An AI dance generator takes two inputs: a still photo of a person and a short dance clip. It returns a new video in which the person from the photo performs the moves from the clip. The dancer supplies the motion and the photo supplies the look, so you don't need to film anyone dancing.

Most bad results come from those two inputs, not from the model. Here's what each one needs.

How it works under the hood

These tools are built on motion control models. The model reads the body pose frame by frame from the reference clip, then redraws the person from your photo in each of those poses. It also tries to keep the face, hair and outfit consistent across frames.

Two things follow from that:

  • The model can only animate what it can see. Anything missing from the photo, such as legs that are cropped out or a hand behind the back, has to be invented.
  • It can only follow motion it can read. A blurry, crowded or fast-cut clip gives it a noisy pose to copy.

The photo: one person, head to feet

Do:

  • Use one person, standing, with the whole body in frame from head to feet.
  • Pick a simple background. A busy one bleeds into the figure when it moves.
  • Use even light and a sharp image, with the face clearly visible.

Avoid:

  • Waist-up crops. This is the most common mistake. If the photo stops at the waist, the model has to invent legs and feet, and those are the parts that most often come out wrong.
  • Group photos. The model has to guess which person should dance.
  • Sitting or lying poses. A dance needs a standing body to start from.
  • Loose, flowing clothes and long hair are fine, but expect them to change more from frame to frame than fitted clothes do.

The dance clip: short, simple, one dancer

If you upload your own reference instead of using a ready-made one:

  • One dancer, whole body in frame for the entire clip.
  • No cuts. A single continuous shot. A jump cut looks to the model like the body teleporting.
  • Plain background and steady camera. No zooms or pans.
  • Short. 3–10 seconds is typical. Short clips are cheaper to test and drift less.
  • Moderate moves. Side steps, sways, bounces and arm swings transfer well. Spins, floor work and hands crossing in front of the face are much harder.

Before you upload, also check that the clip's framing matches your photo. A full-body photo paired with a full-body dance gives the model the easiest job.

What to expect from the result

Be realistic:

  • The moves follow the timing of the clip, but they won't match it exactly.
  • Faces, hands and outfit details can shift during fast moves. Check every result before you post it.
  • It's slow. On FunGen's dance page, three example renders took about 5½–7 minutes each, and each one was the first attempt.
  • There may be no sound. The ready-made dances there are silent, so the results are too. Add music afterwards in an editor.

What it costs

Motion control tools usually bill per second of output. As an example, the AI dance video generator in FunGen uses the Kling 2.6 motion control model. It charges 15 credits per second in Standard mode and 30 in Pro. Its three ready-made dances are about 6.6 seconds each, so one comes to about 99 credits on Standard. It shows the estimate before it generates and charges only when the video is delivered.

Eligible new accounts get 100 free credits, which covers one ready-made dance on Standard.

A quick checklist

  1. Full-body photo, one person, standing, plain background.
  2. Short, single-shot dance clip with one dancer and a steady camera.
  3. Start on the standard tier, check the result, then move up if it's worth it.
  4. Add music afterwards and label the video as AI-generated where the platform asks.

One rule that isn't technical

Only use a photo of yourself or of an adult who has clearly agreed to it. Don't make it look like a real person did something they didn't, and don't pass the result off as real footage.