# How do you keep costumes and props consistent in AI video?

**Short answer:** Write the state of every costume and prop into every shot (helmet on or off, sword in hand or sheathed), give each distinct look its own reference, and give important props their own sheets. Models do not remember the previous shot, so anything you leave unsaid can flip between cuts.

URL: https://arc.katechon.technology/answers/how-to-keep-costumes-and-props-consistent-in-ai-video
Updated: 2026-10-18

## Continuity is a property of the shot, not the story

In a live-action shoot, a script supervisor tracks what each actor wears and holds. With AI video every shot is generated independently, so the shot description has to carry that state. If the description does not say the helmet is on, the model decides for itself.

## Three rules from our productions

1. **Tag the state in every shot.** On [Dragon Rising](https://arc.katechon.technology/films/dragon-rising), helmets flipped between cuts until a build rule tagged every shot: named leads always bare-headed, troopers always sealed.
2. **One reference per look.** On [Blood Sun: The Fall of Kratos](https://arc.katechon.technology/films/blood-sun), later costume and form changes became their own characters, so a shot could reference exactly the outfit it needed instead of blending two.
3. **Props get sheets too.** A recurring object (a crown, a weapon, a product) gets its own reference and is attached to every shot that shows it.

## Drift to watch for

- Accessories that come and go: glasses, jewellery, hats.
- Characters who gain features from the world around them: in our fairy series a sidekick sometimes grew wings and guards rendered as fairies.
- Style rules bleeding into props: a rule about the only red object produced extra red objects.
- Wounds and dirt that heal between shots.

## A simple continuity sheet

Per-shot continuity fields worth writing into every shot:

| Field | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Costume | Maren: grey wool shawl (look 2, after the village) |
| Headwear | Troopers: helmets sealed; leads: bare-headed |
| Props in hand | The captain holds a torch in his left hand |
| Damage | Cut on her right cheek, from episode 3 on |
| Time and light | Night, single lamp |

Extra references cost little: in Arc an image is 13 credits, while re-rendering a 10-second 720p shot because a helmet flipped is 226 credits on Seedance 2.0 Fast.

## Where Katechon Arc fits

Arc gives props and products their own reference assets and lets you write continuity into each shot of the script plan, which is where we fixed these problems.

Arc does not track continuity automatically from shot to shot; the state has to be written into the shots, by you or the agent.

## People also ask

### What is AI video costume design?

Designing a character's outfits as reference images that the video model sees in every shot, with each distinct look as its own reference, so clothing stays the same between clips.

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