EP 007 · 85 MIN THE MIDJOURNEY PARAMETERS YOU'RE SKIPPING
Midjourney Parameters: The Forgotten Cheat Codes (& Best Ways To Use Them)
The short version
Episode 7 is a parameter-by-parameter walkthrough of Midjourney's aspect ratio, chaos, weird, stylize, quality, repeat, tile, no, stop, seed and version flags, recorded the week the Editor tool launched. Rory Flynn and Drew Brucker share personal defaults (Rory's 5:4 vs. Drew's 4:5 aspect ratio, chaos around 5, stylize 100-250) and specific tricks, like generating at a very high stylize value and then reusing that output as a style reference to regain prompt control.
Key takeaways
- 01
Rory's go-to aspect ratio is 5:4, Drew's is 4:5: both prefer a portrait-leaning ratio over square or widescreen for anything with a person in frame.
- 02
For odd ad or banner dimensions (like a 1500x200 LinkedIn banner), type the exact pixel size into the aspect ratio field; Midjourney scales to the closest ratio automatically.
- 03
Chaos past 20 gets unpredictable; Rory keeps a default of 5 for subtle variance and says some of his best images came from chaos 70-80 "hidden gems."
- 04
Weird adds a non-AI, natural photo grain at low values (try 15) but hits diminishing returns past roughly 1500-2000 on its 0-3000 scale, per Rory's testing.
- 05
Generate at a very high stylize value you like, then drop stylize back down and feed that image in as a style reference to regain control of pose.
- 06
Stylize and personalization interact: raising stylize while a personalization code is active exaggerates that personal style instead of Midjourney's default look, up to about 650.
- 07
Repeat (--r) can't run with permutations, but combined with `--sref random` it unlocks multiple style codes in one job, up to 40 on Pro or Mega plans.
Receipts · said on the record
“The further you go up on the chaos scale, it starts breaking around 20. … Sometimes you get hidden gems in there. I found some of my best images at chaos 70, 80-ish.”
“Whatever the pixels, whatever the size is, you can put that in specifically. Mid Journey can handle all of it. It'll just default to the lowest common denominator.”
“Go type in, you know, Facebook photo from 2012 and shot on iPhone and then hit it with like weird 15. And you'll get something that looks like out of your yearbook.”
“Even if that gives more of a 90% head start, and then Generative Fill can really fine-tune some smaller details, which I still think it's best for going into really, really small pixels and changing certain things, little shadows around the fingers.”
“I did this low stylized value. The image was jacked. Guy had four arms, but it was this really cool style of what I wanted. … Let's use that image from Stylize 0 as the style reference. … And then bang, it came out perfect.”
Chapters
- 0:00:00 Intro & Midjourney's New "Editor" Feature
- 0:24:26 Aspect Ratio (--ar)
- 0:34:21 Chaos (--c)
- 0:40:50 Weird (--w)
- 0:47:19 Stylize (--s)
- 0:51:15 Personalize (--p)
- 0:58:46 Quality (--q)
- 1:04:15 Repeat (--r)
- 1:07:22 Tile (--tile)
- 1:10:09 No (--no)
- 1:15:50 Stop (--stop)
- 1:18:50 Seed (--seed)
- 1:23:26 Wrap-Up
Questions this episode answers
What Midjourney parameters does Fast Hours episode 7 cover?
The episode walks through aspect ratio, chaos, weird, stylize, quality, repeat, tile, no, stop, seed and version, with Rory Flynn and Drew Brucker giving their personal default values and use cases for each.
What aspect ratio should you use for portraits in Midjourney?
Rory defaults to 5:4 and Drew to 4:5. Both say a taller-than-wide ratio gives Midjourney room to render a full face, while very wide ratios like 2:1 crop in on just the eyes and nose.
How do you make a specific-size banner in Midjourney?
Rory's trick is to type the exact pixel dimensions, like an odd LinkedIn or ad-banner size, directly into the aspect ratio field. Midjourney can't hit that exact pixel count but will default to the closest matching ratio, which you then upscale.
What does the chaos parameter do in Midjourney?
Chaos increases how different the four images in a grid are from each other and from the prompt. Rory keeps his default around 5 for subtle variation and says values in the 60-80 range, while mostly unusable, have produced some of his best unplanned results.
How do stylize and personalization work together in Midjourney?
Rory explains that raising the stylize value while a personalization code is active exaggerates that personal style rather than Midjourney's generic look, and he pushes his own stylize up toward 650 before it starts feeling like too much.
Show notes
Midjourney Parameters
You've been playing Midjourney on 'easy' mode this whole time. Let's crack open that long-lost cheat code book and crank it up to 'legendary'.
Midjourney without parameters is like trying to paint the Mona Lisa with a roller brush. Time to rediscover those long-lost fine-tipped brushes.
By the end of this episode, you'll be wielding AI brushes so fine, da Vinci would be jealous.
We're not just moving the needle here; we're painting a whole new canvas. Aspect ratios, chaos, weird, stylize - we're leaving no parameter (stone?) unturned.
It's time to create images so stunning, your GPU might just bow in respect.
