A Simple Way to Keep Your Midjourney Characters Consistent

Creating images with the same character across different scenes has always been a big hurdle with AI image generators like Midjourney. Because AI models tend to produce unique results even with detailed descriptions, getting a character to look consistently the same was tricky. People developed workarounds, but it often involved complex steps.

Now, Midjourney has introduced a new feature designed specifically for this challenge: the character reference feature. This works similarly to the style reference feature Midjourney added earlier, which let you use an image to keep a consistent art style. This new character reference aims to do the same thing, but for the character's appearance. Let's look at how to use it and what it can do.

Using the New Character Reference Feature

To use the character reference, you add the `--cref` parameter to your prompt, followed by the URL of an image showing the character you want to reference.

You can also control how much the AI focuses on the reference character's details versus the prompt's description using the character weight parameter, `--cw`. You add `--cw` followed by a number between 0 and 100.

• A setting of `--cw 100` (the default if you don't specify) will try to replicate the character's face, hair, and even clothes.

• A setting of `--cw 0` will focus mainly on the character's face, making it easier to change outfits or add accessories while keeping the core face consistent.

Midjourney notes that this feature works best with characters that were originally created in Midjourney, not real people or photos. It also might not perfectly copy tiny details like logos on clothing.

Getting Started: Create a Character Sheet

A good way to start is by generating a "character sheet." This means creating several images of your character in different poses, angles, and with various expressions. This gives you a good reference image to work with later.

For example, you might prompt for "various poses and different angles and expressions of a young girl with black curly hair, character sheet, in the style of children's book illustrations." Using a horizontal aspect ratio like 16:9 can give you more room for multiple character examples in one image.

Getting Better Reference Images

For the best results when using your character sheet as a reference, consider doing some simple editing first. If there are distortions or small issues in the generated sheet, you can crop individual examples and fix them before saving the image. This step can make a big difference in the consistency you get in future images.

Achieving consistent characters across many images for a story or project can involve generating many versions and refining. Tools like the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT can help streamline these workflows, making it easier to manage and process multiple image generations.

Putting Character Reference to the Test

Once you have a reference image (like your character sheet), you can easily generate new scenes. Take the URL of your character sheet image.

Then, write your prompt for the new scene, add `--cref`, and paste the URL. For example: "a young girl with black curly hair jumping over a fence --cref [URL of your character sheet]"

Initial tests show that the character does look very similar, which is a great start! However, you might notice that the style of the new image doesn't perfectly match the style of the reference image, especially if your reference was more illustrative or cartoonish and the new image looks more realistic.

Combining Character and Style Consistency

To keep both the character and the art style consistent, you can combine the character reference (`--cref`) with the style reference (`--sref`). Simply use the same reference image URL for both parameters.

Your prompt would look like this: "a young girl with black curly hair jumping over a fence --cref [URL of your character sheet] --sref [URL of your character sheet]"

Using both parameters together helps Midjourney match both the character's appearance and the visual style of your reference image, leading to results that are much closer to your desired look.

Handling Challenges and Refinements

Sometimes, even with `--cref`, you might run into issues.

• If you generate an image with multiple characters, they might all end up looking like your reference character.

• If your reference images are mostly close-ups, Midjourney might struggle to generate full-body shots of your character, even if you ask for them in the prompt.

This is where using editing software like Photoshop becomes very helpful. You can generate characters and backgrounds separately and then combine them. For example, you can cut out your consistent character from a Midjourney image and place them onto a new background you generated with Midjourney (making sure to match the style using `--sref`). This gives you precise control over composition and lighting.

For issues with getting full-body shots from close-up references, the Midjourney zoom out feature is useful. You can generate a close-up, then use the zoom out buttons to create versions with more of the character visible. You might still need to do some editing afterward to perfect the details, like adding a missing hand or adjusting proportions.

Managing many prompts, variations, and reference images manually can be time-consuming. Consider exploring tools designed to work with Midjourney, such as the Midjourney Automation Suite from TitanXT, which can help automate repetitive tasks and keep your creative process organized.

Conclusion

Midjourney's new character reference feature is a significant step forward for achieving consistency in characters across multiple images. By using `--cref`, and optionally `--cw` and `--sref`, you can generate scenes where your character looks the same, pose after pose. Combining this feature with simple editing techniques allows for even greater flexibility and control, helping you create coherent visual stories or series of illustrations. This makes bringing consistent characters to life in your AI art projects much more practical.

streamline the process of generating consistent character images with Midjourney.