A stadium that was never that full, a kit that never existed
A 9-second match-day shot at BC Place: an athlete celebrating in the foreground, a packed red-and-white crowd behind him. The plate is real footage of one person. Everything else, the kit he is wearing, the crowd in the stands, the stadium without its jumbotron, was built as a separate element first and only then assembled. Built in Studio rather than Nuke, so the whole node graph is open to read.
Stage 1 - build every element on its own
Nothing here starts from a text prompt for the finished frame. Each element is generated on its own and approved on its own: the jersey as a product turnaround, the crowd as tight reference sections, the stadium as a real licensed photograph edited in two separate passes. Elements you can look at in isolation are elements you can fix in isolation.
Stage 2 - assemble, then let the plate drive
The approved elements and one extracted frame of the real plate are assembled into a single styled frame, which fixes the look for the whole shot. That frame, plus the plate's own motion, then drives the video: the plate carries the performance and the camera, the styled frame carries the world.
Step by step
- 01
Generate the kit as a product turnaround, not as clothing
The jersey is generated on a plain grey background as a three-view reference sheet: front, side, back, identical garment and lighting across all three. Asking for a reference sheet rather than a person wearing a shirt is what makes it reusable, because every later prompt can point at it and say match this exactly.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Generate a product turnaround REFERENCE SHEET of ONE plain red football/soccer jersey.", "layout": "three views of the SAME jersey side by side on a plain neutral grey studio background: FRONT (left), SIDE (middle), BACK (right), on invisible mannequins", "garment": "solid red jersey, white collar and white shoulder trim, a single simple WHITE maple-leaf emblem on the left chest (front); plain solid red back", "consistency": "identical garment, lighting and scale across all three views", "style": "sharp photoreal product photography, soft even studio light", "constraints": [ "NO legible text, NO wordmarks, NO names, NO numbers, NO sponsor logos, NO brand marks anywhere", "one continuous photoreal 16:9 image, no collage, borders or overlays" ] }Element A, version 1: the plain kit turnaround. - 02
Print the logo onto the back view only, in place
A second pass edits the turnaround rather than regenerating it, adding the printed mark to the back view and leaving the front and side untouched. Editing in place is the whole trick: regenerate and you get a subtly different jersey, which then fights every frame downstream.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Edit IMAGE 1 (the jersey turnaround) IN PLACE. Add a printed logo to the BACK view only. Keep the garment, the three-view layout, the red colour, the white trim and the front maple-leaf crest exactly as they are.", "images": { "image_1_source_to_edit": "A product turnaround of one plain red football jersey: FRONT (left), SIDE (middle), BACK (right) on a neutral grey background.", "image_2_logo": "The VFX Engine \"VE\" monogram (a stylized angular V/E mark). Use ONLY the mark shape; IGNORE its black background. Reproduce it in solid WHITE." }, "edit": { "placement": "On the BACK view (rightmost jersey), print the VE monogram from Image 2 LARGE and centered across the upper back/shoulder area, in solid white", "blend": "screen-print/heat-press the mark INTO the red fabric so it follows the cloth folds, curvature and lighting - a printed-on look, NOT a flat pasted sticker" }, "keep_identical": [ "FRONT and SIDE views unchanged", "same red jersey, white collar/trim, front white maple-leaf crest, layout, scale and lighting" ], "constraints": [ "the logo is the VE mark only - NO wordmark, NO \"VFX ENGINE\" text, NO letters spelled out", "white logo on red fabric; clean edges, realistic fabric integration", "photoreal, one continuous 16:9 image; no extra text, borders or overlays" ] }Element A, version 2: the same garment, now with the printed mark. - 03
Build the crowd as close reference sections
The crowd is generated as tight sections framed close on the front rows, so faces are large and actually resolved, rather than as a distant mass that turns to mush. Two sections are enough to teach the look. Note the constraints doing the real work: no legible text, no sponsor marks, plain maple-leaf shapes only, no melted hands.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Generate a photoreal stadium-crowd REFERENCE image (a tight section of fans) for use as a style reference.", "subject": "a packed stadium lower-bowl section of about 40 to 60 fans", "wardrobe": "red and white clothing, several fans with red and white face paint", "props": "one large plain red-and-white maple-leaf flag held up", "action": "cheering with arms raised", "style": "photoreal documentary sports photography, sharp, natural skin tones", "lighting": "soft overcast daylight", "palette": "Canada red and white", "composition": "framed CLOSE on the front rows so faces are LARGE and clearly resolved; a moderate group, NOT a dense distant mass", "constraints": [ "NO legible text/wordmarks/sponsor names/brand logos", "flags and banners are plain red-and-white maple-leaf shapes only", "anatomically plausible faces and hands; no melted or duplicated features", "one continuous photoreal 16:9 image, no collage or borders" ] }Element C: one crowd section, framed close on purpose. - 04
Fill the real stadium with people
The stadium starts as a real licensed photograph of the BC Place interior, edited to a packed house rather than invented from scratch. Starting from a real building keeps the architecture honest, which is the part an audience notices without being able to say why.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Edit IMAGE 1 (a real photo of the interior of BC Place arena, Vancouver, Canada) into a packed, sold-out FIFA World Cup match-day. Keep the venue exactly; fill the stands with a Canada red-and-white crowd.", "venue": "BC Place, Vancouver, Canada - a large modern arena with a white cable-supported retractable roof, a curved two-tier seating bowl, a central hanging jumbotron, dark-red seats, and a green pitch.", "image_1_source_to_edit": "A real interior photo of BC Place: white cable roof, curved two-tier bowl, central jumbotron, green pitch, with only partially-filled stands.", "keep_unchanged": [ "the BC Place architecture, roof structure, seating-bowl geometry, jumbotron and green pitch", "the camera angle, composition and daylight look of the photo" ], "change": [ "fill EVERY seat with a dense, sold-out crowd in Canada red and white waving plain maple-leaf flags", "make it read as a packed, electric match-day house" ], "constraints": [ "NO legible text, NO sponsor names or logos, NO scoreboard wordmarks - keep all signage abstract/illegible", "flags and banners are plain red-and-white maple-leaf shapes only", "photoreal, one continuous 16:9 image; no collage, borders or text overlays" ] }Element B, version 1: crowd filled, jumbotron still hanging. - 05
Remove the jumbotron as its own separate pass
The hanging jumbotron comes out in a second, dedicated edit. It could have been one instruction bundled into the previous step, and it is deliberately not: one instruction per pass means when something goes wrong you know exactly which pass to rerun.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Edit IMAGE 1 (a packed BC Place arena interior) IN PLACE to REMOVE the central hanging jumbotron. Keep everything else identical.", "image_1_source_to_edit": "A packed BC Place arena: red-and-white Canada crowd, white cable retractable roof, green pitch, and a large central hanging jumbotron/scoreboard cluster under the roof.", "edit": "REMOVE the central hanging jumbotron / scoreboard cluster COMPLETELY. Fill the area with the continuous white cable roof / open roof structure matching the surroundings, so the roof reads as unbroken with NO hanging screen.", "keep_identical": [ "the crowd, seating bowl, pitch, roof edges, cables, architecture, lighting, colour grade and camera - all UNCHANGED", "only the jumbotron is removed" ], "constraints": [ "NO jumbotron, NO hanging screen, NO scoreboard, NO suspended display anywhere", "NO legible text/sponsors; flags plain maple-leaf only", "photoreal, one continuous 16:9 image" ] }Element B, version 2: the clean stadium the shot actually uses. - 06
Assemble one styled frame from the plate and the elements
A frame is extracted from the real footage, and the athlete is kept exactly as shot: same pose, same camera. The kit and the finished stadium are supplied as references and the frame is edited around him. This single image is where the whole look is decided, and it is the longest and most specific prompt in the project for that reason.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Edit IMAGE 1 (the hero photograph of an athlete) IN PLACE. Keep the athlete and the camera exactly; change only his kit and the stadium behind him.", "images": { "image_1_source_to_edit": "A male athlete BENT FORWARD at the waist, head LOWERED and turned down to his left, eyes shut in an open-mouthed laugh (top/back of head toward camera), lower-left third; navy training top with white shoulder stripes; empty college stadium behind; soft overcast daylight.", "image_2_stadium_reference": "BC Place arena, Vancouver - venue look for the BACKGROUND: white cable retractable roof, curved bowl, packed red-and-white Canada crowd with maple-leaf flags, NO jumbotron. Use ONLY for background look and crowd; IGNORE its camera and composition.", "image_3_jersey_reference": "The exact kit the athlete must wear: a solid RED jersey with white collar/trim and a single white maple-leaf crest on the chest." }, "keep_unchanged_from_image_1": { "athlete_pose_LOCK": "Preserve his EXACT pose, posture and silhouette pixel-for-pixel: bent forward, head lowered/turned down-left, eyes shut, same laugh, same arm/shoulder position and scale. Do NOT straighten him, raise/re-center his head, or change his posture or expression. Only the shirt colour/material changes on the athlete.", "face": "same face, head, hair and skin tone", "camera": "identical camera position, height, lens, framing and horizon as Image 1", "lighting_grade": "match Image 1's soft overcast daylight, white balance and colour grade" }, "edits": { "wardrobe": "change ONLY the colour/material of his navy top into the RED Canada kit (Image 3): solid red, white collar/trim, white maple-leaf crest - same drape and folds", "background": "replace the empty college stadium with BC Place: packed red-and-white crowd, white cable retractable roof edge across the top, maple-leaf flags (look per Image 2), NO jumbotron" }, "constraints": [ "this is an EDIT of Image 1 - the athlete is bent forward laughing; keep his exact pose, silhouette, head position and expression; only his shirt colour and the background change", "NO jumbotron; REMOVE all college signage text with no ghosting", "NO legible text, sponsor names or numbers; flags plain maple-leaf only (jersey may carry its small white maple-leaf crest)", "photoreal, one continuous 16:9 image; anatomically plausible crowd" ] }The styled frame: real performance, built world. - 07
Let the real plate carry the motion
The trimmed footage drives the video so the athlete's performance, the camera and the timing all stay exactly as filmed, while the styled frame and the elements carry the world around him. This is the hybrid part in one sentence: the performance is real, the stadium is not, and the seam between them is the job.
The prompt for this stepShow promptHide
{ "task": "Restyle this reference video into a match-day shot at BC Place, Vancouver, Canada, matching the approved styled frame (Image 1). Keep the athlete and the camera; change the venue, crowd and kit.", "venue": "BC Place, Vancouver - white cable-supported retractable roof, curved seating bowl, green pitch. NO jumbotron.", "images": { "image_1_target_look": "The APPROVED styled frame: athlete in the red Canada kit in front of a packed red-and-white BC Place crowd, white cable roof. Match this look and palette.", "image_2_stadium": "BC Place background - white cable roof (NO jumbotron), packed red-and-white crowd with maple-leaf flags.", "image_3_jersey": "The red Canada kit: white collar/trim, white maple-leaf crest front, white VE monogram back.", "image_4_crowd": "A close crowd section reference (red/white fans, maple-leaf flags) for crowd variety.", "image_5_crowd": "A second crowd section reference for variety." }, "keep_from_video": "the foreground athlete's body, build, pose, gestures and full motion; the camera movement, framing and timing; the soft overcast daylight and grade. Keep his face natural.", "change": "replace the empty college stadium with BC Place (per the images): packed red-and-white crowd, white cable roof; change his navy top into the red Canada kit.", "constraints": [ "NO jumbotron, NO hanging screen anywhere", "NO legible text/sponsors; flags plain maple-leaf only", "the original college signage must be completely gone", "one continuous photoreal 16:9 shot; preserve athlete motion" ] }The finished 9-second shot.
How it was wired
Wired in Studio as: the trimmed plate to the reference video input, the assembled styled frame plus the kit and stadium elements to the reference images, 9 seconds, 16:9. Open the graph to see every node with its real output still attached.