Guides / Video
How to Keep Characters Consistent in Muse with Character Sheets
The most common problem in AI storytelling is a main character who looks like a different person in every shot. The fix is a character sheet: one reference image per character that you create once and reuse everywhere. Here’s how we build them for Muse projects.
What a character sheet is
A character sheet is a single image that shows one character clearly, usually from the front, side and three-quarter angle, against a plain background. Muse uses it as a reference, so every new shot starts from the same face, build, hair and clothing instead of inventing them again.
You can make sheets for places and objects too, such as a house that appears in many scenes or a specific boat. We call these element sheets.
Step 1: Write a character description
Before generating anything, write a short, fixed description for each character and keep it in your project document. Include:
- Age, written as a number (“a 42-year-old man”, not “middle-aged”)
- Build, height and posture
- Face: skin tone, face shape, eyes, distinctive features
- Hair: colour, length, style
- Clothing, with colours and materials, and the time period it should match
Use exactly the same words every time this character is mentioned. Small wording changes produce small changes in the face.
Step 2: Generate the sheet
Ask Muse for a reference sheet using your description:
Asking for “no text, no labels” matters. Without it, Muse may add name tags or captions to the sheet, which can then show up in your video frames.
Step 3: Check the sheet carefully
Look over every sheet before you use it. The things we most often have to fix are:
- Wrong age: characters coming out noticeably younger or older than described
- Things from the wrong era: modern zips, plastic buttons or sunglasses on a historical character
- Text: labels or captions that slipped in
- Wrong count: four views when you asked for three, or a second person in the frame
- Duplicates: two characters who look too alike to tell apart
Small problems, like an extra figure at the edge, can often be cropped out. For anything else, ask for a targeted edit (“Same character, but make him look 42, with grey in his beard”) rather than regenerating from scratch.
Step 4: Give every sheet an ID
Name each approved sheet with a short ID and the character’s name, such as C01-Thomas or E03-Lighthouse. Use these IDs in your shot list so you always know which reference goes with which shot.
Step 5: Use the sheet in every shot
When you prompt a shot, include the sheet as a reference and name the character in the prompt: “Thomas (see reference) pulls his boat up onto the sand as the wind picks up.” If you work from a document of prompts, place each sheet image directly above the shots it belongs to. Muse reads images embedded in documents along with the text.
Tips for groups and crowds
- Give each main character a clearly different silhouette: different heights, hair and clothing colours.
- Limit named characters in a single shot to two or three. Crowds can be described generally.
- For a family or group that always appears together, a group sheet showing them side by side helps Muse keep their relative ages and heights right.
When a character still drifts
If a character starts to look different partway through a project, go back to the original sheet rather than using a frame from a recent clip as the reference. Using the newest image as the next reference makes small changes pile up over time.