# Scene context

The Visualizer panel has three tabs: **Scene**, **Style**, **Lighting**. Each tab feeds a different part of the prompt the model receives. Understanding which tab to edit when is the difference between iterating cleanly and iterating chaotically.

![Visualize mode with a finished render of a yellow Lamborghini on a wet Manhattan street at night. The right Visualizer panel shows the Scene tab active with the auto-generated prompt block describing the scene](/files/hM1HlspfmwRKC488I3Kh)

## What it does

A monolithic prompt makes it hard to know what to change when something is wrong. The three-tab split splits the prompt into compositional facts (Scene), surface treatment (Style), and atmosphere (Lighting). When a render is wrong compositionally, you fix Scene; when it's right compositionally but the surface treatment is off, you fix Style; when the mood is wrong, you fix Lighting.

## What goes in the Scene tab vs the Style tab vs the Lighting tab?

### Scene tab

Built from the 3D scene plus the active shot. Three sections inside:

* **\[Scene Context]** – the framing. What kind of shot it is, what mood, what location. Reads from the scene name, the shot name and description, the lens, the aspect ratio.
* **\[Environment & Props]** – the physical setting and the secondary objects. Reads from populator labels, environment settings (sun, fog), and the names of non-hero objects in the scene.
* **\[Subjects]** – the hero objects. Reads from named hero objects, their descriptions, and any image references attached.

Each section is editable in place. Click into any block, type. The visualizer uses your edited version on the next render.

### Style tab

Surface treatment. The look and rendering style applied to the same composition. Built from a chosen [style preset](/visualize/style-presets.md), or empty (default photoreal) if no preset is attached.

The Style tab's text is generally what you'd find in a cinematographer's grade-and-finish notes: *"cinematic, golden hour, slight halation, cool shadows, warm highlights"*. Editing this block changes the surface without touching the composition.

### Lighting tab

Atmosphere. Time of day, weather, mood. Built from a chosen [lighting preset](/visualize/lighting-presets.md) or from a manual edit.

A lighting block reads as the cinematographer's lighting brief: *"stormy coastal tempest, low sun breaking through cloud, sea spray catching the light"*. Editing this block changes the mood independent of either composition or surface.

## How the three tabs combine

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    A[Scene tab] --> D[Final prompt]
    B[Style tab] --> D
    C[Lighting tab] --> D
    D --> E[Diffusion model]
    E --> F[Rendered output]
```

The visualizer assembles all three tabs into a single prompt at generate time. The model receives the assembled prompt plus the spatial inputs (3D scene geometry, camera, image references). Editing one tab doesn't disturb the others.

{% hint style="info" %}
The biggest mistake new users make is editing the Scene tab to fix a style problem, or vice versa. If the car is in the wrong place, that's Scene (or upstream in Compose). If the car is in the right place but the rendering looks "too clean", that's Style.
{% endhint %}

## When to edit which

| Render problem                  | Edit                                                                              |
| ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Composition is wrong            | Build mode (move objects) or Compose mode (move camera). Don't edit Scene tab.    |
| Subject is generic              | Add an image reference to the object (Build mode), then regenerate the prompt     |
| Mood is too bright              | Lighting tab (or pick a darker [lighting preset](/visualize/lighting-presets.md)) |
| Surface looks "too AI-rendered" | Style tab (try a different [style preset](/visualize/style-presets.md))           |
| Render is dark or muddy         | Lighting tab first; check environment fog setting in Build mode if stuck          |

## Regenerating the prompt

Click **Generate prompt** at the top of the Scene tab to rebuild from the current scene and shot state. Useful after Build-mode or Compose-mode changes – the auto-prompt doesn't refresh automatically.

Manual edits to any block get overwritten when you regenerate. If you've made an edit you want to preserve, copy it before clicking Generate prompt.

## Limits

* **Three tabs is the working set.** Custom prompt blocks aren't supported today.

## Further viewing

Phil walks through this concept in depth at the 2026 Production Summit (32 minutes).

{% embed url="<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3CoibxA_ag>" %}

## Related

* [Auto-prompt](/visualize/auto-prompt.md)
* [How the visualizer thinks](/overview/concepts/how-the-visualizer-thinks.md)
* [Style presets](/visualize/style-presets.md)
* [Lighting presets](/visualize/lighting-presets.md)
* [Custom styles](/visualize/custom-styles.md)


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