Actors, locations, styles and elements all carry. Save one with a handle and call that handle in any prompt, in any tool — the library is shared and so is the credit balance. What doesn't carry is aspect ratio in three of Creative Studio's four modes, where it's inherited from the source and can't be changed. So the asset travels and the framing doesn't.
Using more than one tool on a project sounds like it should cost you consistency. It mostly doesn't, and the places where it does are worth knowing in advance rather than discovering.
What actually carries?
The library, and it's shared rather than duplicated.
Every reference you save takes an @handle — lowercase, digits, dashes or underscores, unique to your workspace. You call that handle in any prompt, in any tool. There's no export step, no re-upload, and no separate copy per tool.
So an actor created in Creative Studio is castable in Talking Actors. A location saved while building a scene is available in Make a Custom Video. The asset exists once and is referenced everywhere.
The credit balance works the same way — one balance across all four tools, so switching tools mid-project isn't a billing decision.
The asset exists once. Every tool references it. That's the whole mechanism.
What are the reference types?
Seven, and knowing the categories matters because they behave the same way but get used differently.
- Characters
- Actors, whether generated from a description, uploaded from a photo, or cast from the library. The type most people think of, and the one most worth naming.
- Locations
- Places. The reference type that keeps a room consistent across a scene's coverage rather than being re-described per shot.
- Styles
- Look and treatment. Useful for holding a series' visual grammar across episodes generated weeks apart.
- Elements
- Objects and props. The category people forget, and the reason a recurring object stops changing shape between shots.
- Uploads
- Raw files you've brought in, before they've been categorised as anything else.
- Videos and Audio
- Clips used as references rather than as output. Audio references guide pacing and acoustic tone; video references guide motion and style.
The library also has a By Hexcoded tab alongside your own, so platform-provided assets sit next to yours without mixing into them.
What doesn't carry?
Three things, and the first is the one that catches people.
Aspect ratio, in three of four Creative Studio modes. Create gives you seven options with 9:16 as default. Edit, Extend and Motion all inherit from the source clip and hide the selector entirely. So framing is decided in the first generation of a chain and can't be revisited downstream.
Resolution, in Extend. Also inherited from the source. Same consequence.
Reference ceilings, between video and image. Video takes up to 50 assets in a generation context; image editing takes 16, and disables video and audio references entirely. So a reference set assembled for video won't transfer wholesale to image work.
The asset travels. The framing doesn't. Decide aspect ratio in the first generation, because three of four modes won't let you change it.
Where this falls short. That's a real constraint rather than a quirk. If a project needs both a 9:16 cut and a 16:9 one, those are two chains from two Create generations rather than one chain reframed at the end.
What's the session behaviour?
One thing that helps and can trip you up in the same way.
The reference pool is maintained across Create, Edit, Extend and Motion within an active session rather than resetting after each generation. So references attached to a shot are still attached when you extend or edit it.
That saves re-attaching constantly. It also means that if you've moved on to a different scene in the same session, references from the previous one may still be in the pool. Worth checking what's attached before you generate rather than after.
Where are the seams between tools?
Three, and none of them is about the assets.
Duration control differs. Creative Studio's durations are per model. Make a Custom Video runs four to thirty seconds on a slider. Talking Actors derives duration from script length with no slider at all, capped at sixty seconds. So the same actor in three tools gives you three different length mechanics.
Aspect ratio differs. Creative Studio's Create mode offers seven, Make a Custom Video six, and URL → Ad is locked to 9:16 as a fixed label rather than a choice.
Prompt behaviour differs. Creative Studio takes a full prompt. Make a Custom Video takes a scene prompt plus five layers. URL → Ad has no prompt field at all — the link is the sole content input.
None of those breaks consistency. They just mean the same asset gets used through three different front doors.
How should you actually work across tools?
Five steps, and the order front-loads the decisions that can't be revisited.
Build the library before you generate anything
Actors, locations, styles, recurring objects. Each saved once with a handle. This is the only step that pays back across every subsequent tool.
Decide aspect ratio in the first Create generation
Edit, Extend and Motion all inherit it and hide the selector. If you need two aspect ratios, that's two chains rather than one reframed.
Use the tool that matches the job, not the project
A face delivering a script is Talking Actors. A scene with blocking is Creative Studio. A product page becoming an ad is URL → Ad. Switching costs a decision, not a subscription.
Check the reference pool when you change scenes
It persists across modes within a session, which is useful until you've moved on. Clear what shouldn't be there.
Call handles, never re-describe
The handle is what makes an asset the same asset in every tool. A re-description is a new guess, and across a series those compound.
- One library and one credit balance across all four tools. No export, no re-upload, no per-tool copies
- Seven reference types: characters, locations, styles, elements, uploads, videos, audio
- Call the handle in any prompt in any tool. That's what makes an asset the same asset everywhere
- Aspect ratio is inherited in Edit, Extend and Motion, and the selector is hidden. Decide it in the first generation
- Two aspect ratios means two chains, not one reframed at the end
- Video takes 50 references; image editing takes 16 and disables video and audio ones
- The reference pool persists across modes within a session. Check it when you change scenes
- Duration, aspect ratio and prompt behaviour all differ per tool. The assets don't
Yes. The actor library is shared across Creative Studio, Talking Actors, Make a Custom Video and URL → Ad. Save an actor once with a handle and call that handle in any prompt in any tool — there's no export step or separate copy.
Seven types: characters, locations, styles, elements, uploads, videos and audio. Each takes a handle and works the same way. Locations and styles are the ones people underuse, and they're what hold a series' look together.
Yes, one balance across all four. So using more than one tool on a project isn't a billing decision, and switching for a single shot costs a decision rather than a subscription.
Not in Edit, Extend or Motion — all three inherit it from the source clip and hide the selector. Only Create lets you choose. So if a project needs two aspect ratios, that's two chains from two Create generations rather than one reframed later.
Within a session, yes. The reference pool is maintained across Create, Edit, Extend and Motion rather than resetting after each generation. That saves re-attaching, and it means checking what's attached when you move to a different scene.
Not quite. Video takes up to 50 assets in a generation context; image editing takes 16 and disables video and audio references entirely. So a reference set built for video work won't transfer wholesale to image work.
Save once, call anywhere
Characters, locations, styles and elements each take a handle that works in every tool, on one shared credit balance. Build the library once and the cast stops changing between episodes.
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