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Recently Midjourney introduced a new capability called Character Reference. It allows you to make images while consistently showing the same character.

So, for fun I decided to make a little tour using this loveable scamp:


Hiya!
Prompt: full-body photo of a sleazy man in a pinstripe suit, with slicked back hair and a pencil mustache and a creepy grin --ar 3:4 --style raw --stylize 75

Meet Marcus Smelvy (I'm terrible at names). One big ball of.. misplaced self-confidence. In this post we're going to use him as our character reference for several new scenes.
The way this works is you use the --cref <url> parameter as a reference to what the character in the image should look like.

Let's try something simple and put him to work in an ice cream shop.


No, I don't have any bodies in the freezer
Prompt: a man running an ice cream shop --ar 4:3 --cref https://s.mj.run/bn8kg8YiQDI
The URL is an internal reference to our original Midjourney image of Marcus

Marcus is in color! But.. urgh.. he looks really out of place in his suit. This is definitely a mob front :)
The prompt itself is very simple and makes no reference to Marcus' appearance, which shows how much of an influence the character reference has.
Thankfully we can change the weight of the character reference with the --cw parameter. A value of 100 will include everything of the character including the clothes. A value of 0 will only focus on the face.

Let's get rid of that suit and see if that will make him a bit more approachable.


I hate my job
Prompt: a man running an ice cream shop --ar 4:3 --cref https://s.mj.run/bn8kg8YiQDI --cw 0

This is a lot more appropriate, though he's definitely not enjoying himself.
Let's try something a bit wilder:


The new summer collection
Prompt: a man posing in a fashion show --ar 4:3 --cref https://s.mj.run/bn8kg8YiQDI --cw 0

Again, it's a very simple prompt, but the character reference works like a charm.

But what about something a bit more... fantastical?


Thank you, I'll be here all night!
Prompt: a fantasy bard singing at a tavern --ar 4:3 --cref https://s.mj.run/bn8kg8YiQDI --cw 0

Even with a medium change to drawings, Marcus is still recognizable.

Basically you can create a character and put it in any situation you like.


For the emperor!
Prompt: a space marine firing his gun at an alien horde --ar 4:3 --cref https://s.mj.run/bn8kg8YiQDI --cw 0

You can even play with the --cw parameter and use a value in the middle to get some really weird effects.


For my hairline!
Prompt: a space marine firing his gun at an alien horde --ar 4:3 --cref https://s.mj.run/bn8kg8YiQDI --cw 50

And there you have it, a short run-through of what you can do with character reference. It's still in a testing phase, so I guess it'll get even more accurate. But for now the results are already quite amazing.
The ability of making a consistent character has a lot of interesting potential.

I'll leave you with a few more bonus images :)

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[-] GratefullyGodless@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Marcus Smelvy is an awesome name. It really does seem to fit him. I hope you don't mind, but I have a feeling Marcus will be turning up as an NPC in one of my Champions games. He just looks like a great recurring pain in the ass who will make things difficult for the superheroes whenever he shows up.

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 6 points 9 months ago

No, of course. Feel free to make use of Marcus however you like!

I would love to hear what he's been up to in your game :)

[-] Killer_Tree@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago

Thank you for this fun and informative post! I appreciate the process details you've included, and can't wait to try it out!

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

You're welcome! And please do think of us if you have something nice to share :)
I know I would love to see what you can come up with.

[-] boblemmy@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

I think it's the integration with FaceID

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

That does look pretty similar.
I have no idea if Midjourney is using a tuned stable diffusion model or something else entirely.

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

How do you get the URLs that work in Midjourney? I have never been able to figure this out

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

Any URL will work in Midjourney, as long as it points directly to an image.

Just copy the image link and use it in the prompt.
The link I've used in the --cref parameter is from the alpha.midjourney.com website. You can ask for an image link for whatever image you've created:

I hope this helps?

this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
37 points (95.1% liked)

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