Despite the hype that AI is about to replace Hollywood overnight, the reality is that creating polished, multi-scene AI video content requires a sophisticated workflow, not just a single prompt. The single biggest challenge facing AI video generation today is consistency—maintaining a character’s appearance, setting, and voice across different scenes [01:04].
AI video models, like the powerful ones in Google’s Flow app, can create stunning, realistic, and detailed short clips (like an 8-second Darth Vader scene) [01:13]. However, unlike text models such as ChatGPT, current video models do not “remember” the details of the scene they just generated. If you ask it to extend a scene, the character, lighting, background, and voice will change, breaking the narrative [02:38].
This guide breaks down the four-step, multi-tool workflow necessary to achieve visual and audible consistency in your cinematic AI videos.
The 4-Step Workflow for Consistent AI Video
To create a multi-scene skit with a single, consistent character, you must combine the strengths of several different AI tools.
Step 1: Generate a Consistent Character Image
The process begins not with video, but with a static image that serves as your character’s blueprint [04:14].
- Tool: Use an image generation tool like Google’s free Whisk (or Midjourney).
- Action: Generate a full-frontal, static image of your character.
- Pro-Tip: If you need to make slight changes (like color), use the
refinefeature and ensure “precise reference” is enabled. This feature is excellent at maintaining the character’s likeness while altering small details in a still image [05:49].
Step 2: Create the Starting Frame of the Scene
With your character image ready, you need to place them into the scene’s environment.
- Tool: Continue using Whisk.
- Action: Upload your static character image into the “character box.” This tells the AI to include this exact character in the next image you generate [06:50].
- Critical Setting: You must keep the
precise referencesetting enabled to ensure the character’s appearance is maintained while the new background is added [07:16].
Step 3: Animate the Video Footage
Now, you convert your starting frame into a moving clip.
- Tool: Use a text-to-video app like Google’s Flow [08:54].
- Action: Use the
frame to videooption to upload the starting frame you created in Step 2. - Prompting: Write a detailed prompt that dictates the dialogue and action you want to see. Since generating usable video can be hit-or-miss, it’s recommended to request multiple outputs (e.g., four videos per prompt) to maximize the chance of getting a good result [09:52].
- Writing Prompts: A strong video prompt should include details about the subject, action, style, camera angles, and environment [11:50].
Step 4: Establish a Consistent Voice
While the character may be visually consistent, the AI video generation tool often creates an inconsistent voice across clips [11:36].
- Tool: Use a voice cloning and audio editing tool like ElevenLabs [12:42].
- Action: Upload your generated video clips to the voice changer feature. Select a single, unique voice (e.g., “the monster voice”) and apply it to the clip.
- Final Assembly: In a traditional video editor (like Final Cut Pro or Premiere), detach the original, inconsistent audio from your video clips. Then, manually replace only your AI character’s lines with the newly generated, consistent voice from ElevenLabs, ensuring the human actors retain their original voices [14:14].
A Look Ahead: Sora 2 and the Future
OpenAI’s Sora 2 has announced features aimed at addressing the consistency problem, but they do not eliminate the need for this workflow [03:00].
- Cameo: A feature that uses a recording of a real person’s face and voice to keep their likeness consistent. However, this is limited to real people and pets and cannot be used for unique fictional characters [16:16].
- Recut: A feature that allows you to load the last few seconds of a previous clip into the next prompt to maintain some continuity. While a significant step, it is only one part of the multi-tool workflow required to build a polished, multi-scene production [16:30].
The bottom line is that AI video generation tools are powerful, but they are just tools. Mastery requires learning the strengths of each and building a custom workflow to overcome the current technical limitations, with consistency being the most crucial element to solve [15:37].
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