git:20261021.e28e225 to git:20261022.df83ac9

---

name: reference-strategy

description: Plan what visual and audio proofs production needs and why. Use for Reference Plan authoring and review; no media generation.

---

# Reference Strategy

## Role and authority

Plan what visual and audio proofs production needs and why.

Own: Reference role, consumer, priority, evidence requirements and preparation strategy.

Read [professional department architecture](../../docs/professional-departments.md) for the registry, Bible envelope, source/approval rules and Host handoff. Author only this department’s records; references never transfer ownership. Mark each record MIGRATED_FROM_R1 or NEW_PROFESSIONAL_ELABORATION when migrating a locked baseline.

## Inputs and dependencies

Asset Manifest; approved department designs; Shot/Action duties.

## Professional decisions

Treat learning cards and style studies as knowledge evidence. Their prompts,

captions and director labels do not verify provenance, lens settings, character

history or motion. Do not silently select their image bytes for production. An

explicitly selected production reference must still have a scoped duty and obey

the existing identity, source and input-selection mechanism.

Separate identity portrait, scale proof, environment topology, material, contact interaction, composition and performance references. One attractive image cannot establish every role. Declare REQUIRED versus PREFERRED and the downstream failure each reference prevents. Preserve route-neutral duties; route selection may bind compatible execution inputs later without changing the design.

## Outputs

For a continuity-critical prop, cite the exact Prop Design and test its silhouette,

relative scale, parts, material and needed contact surfaces. For each selected consumer,

judge what the reference establishes, what visible state it merely depicts and

what belongs to the target design. A face reference does not choose this scene's

costume or room; its still mouth shape or pose does not direct current speech or

listening. An open-body construction view does not set a closed-carry entry.

In `designPurpose`/`inputDuty`, name the selected transferable properties, not a

copy of the portrait's whole state or an old shot's action. Current Action,

Performance and Voice own behavior; explicit performance or composition references

may supply their approved properties without becoming identity-only references.

State the intended carry and consequential exclusions in the existing reference

duty, not a second design. A prohibition alone is not evidence that the model

separates those properties. When competing visual cues matter, compare an already

accepted suitable view or a target-state proof with route selection; do not

automatically add references, discard good originals or redesign to fit a slot.

Reuse accepted baselines and select only proof needed by actual consumers. One

reviewed image may serve several evidenced duties. Track available Host knowledge,

selected inputs and bytes actually sent separately, using the final request and

its source bindings rather than an earlier preparation preview. Text conditioning

and delivery success do not prove visual consistency; unknown evidence stays

unknown. A portrait's incidental object does not establish that prop's identity.

Produce a versioned `Reference Plan` with current source pins, department dependencies, scope, ownership, status and continuity references. Keep known decisions separate from unresolved requirements.

## Forbidden authority

Do not change upstream historical evidence, approved story/relationships/dialogue or another department’s records. Do not encode provider/model/workflow controls in creative content, manufacture user approval, or call media generation.

## Quality gates

Every required reference tests a concrete claim; no existing Media is asserted without a verified identity; future preparation remains pending.

## Failure and escalation

Return contradictory demands to the originating departments; execution limits return to route selection. Never silently drop a required proof to fit a provider slot.

## Source reads

Use supplied current originals first. For missing scoped context, read `work.get_work`, `scene.get_scene`, `script.get_script`, `episode.get_episode`, `shot.get_shot`, `asset.get_asset`, `context.build_context`. These reads do not authorize source writes or production.

## Still live-action professional knowledge

For opt-in STILL/LIVE_ACTION use `reference_roles` entries with exact entity/media/version/hash/ordinal, target actor IDs, carry properties, explicit must-not-carry domains and source-bound preservation text. Carry face/body/hair/marks only for CHARACTER; costume only for COSTUME; scene/layout only for SCENE. None automatically carries pose, gaze, expression, lighting, composition, camera, action, injury or makeup. All selected duties must survive the formal IR in preserve; legacy reference prose alone is insufficient.

Use distinct entity keys for character/costume/scene and obey the selected adapter's inspected cap: four raw images for the Ark Seedream frame route, three for retained non-Ark routes. The opt-in still professional mapping profile retains its own inspected slot bounds. Multi-view review evidence may exceed selected inputs; it is not independent truth or a promise of arbitrary-angle stability. In `requirements.face_coverage`, cite canonical leaves with use_requirement, evidence_state and STABLE_IDENTITY semantic classification. REQUIRED unconfirmed facts block that use. Portrait facial evidence and full-body proof are separate; no reconstruction of invisible identity. Reference Strategy owns duties, never the face facts.

Read [mapping and evidence profile](../../docs/still-professional-mapping.md) when preparing these still records. Knowledge remains LOCAL_EXPERIMENTAL until scoped A5 media evidence.

## Repeated subjects and competing visible states

When several selected images depict the same recurring actor, map each depicted

instance to one existing subject. For an intended single person, state that the

portrait and scene appearances are the same individual, not additional bodies.

Preserve authored twins, doubles, reflections or crowds rather than imposing a

universal face-count ban. Give supplementary views only their needed duties.

Compare use-purpose prose with actual execution semantics, subject bindings and

compiled reference preamble. A layout-only view must not regain identity, costume

or current-action authority through a broad default. Choose the compatible

existing duty (for example COMPOSITION) and version the binding with its new

authority; never silently strip a required proof. Latest visible endpoint state

and authored offscreen reconstruction must remain distinguishable.

Inspect incidental portrait actions as competing cues. Name the target prop/body

state and consequential exclusions in the responsible originals; an identity

reference is not a performance instruction. Negative wording alone cannot prove

that these cues will be separated by generation.

## Similar objects in a continuity input

For the target's critical prop transfer, inspect relevant hands, containers and

nearby lookalike shapes in the selected actual reference. Distinguish the tracked

prop, confirmed other objects, reflections/parts and unresolved shapes; record

where and why an identification is uncertain. Do not assume a container is empty,

call a narrow shape another prop without evidence, or erase an accepted detail.

Separate visible evidence from intended instance count. If ambiguity affects the

transfer, state the scoped conflict and the proof still needed in the existing

reference duty; a useful closer observation may remain Host-only. Preserve the

accepted predecessor and actual input route. Do not silently retouch it, add an

unsupported reference slot, or turn a still into proof of motion. Prohibitions

against new copies may reinforce the target action but cannot identify an

ambiguous reference object or guarantee generation behavior.

## Group identity and delivered interpretation

For a selected group image, bind each intended person to distinct visible evidence

in that exact current reference, using supported appearance and initial region

where useful. A screen region locates entry; it is not a permanent identity once

the person moves. Do not invent hidden face features or add portraits by default.

Keep evidence uncertainty in the source duty. Verify execution-critical findings

about similar objects, identity or inherited state in the actual compiled request,

with their source and input role. A retained duty or global-context record alone

does not prove delivery. Endpoint duties describe what the selected frame proves;

its pose is an opening state, not a whole-clip instruction. If a required finding

is absent or conflicts, return it to its owner/projection and recompile rather

than copying all review metadata into the model prompt.