Built-in looks vs your own look

Art direction always lives in the same place: the look grid in the Story Wizard Style step, or the Art direction picker in Create View.

Built-in looks

These are Ciaro’s ready-made treatments. Click a thumbnail to apply it to the project.

Cinematic (default) is photoreal — like a film still from a camera. It does not add an illustrated overlay.

Illustrated and stylized options include looks such as:

• Graphic Novel Noir
• Charcoal Cinematic Sketch
• Clean Line Art
• Stylized 3D Animation
• Hand-Drawn Pencil Sketch
• Watercolor Storybook
• Cinematic Anime Film Still
• Ink Wash Illustration
• Claymation / Stop-Motion
• Retro Poster Illustration

You may also see additional built-in tiles in the same grid. They all work the same way: one click sets the project look.

Use a built-in look when you want a proven treatment quickly, or when you are exploring before committing to a custom brand look.

Your own look (custom styles)

A custom style is a look you define for your team and attach to this story.

Typical path:

1. On the Board (Playground), open the story inspector and find Styles.
2. Create a new style, or add one from your team library.
3. Open it in Entity Builder, add reference images that show the look you want, and generate the style description and look plate.
4. Back in Art direction, click your style’s tile.

Until the look plate exists, the tile is not selectable in Art direction. That is expected — Ciaro needs a visual sample of the look before it can apply it to shots.

Custom styles are reusable: create once, add to other stories from the team library, then pick them in Art direction.

Which should you use?

Situation	Choose
You want live-action / photoreal boards	Cinematic
You want a known illustrated treatment fast	A built-in tile
You have brand frames, a comic bible, or a specific artist look	A custom style
You are still exploring	Start with a built-in look; switch later and regenerate

One look at a time

Selecting a built-in look clears the custom look, and selecting a custom look becomes the project’s art direction. You do not stack two looks.

Prompts and models

Art direction applies when you generate shot images, regardless of which current image model you use. You do not pick a separate “style model.”

Leave the rendering medium out of the shot prompt unless you are intentionally overriding the project look for a one-off experiment.

Character portraits and other Entity Builder images stay identity/location references — they do not switch to the illustrated project look.