# Annex — the AI animation studio system

*Found by Frank on X, saved 02-08-2026. External material, kept whole as reference for the [Make a film](film.html) shelf. The revenue claims are the author's, not ours; the value is the production method.*

## The heart of it: the 4-block prompt architecture

Every prompt has the same structure. Three blocks are fixed forever; one changes per shot.

```
STYLE_LOCK    <- never changes - the medium
CONTINUITY    <- never changes - character design + world rules
DIRECTION     <- never changes - camera language + pacing
SHOT          <- the ONLY variable block per image
```

Forty shots across an episode; characters, world and style identical in every one. That is what makes it look like a show, not a collection of images.

## Phase 0 — Style bible

One visual style, locked as a reusable **style string** appended to every prompt. Example: "2D cartoon, bold clean outlines, flat cel shading, saturated warm palette, slightly exaggerated proportions, soft shadow fills, consistent line weight throughout". Test until consistent; never improvise it per scene — drift starts the moment you freestyle the style.

## Phase 1 — Character sheets (built once, used forever)

Two templates, in order:

**Template A — base design** (lock the design): style string + age/gender/build, skin tone, face, hair + **OUTFIT BLOCK garment by garment** + emblems ("original fictional designs, no resemblance to any real nation, brand, or regime") + body language + expression. "Full-body, front-facing, clean white background, flat studio lighting." Re-roll the same prompt, never rewrite it.

**Template B — reference sheet** (from the approved design): four views on neutral grey — full-body front, full-body rear, front close-up, 90° profile close-up. **The OUTFIT BLOCK is pasted verbatim from A — never paraphrased. One word changed = visual drift across 40 shots.** Any detail that must persist (a scar, a logo) is written into the sheet, not fixed across 40 scenes later.

## Phase 2 — Location reference sheets

Four views of the same location, no characters, composed with deliberate negative space where a figure would stand. 2×2 grid, 16:9, labeled VIEW 1-4, consistent lighting and palette. Only the four VIEW lines change per location. A locked location is what makes episode 3 feel like the same world as episode 1.

## Phase 3 — Voice design

One locked voice per character. Supplied to Seedance as a **blank video with the audio track underneath — not an MP3** (the video carries the voice identity). One clip per line of dialogue; tag each line with @ to assign the voice. Two characters keep their own voices across one 15-second generation.

## Phase 4 — Scene generation

Scene = character sheets + location sheet + voice refs + scene prompt. The scene brief is written as plain narrative with dialogue verbatim, then an agent converts it to the multi-shot cinematic prompt:

```
[start - end] shot size, focal length, camera angle,
camera move - character description, action, expression:
"dialogue" @VoiceRef
```

The pace IS the format: 2-3 s per shot · ~6 shots per 15-second generation · action/reaction alternating · wide → medium → close-up rotation · focal length cycled 24/35/50/85 mm (the rotation is what makes it feel edited) · camera moves explicit, never ambiguous · sound cues called per shot · hard limit 1,500 characters per prompt (the Seedance limit). If a voice drifts across a multi-shot: single-shot generations, cut in edit.

## The range trick

The same character sheet works across genres: the same girl in a soft slice-of-life scene and a horror battle — only the STYLE LOCK palette line and DIRECTION block shift; CONTINUITY stays identical. One asset library serves bedtime stories and action series.

## The automation loop

A standing agent (the author uses Higgsfield Supercomputer scheduled tasks): every Monday it pulls the week's script, breaks it into ≤15 s scenes, writes every shot prompt from the sheets, outputs one production file, and flags missing character/location sheets BEFORE credits are spent. Planning in free mode; renders flagged separately.

## The score (Suno prompt shapes)

Structure a music prompt like a brief: instruments leading, what enters when ("full orchestra enters at 0:20"), the emotional arc, runtime, loop behavior, two artist references for the energy, register ("memorable but not aggressive"). Commercial license on the paid plan.

## The author's four rules

1. **Assets before scenes** — never generate a scene with a character that has no sheet.
2. **One style string, everywhere.**
3. **Explicit beats implicit** — persistent details live in the sheet.
4. **The library is the show** — episodes are recombinations of library assets; the asset library is what you are really building.