How to Use Character Motion Swap in PowerDirector

Q: What actually changes between the two Method options?

Only the setting your character ends up in. Keep photo background animates the still where it stands, so the character moves in the place the photo was taken. Keep video background puts the character into the reference clip's surroundings instead. The movement is identical in both, because it comes from the same reference video either way.

Q: I don't have a clip to copy the movement from. Can I still try it?

Both drop areas have an Example button under them, which is the fastest way to see the kind of still and the kind of clip this feature is built around before you go looking for your own. After that, a steady piece of footage of one person moving in frame is enough. A dance, a walk, a bit of shadow boxing. It does not need to be edited or polished first.

Q: Where do the finished clips go?

They are kept under My Creations , which opens from the button in the top right of the same window. That means you can close the panel once a clip is generating and come back for it later rather than sitting and watching it.

Give a still portrait the moves from a clip you already have, and choose whose background the finished video keeps.

Updated Aug. 17, 2026 · 5 min read

In a hurry? Use the Character Motion Swap quick guide instead.

PowerDirector's Character Motion Swap takes a still picture of a person and teaches it to move, using a dance or action clip you already have as the choreography. You bring two files, a character image and a reference video, and the model maps the movement from one onto the person in the other.

⚡ Quick Answer: How to Use Character Motion Swap in 3 Steps

In PowerDirector, open the Image to Video window and click the Character Motion Swap tab.
Drop a still into Character Image and a clip into Reference Video.
Under Method, pick Keep photo background or Keep video background, then click Generate.

Steps to Use Character Motion Swap

Prefer to watch? Here is the same feature as a short video walkthrough, or follow the written steps below.

Step 1: Open Character Motion Swap

Character Motion Swap is not a timeline effect, so there is nothing to drag onto a track to find it. It lives in PowerDirector's Image to Video window, in the tab row across the top, and clicking Character Motion Swap switches the whole panel over to it. Nothing on the right needs your attention yet either: the model is already picked for you, and the line under its name spells out what it does, keep a photo or video background and sync the motion. It is chosen for you, so there is no research to do before you start.

Image to Video window with the Character Motion Swap tab highlighted and the model card highlighted on the right — One tab in the Image to Video window, with the model already selected for you.

Step 2: Load the Still and the Clip It Copies

This is the whole setup: one picture of the character you want to animate, one video of the movement you want copied.

Click or drop your still into Character Image, then click or drop the clip into Reference Video.

We used a portrait of a man in a blue suit standing on a red carpet, and a handheld clip of someone dancing along a covered walkway. Two files with nothing in common beyond a person standing in the middle of the frame, which is all the pairing needs.

The figure in the photo should be in shot from head to feet, and the person in the clip should stay in frame while they move. The model can only copy movement it can actually see.

Character Motion Swap panel with the loaded Character Image and Reference Video areas both highlighted — The still on top, the movement underneath. Neither file needs anything done to it first.

Step 3: Choose Which Background Survives, Then Generate

Method is the one real decision in this feature, and it settles which of your two files sets the scene.

Keep photo background holds on to the world in your still, so our man dances on his own red carpet. Keep video background moves him into the reference clip's location instead, so he ends up on that walkway.

The character is the same either way, only the surroundings change, and you can run it twice if you want to see both.

Pick one, then click Generate. The button stays dimmed until both files are in place, and the number on it is the credit cost for that run, so you can see what a clip costs before you commit.

Method options Keep photo background and Keep video background highlighted, with an arrow leading down to the highlighted Generate button — Two radio buttons and one button. That is the entire configuration.

The result

The clip at the top of this page is the Keep photo background version: same man, same suit, still on his own red carpet, now moving through a routine he never performed. Below is the same two files run the other way, with Keep video background selected instead. Same character, same choreography, borrowed location.

Both clips run about five seconds, which is roughly what a Short or a Reel wants, and both came out of one photo and one everyday piece of footage. Swap either input and the whole thing changes, so it is worth hanging on to a reference clip whenever you come across movement you like.

Haven't got PowerDirector yet? You need one portrait and one clip of someone moving, both of which you probably already have.

Download PowerDirector Free →

FAQ About Character Motion Swap

1. What actually changes between the two Method options?

Only the setting your character ends up in. Keep photo background animates the still where it stands, so the character moves in the place the photo was taken. Keep video background puts the character into the reference clip's surroundings instead. The movement is identical in both, because it comes from the same reference video either way.

2. I don't have a clip to copy the movement from. Can I still try it?

Both drop areas have an Example button under them, which is the fastest way to see the kind of still and the kind of clip this feature is built around before you go looking for your own. After that, a steady piece of footage of one person moving in frame is enough. A dance, a walk, a bit of shadow boxing. It does not need to be edited or polished first.

3. What kind of character image works best?

One person, in focus, with the whole figure in frame from head to feet. The picture used here is a straight-on standing portrait, which gives the model a clear view of arms, legs and the space around them. Group shots, tight head-and-shoulders crops, and pictures where an arm or a leg runs off the edge of the frame all leave it much less to work with.

4. Where do the finished clips go?

They are kept under My Creations, which opens from the button in the top right of the same window. That means you can close the panel once a clip is generating and come back for it later rather than sitting and watching it.