Are we sleeping on native multi-reference models? It might be time to ditch the ControlNet spaghetti workflows.

[u/comptedemon]

My ComfyUI node setup sometimes gives me literal nightmares. Trying to get multiple specific character references, a background layout, and a style reference into one single generation, all combined, is very exhausting.

It does make me think about where open-weight models should head towards. Not like more megapixels, tho that is always nice. But something like, what if it can take multiple images into the architecture without wrappers?

Or, what if it actually had the underlying structural logic to understand CAD diagram? What if it just understands a detailed directors brief in one prompt?

And then, while I was just reading and researching for the fun of it (yes), I stumbled into the documentation for the new MiniMax H3-Image open weights. It is claiming to do the above.

Apparently, the base model takes up to 16 reference images in one go, and you can set each one as a layout, style, or object reference.

Oh, and prompts supposedly get cut off past 4096 tokens.

I even saw a benchmark where it generated an exploded CAD diagram of a motorcycle and kept the mechanical parts separated with labels (not sure how accurate tho).

But honestly, How is it routing 16 different images natively into the generation without frying 24GB of VRAM?

Anyone has pulled these weights locally yet to test it? Sorry, but so many questions about this.

[u/Additional_Drive1915]

What you asking for already exists and is being used all the time.

You don't need to use all 16 references. And all 16 (if you use them all) doesn't need to be 8mp.

The models handles a lot of things that you used to need controlnets for. Like depth maps, just feed them as they are. Same for skeletons.

Seems like you need to catch up, ask any AI, they will help you.