Every transformation tool in this studio rests on one quiet document: the record that the person in the source material agreed to be there. Makers who work only with fictional characters and their own photographs rarely think about it, until the day a set mixes both, a collaborator appears in a frame, or a platform asks — reasonably — on what basis a real face was transformed. A consent log, kept from the first job, answers in a minute. Kept from memory, it answers nothing.
Four entries, every time
Who. The person’s legal name or unambiguous handle, and confirmation they are an adult. “A friend” is not an entry; a name and a date of birth check are.
What. The scope in plain words: which tools, which kinds of transformation, and whether the results may be published, sold, or kept private. Consent to an edit is not consent to an undress transformation, and consent to creation is not consent to publication. Record each separately.
How long. A term, or “until withdrawn”. Open-ended consent with a clear withdrawal route is workable; silent consent with no route is not.
The agreement itself. A dated message, form or signature you can produce — not a recollection of a conversation. Store it with the set it covers, under the same filename stem, so the record travels with the work.
Withdrawal is part of the course
Consent that cannot be withdrawn was never really given. When a person withdraws, the honest sequence is short: stop new jobs from their material, unpublish what is public, and delete sources and results on request, confirming each step in writing. Makers sometimes fear this moment; in practice a clean, prompt withdrawal builds the reputation that keeps collaborators willing. The log should note the withdrawal date beside the original entry, so the chart shows both the permission and its end.
Fictional navigators need a file too
For a purely fictional character there is no person to consent — but there is still a record worth keeping: her course card, its versions, and a note that she is fictional and adult by design. If a set is ever questioned, that file shows the character was invented, aged deliberately, and never based on a real person. Two minutes of filing at the start of a series is the cheapest protection on the whole route, and the makers who keep it are the ones who can answer any question about their work without breaking stride.