3 Core Creative Choice Categories to Document for Your Audience
For independent cross-media IP builders using Runway AI recipes and Google Flow Music tools to produce visual and audio branded content, there are three core categories of creative choices you need to document transparently for your audience: first, requirements mandated by the AI platforms you use, so audiences can distinguish between non-negotiable tool constraints and your intentional decisions; second, your original creative decisions around reference selection, style tuning, and post-generation adjustments; third, all rights consent records for reference materials including talent likenesses and licensed assets, to demonstrate you hold proper permissions for all inputs used in your work.
Official Tool Usage Rules to Separate from Your Creative Decisions
Per Runway's official reference media guidelines, four general principles apply to all reference media used in its creative recipes: use the highest available resolution source, keep the reference subject clearly focused and free of clutter, use even neutral lighting for the most faithful reproduction, and limit each reference to one subject unless the recipe explicitly allows multiple. For product-focused Runway recipes including Product Ad, Product Swap, Product Campaign Image and Product UGC, creators are advised to center unobstructed products on plain backgrounds, capture the exact desired featured angle, and avoid heavy reflections, watermarks or overlaid text on products. For talent references used in Runway's Product UGC recipe, creators are required to only use references of people they have explicit permission to depict, as they hold full responsibility for all likeness rights submitted to the platform. Per Google's 2026-10-06 announcement, Google Flow Music's Spaces feature allows creators to build custom instruments or effects using natural language without coding experience, and export these custom tools as VST3/AU plugins for use in standard digital audio workstation workflows, so all choices around custom plugin design fall under original creative decisions to document for audiences.
Real-Time Documentation Workflow for IP Building
We recommend a four-step workflow to log choices as you work, paired with a hypothetical example for a sustainable skincare line IP campaign: 1. Before starting production, log all platform requirements from Runway and Google Flow Music that apply to your project, so you can note which choices are mandated vs original. For the skincare campaign, this would include Runway's rule to use plain backgrounds for product references. 2. When selecting reference media, log every reference source, plus the reason you chose it (e.g., "selected matte glass product reference to match brand's minimalist aesthetic"). 3. When adjusting AI tool inputs, log every change you make to prompts, parameters, or custom plugins (e.g., "adjusted custom Spaces reverb effect to sound warm and natural for campaign voiceover"). 4. Store all consent records for talent or licensed references in the same folder as your documentation, for easy reference when sharing with audiences.
Reusable Creative Choice Documentation Checklist
Use this numbered checklist for every AI-assisted IP project: 1. List all applicable platform tool requirements linked to their official source. 2. Log every reference media input, with source and intended creative purpose. 3. Document every adjustment made to AI tool prompts, parameters, or custom features. 4. Confirm and record that you hold all necessary rights and consent for all reference inputs, including talent likenesses. 5. Note which final output adjustments were made manually post-AI generation. 6. Label any elements of the final work that are original creative decisions not influenced by platform constraints.
Guidance Context and Next Steps
This guidance is based on currently available verified official sources, and does not cover all niche use cases. Creators working on long-form narrative IP or other specialized content can reach out directly to platform support for use case-specific guidelines, and keep internal records of all additional guidance they receive to share with their audiences alongside their core creative choice log.