Models, in working order.

Use —Photoreal hero plates, 4K-equivalent, complex lighting.

Reach —When the brief is photoreal and the output needs to survive a full-page enlargement.

Watch —Spends tokens. Don't reach for it on iterative variants — start with Pro, escalate.

Use —Day-to-day photoreal generation. The default.

Reach —Default for editorial, backdrops, product compositing seed plates.

Watch —Hairline detail in fabric textures can soften — Ultra fixes that.

Use —Cheaper Flux for layout drafts and concept tests.

Reach —Mood-board phase, rapid recompositions, when output fidelity is not yet the point.

Watch —Don't ship Dev frames as final.

Use —Speed-first Flux. Useful for live ideation only.

Reach —Brainstorm on the call. Throwaway frames.

Watch —Detail loss is significant — never the deliverable.

Use —Multi-reference compositing within the Flux family.

Reach —When you have 2–3 references and need them merged in Flux's look.

Watch —Not as reference-preserving as Nano Banana Pro Edit. Re-stylises subjects under stress.

Use —Pose-locked editorial portraiture.

Reach —Fashion-magazine framing, stylised lighting, when pose is non-negotiable.

Watch —Has a house style. Strong, but recognisable.

Use —General-purpose generation, fast, cheap, plays well with text overlays.

Reach —When Flux is overkill and the brief tolerates a slightly less photoreal look.

Watch —Less editorial gravitas than Flux.

Use —Reference-preserving edits — drops a subject into a backdrop without re-stylising it.

Reach —When the bicycle (or any product) must be the actual reference, verbatim.

Watch —Light/shadow matching is on you to specify in the prompt.

Use —Typography-aware generation. Posters, packaging, anything with set type.

Reach —Anything where rendered text has to be legible and on-brand.

Watch —Photorealism is weaker than Flux; pair them — Ideogram for the type, Flux for the plate.

Use —Style transfer and 4K-equivalent stylised work.

Reach —When the brief is illustrative or painterly and Flux would feel too photographic.

Watch —Style is a feature, not a bug — don't fight it, lean into it.

Use —Image-to-video, short clips (5s, 24fps).

Reach —Hero loops, motion stings, social-cut animation from a still.

Watch —Subject motion can drift after second 3 — keep clips short.

Use —Long-form structured tracks with intros, builds, drops.

Reach —Festival-scale anthems, full arrangements with arc.

Watch —Vocals are an afterthought — pair with ElevenLabs for hooks.

Use —Vocal-led tracks. Hooks, choruses, top-line material.

Reach —Anything where the vocal is the centre of gravity.

Watch —Genre fidelity is good but ElevenLabs has a smoother house tone — be specific in the brief.

Use —Loop-shaped electronic material, 30–60s, designed to bar-line.

Reach —Beat loops for layered production, ad-bed material, looping bg.

Watch —Won't write a song — picks a section and holds it.