Putting people in a video: where to start
Where a face can come from, how to tell the model who is who, and the mistakes that cost renders.
Video models are good at people when they are told exactly who is in the shot and what each picture is for. Most disappointing or failed videos with people come from a handful of avoidable mistakes, all covered here.
Where the face comes from
| Source | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| The cast | A ready-made person in seconds: thousands of faces, searchable by occupation, country and age. | Shared, so anyone may pick the same face. In Cast (the Library tab) in the new layouts, or + Character → Cast in the classic one, on Pro and Max. |
| Your characters | A person who is yours alone, the same in every video. | Invented from a description, up to 5, on Pro and Max. A face (head and shoulders) gives the strongest likeness; full body suits a character whose costume is the point. |
| Words only | Crowds, extras, someone seen once. | The face will be different in every video. |
A photo of a real person cannot be used — yourself, a friend, an actor or a client — not as a character, a reference picture or a first frame. The video model refuses faces that read as real, and we do not take them. Famous people and well-known fictional characters are refused too. This is the same on every plan: upgrading does not change it. What Pro and Max add is a person who stays the same from video to video without a photo: a character you describe and we draw, or a ready-made person from the cast.
Tell the model what every picture is for
Pictures are numbered in the order they are attached: the first is Image 1, the next Image 2, counting people, looks, costume photos and any other pictures together. Videos are counted separately, as Video 1 and Video 2. Say what each one is, once, at the top of the prompt, then tell the story:
Image 1 is the husband. Image 2 is the wife. Image 3 is the hotel suite. The husband and wife walk into the suite carrying small travel bags…
In the new phone layout and the desktop beta you do not need to count: write @ and the person's name (@Husband) and we number the pictures and add those lines for you. The card under the prompt shows exactly what is sent.
Attach only the people in this shot, in the order they appear
A render takes up to 30 pictures on Seedance 2.5 and 9 on the 2.0 models, people included. Everyone attached is likely to appear, even when the prompt says they are not in this scene: the model sees a face and uses it. Leave out anyone who is not on screen and use the slot for a costume or a setting instead.
- Attach people in the order they first appear on screen. When the order and the story disagree, the model is more likely to swap faces between people.
- Fewer people hold better. On Seedance 2.0, more than four people in one render makes wrong head-counts and duplicated faces more likely; Seedance 2.5 copes with more.
- Give each person one name and use only that name, every time. "Marcus" in one line and "the man" in the next can read as two people.
- If someone appears twice in the frame, add: "Each person appears only once."
Mistakes that cost renders
- A first or last frame together with people. A start or end frame cannot be sent together with people, looks, reference pictures or reference videos; the request is refused. To get close to it, attach the picture as an ordinary reference instead and say in the prompt "Image 3 is the first frame": the opening will be near that picture, though not an exact match.
- An edited copy of your own video as a reference. A trimmed, re-exported or screen-recorded copy is treated as outside footage and is usually refused as showing a real person. Upload the file exactly as you downloaded it.
- Describing a face that contradicts the picture. When a person comes from a picture, the words should agree with it: an age, hair colour or build that differs pulls the face away from the picture. Spend the words on clothes, expression and action.
- A very photoreal character drawing. The video model's real-person check can refuse one; a drawing with a little style to it rarely is. If a character is refused, make a new version.
A render that fails for any of these reasons is refunded in full, automatically, and does not count against your account.