Blog · Last updated 17 Oct 2026 · BakeVideos team

Consistent characters in AI video: how to keep the same face in every scene

AI image models paint every picture from scratch, so a character's face, hair and clothes drift from scene to scene unless every picture is tied to the same reference. BakeVideos ties them: it paints a cast sheet first (everyone in the story, side by side) and paints every scene that shows them from that sheet, so the faces and clothes stay the same and clothes change only when the story changes them. You can also upload a reference photo and that character becomes the cast. A brief that names each character, describes them once and says who is in each scene keeps the rest straight.

Why AI characters change from scene to scene

Ask an image model for "a girl in a yellow raincoat" ten times and you get ten different girls: the words fit thousands of faces, and each picture is a new roll of the dice. Story videos make it worse:

Later scenes say less. Scene one describes the girl in full; scene five says "she runs to the bus stop", and the model invents a new face.
Clothes are forgotten. If a prompt does not repeat the outfit, the model picks whatever fits the place: a party dress at a party, pyjamas in a bedroom.
Extra people appear. Models add a friend or a crowd the story never mentioned, or paint the hero twice.

Generative video models drift across cuts in the same way. Consistency comes from what each picture is anchored to.

How BakeVideos keeps one cast

Step	What happens	Why it helps
1. The cast is written	The storyboard describes each person or creature once: age, skin, hair, face, build, clothes. Only the people your story has; no invented partner or sidekick.	Every scene starts from the same words.
2. A cast sheet is painted first	Everyone in the cast, side by side, full figure, plain background, in the video's picture style.	One picture holds each face.
3. Every scene is painted from the sheet	A scene that shows a cast member, by name or just by "she" or "he", is painted with the sheet as its reference.	The same face, hair and build come back each time.
4. Clothes follow the story	Each scene states what each person wears. They keep that outfit until the story changes it: the next morning, a uniform for school, pyjamas at home.	No random costume changes.
5. Objects keep their look	A recurring object (two coffee cups, a red umbrella, a map) is described once and carried into each scene it is in.	Props stop changing material and colour.
6. A continuity check	Before the render, the painted scenes are compared with the cast sheet. A scene with another face, the wrong clothes, or a missing or extra person is painted again.	Obvious slips get a second try before you see the video.

Changing the picture style later paints the cast sheet again in the new style, then every scene from it. Making a new version of a video keeps its cast.

A reference photo as the main character

Add a Reference image in the composer: a photo of your dog, a plush toy, a drawing, a mascot or yourself. A character in the photo becomes the first member of the cast, and the cast sheet is painted from the photo itself. Its looks come from the photo and are never rewritten. More in turn a photo into a story video.

How to write a brief that keeps characters straight

Your words decide who the cast is. Five habits help:

Name each character. "Mia" and "Bolt" are easier to keep apart than "the girl" and "the robot", for you and for the storyboard.
Describe each one once, near the start. Age, hair, one or two clothes, anything distinctive. Do not describe them differently later in the brief; two descriptions read as two people.
Say who is in each scene, especially when someone leaves or arrives: "Lily waters it alone while Tom is away".
Say when clothes change, and why. "The next morning Leo, in a blue work shirt…" Without that, they keep the outfit they had.
Keep the cast small. One to three characters read best in a short. A crowd can be in the background without being in the cast.

Your words about looks and clothes are used as written, never restyled. A named celebrity or copyrighted character will not be painted; describe an original look.

Weak brief	Stronger brief
"A story about a girl and her robot looking for a kitten."	"Mia, 7, curly black hair, yellow raincoat, and Bolt, a small silver robot with one blue eye, search the rainy city for a lost kitten; Bolt finds it under a bus stop."
"A man meets a mysterious old woman, then finds out who she was."	"Leo, 30, short brown hair, grey wool coat, meets Rosa, an old woman in a green shawl. The next morning Leo, in a blue work shirt, finds her photo in a newspaper from 1952."

Briefs to try (each opens the studio with the brief filled in):

When a picture drifts anyway

It still happens now and then. The picture service occasionally refuses to paint a scene from the cast sheet (more often with photo-real people), and that scene is painted from the written description alone: the face usually matches, but a detail can differ, like sleeves on a dress that had none. The continuity check also skips small details such as jewellery, because checking them flagged correct pictures too often.

To fix one picture, open the scene, go to the AI picture tab, adjust the description ("Mia in her yellow raincoat and red boots, kneeling by the bus stop") and paint it again. It takes about 15 seconds and changes only that scene. Repainting is on paid plans, with a set number of picture changes per video. On the free video you can replace the picture with a stock clip or upload your own image.

FAQ

How do I keep the same character in every AI image? Anchor every picture to one reference. In BakeVideos that is automatic: a cast sheet is painted first and every scene with that character is painted from it. In your brief, name the character and describe them once.

Why does my AI character look different in every scene? Most tools paint each picture from its own text prompt, and a short prompt like "she walks home" fits countless faces. Without a shared reference picture, the face, hair and clothes change.

Can I use my own character in an AI story video? Yes. Add a reference image (a photo of a pet, toy, drawing, mascot or person) and it becomes the main character, painted from the photo in every scene. Use a photo you have the rights to.

Can a character change clothes during the story? Yes, when the story says so. Write the change in the brief ("the next morning she wears her school uniform") and every later scene keeps the new outfit until the story changes it again.

How many characters can an AI story video have? There is no fixed number, but one to three named characters read best in a short. Every extra person is one more face to keep track of, for the viewer as well as the pictures.

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