How to make an AI dance video from one photo

There are two ways an app can make you dance from a photo. A template app gives you a menu of preset dances. A motion transfer app lets you bring any dance video you like and copies its moves onto you. The second is what you want when a specific dance is going around and you want your version of it.

What you need

• One photo of yourself
• The dance video, as a link from TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, or a saved file
• An iPhone with SynthGen AI

The photo: this is where most of the quality comes from

In SynthGen AI’s Copy the moves mode, your photo is the first frame of the video. Whatever is in the photo is what dances.

• Full body, standing. Head to feet in the frame. A seated or cropped photo gives the AI nothing to animate below the cut.
• Arms visible and a little away from your body. Arms pressed to your sides or crossed are hard to separate and come out smudged.
• Even light, sharp focus, face visible. Daylight from a window is ideal.
• An outfit and a background you like. Both will be in the finished video.
• Some space around you. If the dance travels sideways, a little room on each side helps.

The dance: pick one that the AI can read

• One dancer. The model follows one body.
• One continuous shot. Many dance videos cut between angles. The motion stops at the first cut, so pick one filmed in a single take.
• Whole body in view. Moves where hands or feet leave the frame come back blurry.
• 3 to 30 seconds. Shorter clips finish faster and cost fewer credits.

Step by step in SynthGen AI

1. Find the dance in TikTok, Instagram or YouTube.
2. Tap Share, then More or Share to, then SynthGen. Or copy the link and paste it in the app.
3. Add your photo, the full-body one.
4. Choose Copy the moves.
5. Tap Make it me. The cost in credits is shown first. You can close the app: a notification arrives when the video is ready, usually in 3 to 6 minutes.
6. Save or post it. No watermark, and the original sound is kept. Turn on the platform’s AI label when you post.

When to use Swap me in instead

If the original dance video is filmed somewhere special, such as a stage, a rooftop or a street at night, and you want that place in your version, use Swap me in. It keeps the original scene and puts you in it, and works with a portrait photo too. The full comparison is in Swap me in vs Copy the moves.

Template apps versus your own dance

Template apps are quicker if you do not care which dance you get. If you do care, because it is the dance everyone is doing this week, a motion transfer app is the only way to get that exact routine. We compare both kinds in SynthGen AI vs AI dance template apps.