Glossary

AI production terms, without the fog.

A plain-English reference for image generation, video, prompting, UGC, and production systems.

01Aspect ratio

The proportional relationship between image width and height, such as 9:16 for vertical video or 4:5 for an Instagram feed post.

02Character consistency

Keeping the same recognizable identity, features, age cues, hair, and proportions across different generated scenes.

03Continuity lock

Prompt instructions that define what must remain unchanged between frames, shots, or generation passes.

04Control image

A reference used to guide pose, depth, edges, composition, identity, or another structural property.

05First frame

The approved still image used as the starting point for an image-to-video generation.

06Image-to-video

Generating motion from an existing still image while attempting to preserve its subjects and composition.

07Identity drift

Unwanted changes to a person, product, object, or vehicle as the model generates variations or motion.

08Identity lock

A reference and prompt structure designed to preserve the defining visual characteristics of a subject.

09Inpainting

Editing a selected region of an image while preserving the rest of the composition.

10Key frame

A visually important frame that defines the start, end, or major state of a shot.

11Negative prompt

Instructions describing unwanted artifacts, changes, styles, or objects the generation should avoid.

12Outpainting

Extending an image beyond its original boundaries while generating new surrounding content.

13Prompt architecture

The ordered structure of a prompt: locks, subject, scene, composition, camera, lighting, style, and constraints.

14Prompt drift

Loss of the original visual requirements as a prompt becomes overloaded or later instructions conflict with earlier ones.

15Reference image

An uploaded image used to communicate identity, product design, style, composition, or another visual requirement.

16Seed

A numeric starting value some models expose to make generation behavior more repeatable, though it does not guarantee identical output across every setting or model version.

17Shot list

An ordered plan describing each shot's angle, framing, action, movement, purpose, and duration.

18Style reference

An image used to guide visual language such as color, lighting, texture, or editorial treatment rather than subject identity.

19Text-to-image

Creating a still image from written instructions without requiring an image input.

20Text-to-video

Creating a moving sequence primarily from written instructions.

21UGC ad

An advertisement designed to feel like creator-made, platform-native content rather than a traditional polished commercial.

22Visual proof

A finished output or breakdown that demonstrates a production capability instead of only describing it.

23Workflow

A documented sequence of inputs, decisions, tools, generation steps, approvals, and outputs that can be repeated.