Quality vs Creative Mode

When generating a character, you choose between two modes: Quality and Creative. Each uses a different AI model under the hood, and they have different strengths, limits, and behaviors.

This guide breaks down what each mode does, when to use it, and what to expect.

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The Two Modes at a Glance

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Quality Mode

Quality mode is the default and the most versatile option. It produces high-fidelity, realistic characters and supports the full range of platform features.

When to Use Quality

• You want precise control over skin texture, makeup, and appearance
• You plan to create Looks, Poses, or Candid Photos from this character
• You need a character that will be used across multiple videos
• You want to apply a style preset (natural skin, acne, freckled, glam makeup, etc.)

How It Works

Quality mode wraps your prompt in a detailed system instruction that guides the AI toward photorealistic, phone-camera-style results. If you select a style preset, it adds specific skin and lighting directives on top.

Your prompt:

A confident woman in her 30s with shoulder-length auburn hair
and green eyes, wearing a casual denim jacket

What the AI receives: Your description + detailed realism instructions + your chosen style modifiers. This produces consistent, grounded results.

Style Presets

Style presets are only available in Quality mode. They add specific skin realism and lighting characteristics:

Variations, Poses & Candids

Quality mode characters unlock the full character workflow:

Character (Quality mode)
├── Looks (outfit, age, body type changes)
│   └── Poses (actions, settings, camera angles)
└── Candid Photos (authentic scene presets)

These features require the AI to preserve your character's identity from a reference image - something only Quality mode supports.

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Creative Mode

Creative mode uses a different AI model optimized for artistic freedom and variety. It trades some precision for more expressive, diverse output.

When to Use Creative

• You want more artistic variety in the generated character
• You're exploring ideas and don't need a specific style preset
• You want relaxed content guidelines for edgier aesthetics
• You're generating standalone characters that don't need variations

How It Works

Creative mode sends a minimal instruction to the AI, giving it more room to interpret your prompt creatively. There's no style modifier layer - your prompt is the primary driver.

Your prompt:

A confident woman in her 30s with shoulder-length auburn hair
and green eyes, wearing a casual denim jacket

What the AI receives: A short framing instruction + your description. The AI has more freedom in how it interprets lighting, composition, and style.

What's Different

Shorter prompt limit (900 characters). Creative mode's AI model has a stricter total prompt budget. Write concise, focused descriptions rather than lengthy specifications.

No style presets. The style selector is hidden in Creative mode. Your prompt alone controls the look. If you want specific skin characteristics, describe them directly in your prompt.

No variations, poses, or candids. Creative mode generates standalone characters. You cannot create Looks, Poses, or Candid Photos from a Creative mode character because the underlying model doesn't support identity-preserving reference images.

Writing Prompts for Creative Mode

Since you have fewer characters and no style presets, your prompt needs to do all the work. Be direct and visual:

Good Creative prompts:

Young man with curly hair and glasses, warm smile,
streetwear hoodie, golden hour lighting

Elderly woman with silver hair in a bun, kind eyes,
wearing a cozy knit sweater, soft window light

Tattooed skateboarder in their 20s, confident stance,
ripped jeans and band tee, urban alley background

Less effective Creative prompts:

A person who looks nice and friendly

Too vague - give the AI something visual to work with.

A 35-year-old Caucasian woman with exactly shoulder-length
auburn hair parted on the left side, wearing a specific
shade of navy blue denim jacket with copper buttons,
standing at exactly 30 degrees to the camera with her
left hand in her pocket and right hand holding a
vintage leather briefcase, in front of a red brick wall
with exactly three windows visible behind her...

Too long and too precise - you'll hit the 900-character limit and Creative mode works better with broader strokes anyway.

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Choosing the Right Mode

Use Quality When...

• Building a character for ongoing content
• You want Looks, Poses, or Candid Photos
• Specific skin/style presets matter
• Consistency across multiple generations is important

Use Creative When...

• Exploring character ideas quickly
• Making standalone images or thumbnails
• You want the AI to surprise you
• Standard content guidelines feel too restrictive

Switching Modes

You can switch between Quality and Creative in the generation modal at any time. A few things to know:

• Style selector smoothly hides/appears when switching modes
• Prompt limit changes - if your prompt exceeds 900 characters when switching to Creative, you'll see a warning and the Generate button disables until you shorten it
• Mode doesn't affect existing characters - it only controls how new characters are generated

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Here's the same prompt in both modes to illustrate the difference:

Prompt: "Athletic man in his late 20s, short fade haircut, light stubble, wearing a fitted black t-shirt, standing with arms crossed"

Quality mode (left): Grounded, phone-camera-realistic result with natural skin texture and lighting.

Creative mode (right): More stylized, artistic interpretation. Lighting and composition may be more dramatic or unexpected.

Both are valid - the right choice depends on your use case.

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Quick Reference

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Ready to generate? Head to your Characters page and try both modes to see which fits your workflow.