How to Use Character Motion Swap in PhotoDirector
Hand PhotoDirector a still photo and a clip of someone moving, and get the person in the photo doing the same thing.
Updated Aug. 21, 2026 · 5 min read
In a hurry? Use the Character Motion Swap quick guide instead.
A photo holds a person still. Character Motion Swap borrows movement from a second clip and gives it to them, so the person in your picture ends up dancing, walking or gesturing in a way they never did. In PhotoDirector it sits inside the Image to Video window, and it runs as a job you hand off rather than a render you sit and watch.
- In PhotoDirector, open Guided & GenAI, click Portrait in the rail, then Character Motion Swap under GenAI on Style, then Start Now.
- Load a still into Character Photo and a clip into Reference Video.
- Under Method, choose which of the two backgrounds the clip keeps, then click Generate.
- Open My Creations when the notification arrives and Download the clip.
Steps to Use Character Motion Swap
Step 1: Open Character Motion Swap
From the PhotoDirector launcher, choose Guided & GenAI. That is the mode holding the tools that walk you through one job at a time.
Click Portrait in the rail on the left, and Character Motion Swap is under GenAI on Style, below the two Try-On entries. Clicking it brings up a screen that lays the job out in three stages: the photo you bring, the video you borrow from, and the character animated to match. Click Start Now.
Step 2: Load Your Two Files
What opens is the Image to Video window, and the tab row across the top shows the three ways into it: Template, Image + Text and Character Motion Swap. You arrive on the third one already selected. Worth knowing the others are there, because everything generated from any of the three tabs ends up in the same place.
Below the tabs are two drop areas. Character Photo takes the still of the person you want animated, and Reference Video takes the clip whose movement gets copied. Drag files in, or click to browse. They are the two files at the top of this page.
Match the shapes before you load them. PhotoDirector warns on screen that if your photo and video have different aspect ratios, it will auto-crop the photo around the face position to match the video. A wide photo paired with a vertical clip will lose its edges, so crop it yourself first if the framing matters.
The two files do quite different jobs, and it's worth being clear which one decides what before you spend a generation:
| Input | What goes in it | What it decides in the finished clip |
|---|---|---|
| Character Photo | One still image of a person | Who you see and what they are wearing. Give it a clear, full-length shot of one person rather than a group or a tight head crop |
| Reference Video | A clip of a person moving | The movement, and only the movement. Whoever appears in this clip does not turn up in the result, so any footage with the action you want will do |
| Method | One of two radio buttons | Which of the two locations the clip is set in. Everything else comes from the files above |
Step 3: Set the Method and Generate
Method sits in the column on the right. Keep the photo background leaves your character where the photo was taken; Keep the video background moves them into the reference clip's surroundings instead. Then check the number on Generate, which shows what this particular run costs before you commit to it.
Clicking it doesn't start a render on your machine. A message confirms the task is being generated and that you'll be notified in PhotoDirector and by e-mail when it's done, which is the part that changes how you work: close the window, get on with something else, and come back when it tells you to.
Step 4: Collect the Clip from My Creations
My Creations opens from the top right of the same window and lists everything you've generated, newest first, each with its date and length. Tick the boxes to delete several at once, or click View on one to open it.
Download anything you want to keep. The line along the bottom of My Creations says generated videos stay on the cloud server for one year. That is long enough to forget about, so pull down the ones that matter while you are looking at them.
Opening one plays the clip next to the two files it was built from and the Method it used, so you can see what produced it. Re-Generate runs the same pair again for a different take, and Download saves it to your own drive.
The clip at the top of this page is that pair run with Keep the photo background, which is why she is still in her own street. Swap either input and the whole thing changes, so a reference clip with movement you like is worth keeping hold of.
Haven't got PhotoDirector yet? A still photo and a clip of someone moving is the whole input, and you choose which background survives.
Download PhotoDirector Free →FAQ About Character Motion Swap
Because it was a different shape from the reference video. When the two aspect ratios don't match, PhotoDirector crops the photo around the face position so it fits the video's shape. If losing the edges is a problem, crop the photo to the video's ratio yourself before loading it.
No. The work happens away from your computer, and PhotoDirector tells you twice when it's finished, once in the app and once by e-mail. Close the window and carry on with something else.
One year on the cloud server, as stated at the bottom of My Creations. They stay listed and playable for that time, but anything you want permanently is worth downloading to your own storage rather than leaving it there.
