How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Reference Images for Consistent Characters

The biggest challenge in AI video generation is consistency — the same character looking the same across multiple clips. Without reference images, each generation produces a slightly different version of your character.

Seedance 2.0's image-to-video mode solves this by anchoring the generation to a source image. This guide shows how to use reference images effectively for character consistency.

Quick answer

Create or select a clear reference image of your character, use it as the source in image-to-video mode for every clip featuring that character, and write motion prompts that keep the character's key features visible. This produces dramatically more consistent results than text-only prompts.

• You are creating multiple clips featuring the same character.
• Character appearance consistency matters for your project.
• You have or can create a clear reference image of your character.

Creating good reference images

The reference image should clearly show the character's distinctive features: face, hair, clothing, and body type. Use a neutral pose with good lighting and a simple background.

If you do not have a reference image, generate one with an AI image tool (Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion) and use that as your consistent source.

Using reference images in image-to-video

Upload your reference image as the source for image-to-video generation. The model uses the image as the starting frame, which locks in the character's appearance.

Write your motion prompt to describe movement without changing the character's fundamental appearance. Avoid prompts that would require the character to change clothes, hairstyle, or physical features.

Multiple angles from one reference

A single front-facing reference can generate clips from slightly different angles — the model infers what the character looks like from other viewpoints. But extreme angle changes (front to back) often break consistency.

For projects needing multiple angles, create 2-3 reference images showing the character from different viewpoints.

• Front reference: works for head turns up to 45 degrees
• Side reference: works for profile shots and walking scenes
• Three-quarter reference: the most versatile single reference angle

Maintaining consistency across scenes

Beyond the reference image, consistency depends on using the same prompt structure and settings across clips. Keep style keywords, lighting descriptions, and quality modifiers identical.

Create a prompt template for your character and reuse it, only changing the motion and scene elements.

Working with multiple characters

For scenes with multiple characters, use a reference image that includes all characters in their relative positions. Individual reference images for multi-character scenes are less reliable.

If characters need to interact, generate the interaction in a single clip rather than compositing separate character clips.

Worked example: consistent character across 5 clips

You create a reference image of a character — a man in a blue jacket with short dark hair. Using this same image as the source for 5 different clips (walking, sitting, talking, looking at phone, waving), you produce a coherent character sequence where the character's appearance is recognisably consistent across all clips.

Common mistakes

• Using a different reference image for each clip of the same character.
• Writing prompts that require the character to look fundamentally different from the reference.
• Using low-quality or cluttered reference images.

Step by step: build a reference image a model can actually use

1. Shoot or generate three angles. Front, 3/4, side. Same lighting, same background, same clothes.
2. Use a neutral background. Grey or off-white. Busy backgrounds leak into the generated scene.
3. Crop tight on the character. The model latches onto the subject, not the frame.
4. Save at 1024x1024 or 1024x1536. Larger is not better — Seedance downsamples anyway.
5. Upload the 3/4 angle as the primary reference. It carries the most information about face and body.
6. Reuse the exact same reference for every clip in the series. New reference = new character. Continuity dies the moment you swap.

Troubleshooting table

For the consistency-across-clips workflow, see consistent characters in Seedance. For lip-sync on a consistent character, see lip-sync and talking heads.

When to use something else

For general character consistency techniques, see consistent characters in Seedance 2.0. For image-to-video basics, see Seedance 2.0 image to video.

How to get reliable results in your video workflow

How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Reference Images for Consistent Characters becomes much more useful once it is tied to the rest of the workflow around it. In real work, the result depends on prompt structure, motion control, visual consistency, and the editing workflow around generated clips, not only on following one local tip correctly.

That is why the biggest win rarely comes from one clever move in isolation. It comes from making the surrounding process easier to review, easier to repeat, and easier to hand over when another person inherits the workbook or codebase later.

• Start with simple prompts and add complexity only after the basic version works.
• Generate multiple variations and select the best rather than trying to get perfection in one shot.
• Build prompt templates for your recurring content types so quality stays consistent.

How to extend the workflow after this guide

Once the core technique works, the next leverage usually comes from standardising it. That might mean naming inputs more clearly, keeping one review checklist, or pairing this page with neighbouring guides so the process becomes repeatable rather than person-dependent.

The follow-on guides below are the most natural next steps from How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Reference Images for Consistent Characters. They help move the reader from one useful page into a stronger connected system.

• Go next to How to Make Consistent Characters in Seedance 2.0 if you want to deepen the surrounding workflow instead of treating How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Reference Images for Consistent Characters as an isolated trick.
• Go next to How to Use Seedance 2.0 for Image to Video Prompts if you want to deepen the surrounding workflow instead of treating How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Reference Images for Consistent Characters as an isolated trick.
• Go next to How to Write Better Prompts for Seedance 2.0 if you want to deepen the surrounding workflow instead of treating How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Reference Images for Consistent Characters as an isolated trick.

Related guides on this site

These guides cover character consistency, image-to-video, and prompt writing for Seedance 2.0.

• How to Make Consistent Characters in Seedance 2.0
• How to Use Seedance 2.0 for Image to Video Prompts
• How to Write Better Prompts for Seedance 2.0
• How to Use Seedance 2.0 for Product Ad Videos
• How to Use Seedance 2.0 With Audio Prompts Step by Step