neigh

First things first I go into the game with any character, I typically go to the island for privacy

Next I switch over to whoever I want to use in that shot

It would usually look like this:

Then I switch over to whatever other chracter(s) I want in the shot as well and take smaller shots of them:

It's important to note that I don't mess with my zoom after the first shot because it can mess with the sizing of anything added

I tend to isolate any added characters and their shadow first so the background doesnt have to match up, I use a 23% opacity when refilling the empty shadow

However the character in the initual shot is not isolated in this manner

Afterwards I add the characters not in the initial shot

And this shot here brings me to final touches, which can range from color correction or bonus items (if you look at the individuals of the characters you can see what was changed)