# Production Planning — map the assets before you shoot Any request for a film, ad, scene, episode, campaign or "video with characters" starts here, **before** a single video credit is spent. Most users do not know this flow exists; they ask for a film and expect a film. Walk them through it rather than jumping to a prompt. **Skip asset mapping** only when keyframes and DNA are **100% unnecessary**: generic b-roll, ambient motion, simple stock-like scenes where the video model inventing composition is fine. For tightly designed kids/educational beats, Pixar-like staging, or any brief where composition must be locked, generate keyframes (or DNA) first and attach them to the video call — do not invent stills and then run a Multishot T2V that ignores them. ## The order is not negotiable (when cast/product identity must lock) 1. **Map** every element the script needs — including the **session plan** (names). 2. **Create** each one as an asset (Visual DNA), grouped into the planned sessions. 3. **Confirm** that bucket with the user. Do not start the next bucket until they lock this one. 4. **Only then** compile shots and generate video (one session per scene). Generating video before step 3 is how a production ends up with a different face in every shot and a re-shoot bill. A shot generated against an unapproved cast is not a draft, it is waste. ## 1. Map Read the script and produce an explicit inventory. Name every element, even the ones that feel obvious — the ones that get skipped are the ones that drift: | Kind | DNA type | What it owns | |---|---|---| | Every speaking or recurring person | `character` | identity, wardrobe, physical state, performance | | Every location, including reverse angles | `environment` | geography, landmarks, materials, light logic | | Every hero prop, product, vehicle | `product` | identity, scale, material, damage/version state | | The film's overall look, when it must hold across shots | `style` | visual register only | State the inventory back to the user as a list with counts and cost before creating anything. A 4-character, 2-location, 1-prop film is 7 assets, not "some characters". Also publish the **session plan** in that same MAP reply — exact sidebar titles you will `rename_session` to. Default buckets: | Session name | Kind | Contents | |---|---|---| | `Cast` | image | all character sheets / character DNAs | | `Locations` | image | all environments | | `Props` | image | hero products / vehicles (omit if none) | | `Scene 01 — ` | video | every shot and retake of that scene | | `Scene 02 — ` | video | next scene | Slugs come from the plan (`Scene 01 — coffee shop`, `Scene 03 — rooftop chase`), not generic "API Generations" or "Untitled". One video session **per scene**; shots live inside it. A new session is a new scene or a new concept — never a new take. Omitting `session_id` on generate creates a new session. First call of a bucket omits it, then `rename_session` immediately; every later call in that bucket passes the same id. Image and video kinds cannot share an id. Keep planned names in the working plan during MAP. Do not create or update `.kolbo/production.md` for pending buckets. After the user approves a bucket, write its plan name and real `session_id` under `### Sessions`. See `production-log.md`. Separate **states** from **identities**: clean vs bloodied, day vs night, intact vs broken are their own assets. Do not expect one DNA to carry both. ## 2. Create Generate the reference imagery, then register it as a Visual DNA. **Model defaults for the asset pass** (this is an image job — never a video model): | Asset | Model | Why | |---|---|---| | Cinematic environments; invented / original characters | **`mirage-film-2`** (MIRAGE FILM 2, 3cr) | cinematic look at a third the cost — the default for anything being invented from scratch | | Assets needing reference fidelity, legible text, or editing | **`nano-banana-2`** (10cr) or **`gpt-image-2`** (12cr) | stronger reference adherence and text; GPT Image 2 when the asset carries readable words | Read the matching prompt reference before writing an asset prompt: `references/models/nano-banana.md` for Nano Banana, `references/models/gpt-image.md` for GPT Image 2. There is no Mirage reference file — prompt it as a plain cinematic still. Resolve the sheet **preset** (custom instructions live there): `list_presets({ type: "image", search: "bible" | "headless" | "character sheet" })` then `generate_image` with that `preset_id`. Do not dump the catalog — always pass `search`. - `bible` — lead or anyone with a lot of detail (default when in doubt) - `headless` — body / wardrobe / instrument; face already locked - `character sheet` — simple supporting role - `location` / `product` — matching DNA type Sheets are **2K or 4K** (never 1K). Default 2K; 4K for bible / high-detail / when the user names 4K or GPT Image 2. Do not skip the sheet and `create_visual_dna` from a portrait. The sheet is the asset; the DNA stores it. **Purity (HARD).** Every still on a DNA is packed into later generations (all slots the model has, or a white grid if only one slot is left). Keep each profile surgically clean: one identity, one vibe. Environment / location stills must not contain a main character or recognizable hero face (anonymous crowd is OK). Character stills must not contain a second lead. Separate states (day/night, clean/bloody) are separate DNAs. Full pack + purity rules: `references/workflows/visual-dna.md`. Then `create_visual_dna` with the sheet as the reference and the matching `dna_type`. Name each DNA in the exact form it will be tagged with later. Immediately `link_project_asset` it onto the working project and `update_project_asset` with the identity `description` plus a purpose `note`. Do not leave a cast DNA undescribed on the project roster. ## 3. Confirm — a labeled GATE, then wait Show the user what this bucket produced and **stop**. Do not start Locations while Cast is still iterating. Do not shoot while assets are unapproved. Do not rewrite `## 🎯 Now` to the next phase until the gate is answered. If they do not volunteer a yes, end the turn with a GATE the next message can parse — not a vague "looks good?": ``` GATE — Cast Presented: @maya, @doron (provisional; not yet in the production log) Lock + next: "lock cast" / "yes" / "next" / "now locations" Stay: "redo @maya" / "another take of the leather jacket" ``` Treat as confirmation: `yes`, `ok`, `lock`, `approved`, `that's the one`, `use take 2`, `next`, `go`, `continue`, or they name the **next** bucket ("now do environments", "shoot scene 1") while treating the current set as done. Not confirmation: silence, "maybe", a question about something else, another take request. Ask the GATE again once; do not invent a yes. On lock: write the approved result into `.kolbo/production.md`, then start the next planned bucket in **its** session. Rejected and pending takes never enter the log. ## 4. Shoot Only now compile shots. Defaults: - **`generate_elements` with Seedance 2.5** (`seedance-2-5`) for the film itself — up to 30s and 30 shots in ONE generation, dialogue and SFX baked in. DNA cap: read `max_visual_dna` from `list_models`. `generate_video` also accepts `visual_dna_ids` now; Elements remains the primary reference-driven route. - **Seedance 2.0** (`seedance-2`, cheaper, 4–15s, smaller DNA cap per `list_models`) when the piece is short and the cast is small. `seedance-2-fast` / `seedance-2-mini` for cheap blocking. - Every DNA in `visual_dna_ids` must also appear as `@ExactName` in the prompt. - Dialogue in quotes inside its shot beat — English only, never TTS or lipsync. See `models/seedance25.md`. - **First pass at 480p.** Resolution is a credit multiplier (480p ×0.44 vs 720p, 1080p ×2.25). Block, approve, then re-run the approved cut at delivery resolution. ## What this replaces Do not plan a film as "N separate image-to-video clips plus TTS plus lipsync". That shape is a legacy of models that could not hold a cast or speak. It costs more, drifts between shots, and produces dead-eyed dubbed performance. One multi-shot Seedance generation against approved DNAs is the current answer.