/higgsfield-pipeline

name: higgsfield-pipeline
description: >
  Use when the user wants to create a complete multi-shot video, asks how to chain
  Higgsfield tools together, wants to build a short film or branded content series,
  asks "what's the full workflow", needs to connect Popcorn → image → video → Recast
  → audio → assembly, or wants to understand how the platform works as a production
  system rather than isolated tools.
user-invocable: true
metadata:
  tags: [higgsfield, pipeline, workflow, chain, production, multi-shot, short-film, popcorn, recast]
  version: 3.5.0
  updated: 2026-08-22
  parent: higgsfield

Higgsfield Production Pipeline

QUICK FACTS

*Generated-checked block (scripts/build_index.py verifies anchors). Read the linked sections for full context — these lines are routing aids, not the rules themselves.*

• 8-stage Master Chain: Popcorn → Seedream/Soul → Animate → Recast → Lipsync → Vibe Motion → Upscale → Assemble; most good short-form uses 3–5 stages [→](#the-master-production-chain)
• Lock 9 project fields before touching any tool; "what must stay consistent" is the load-bearing one [→](#step-01-start-with-the-project-not-the-prompt)
• One job per scene — six scene purposes; a good scene prompt answers six questions [→](#step-06-give-every-scene-one-job)
• 7 reusable prompt-module types: character identity, camera, lighting, style, motion, negative prompt, continuity [→](#step-07-use-prompt-modules)
• 80% rule: keep what worked, fix only the mistake; every diagnosed failure becomes a new negative rule [→](#step-0809-fix-failures-protect-what-worked)
• Build in 8 passes: Concept → Project script → Scene breakdown → Shot list → Image prompts → Video prompts → Review → Fix [→](#step-10-build-the-project-in-passes)
• Use the EXACT same character description (copy-paste) in every Popcorn prompt — continuity without Soul ID [→](#stage-1-storyboard-with-popcorn)
• Seedream edits the image, not the video — always edit the Hero Frame before animating, never after [→](#stage-2-image-editing-with-seedream)
• Model by scene type: Sora 2 for stunts/epic ("one continuous shot, no cuts"), Kling 2.6 portraits, Seedance quiet interiors [→](#stage-3-animate-by-scene-type)
• Recast swaps identity while preserving motion, camera, and lighting; the "prompt" is the reference image you upload [→](#stage-4-recast-character-swap)
• Audio routing: existing video + speech → Lipsync Studio; new content with audio → Kling 3.0; talking head → Kling Avatars 2.0 [→](#stage-5-lipsync-audio)
• Higgsfield has no native timeline editor — assemble in DaVinci Resolve / Premiere / CapCut [→](#stage-8-assembly)
• Pipeline E hard rules: 15-second cap per scene, one generation per style, feed the previous scene's video as continuity reference [→](#stage-5-seedance-20-with-keyframe-previous-video)
• Soul Cinema keyframes: deliberately short 5–15 word prompts with enhancer ON — long prompts starve the enhancer [→](#stage-1-soul-cinema-keyframe-style-first-enhancer-on)
• Never describe character age in Seedance prompts; >15s per scene degrades prompt adherence — split the scene [→](#pipeline-e-pitfalls)
• No extend button: attach the accepted clip as a video reference + open with "The scene continues." — and match the source's resolution AND duration [→](#the-extend-a-clip-workflow)
• Cap seamless extension chains at 2 (hard ceiling 3); re-anchor from ORIGINAL canonical refs, break chains with B-roll [→](#chain-management-depth-caps-and-re-anchoring)
• An attached source clip carries the state — prompt only the delta; motion vectors, camera-move phase, audio phase stay in prose when handing off from a still frame [→](#source-carries-state-rule)
• End extension prompts on a camera-angle change so the join reads as coverage; plan transitions ahead (last-channel-on-TV trick) [→](#clean-join-planning)
• Draw a top-down schema when 2+ characters, a key prop placement, or complex camera geometry — prompt in absolute terms ("A 2m from B") [→](#spatial-blocking-top-down-schema-for-multi-character-scenes)
• Never animate a "good enough" image; if the character looks wrong in the Hero Frame, Recast is the fix — not the animation prompt [→](#pipeline-pitfalls)

The Core Insight

Every Higgsfield tool is strong individually. The real power is when you chain them. A professional result almost always involves at least 3 tools in sequence. This skill documents the key chains and how to prompt for each stage.

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Building Complete AI Projects — The 10-Step Methodology

The Core Insight above answers *why* you chain tools. The next question is *how to plan the project* before any tool is touched. Most people skip planning and start prompting straight from a creative impulse — a generation here, a clip there, hoping the pieces will connect. They don't. A project that's planned at the script and bible level lands consistently; a project assembled prompt-by-prompt drifts on character, style, and continuity within three or four generations.

This section documents a 10-step methodology for building complete AI projects — from idea through finished sequence — that sits upstream of the Master Production Chain below. Use these 10 Steps as a planning discipline; use Pipelines A-E to execute the tool-level chain once your project plan is locked. The closing § Simple Workflow gives the imperative-action version of the same 10 Steps if you want the execution recipe before the principles.

Step 01 — Start With the Project, Not the Prompt

Before writing a single prompt, define what you are building. The AI cannot read your intent; if you skip this step the model fills in the gaps with whatever the prompt happens to suggest, and the project drifts within the first few generations.

Lock these nine fields before any tool is touched:

• Project type
• Main subject
• Visual style
• Scene goal
• Audience
• Mood
• Length
• Setting
• What must stay consistent

The last field is the load-bearing one. If you don't know what must stay con