AI Guides › Step-by-step guides
By Nigel Guy · 8 min read
Most people try this by uploading a selfie and typing "turn me into an anime and animate it". It looks like it worked for the first clip. By the third clip your character has a different jawline, a different hair colour and sometimes a different number of fingers, and you have spent credits on footage you can't cut together. The fix isn't a cleverer prompt. It's doing the steps in the right order, and refusing to animate anything until the look is locked.
The rule: Claude writes and directs; Higgsfield renders. Nothing gets animated until a character sheet and a set of still panels are approved, and every later generation is made from that sheet, never from the last clip.
| Job | Who does it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Story, genre, scene list, shot descriptions | Claude | Planning in text costs nothing per attempt and is easy to revise |
| Character sheet, still panels, video clips, audio | Higgsfield, called by Claude through the connector | Every image or clip is a paid generation in your Higgsfield account |
| Deciding what is "on model" | You | Neither tool reliably notices drift on its own |
The link is a remote MCP server, which Claude's menus call a custom connector.
| You need | Cost at time of writing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A Claude account (claude.ai or Claude Desktop) | Free plan works; Pro is listed at £18 a month in the UK | Free accounts are limited to one custom connector |
| A paid Higgsfield subscription | Billed in US dollars; the entry plan is reported at about $9 a month (roughly £7) for a small credit allowance | Higgsfield's help centre says a paid plan is required for the connector. Plans were renamed in 2026, so check the pricing page before you buy |
| One clear, front-facing photo of yourself | — | Good light, no sunglasses, nothing covering your face |
| A rough idea for a 30–60 second scene | — | Short is the point. See "What to skip" |
Cost trap: Higgsfield's help centre states that every generation made through the connector deducts credits at standard rates, and that "unlimited" model access and free generations on higgsfield.ai do not apply over MCP.
https://mcp.higgsfield.ai/mcpAsk Claude: "What is my Higgsfield credit balance?" If it calls a Higgsfield tool and returns a number, the connector works. Write that number down. You will compare it at the end.
Attach your photo. If Claude shows a Higgsfield upload card, upload through that card so Higgsfield receives the file. Then use this prompt. Fill in the placeholders; leave out any you don't care about.
You are the director of a short anime project. I am the lead character.
Inputs:
- Reference photo: the image I have just uploaded
- Features to keep no matter what: [FEATURES_TO_KEEP, e.g. glasses, curly hair, freckles]
- Genres I'm open to: [GENRE_SHORTLIST, or "suggest some"]
- Tone I want: [TONE, e.g. quiet slice-of-life, comic, action]
Do this in order:
1. Describe the features from my photo that must survive stylisation, in a short bullet list. Ask me to confirm or correct it before going further.
2. Suggest three anime genres that suit my look and chosen tone. For each give one line on why it fits and one line on the visual style it implies.
3. Once I pick a genre, use Higgsfield to generate one character sheet: front view, three-quarter view, side view, plus two facial expressions, all on a plain background in a consistent palette.
4. Before generating, tell me which Higgsfield tool or model you plan to use and the credit cost if the tool reports it. Wait for my go-ahead.
Rules: do not invent features that are not in the photo. If the photo is unclear, say so and ask for another rather than guessing. Do not generate any video in this step.
Before you reply, check: have you asked me to confirm the feature list, and have you stopped before spending credits?
Approve or reject the sheet. Regenerate until it is right. This is the cheapest point to be fussy. If Claude offers to save the result as a reusable Higgsfield character or reference element, say yes; that is what later generations should point back to.
Using the approved character sheet from this chat as the only reference for my character, plan and draw the opening scene of a [GENRE] short.
Scene idea: [ONE_OR_TWO_SENTENCE_SCENE_IDEA]
Setting: [SETTING]
Number of panels: [4-6]
Steps:
1. Write a numbered shot list first: for each panel give the framing, the action, the expression (chosen from the sheet), and the lighting. Keep the palette from the sheet.
2. Show me the shot list and wait for approval. Do not generate yet.
3. After approval, generate the panels as still images with Higgsfield, one per shot, each referencing the approved character sheet.
4. List the panels with their numbers so I can approve or reject each one.
Rules: no new characters unless I ask. If a shot would need my character from an angle not on the sheet, flag it rather than improvising. Treat the approved panels as locked: do not alter them later without asking.
Check before replying: does every panel reference the character sheet rather than a previous panel?
Type "LOCKED: panels 1, 2, 4" in the chat as you approve them, so there is a record of what you signed off.
Animate the locked panels from this chat into short video clips with Higgsfield, one clip per panel, in panel order.
Settings: aspect ratio [16:9 or 9:16], clip length [SECONDS_PER_CLIP] seconds where the model allows.
Steps:
1. Recommend a video model for anime-style motion and say why in one line. Give the total credit cost if the tools report it, and wait for my go-ahead.
2. Use each locked panel as the starting frame of its clip. Describe only the motion in each prompt (camera move, gesture, hair or cloth movement); do not redescribe the character.
3. Generate clips one at a time, or in a small batch, and show me each result before moving on.
Rules: if a clip changes my character's face, hair, outfit or palette, stop and tell me which clip and what changed. Do not continue to the next panel until I respond.
Stitching clips into one piece happens in a video editor, not in the chat.
Saying "fix the hair in the next one" builds on the drifted clip and the error compounds. Use this instead:
Clip [CLIP_NUMBER] has drifted off-model: [WHAT_CHANGED, e.g. hair is now straight, glasses missing].
Discard that clip. Regenerate it from locked panel [PANEL_NUMBER] and the approved character sheet only. Do not use any other generated clip as a reference. Keep the same motion description. Tell me the credit cost first and wait for my go-ahead.
If the same panel drifts twice, the panel itself is usually the problem. Go back to Step 4 and redraw that one panel.