> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mago.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Settings cheat sheet

# Settings Cheat Sheet

[← Quick reference](/reference/overview)

***

Quick lookup of defaults, ranges, and when to change each setting. Full per-model context lives in the [Model catalog](/models/overview).

## Universal settings (Mago video models)

Defaults and ranges below reflect the current model configs: universal settings from Mago V5, Character settings from Mago V4, Upscaler settings from the Mago upscaler model.

| Setting                | Default | Range            | When to change                                                                                                                                |
| ---------------------- | ------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Output size            | 1280    | 512–1920         | Lower for testing. Higher for final delivery. 1280 is the sweet spot.                                                                         |
| Steps                  | 4       | 4–20             | More for sharper detail (costs more). Lower for rougher styles.                                                                               |
| Interpolation          | Off     | Off/On           | On for cheaper, faster renders. Off for detail-critical work. Exception: **Mago Inpaint defaults to On** (less flicker in the masked region). |
| Image sequence export  | PNG     | PNG / EXR 16-bit | EXR for professional VFX pipelines.                                                                                                           |
| Prompt influence (CFG) | 1       | 0.5–6            | Lower if the prompt over-influences. Higher if the model ignores it.                                                                          |
| Seed                   | Random  | 0–4294967295     | Fix to reproduce a specific result.                                                                                                           |
| Context size           | 150     | 24–300           | Lower for high movement. Higher for static.                                                                                                   |
| Context overlap        | 10      | 0–24             | Lower for high movement. Higher for slow shots.                                                                                               |
| Dynamic reference      | On      | On/Off           | Off only for very static shots.                                                                                                               |
| Start frame buffer     | 1       | 1 or 5           | Increase if flicker appears at render start.                                                                                                  |

## Mago Character specific

| Setting              | Default   | When to change                                                                                                   |
| -------------------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Pose strength        | 1         | Lower for exact tracking. Higher for stylistic freedom.                                                          |
| Face strength        | 1         | Lower for precise expression replication. Higher for stylized.                                                   |
| Face crop resolution | 512       | 768/1024 for high-res output or eye issues.                                                                      |
| Face crop padding    | 10        | 10–20 if facial features clipped.                                                                                |
| Masking threshold    | 0.3       | 0.1–0.2 if detection failing. 0.4–0.6 if too much detected.                                                      |
| Masking prompt       | character | Multi-subject shots need specifics.                                                                              |
| Grow mask            | 10        | 15–25 for spiky hair, horns, flowing clothes.                                                                    |
| Relight              | 1         | Slider 0–1.5. Lower toward 0 to reduce lighting correction; above 1 strengthens it but may affect other aspects. |

## Mago Style Transfer specific

| Setting              | Default | When to change                                                |
| -------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Video input strength | 0.5     | Below 0.5 for shots over 80 frames. Higher to lock to source. |

## Creative Upscaler specific

| Setting                   | Range             | When to use                                                                   |
| ------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Denoise                   | 0.1–0.9           | 0.3 light detail · 0.5 moderate · 0.7–0.8 heavy restoration of damaged input. |
| Tile width / height count | Higher for detail | Risk of visible tiling at high counts.                                        |

***

## Model decision tree

Follow the questions in order.

### Video work

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
  Q1{Q1: Whole scene<br/>or one element?}
  Q1 -->|One element| Inpaint[Mago Inpaint<br/>+ mask]
  Q1 -->|Whole scene| Q2{Q2: Performance<br/>lip sync critical?}
  Q2 -->|Yes| Style[Mago Style Transfer]
  Q2 -->|No| Q3{Q3: Replacing<br/>the character?}
  Q3 -->|Yes| CharModel[Mago Character precision /<br/>Kling Motion Control lip sync]
  Q3 -->|No| Q4{Q4: How precise?}
  Q4 -->|Frame-perfect production| Transform[Mago Transform<br/>+ ControlNets]
  Q4 -->|Quick, lower precision| Closed[Kling 03 Pro /<br/>Seedance / Happy Horse]
```

### Image work (Q5: what are you doing with the image?)

* **Edit a specific element** → GPT Image 2 (use the mask image input if region-specific).
* **General style transfer or transformation** → Nano Banana Pro.
* **Need 4K output** → Nano Banana 2.
* **Character preparation matching source pose** → GPT Image 2 or Nano Banana Pro.

### Upscale work (Q6: is the input already what you want, just the wrong size?)

* **Yes** → Upscaler at ×2 or ×4.
* **No, needs reconstruction or detail** → Creative Upscaler. Set denoise by how much reconstruction you want.

### Single pass or multi-pass? (Q7: how complex is the transformation?)

* **Simple, single change** → single pass with the right model.
* **Multiple changes (character + style + upscale)** → [multi-pass](/guide/workflows-recipes#recipe-multi-pass-pipeline) using *Edit this Render* between stages.
* **Long-form, production work** → always multi-pass. The control is worth the extra time.

***

[← Quick reference](/reference/overview)