Consistent people and places: avatars, characters and scenes
Register an AI-generated person as an avatar so videos and storyboards keep them consistent, and manage character and scene references in their libraries.
To keep the same person or the same place across shots and videos, give them a reference: register people as avatars, managed in Characters, and render reference plates for places, managed in Scenes.
Why avatars
Video models usually block reference images that look like real people, and AI-generated faces can be caught too. Register an AI-generated person as an avatar and Seedance can use them, consistently, from shot to shot.
Register an avatar
On the result card of the person's image, choose the person icon, Register as avatar.
Enter an Avatar name, such as "Beauty blogger Mia", and choose Register.
Review runs automatically and usually takes a few minutes. The result shows in Characters.
Keep in mind:
- The image must be an AI-generated character that doesn't resemble a real person.
- It has to be in your Assets library, under 30 MB, with an aspect ratio between 0.4 and 2.5 and each side between 300 and 6,000 pixels. Shopify product images used straight from their links can't be registered — upload them to the library first.
An avatar is Ready, In review or Rejected. Review only matters for video: an avatar in review already works for storyboard frames, and video waits until it's approved.
Use an avatar in a video
With Seedance 2.5 or 2.0 in Reference, Edit or Extend mode, the video prompt card shows My avatars:
- Pick avatars that are Ready; each can be added once.
- Avatars go ahead of every reference, numbered "Image 1", "Image 2" and so on, and count toward the limit of 4 references.
- Switch to a model that doesn't support avatars, or to Frames mode, and the avatars you picked aren't sent.
If a render fails the real-person check, the message offers Register as avatar & retry. After you register, Canvas keeps checking the review for about 4 minutes: once it's approved you'll see Avatar approved — regenerating and the card renders again by itself. If it's still in review, pick the avatar under My avatars later and generate again.
Characters
Choose Characters in the left rail to see every registered avatar and its review status. People with edit permission can:
- Click a name to rename it.
- Add image to give a character more pictures.
- Use ★ to set the primary picture. The primary picture is the reference for storyboard frames and the identity used in video.
- Remove a picture (a character keeps at least one), or delete the character.
Deleting a character doesn't ask for confirmation and can't be undone.
New characters come from Register as avatar on an image card, or from Create avatar on a character row of a shot list, which renders a four-view character sheet and registers it for you — see Storyboards.
Scenes
Scenes holds reference plates that keep every frame of a scene in the same setting. Scenes are created with Create scene on a scene row of a shot list: Canvas renders an empty establishing plate with no people, saves it to Scenes and binds it to the scene.
In Scenes in the left rail you can rename a scene, Add image, set the primary picture with ★, remove pictures or delete the scene. The primary picture is the reference for every frame in that scene. Scenes don't go through review, and deleting one doesn't ask for confirmation either.