Creative — Scene Explorer
Show the product living in the real world — believable usage moments, not floating studio renders. The job is to make a viewer picture themselves using it. Realism and emotional plausibility beat technical perfection.
When to use
- Lifestyle hero images, social content, editorial, "in-context" ecommerce shots.
- Selling the experience or outcome, not just the object.
- You need people, environment, or a moment of use around the product.
When NOT to use
- Clean catalog/PDP angles on a plain background →
creative-shot.
- Pushing a discount/bundle →
creative-offer.
- No look locked and brand consistency matters →
creative-explore first.
Inputs (ask only what's missing)
- Product + how it's actually used (ergonomics matter for believability).
- Target user who appears or is implied in the scene.
- Locked visual direction if available.
- Aspect/medium: web hero (wide), social (square/vertical), gallery.
Workflow
- Define 3-5 usage moments: who + where + when + doing-what. Concrete beats generic ("barista, morning cafe, steaming milk" not "person using product").
- Structure each scene prompt:
backdrop → subject + product → light/lens → constraints. Favor photoreal-natural styling: candid, real texture, natural light, believable depth of field.
- Generate with your image tool. Save to
./creative/scene/<moment>.png.
- Verify believability + hero: is the product clearly the focus? Are hands/ergonomics plausible? Regenerate weak ones (bad hands, product too small, staged-feeling).
- Present moments; recommend the strongest for the medium.
Worked example
Product: insulated water bottle. Audience: trail runners.
## Moment "Dawn Trail"
who: runner, late 20s, mid-stride where: forest trail, first light
when: cool blue-hour → warming doing: pausing to drink
prompt: "forest trail at dawn -> runner pausing, bottle to lips, breath visible
-> 50mm, shallow DOF, soft directional light -> candid, real sweat/texture,
bottle clearly visible and in focus"
[ref: ./creative/scene/dawn-trail.png]
## Moment "Desk Companion"
who: implied (hand only) where: tidy work desk when: midday
doing: reaching for the bottle beside a laptop
prompt: "minimal wood desk, daylight -> hand reaching for bottle next to laptop
-> 35mm, natural light -> candid, real texture, bottle hero"
[ref: ./creative/scene/desk.png]
Recommendation: "Dawn Trail" for the hero (aspirational, on-audience); "Desk" for broader appeal.
Quality bar
- The product is unmistakably the hero and in focus — not lost in the scene.
- Lighting, texture, and ergonomics are plausible; no uncanny hands or impossible grips.
- The moment matches the actual audience and use case.
- Aspect fits the target medium without awkward cropping.
Common pitfalls
- Floating/staged feel — natural light and real texture sell realism; studio-perfect kills it.
- Product demoted — the environment overwhelms the hero. Keep it central and focused.
- Mangled hands/anatomy — common generation failure; regenerate or switch angle.
- Real identifiable people without consent — use generic or implied (hands, back-of-head) subjects.
Handoff
Winning scenes → creative-polish for finish (grade, fix artifacts, conform aspect). Reuse the creative-explore stub for cross-asset consistency.
Tooling
Needs a text-to-image tool. Without one, deliver the structured scene prompts for the user to render.
1---2name: creative-scene3description: Generate realistic product-in-use lifestyle scenes. Places the product in believable contexts of use (who, where, when, doing what) with natural lighting and real texture, for lifestyle/editorial/ecommerce. Use when the user says "lifestyle shot", "product in use", "scene", "show it being used", "in-context photography", or needs people/environment around the product. Part of the Creative Production set.4---56# Creative — Scene Explorer78Show the product living in the real world — believable usage moments, not floating studio renders. The job is to make a viewer picture *themselves* using it. Realism and emotional plausibility beat technical perfection.910## When to use11- Lifestyle hero images, social content, editorial, "in-context" ecommerce shots.12- Selling the *experience* or *outcome*, not just the object.13- You need people, environment, or a moment of use around the product.1415## When NOT to use16- Clean catalog/PDP angles on a plain background → `creative-shot`.17- Pushing a discount/bundle → `creative-offer`.18- No look locked and brand consistency matters → `creative-explore` first.1920## Inputs (ask only what's missing)21- **Product** + how it's *actually* used (ergonomics matter for believability).22- **Target user** who appears or is implied in the scene.23- **Locked visual direction** if available.24- **Aspect/medium**: web hero (wide), social (square/vertical), gallery.2526## Workflow271. **Define 3-5 usage moments**: who + where + when + doing-what. Concrete beats generic ("barista, morning cafe, steaming milk" not "person using product").282. **Structure each scene prompt**: `backdrop → subject + product → light/lens → constraints`. Favor photoreal-natural styling: candid, real texture, natural light, believable depth of field.293. **Generate** with your image tool. Save to `./creative/scene/<moment>.png`.304. **Verify believability + hero**: is the product clearly the focus? Are hands/ergonomics plausible? Regenerate weak ones (bad hands, product too small, staged-feeling).315. **Present moments**; recommend the strongest for the medium.3233## Worked example34Product: insulated water bottle. Audience: trail runners.35```36## Moment "Dawn Trail"37who: runner, late 20s, mid-stride where: forest trail, first light38when: cool blue-hour → warming doing: pausing to drink39prompt: "forest trail at dawn -> runner pausing, bottle to lips, breath visible40-> 50mm, shallow DOF, soft directional light -> candid, real sweat/texture,41bottle clearly visible and in focus"42[ref: ./creative/scene/dawn-trail.png]4344## Moment "Desk Companion"45who: implied (hand only) where: tidy work desk when: midday46doing: reaching for the bottle beside a laptop47prompt: "minimal wood desk, daylight -> hand reaching for bottle next to laptop48-> 35mm, natural light -> candid, real texture, bottle hero"49[ref: ./creative/scene/desk.png]50```51Recommendation: "Dawn Trail" for the hero (aspirational, on-audience); "Desk" for broader appeal.5253## Quality bar54- The product is unmistakably the hero and in focus — not lost in the scene.55- Lighting, texture, and ergonomics are plausible; no uncanny hands or impossible grips.56- The moment matches the actual audience and use case.57- Aspect fits the target medium without awkward cropping.5859## Common pitfalls60- **Floating/staged feel** — natural light and real texture sell realism; studio-perfect kills it.61- **Product demoted** — the environment overwhelms the hero. Keep it central and focused.62- **Mangled hands/anatomy** — common generation failure; regenerate or switch angle.63- **Real identifiable people without consent** — use generic or implied (hands, back-of-head) subjects.6465## Handoff66Winning scenes → `creative-polish` for finish (grade, fix artifacts, conform aspect). Reuse the `creative-explore` stub for cross-asset consistency.6768## Tooling69Needs a text-to-image tool. Without one, deliver the structured scene prompts for the user to render.
dkeken