voxel-it
Use when the user asks for voxel it or a task matching the examples below. Voxel-It — turn any photo into a high-quality Minecraft screenshot, keeping the HUMAN subject(s) fully photorealistic while the rest of the frame becomes detailed Minecraft block geometry, then cinematic-color-grade the whole
By pika-labs · 598 installs
npx skills add pika-labs/pika-plugins --skill voxel-it
Source repository · Upstream listing
voxel it
Tools below are Pika MCP tools, named bare — call each under whatever prefix your session exposes for the Pika MCP.
One skill, one engine: turn a photo into a Minecraft screenshot where the
human stays photoreal and the rest of the frame becomes voxel blocks ,
unified by a cinematic color grade. A Step 0 router reads the photo and picks
one of three modes — deciding what gets voxelized (the featured object, the
background, or everything except the person) and whether to float Minecraft
"loot tags" naming the hero objects. This one skill absorbs both the old
Minecraft Food trend (object only) and the old Minecraft World trend
(object+background).
The conversion engine is the @rohxit7 viral recipe , verbatim (Instagram, 194K
likes, minecraft prompt chatgpt). The object only prompt and loot tag clause
are salvaged from the retired Minecraft Food trend (@aibyjoe "Minecraft
Food").
The effect, precisely:
1. Keep photorealistic & untouched — the PERSON (face, skin, hair, clothing,
pose, proportions). No stylization, no blockifying — in every mode.
2. Convert to Minecraft — the parts the chosen mode targets (some subset of:
terrain, structures, plants, objects, furniture, vehicles, food, drinks, sky,
background): clean cubic/voxel geometry, crisp 16×16 style textures,
modern Minecraft screenshot quality (premium SEUS/BSL shaders — realistic
light, soft shadows, AO, volumetric light, sharp edges).
3. Spatial fidelity (strict): exact camera, framing, composition; every
element in its original position and size; nothing added/removed/rearranged.
4. Cinematic color grade (the unifier): analyze the source mood and grade the
whole frame to match, cohesive across real human + voxel world so it's one
image, not a pasted cutout.
5. (Conditional) Loot tags — object only mode only; see Step 0.
Identity note: maskless single full canvas edit (per the recipe), so the
face is regenerated and can drift slightly. Accepted for color cohesion. For
a byte perfect face, see the advanced mask note at the bottom.
Step 0 — Router: pick the MODE
Read the photo and commit to exactly ONE mode. State the decision as a single
line — MODE: object only / MODE: background only / MODE: object+background
— then apply the matching prompt block in Step 3. The engine, color grade, and
quality bar are identical across modes; the only delta is what voxelizes and
whether loot tags float.
The three modes:
object only — voxelize ONLY the held/featured object (food / drink /
product) and its own tableware . Keep the PERSON and the BACKGROUND
fully photorealistic. Float a Minecraft loot tag label above each hero object.
(This is the old Minecraft Food look.)
background only — voxelize the BACKGROUND / environment into Minecraft
blocks. Keep the PERSON photorealistic; if an incidental object is present,
keep it photoreal too. No loot tags. (A person standing in a place, now in
a voxel world — but anything they're holding stays real.)
object+background — voxelize EVERYTHING except the person (the object
AND the background). Loot tags optional. (The old full voxelize Minecraft World
default.)
Decision tree (default detection):
The routing intent: a face with no featured object defaults to
background only (put the person in a voxel world, keep them and anything
incidental real). A featured object → object only (voxelize the hero item,
tag it, keep person + scene real). object+background only on an explicit
request.
Inputs
<source — any photo (path, URL, or chat pasted image). Works on object
shots, person+object shots, and wide scenes alike.
Empty args menu
1. "Drop the photo (path, URL, or paste it). I'll auto pick the mode — object only
(voxelize just the food/product you're featuring, with Minecraft loot tags),
background only (voxelize the scene around you, keep you and anything you're
holding real), or object+background (voxelize everything but you). Tell me if
you want to force a specific mode."
(No provider question — always gpt image 2; see Engine.)
Engine — always gpt image 2
gpt image 2 , quality="high" , output format="png" . It's the strong editor the
recipe needs and commits the world to blocks. Do not use nano banana pro — it
under voxelizes (preserves subjects as photoreal even when told to block ify),
so the world barely changes (audited over a 6 scene batch).
Timeout gotcha: at quality="high" a synchronous call often exceeds the
~260s tool budget and the client times out. Always call with background:true
and poll task status(task id) in a tight loop until completed .
Workflow
Working dir: <project /voxel it/<run id / — each run its own folder.
Step 1 — Get the source as a Pika CDN URL
HTTPS URL? Use it directly.
Local file? Upload (Step 2). Convert HEIC: sips s format jpeg in.HEIC
out out.jpg — this strips the EXIF orientation flag, so the JPEG can land
on its side. View it ; only if it's sideways, rotate upright with sips r
90 or sips r 270 (whichever way it's tilted), then view again to confirm.
The model bakes the reference pixels as is, so it must be upright before upload.
Chat pasted image? Not reliably on disk. If the user names a file (e.g. a
Desktop screenshot — macOS uses a narrow no break space U+202F before AM/PM, so
match via a glob), copy it. Otherwise extract from the session transcript:
Always read the saved file back (view it) before spending a generation.
Step 2 — Upload to Pika CDN
upload asset({filename, mime type, size bytes, sha256})
→ PUT the bytes to presigned url with the exact content type from the
response ( curl X PUT H "content type: <type " upload file <file
"<presigned url " , expect HTTP 200 ) → use the returned public url .
Step 3 — Run the edit (branch on the Step 0 mode)
generate image edit with provider="gpt image 2" ,
quality="high" , output format="png" , background=true (poll), the CDN URL in
images , and aspect ratio: "auto" — the worker measures the
reference and matches its orientation, so you never hand pick or recompute the
ratio. Fill the COLOR GRADING mood line from your read of the photo.
Pick the prompt block for the mode you committed to in Step 0.
MODE: object+background (voxelize everything except the person)
Use the @rohxit7 recipe verbatim:
ROLE: You are an expert image transformation artist specializing in stylized
photo to game world conversions and cinematic color grading.
TASK: Transform the attached reference photo into a high quality Minecraft
screenshot in which the human subject(s) remain fully photorealistic and
untouched, while everything else in the scene is converted into detailed
Minecraft block geometry — then apply cinematic color grading derived from the
original photo's mood.
CORE CONCEPT (the hero idea — do not deviate): A real, photorealistic human
standing inside a fully voxel/blocky Minecraft world. The contrast between the
realistic person and the blocky environment is the entire point of this image.
CONVERSION RULES:
1. KEEP PHOTOREALISTIC (do NOT alter): the human subject(s) from the reference
photo; their face, skin, hair, clothing, pose, and proportions; render them
exactly as they appear — no stylization, no blockifying.
2. CONVERT TO MINECRAFT (high quality block model): all non human elements —
terrain, ground, plants, objects, structures, furniture, vehicles, sky, and
background. Use clean cubic/voxel geometry with crisp 16x16 style block
textures. Quality reference: a modern Minecraft screenshot rendered with
premium shaders (e.g., SEUS / BSL style) — realistic lighting, soft shadows,
ambient occlusion, volumetric light, sharp block edges.
3. SPATIAL FIDELITY (strict — this is a conversion, not a reimagining):
preserve the EXACT camera angle, framing, and composition; keep every element
in its ORIGINAL position; keep every element at its ORIGINAL relative size and
scale; the human must occupy the same place and proportion as in the source; do
NOT add, remove, or rearrange objects.
COLOR GRADING (apply AFTER the Minecraft conversion):
Step 1 — ANALYZE the original photo first: identify its time of day, lighting
direction, dominant color palette, warmth/coolness, and overall mood ([fill in
the mood you read, e.g. "moody night street, cool blue sky with warm street lamp
glow" / "golden hour warm" / "overcast neutral"]).
Step 2 — APPLY cinematic color grading that matches that analyzed mood: filmic
contrast curve, balanced highlights and shadows; color tone consistent with the
original photo's atmosphere; subtle vignette and depth, cohesive across both the
realistic human and the blocky environment so they feel like one unified image.
OUTPUT SPECIFICATIONS: single high resolution image; sharp, detailed,
professional Minecraft screenshot quality; photorealistic human + voxel world,
seamlessly color graded.
SELF CHECK BEFORE FINALIZING: Is the human still 100% photorealistic and
unchanged? Is everything else clearly Minecraft block geometry? Are positions,
sizes, and composition identical to the source? Does the color grade match the
original photo's analyzed mood? Does the realistic human and blocky world feel
unified, not pasted?
Loot tags in object+background are OPTIONAL. If the user wants them (or there's
a clear namable hero object), insert the LOOT TAGS block below between CONVERSION
RULES and COLOR GRADING, and add its tag line to TASK + SELF CHECK:
LOOT TAGS: above or near EACH hero voxelized object, float a Minecraft
inventory style name tag — clean white pixel/bitmap font on a dark
semi transparent rounded rectangle (a Minecraft item tooltip / named entity
tag) — naming that item: [list each hero object → its short name, e.g. "Mojito",
"Sesame Latte", "Apple Cake", "Air Jordan 1", "Leica M6"]. Keep tags tidy,
crisp, readable, non overlapping, floating just above each item, and NEVER
covering a person's face. (add to SELF CHECK: "Does each hero object have a
clean, readable Minecraft name tag that doesn't cover a face?")
MODE: background only (voxelize the scene, keep the person AND any incidental object real)
Same @rohxit7 recipe as object+background, with CONVERSION RULE 1 widened so
the person is not the ONLY thing kept real: also keep any incidental held/foreground
object photorealistic. Concretely, replace RULE 1 and RULE 2 with:
1. KEEP PHOTOREALISTIC (do NOT alter): the human subject(s) — face, skin, hair,
clothing, pose, proportions — AND any object the person is holding or that sits
in the immediate foreground (a phone, a drink, a bag, a prop). Render all of
these exactly as they appear — no stylization, no blockifying.
2. CONVERT TO MINECRAFT (high quality block model): the BACKGROUND and
ENVIRONMENT only — terrain, ground, plants, structures, furniture, vehicles,
sky, and scenery behind and around the subject. Use clean cubic/voxel geometry
with crisp 16x16 style block textures. Quality reference: a modern Minecraft
screenshot with premium shaders (SEUS / BSL) — realistic lighting, soft
shadows, ambient occlusion, volumetric light, sharp block edges. Do NOT
voxelize the person or anything they are holding.
Keep CORE CONCEPT, SPATIAL FIDELITY (RULE 3), COLOR GRADING, OUTPUT
SPECIFICATIONS, and SELF CHECK from the object+background block verbatim (they
apply unchanged). No loot tags in background only.
MODE: object only (voxelize just the featured object + its tableware; keep the person AND background real; float loot tags)
This is the retired Minecraft Food recipe. Fill the bracketed list per item and
keep the KEEP and label clauses verbatim:
Edit this exact photo. KEEP [the person + their face, hair, hands, clothing,
accessories /OR for a flat