A reference image is not useful merely because the character looks good in it.
It is useful when another shot can understand who the character is.
A dramatic image with half the face hidden in shadow may be beautiful and still make a poor identity reference.
Start with a clean primary view
Your main reference should make the important identity features easy to see.
Ideally:
- face clearly visible;
- normal expression;
- approved hairstyle;
- approved standard wardrobe;
- useful lighting;
- no large object covering the body;
- no extreme camera distortion.
Think of it as the character's visual ID.
Avoid extreme expressions as the only reference
If the only approved image shows the character:
- screaming;
- squinting;
- laughing with eyes closed;
- making an exaggerated face;
later generations have less neutral identity information to work from.
Keep expressive images as secondary references.
Show enough of the body
If wardrobe and proportions matter, a face-only portrait is not enough.
A useful reference set may include:
- clear face/upper-body view;
- full-body view;
- side or three-quarter view;
- expression examples.
You do not need 30 images.
You need useful information.
Keep wardrobe intentional
If three references show three unrelated outfits, ask whether those are all canonical.
If not, choose one standard look.
For example:
Standard: green hoodie, dark jeans, white sneakers.
Later episodes can intentionally change clothes.
The reference set should not accidentally create uncertainty about the default.
Remove conflicting versions
Suppose an early draft has brown eyes.
The approved character has green eyes.
Do not keep both in the active reference set.
A production reference library should represent the approved character, not the history of every experiment.
Use consistent style
Do not mix:
- flat illustration;
- realistic 3D;
- watercolor;
- anime;
unless the production deliberately needs those variants.
The identity and visual style should reinforce each other.
Separate identity references from scene references
The character reference answers:
Who is this?
The scene reference may answer:
Where are they? What are they doing? What is the composition?
Keeping those roles clear makes the production easier to reason about.
Review references when drift appears
If later shots repeatedly change the same feature, inspect the reference set.
Maybe:
- the feature is hidden;
- references contradict each other;
- wardrobe varies;
- the face is too small;
- style is inconsistent.
Do not assume the solution is always a longer prompt.
Where MyToonMaker fits
The platform's consistency promise should be grounded in how approved character references are actually carried through production.
At publication time, Codex should replace this bridge with the live MyToonMaker reference behavior and original screenshots.
Build Your Character.