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Cel Shade Zero key visual
Animation · cel-shade-zero

Cel Shade Zero

Hard-edged cel shadows, flat color blocks, and high-contrast outlines, ready to enter an animation pipeline.

SubjectsCharacter · Product
ModelsGPT Image · Midjourney
Cases4
Use this style →Remix

Style × subject matrix

4 contexts
Cel Shade Zero · Character
Character · case image
Cel Shade Zero · Scene
Scene · case image
Cel Shade Zero · Architecture
Architecture · case image
Cel Shade Zero · Product
Product · case image

Visual DNA

7 axes · 0–100

Seven adjustable axes set the character of the image: line rigorous or organic, colour muted or rich.

Line
TechnicalOrganic
18
Color
MutedVibrant
86
Lighting
DramaticSoft
40
Texture
CleanMaterial
22
Detail
MinimalDense
44
Depth
FlatCinematic
24
Mood
QuietEnergetic
82

Acceptance criteria

3 bans · 3 fail conditions

Check each frame against these: bans must not appear at all, and any fail condition voids the result.

Anchor

The key visual is the only anchor: outline width, flat color palette, and the two shadow levels are set by it; it can be adopted as-is as an animation coloring spec.

Bans · prepended to the prompt by priority

  1. 01
    no gradients, no airbrush transitionsShadow in this style must be hard-edged blocks of color
  2. 02
    no brush texture, no grainGrain ruins the cleanliness that lets it go straight into in-betweens
  3. 03
    uniform outline weight only, no tapered strokesUneven line width cannot enter an animation pipeline directly

Fail conditions

  • ✗
    shadow block edges are blurred
  • ✗
    more than two shadow levels in one area
  • ✗
    the action is unreadable when scaled down to 20%
Pass threshold

It should go straight to an animator as a coloring reference with no cleanup needed.

Style recipe

11 reusable elements

The recipe is the wording this style carries into every prompt, so you don't rewrite it.

Identity

Cel animation coloring, ready to go straight into in-betweens

Composition

Frontal camera position, strong held-pose feel

Line

Even outline, no change in weight

Color

High-saturation flat color, at most two shadow levels

Lighting

Hard-edged shadow, no gradient

Material

Digital flat fills, simulating cel sheets

Texture

Extremely clean, no grain

Character

Exaggerated expression and clear silhouette

Atmosphere

Bright, tense, boyish

Negative

gradient shading, texture, painterly

Reference

1980s-90s television animation cels

Style object

YAML

The style object is the recipe, criteria and DNA as machine-readable text: download it, or feed it to any model.

Download .yaml
style: id: cel-shade-zero name: 赛璐璐上色 name_en: Cel Shade Zero category: [动画, 人物, 产品] visual_dna: line: {organic: 18, precision: 82} color: {saturation: 86, warmth: 14} lighting: {softness: 40, contrast: 60} texture: {material: 22, clean: 78} detail: {density: 44} depth: {cinematic: 24} mood: {energy: 82} composition: depth: flat framing: 正面机位，动作定格感强 subjects: [人物, 产品] models: [GPT Image, Midjourney] recipe: identity: 赛璐璐动画上色，可直接进入中间画 line: 均匀描边，无粗细变化 color: 高饱和平涂，最多两级阴影 lighting: 硬边阴影，无渐变 material: 数字平涂，模拟赛璐璐片 texture: 极干净，无颗粒 character: 夸张表情与清晰剪影 atmosphere: 明快、有张力、少年感 negative: [gradient shading, texture, painterly] reference_notes: 80-90 年代电视动画赛璐璐 constraints: anchor: 主视觉即唯一锚点：描边宽度、平涂色板与两级阴影以它为准；可直接沿用为动画上色规范。 bans: # 按优先级，前置到提示词 - no gradients, no airbrush transitions - no brush texture, no grain - uniform outline weight only, no tapered strokes fail_if: - shadow block edges are blurred - more than two shadow levels in one area - the action is unreadable when scaled down to 20% pass: 应能直接交给动画师当作上色参考，不需要再做清理。