Creating your own look

Use a custom style when built-in looks are not specific enough — a house comic style, a brand illustration bible, or a set of frames that already look “like your show.”

You collect example images, let Ciaro describe the shared look, and save a look plate. That plate is what Art direction uses on shot images. This is not character or style model training.

Create the style on this story

1. Open the project on the Board (Playground).
2. In the story inspector (right side), open Styles.
3. Click New style.
4. Entity Builder opens for that style. Give it a clear Style Name (this is the name you will see in Art direction).

You can also Add style from team library if the look already exists in this workspace library (the same shared library Asset Manager shows under Team). That is how a series reuses one house look across episodes.

Add images that show the look

Upload or generate a small set of images that share the same treatment:

• same medium (ink, paint, 3D, poster, and so on)
• similar palette and lighting attitude
• similar line quality or texture

Avoid mixing unrelated aesthetics in one style (photoreal portraits plus candy-colored animation). Ciaro will try to average them, and the look will feel muddy.

A few strong, consistent frames beat a large mixed dump.

Distill the look (description + look plate)

In the style’s profile, the Style Description field has a sparkle action once you have gallery images:

• Generate from images — writes a description of the shared look and builds the look plate.
• Rebuild look plate — refreshes the plate from the current description if you already like the text.

You can edit the description afterward. Keep it visual and specific (medium, palette, line, lighting). Skip marketing language and artist-name stacks.

The look plate is the thumbnail Art direction uses. Without a plate, the style cannot be selected in the look grid.

Turn it on for the project

1. Open Create View on any shot, or return to the Story Wizard Style step if you are still onboarding.
2. Open Art direction.
3. Click your custom tile at the end of the grid.

That becomes the project look. Built-in tiles are no longer the active look until you click one again.

After you switch

Existing storyboard images do not change by themselves. Generate or regenerate shots to see the new look.

Shot prompts should still describe the scene, not restate the whole style description. Ciaro already sends the look with generation.

Tips that actually help

• Name the style after the show or brand (“Harbor Noir,” “Kids Bible”) so the Art direction pill is readable.
• Distill again if you replace the gallery with better examples.
• Reuse the same style across episodes from the workspace library instead of recreating it. See Reusing cast and looks across episodes.
• If results feel “almost,” tighten the gallery and rebuild the plate — do not fight the look with extra medium words in every shot prompt.

Troubleshooting

• Tile is disabled — add images and generate the look plate.
• Look does not show in Art direction — confirm the style is linked to this story (inspector Styles), then reopen the picker.
• Shots still look cinematic — confirm your custom tile is selected (the Art direction pill should show your style name), then regenerate.
• Characters look illustrated when you did not want that — character Create Image is meant to stay as identity photos. Use those portraits as references; the shot generator applies the project look around them.