat dataset
Each generation will produce 10 Prompts among hundreds of thousands possible unique combinations, so your styles will be unique!
Up Next: Take Your Characters to Next Level with Stories and Books
I wrote a book on How to Create Children's Books with Artificial Intelligence and Sell them on Amazon KDP and Beyond
If you an aspiring children's book author looking to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence to create and sell your books, this book is going to take you from zero to hero!
Follow along as I x-ray other children's books on Amazon, write and design a story and explore ways to grow a brand on Amazon KDP, social media and beyond!
Coming soon ✅ Midjourney Coloring Book Prompt Generator: I talked about it in this blog post How to Create Coloring Books and Make Money with AI on Amazon KDP
Free Tool Available now
✅ Midjourney Prompt Generator: Create Mind-blowing styles with Midjourney
Tools for Creators
AI ART:
AI WRITERS: Chat GPT Jasper WriteSonic
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💡Blog Post: How to write books with AI: Writing Your First Book? Discover the Power of AI Writing to Speed Up the Creative Process and Bring Your Story to Life!
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This is fantastic, but what if you wanted to put two (or even all three) of these characters into one scene?