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Creating a Custom Visual Style Manually

Step-by-step tutorial for manually building a complete, production-grade custom visual style specification inside Flow Batch Studio.

Open Creative Bible in the Studio

Step 1: Open the New Custom Visual Style Dialog

In Flow Batch Studio, custom visual styles are created inside a dedicated modal dialog that opens directly over your project, keeping your Creative Bible workspace intact:

  1. Navigate to Creative Bible (/studio/creative) in your project.
  2. Locate the Visual Style section on the page.
  3. Click the Create custom style button (or + New custom visual style).
  4. The New Custom Visual Style dialog opens as a focused popup overlay.
  5. Select Manual Creation mode.

Step 2: Complete the Style Specification Fields

The manual creation form is organized into structured sections. Complete each section with descriptive, precise instructions:

  • 1. Style Identity — Enter the style name (e.g. Retro Cyber-Noir), artistic family (Cyberpunk / Film Noir), and a 2-3 sentence summary of what makes the style unique.
  • 2. Medium and Rendering — Specify the visual medium (2D, 3D, hybrid, traditional), rendering approach (cel shaded, painterly, photorealistic), and surface treatment.
  • 3. Character Design — Anatomical proportions (realistic 8-head, cartoon 4-head, spindly gothic), facial feature styling, silhouette rules, and wardrobe guidelines.
  • 4. Environment and Architecture — Architectural style, spatial geometry (cramped, epic wide, linear perspective), and background treatment (soft optical blur vs crisp line art).
  • 5. Color Palette & Grading — Primary dominant colors, secondary midtones, vibrant accent colors, overall saturation, and warm/cool contrast.
  • 6. Lighting & Atmosphere — Lighting setup (high-contrast chiaroscuro, soft diffuse overcast, neon rim lighting), shadow falloff, and atmospheric effects (smog, dust motes, haze).
  • 7. Camera & Optics — Default focal length (35mm, 50mm, anamorphic), camera perspective, depth of field, and camera motion behavior.
  • 8. Generation Prompts — Write the explicit Image-Generation Instructions and Video-Generation Instructions that will be prepended to scene prompts.
  • 9. Positive Tokens & Avoid Constraints — List mandatory positive tokens ('ink wash, wet-on-wet, raw paper grain') and forbidden negative tokens ('photorealism, 3D render, smooth airbrush').

Writing Effective Style Instructions

AI models respond poorly to vague buzzwords like 'make it cinematic' or 'high quality'. Instead, describe the physical and optical properties of the image:

Weak Instruction (Vague)Strong Instruction (Effective)
'Make it dark and cinematic.''High-contrast low-key lighting with single 45-degree key light, deep crushed blacks, and subtle warm tungsten edge rim light.'
'Use cool colors.''Muted teal and slate blue monochromatic palette punctuated by sharp neon vermilion red accents in focal points.'
'Good character design.''Elongated limbs with sharp angular joints, heavy dark eyeliner, pale porcelain skin tones, and structured Victorian wool coats.'
'High detail background.''Deep linear perspective down narrow cobblestone alleyways with wet reflective stones, towering brutalist concrete walls, and overhead cable clutter.'

Step 3: Preview, Validate, and Save

Once you have completed the fields:

  1. Click Preview Compiled Specification at the bottom of the dialog to inspect the consolidated prompt instructions.
  2. Click Save Custom Style.
  3. Flow Batch Studio validates the fields, ensures positive and negative token arrays are properly formed, and saves the style profile.
  4. The dialog closes, and your new custom style is immediately selected as the active visual style in your Creative Bible.
Creating a Custom Visual Style Manually · Docs | Flow Batch Studio