Brand Campaign Series
Who this is for: Brand teams, creative directors, and agencies producing a coordinated set of ads that share a visual identity, cast, and world across multiple spots.
A brand campaign series is not a collection of unrelated ads — it is a world. The same visual language, the same actors, the same sets, sometimes the same characters at different moments. The power comes from coherence: the viewer sees the second spot and immediately recognizes the brand's visual signature from the first. ACT3 AI's project structure and locked asset system make that coherence achievable without hiring a continuity supervisor. For technical background on how shots and scenes work, see Filmmaking Concepts.
What makes this format specific
- Multiple individual ads (typically 2–6) that must look like they belong together
- Shared cast and locations across spots — the same actors, same color grading, same lighting approach
- Often produced simultaneously or in rapid succession to hit a campaign launch window
- Each spot must also work independently — a viewer who only sees one ad gets the full brand message
Part 1: Build the campaign world before you build any individual spot
1. Create one project for the entire campaign
Create a single ACT3 AI project and name it after the campaign, not the individual spot. All spots will live as scene groups inside this one project. This is what keeps assets shared and consistent.
→ How to build story structure
2. Define the visual style at the project level
Choose the campaign's visual mode: Cinematic Realism for live-action feel, 3D Animated for stylized brand worlds. Set it at the project level so every spot inherits the same look automatically.
3. Create the campaign's core cast
Build digital actors for every character who will appear across multiple spots. A campaign that features a recurring hero character — the brand's spokesperson or fictional customer — should have that actor fully defined before any script is written.
→ How to create a digital actor
4. Create and lock the campaign's sets
Build the locations — the home, the office, the product context — and link them to the project. Once a set is locked, every spot that uses it will share the same visual appearance.
→ How to create a set → How to lock approved elements
5. Define costumes at the actor level
Set each recurring actor's costume at the actor level, not the scene level, so they wear the same wardrobe across every spot by default. Override per-scene only when the script calls for a specific wardrobe change.
→ How to define a character costume
Part 2: Produce each individual spot
6. Write each spot as a scene group
Treat each individual ad as a scene group within your campaign project. Group the scenes for Spot A together, Spot B together, and so on. This keeps each spot editable as a unit while keeping all assets shared across the project.
→ How to use the script editor
7. Cast actors from the campaign cast list
When you build the shot list for each spot, cast characters from the campaign's actor library. You are not creating new actors for each spot — you are placing the same actors you already built into new scenes.
→ How to cast an actor in a scene
8. Apply per-scene style overrides sparingly
Each spot can have a slight lighting or style adjustment to differentiate it — warmer tones for the emotional spot, cooler for the product demo — without breaking the campaign's visual coherence. Use per-scene style overrides, not a new project-level style.
Part 3: Lock, review, and export the campaign
9. Run a visual consistency check across all spots
After generating shots across all spots, run the Visual Consistency review. This flags any spots where an actor's appearance, a set's lighting, or a costume detail has drifted from the locked reference.
→ How to review visual consistency
10. Lock approved shots and assets
Lock every approved shot so that downstream changes to one spot do not accidentally cascade into another. The lock prevents re-renders from triggering on assets that are already signed off.
→ How to lock approved elements
11. Export each spot individually for its platform
Export Spot A, Spot B, and so on as separate exports. Run once for YouTube 16:9, again for TikTok 9:16 if vertical versions are needed. Each export run is independent and uses the same rendered video — no extra renders required.