LTX Studio sets location, lighting, and weather at the scene level inside the storyboard, then applies them to every shot in that scene. The same three controls live on the scene panel and act as the cinematic spine of the project. Set them deliberately at the storyboard stage and you save hours of prompt-by-prompt rewriting later, because every generated shot inherits the same environmental treatment.
This guide walks through how to define and override those three controls, where they fit in the LTX Studio storyboard workflow, and the prompt patterns that produce consistent atmospheric scenes from the first generation.
Scene-Level Controls Explained
Scene-level controls in LTX Studio are the parameters that apply to every shot inside a single storyboard scene. The three primary controls (Location, Lighting, Weather) sit on the scene panel and act as a constant context that per-shot prompts inherit. A scene set in “rain-soaked Tokyo backstreet at dusk” carries that descriptor into every shot prompt automatically, so the writer does not have to repeat it in every shot description.
This separation is the cinematic equivalent of a production design brief. The DP and production designer agree on the location, time of day, and atmosphere once; every shot list item that follows operates inside that envelope. LTX Studio mirrors that workflow so the same envelope wraps every generation.
A six-scene short can move from “snowy mountain pass, overcast morning, light flurries” to “neon-soaked rooftop, midnight, clear and dry” between scenes 1 and 2 without leaking either environment into the other. Scene-level controls hold the environments separate while the project itself stays unified.
Creating the Perfect Scene
Once you’ve done the initial setup for your story and have a storyboard to work with, it’s time to define the environmental controls for each scene.
Add a new scene by clicking the small plus button at the bottom of the storyboard, or using the plus that appears if you hover between scenes. With a blank scene selected, the scene settings panel appears on the left side of the canvas. Click on “Location” — you’ll find three text fields named Location, Lighting, and Weather. Type into each field, then click “Create location.” The AI may add a few suggestions to your prompt; edit and refine until the description matches your exact vision, then click Apply.
Once you’re back in the storyboard view, add a prompt in the Scene Description or directly in the first frame of your new scene. Once you start typing, your visuals should start to generate with the location, lighting, and weather you defined already inherited.
How to Write Strong Location Prompts
Location prompts in LTX Studio respond best to specificity, not length. A four or five word location with the right concrete details produces a sharper scene than a paragraph of generic description.
Compare these two location prompts. “City” produces a generic urban scene with unpredictable specifics — it could read as Tokyo, Cleveland, or a sound stage. “Modern urban street with low-rise glass storefronts, wide sidewalks, light midday traffic” pins down the architectural register, the scale of the buildings, the street furniture, and the activity density. Every shot in that scene now reads as the same city block.
A practical pattern: name one architectural marker, one scale cue, and one activity cue. “Rain-slick Brooklyn warehouse alley, low brick walls, empty” hits all three. “Suburban cul-de-sac, post-war single-story homes, late afternoon school traffic” hits all three differently. The model is asking for landmarks it can hold across cuts, not adjectives.
Lighting Shapes the Scene
Lighting is the most consequential of the three scene-level controls because it sets the emotional register of every shot. A location written in neutral light reads as documentary. The same location written in low-key sidelight reads as noir. The same location in flat overcast reads as commercial. The model interprets lighting as both a visual and tonal instruction.
Strong lighting prompts name three things: the source, the quality, and the direction. A source can be daylight, practicals (interior lamps, neon, street lights), or a specific time of day that implies its own source (“golden hour,” “blue hour,” “high noon”). Quality is soft, hard, diffused, or specular. Direction is front, side, back, or top.
A lighting prompt that pins all three reads like: “low-angle late-afternoon sun, warm and directional, rim-lighting subjects from screen-left.” Compare to “good lighting,” which leaves every choice to the model and produces inconsistent results across shots. The first survives a cut between two shots in the scene; the second creates a different look in every frame.
Enhancing Your Location
For existing scenes, you can enhance the location rather than rewrite it from scratch. From the Storyboard view, click “Location” within scene settings, edit the text boxes with your updated prompts, then click “Enhance location” for more nuanced elements like extra textures, shadows, and environmental details. You can keep the enhanced version or stick to your original prompt — whatever fits your story best.
How Does Weather Change the Read?
Weather is the third spine of scene-level direction and is the one most often left blank. It is also the cheapest way to add production value to an AI-generated scene because it pushes lighting, surface response, and atmosphere all at once.
Three categories cover most use cases:
- Atmospheric weather (fog, mist, light haze) softens the depth and adds separation between foreground and background.
- Active weather (rain, snow, falling leaves) adds motion to every frame even when the camera is locked off.
- Sky weather (overcast, partly cloudy, clear at sunset) sets the dominant colour cast for the scene.
Combine weather with lighting and the read sharpens further. “Heavy fog, low warm key from a single sodium streetlight, no fill” produces a specific 11pm-on-an-empty-street look that survives every shot in the scene. The same scene under “clear sky, midday sun, hard shadows” reads as an entirely different moment, even with the location prompt unchanged.
Customizing Individual Shots
Scene-level controls are inherited by default, but any individual shot can override them. This is the right move for a shot that needs to break the established envelope: a flashback inside a scene, a moment that cuts to a different exterior, a stylized beat that wants its own treatment, or an interior-to-exterior transition inside a single scene.
To override, duplicate the shot you want to change, go into the Motion Editor, and click “Shot location” on the left side. Update the location, lighting, and weather prompts for that specific shot and click Apply. The shot now operates outside the scene defaults while every adjacent shot continues to inherit them.
For example, if your main story takes place in a city, you might want one flashback shot set in a desert: “Sandy desert, rolling dunes, harsh midday sun, clear skies, with a rising haze from the heat.” Once you’re happy with your updates, continue editing in the Storyboard tab. If you’re not satisfied, simply delete the duplicated shot to return to your original storyboard.
The same logic applies if a scene’s lighting needs to shift mid-sequence (a sunset scene where two shots play before the sun drops and two shots play after). Edit the lighting field on the affected shots rather than rewriting the entire scene.
Layer Scene Controls into the Workflow
Setting location, lighting, and weather at the scene level is the second decision in the LTX Studio storyboard workflow, after the storyboard structure itself and before the per-shot generation work. Establishing them early means the scene generates consistently from the first shot and reduces re-rolls later when a shot drifts off the established look.
Combine the scene controls with the project’s Style Element for a fully locked visual system: the Style Element holds the aesthetic treatment, the scene controls hold the environment, and the shot prompt carries action, framing, and camera direction. Each layer does one job, which is easier to debug than a single 200-word prompt trying to carry all three. For background on Style Elements as the project-wide aesthetic layer, see the customize visual styles guide.
Conclusion
LTX Studio’s storyboard sets location, lighting, and weather at the scene level and applies them to every shot inside that scene. Write each as a specific, three-element prompt: a location prompt with an architectural marker plus a scale and activity cue, a lighting prompt with source, quality, and direction, and a weather prompt that combines atmospheric, active, or sky treatment with the lighting choice.
Override individual shots when a scene needs an interior beat, a flashback, or a stylized cut. Layered with a Style Element, scene-level direction gives a project a consistent cinematic envelope without per-shot rewriting.
Ready to direct a scene with intention? Open LTX Studio and set location, lighting, and weather on your next storyboard.
Location, Lighting & Weather FAQs
How do you set locations in LTX Studio?
Add a new scene by clicking the plus button, click "Location" in scene settings, fill in the Location, Lighting, and Weather text boxes with detailed descriptions, click "Create location" to generate AI suggestions, edit as needed, click apply, and add a scene description or frame prompt to generate visuals with your specified settings.
How do you enhance existing scene locations?
From the Storyboard view, click "Location" within scene settings, edit the text boxes with your updated prompts for location, lighting, and weather, then click "Enhance location" for more nuanced elements like extra textures, shadows, and environmental details. You can keep the enhanced version or stick to your original prompt.
Can you customize individual shot locations differently from the scene?
Yes, duplicate the shot you want to change, go into the Motion Editor, click "Shot location" on the left side, update location, lighting, and weather prompts (like changing from city to desert), and click apply. This allows seamless transitions where characters move between different environments within the same sequence.
