video-workbench/handoff/2026-06-24-on-the-road-style-reference-handoff.md

On The Road Style / Reference Repair Handoff

Status

• Date: 2026-06-24.
• Project: projects/2026-06-23-在路上.
• Current branch: master.
• Recent commits:
  • 9b1a3c3 visual-system/characters规则及清理
  • 4329653 Broad-run images are candidates, not accepted finals. Identity/style reference workflow needs repair before further generation.
  • c37e7ab Add accepted visual anchors and five-shot trial
• Current handoff context index:
  • handoff/2026-06-24-on-the-road-style-reference-context/review-context.md
  • handoff/2026-06-24-on-the-road-style-reference-context/review-file-manifest.json

User Decision

Use a fresh session. Do not rely on chat compression for the next phase.

The user corrected the reference policy:

• Person identity work must use image references.
• Do not downgrade identity-critical shots to text-only generation.
• The next identity test is not whether to use a reference at all; it is which active reference to use: master character anchor, front crop, side crop, back crop, walking crop, or transparent slice.
• Style references are different. The style board is useful, but style continuity may be better carried by a reusable prompt master plus visual calibration images rather than mandatory image-to-image for every shot.

Must Read First

Read these in order before editing or generating:

1. AGENTS.md
   • UTF-8 reading/writing rules.
   • gpt-image-2 workflow rule.
   • Approval gate for project-bound image generation.
2. VIDEO_WORKBENCH.md
   • slides/sNN/sNN-vN-type.ext naming rule.
   • Character cleanup / archive rule.
   • Project-bound image prompt rules.
3. projects/2026-06-23-在路上/project.md
   • Project-local status and scope.
4. projects/2026-06-23-在路上/execution-plan.md
   • Current execution strategy.
5. projects/2026-06-23-在路上/visual-system/visual-system.md
   • Current visual system and A/B/C/D anchor definitions.
6. projects/2026-06-23-在路上/visual-system/characters/character-reference-registry.md
   • Active character references and selection rules.
7. projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/broad-generation-self-audit-v1.md
   • Why broad generation is paused.
   • What failed in the prior broad run.
8. Five-shot prompt/review evidence:
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s01/s01-v1-prompt.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s01/s01-v1-review.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s10/s10-v1-prompt.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s10/s10-v1-review.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s46/s46-v1-prompt.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s46/s46-v1-review.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s47/s47-v1-prompt.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s47/s47-v1-review.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s51/s51-v1-prompt.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/slides/s51/s51-v1-review.md
9. Style source files:
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/visual-system/style/style-anchor-brief-v1.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/visual-system/style/style-anchor-board-review-v1.md
   • projects/2026-06-23-在路上/visual-system/style/style-anchor-c-repair-review-v1.md

The generated context index lists the same reading set and included/excluded files.

Confirmed Evidence

Five core shot tests were not true image-reference generation. They used Mode B standalone prompt generation. The references were used for prompt construction, not attached as actual image inputs.

Evidence in review files:

Shot	Evidence
s01	s01-v1-review.md says no character reference was used and image references were not attached.
s10	s10-v1-review.md says character/style references were read or viewed locally, and explicit image-reference attachment was not available.
s46	s46-v1-review.md says character/style references were read or viewed locally, and explicit image-reference attachment was not available.
s47	s47-v1-review.md says character/style references were read or viewed locally, and explicit image-reference attachment was not available.
s51	s51-v1-review.md says character/style references were read or viewed locally, and explicit image-reference attachment was not available.

This means the five-shot visual trial can still be useful as visually approved-looking image results, but it does not prove that the character anchor or style board can control future scene generation through actual image-reference input.

Completed Since The Broad-Run Failure

• Broad-run candidates were committed as candidates, not accepted finals.
• slides/sNN/ files were renamed to the sNN-v1-type.ext convention.
• s34 bookkeeping was repaired:
  • slides.md marks s34 as generated.
  • broad-generation-run-v1.md has a backfilled s34 entry.
  • The project image hash matched the host output.
• visual-system/characters/ was cleaned:
  • Active references remain there.
  • Historical/process files moved to archive/characters/.
  • character-reference-registry.md now defines active references and selection rules.

Current Style Directory State

visual-system/style/ still contains both active assets and process files:

• style-anchor-board-v1.png
• style-anchor-board-v1.html
• style-anchor-board-spec-v1.md
• style-anchor-board-review-v1.md
• style-anchor-brief-v1.md
• style-anchor-c-repair-v1.png
• style-anchor-c-repair-prompt-v1.md
• style-anchor-c-repair-review-v1.md
• style-anchor-trial-plan.md
• style-blueprints-contactsheet.png

Likely active assets:

• style-anchor-board-v1.png: common style calibration board.
• style-anchor-c-repair-v1.png: visually useful C repair sample.
• A new style prompt master / registry file to be created.

Likely archive candidates after registry/master exists:

• trial plan, brief, board spec, board review, C repair prompt/review, HTML rendering file, and contactsheet if not needed as an active visual reference.

Do not archive style files before deciding and writing the active style registry / prompt master.

Next Recommended Sequence

1. Build style registry / prompt master.
   • Suggested path: projects/2026-06-23-在路上/visual-system/style/style-prompt-master.md
   • It should define A/B/C/D modules, global style kernel, negative drift list, and how each module maps to shot types.
   • It should also state which visual files remain active calibration references.
2. Then clean visual-system/style/.
   • Create archive/style/.
   • Keep only active style references and the new style prompt master in visual-system/style/.
   • Move process files to archive/style/.
3. Repair prompt rules before any generation resumes.
   • Each sNN-vN-prompt.md must include explicit Reference Inputs.
   • Character references must be selected from character-reference-registry.md.
   • Style prompt module must be selected from the new style master.
4. Run character reference validation tests.
   • Test master anchor versus front/side/back/walking crops/slices.
   • Required test set:
     • side or half-face identity;
     • back walking;
     • side walking;
     • medium human in environment.
   • Do not continue broad generation until this test proves which active references work.
5. Only after the above, repair or regenerate high-risk shots from the broad run:
   • s14
   • s33
   • s21
   • s05
   • s25
6. Then resume remaining missing shots.

Do Not Do Next

• Do not continue from s35 yet.
• Do not treat the five-shot trial as proof of character-reference control.
• Do not use archived character files as default references.
• Do not create identity-critical scene images using text-only character descriptions.
• Do not skip per-shot prompt/spec artifacts.
• Do not ask GPT V2 for final prompts; Codex owns local final prompt construction through the gpt-image-2 workflow.

Open Questions For Next Session

• Which actual generation path can attach local character reference images for identity-critical tests?
• Should style-anchor-board-v1.html remain active as an editable board source, or move to archive/style/ after style-prompt-master.md exists?
• Should style-blueprints-contactsheet.png remain active for quick visual inspection, or become archived process evidence?
• Should style modules reference source images from intake/imgs/ directly, or only reference the accepted style board and C repair image?

Verification Commands Already Run In This Handoff

git status --short

Result before creating this handoff: clean.

python C:\Users\wangq\.agents\skills\review-context-builder\scripts\review_context_builder.py ...

Result: wrote the context index and manifest under:

handoff/2026-06-24-on-the-road-style-reference-context/