Anima Artist Options (Simple)

AnimaArtistSimpleOptions is the "I don't want to learn the expert panel" answer to the mixer's most common tweaks. Where AnimaArtistOptions (Expert) exposes two dozen stabilizers and anchor knobs, this node gives you the handful of layer and timing controls that actually change your everyday output, and hands the rest of the defaults over automatically. If the default balanced preset feels close but not right, this is the first place to turn.

The inputs

• normalize_weights - recommended on. It makes per-artist weights relative proportions instead of independent strengths. Note the carve-out: if your chain uses ::weight syntax, explicit weights stay absolute at runtime regardless.
• layer_mode - a global layer shortcut: auto (default), all_layers, style_core (0–18), detail_layers (12–63), or custom.
• start_percent / end_percent - sampling-progress window, 0.0 to 1.0. The mixer only runs during this slice of sampling. This is your "stop the style injection in the late steps so the image settles" control.
• custom_layer_filter - only active when layer_mode=custom; a comma-separated list like 0,3,5-10,-1.
• compatibility_mode - leave off unless you're running regional prompts or another attention patcher that's fighting the mixer. When you enable it, it forces the tolerant concat + concat_with_base path and disables cache-heavy stabilizers.

What it gives you

One output: advanced_options (type ANIMA_OPTS), which you wire into the advanced_options input of AnimaArtistPresetApply (or AnimaArtistCrossAttn). That's the whole interface - this node is a compact builder for the options object the apply nodes consume.

Install

Manager → search "Anima Artist Mixer Forge", or:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/peter119lee/Anima-Artist-Mixer-Forge

then restart. No extra dependencies; you need the Anima model files (UNET, qwen_3_06b_base text encoder, qwen_image_vae) and the Anima-compatible CLIP loader, same as every node in this pack. Uninstall the original Anima-Artist-Mixer if it's present.

My take

The two controls worth actually touching here are layer_mode (narrowing to style_core changes how much of the artist influence lands on overall style vs fine strokes) and start_percent/end_percent (the cheap fix when a late-step sampler keeps fighting the style). Everything else, keep at defaults until you've got a specific problem. The README's guidance is blunt and correct: use this node for common layer/timing tweaks, and reserve the Expert node for stabilizer A/B and debugging. Resist the temptation to enable compatibility_mode preemptively - it makes the mixer less precise, and you'll know when you need it because your regional prompting will start collapsing.