EP 050 · 73 MIN NOBODY KNOWS THIS STYLE EXPLORER HACK

Unpacking Midjourney's Style Explorer + Slipping Deeper Into Nano Banana 🍌

September 7, 202573 min Rory Flynn & Drew Brucker with Allar Haltsonen

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The short version

Episode 50 reunites Rory and Drew with returning guest Allar Haltsonen (Estonia) to unpack Midjourney's brand-new Style Explorer, including a little-known trick that uses Smart Search to surface style codes similar to ones you already like. The trio also goes deep on Nano Banana across Freepik, Krea and a new Photoshop plugin, and Drew live-builds a consistent multi-scene 'world' around one character using a simple keep/change prompt formula.

Key takeaways

01
Hidden Style Explorer hack: click into any style code, hit Smart Search, then switch its tab to 'Styles' to surface other codes with a similar visual DNA.
02
Adding --raw to a style code can drastically change the result, especially on illustrative or 3D-leaning styles; photorealistic styles are affected far less.
03
Style Explorer removes the need to 'mine' your own SREFs by burning credits on random pulls, which especially helps new users and lower-tier subscribers.
04
Nano Banana output quality varies by platform: Rory and Allar both find Freepik's results better than Krea or Google AI Studio, though Freepik's UX and aspect-ratio handling are clunky.
05
Build a consistent multi-character scene by generating each character separately (e.g. a Weavy character sheet), compositing them together, then using Nano Banana to relight and blend it.
06
Use a simple 'keep the character and environment, change X' prompt formula in Nano Banana to build a consistent multi-scene story from one seed image.
07
A free, community-built Nano Banana plugin for Photoshop lets you invoke it for masking and local edits without leaving Photoshop.

Receipts · said on the record

“Look at that. Look at that. Nugget. That's a nugget right there. I guarantee nobody knows about that right now. That's sick. There you go. That's the hack. That's the hack right there.”

Drew Brucker Discovering the Smart Search-to-Styles hack live

“I had no idea how much raw changed the style code. Like if you just, if you hit raw with the style code, like sometimes it can completely change the whole thing. I had no idea.”

Rory Flynn How much --raw can alter a style code

“I had a really hard scene I had to make for a client where I had to place maybe six people sitting around the campfire. They all are wearing branded clothing and behind them are branded cars as well.”

Allar A tough multi-character branded client scene

“Does it say simple prompt that I've been using a lot for it? Keep change. So like keep character environment change this sometimes that's like it makes it a little bit easier to understand.”

Rory Flynn His go-to Nano Banana prompt formula

“When you're going for consistency across multiple scenes, this is where it starts to get tough, right? Because if you do a shot like this, now you're giving the audience so much more information that it didn't see.”

Drew Brucker Why multi-scene consistency is hard in Nano Banana

“Car are placed in the garage. Then you can add some dust on it. Then you can add trash on it. Then you can add a rusty bicycle on it.”

Allar His chained-edit time-lapse aging trick

Chapters

Questions this episode answers

What is the hidden Style Explorer hack Fast Hours found?

Click into any style code, hit Smart Search, then switch its results tab to 'Styles' instead of images. It surfaces other style codes with a similar visual feel, which Drew calls a hack 'nobody knows about' yet.

Does the --raw parameter still matter in Midjourney's Style Explorer?

Yes: Rory found that adding --raw to a style code can drastically change the output, especially for illustrative or 3D-leaning styles, while photorealistic styles are affected much less.

Why does Nano Banana's output quality differ across platforms?

Rory and guest Allar Haltsonen both noticed Freepik's Nano Banana results looked better than running it in Krea or Google AI Studio, though Freepik's interface and aspect-ratio handling are inconsistent.

How do you keep a character consistent across many Nano Banana scenes?

Drew uses a simple 'keep the character and environment, change X' prompt formula from one seed image, while Rory builds a composited multi-character sheet in Weavy first for scenes needing several specific people or products at once.

Who is Allar Haltsonen?

Allar is a returning Fast Hours guest and AI creative based in Estonia, active on X and LinkedIn, who works with Midjourney, Nano Banana and Freepik on client and personal projects, including branded product and fashion work.

Show notes

Fast Hours Podcast Ep. 50—Unpacking Midjourney's Style Explorer + Slipping Deeper Into Nano Banana

The Midjourney Fast Hours crew hits episode 50…and immediately forgets to throw a party. Instead, Drew and Rory stumble into a killer trick inside the brand-new Style Explorer (yes, that hidden Smart Search → Styles move), while guest Allar Haltsonen cheerfully roasts their “we’ll plan it later” energy and shows how RAW can completely flip a style’s look.

They blitz through v7.1 notes, v8 teasers, and real-world Midjourney Video settings (SD vs HD, Loop vs Motion) before going full Nano Banana: Freepik in-app inpainting, aspect-ratio hiccups, and a slick Photoshop plug-in workflow. If you care about consistent aesthetics, faster iteration, and finding SREF styles without burning credits, this one’s pure potassium.

Search hooks & keywords: Midjourney Style Explorer, SRF / SREF style codes, Smart Search trick, RAW parameter, v7.1, v8, Midjourney Video settings, Loop vs Motion, SD vs HD, OREF, Nano Banana, Freepik inpainting, Photoshop plug-in, fashion swaps, cinematic angles, moodboards, style weight, stylize.

Every word Read the full transcript