Tex's AI Journey

Having seen the impressive results that Mr Story gets with AI i thought i had better have a go.
This is a bit of a record of my Journey. I am starting from scratch so not sure where it will go.I welcome hints, tricks and tips as well as "why did you do that".This is not a teaching thread although if anyone learns from my mistakes that is great.
Part of my motivation is to try and reduce the lifting and positioning my girls need (bad for me and bad for them).A rule i have set myself is that any images of the girls should be close to the real thing.So, lets see how it goes.

First, don't know what i am doing go

Its a start. I have stuck this post to the top of the AI forum so we can use it for references. At least for a while.

Here is a chatgpt response to how to prompt for beginners.

Here’s a simple, beginner-friendly way to explain the prompt so someone new can get great results without accidentally changing the person’s face or identity.

---

The core idea (plain English)

You want to tell the AI what must NOT change (the person’s face and identity) before you describe what you want to change (clothes, hairstyle, accessories, setting).

Think of it as:
Lock the person first → then customize the outfit.

---

Step-by-step prompt structure

1️⃣ Say this is a real person and their likeness must stay the same

This is the most important part.

Example:
“Use the attached photo of a real person. Keep the exact facial features, face shape, skin tone, age, and identity the same.”

---

2️⃣ Explicitly tell it what NOT to change

Be very direct.

Example:
“Do not change the face, eyes, nose, mouth, jawline, or overall likeness. The person must be clearly recognizable as the same individual.”

---

3️⃣ Describe what you do want to change (clothes, accessories, details)

Now you can safely get creative.

Example:
“Change the outfit to a black leather jacket, white t-shirt, and dark jeans. Add a silver wristwatch and subtle rings.”

---

4️⃣ Control the realism level

This helps avoid stylized or ‘AI-looking’ faces.

Example:
“Photorealistic, natural skin texture, realistic lighting, no stylization.”

---

5️⃣ Optional: reinforce likeness again (this helps a lot)

Repeating this once more improves consistency.

Example:
“The person should look exactly like the original photo, just wearing a different outfit.”

---

Full example prompt (copy-paste ready

“Use the attached photo of a real person. Keep the exact facial features, face shape, skin tone, age, and identity unchanged. Do not alter the face, eyes, nose, mouth, or overall likeness in any way.

Change only the clothing: replace the current outfit with a fitted black leather jacket, white t-shirt, and dark jeans. Add a subtle silver wristwatch.

Photorealistic, natural lighting, realistic skin texture. The person must remain clearly recognizable as the same individual from the original photo.”

---

Pro tips for beginners (very important)

• ✅ Always say “exact likeness” or “clearly recognizable”

• ❌ Avoid words like stylized, cinematic, anime, illustration

• 🔁 Repeating “do not change the face” once or twice is good

• 👕 Keep outfit descriptions clear and simple

Excellent advice, i will take it even if Mr Tex doesn't (cus he is old and silly) 😉

Yes you have to tell Ai a lot of the time NOT what to change. Its even harder with plushie ladies. I use a free App called Dola. I also use Chat GPT to create photos, but you only get so many freebies a day. It is fun though. Chat GPT is a lot better at creating more realistic photos.

This is the Background Changer, Buffy with Daniel Craig. Just as an example. It didn't come out that well, but i had a photo of Buffy and just downloaded the scene of Daniel Craig and added her to it. But it isnt Ai it is basically a scene back drop 

I only really do photos though, not videos. I just did a better one😊

If you need any help Tex, just ask me. Im not an expert, but i may be able to help. I have been doing it for a while with my girls 😊

Tex has access to Nana Banana, so you would use the Craig reference image and the Buffy reference image.

The prompt should simply say:

Put Buffy in the picture, standing slightly to one side and in front of the man.

Make Buffy’s height reach the man’s shoulder.

Keep all likenesses exact to the reference images.

Match the lighting between both subjects.

If Nana Banana allows matching a real actor’s likeness, then the result should comply as expected. If not, Craig may look slightly different or the prompt may fail entirely. If the former, the image could be corrected afterward using Photoshop or similar editing software.

Thanks, me thinks Mr Tex will need all the help he can get 👍

One of my goals will be to keep the girls looking as they really are but with more flexible backgrounds and with (probably impossible to achieve any other way) posture changes.

Ok, here goes..

Same but 2K resolution

Top resolution (produces quite a big picture)

You just need 2K max, then the website will reduce it if need be. Or use a paint program to reduce the size to 1000px long side, as they produce the best results when reducing size. Our website reduces photos to 1000px

I like the propping the bar up shot better, but of course if your chartacter is smiling, or laughing or showing any emotion at all, then of course the face will change and perhaps, you might loose identity. That's why you must state to AI to try and keep the likeness exactly the same as the reference photo, so it knows to at least try and keep the identity solid.

Have you tried putting Polly is a TPE doll, rather than a real girl in the description of what you want Ai to do. 

Thanks everyone, attention paid to all 🙂

A trivial go with Dido

I use Dola, which is slightly different from what you use i guess. This is what i did with Buffy as an example. These are screen shots from my phone. Firstly i ask Dola to edit the photo i took of Buffy

Then Ai looks at what ive asked and does it

As it creates the picture it looks like this

Then hey presto Buffy is now laying on a sofa in a living room. She is still in her original dress from the original photo, as i didnt ask for anything else to change

The effect of saying Dido is not a real girl

Looks like "not a real girl" does reduce the changing of the face

Well hopefully it will keep her looking more ' doll ' like if thats what you are after. Otherwise AI may mistake her for a human,