Reference to Video AI: Keep Characters and Styles Consistent in Video

Use the characters, mood and direction in your reference images or videos as the starting point for a new AI video. Add references supported by your chosen model in Toonkit and describe the scene, including its setting, action and framing. Explore different shots from your source material and compare the results as you shape the video you have in mind.

Key benefits

Multiple Reference Input

Use images, videos, and audio together to build a richer reference. Simultaneously reflecting multiple elements — from character design to camera direction, mood, and sound — produces more stable results than a single reference could achieve alone.

Faithfully Reflects Your Style

AI analyzes key characteristics of your reference — color, composition, lighting, and camera direction — and naturally reflects them in new scenes. Keep the mood you want while generating new angles and scenes for a consistent video.

Support for the Latest AI Models

Toonkit quickly brings in the latest AI video models, including Seedance 2.5 and Seedance Draft, so you can explore new ways to create. Choose a model that fits your project and bring your references to life with an expanding range of creative options.

Image-Reference-Based Video Generation

AI extracts the visual characteristics of your reference image, analyzing character shape, color palette, composition, lighting, and mood, then generates a new video that preserves them. Add a prompt to naturally combine the motion and scene you want.

Character animation of a man in an Indonesian football jersey and traditional hat rowing a boat

Reproduce Style from a Video Reference

AI analyzes your reference video and carries its camera movement, editing rhythm, color grading, composition, and directing style directly into the new video. You can generate a video with new characters and story while keeping the mood of the original.

Wuxia-style character animation standing in a dim traditional corridor

Multi-Reference Video Generation

AI simultaneously analyzes multiple references — images, videos, and audio — integrating character, style, camera direction, and mood into a single unified video. Combine several reference materials to achieve exactly the result you want.

Classic anime-style boy character standing on a countryside road

Toonkit's Distinctive Process for Making Videos from References

  1. Upload Your References
    01

    Upload Your References

    Upload as many images, videos, and audio files as you want.

  2. Choose a Generation Model
    02

    Choose a Generation Model

    Choose the AI model you want, such as Seedance, along with video length and aspect ratio.

  3. Describe Your Scene
    03

    Describe Your Scene

    Enter a prompt describing the video you want to create, using your references as a guide.

  4. AI Generates the Video
    04

    AI Generates the Video

    AI analyzes the references and automatically produces a new video.

  5. Refine and Export
    05

    Refine and Export

    Compare the results and save the version you want.

FAQ About Reference-to-Video

What is reference-based AI video generation?
Reference-based video generation is a technology that creates a new video by referencing an image or video. AI analyzes the reference's characters, background, composition, and style, then generates a new scene based on the prompt you enter. It lets you produce a variety of videos while keeping the mood and style you want, making it a widely used approach in AI video production today.
What kind of references can I upload?

You can upload three types: image, video, and audio. Each has its own reference slot, and you describe the scene you want with a text prompt alongside them. You can choose the model from options like Seedance 2.0.

Can I use images and videos together?

Yes. The image reference and video reference slots are separate, so you can upload them at the same time. You can add up to 9 images, 3 videos, and 3 audio files as references at once.

Can I upload audio too?

Yes. You can upload up to 3 audio references. Separately, turning on the "Generate audio together" option lets AI create audio that matches the video. In other words, you can use "upload my own audio as a reference" and "let AI generate audio" independently.

How does AI analyze the reference?

It interprets your uploaded references (image, video, audio) together with your text description to generate the video. When your idea feels vague, the enhance (magic wand) feature in the prompt field can refine your description into a more specific scene direction, and you can also get inspiration from examples in the community.

Can I make a reference-based AI video for free?

Yes. It runs on a credit-based system (for example, video generation with the settings above costs 150 credits), and you can start right away with the credits from the free plan. Commercial use is included, and free-plan results include a watermark. Paid plans remove the watermark and give you more credits.

Can I use multiple references at the same time?

Yes. You can add up to 9 images + 3 videos + 3 audio files as references at once. The more reference materials you provide together, the closer the result gets to the scene and mood you want.

Can I use the generated video commercially?

Yes. Commercial use is included on all plans, and the copyright to the results you create belongs to you. Paid plans remove the watermark. However, using references that infringe on someone else's copyright or likeness rights is prohibited, and responsibility lies with the creator — check the pricing plans and Terms of Service for details.

What resolutions and lengths are supported?

Before generating, you can choose the aspect ratio, resolution, and length from a dropdown. For example, Seedance 2.0 can be set to 16:9, 720p, 5 seconds, and supported resolutions (720p, 1080p) and length options vary by model. You can also choose other aspect ratios like vertical (9:16) to export for the platform you need.

Start Creating Videos from References with Toonkit

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