Motion transfer lifts the movement out of a driving video and applies it to a subject you supply as a still. You film the walk, the gesture or the dance yourself — or use a clip you have the rights to — and the model re-performs it as your character.
It is the most direction a video model will accept. Instead of describing motion in a prompt and re-rolling until the timing is close, you hand over the exact timing and keep it.
Models inside
Motion-control models: a driving performance in, your character doing it out.
7 models in Versely's catalog do this job, 4 of them with a spec page. Prices are Versely credits and update with the catalog.
What AI Motion Transfer does
The driving clip sets the timing
Beats land where they landed in the source. That is the difference between a dance that syncs to a track and one that nearly does.
Your subject, not a generated one
The character comes from your still — an illustration, a mascot, a photograph — so the identity is fixed before any motion is applied.
Repeatable performances
One driving clip can be re-used across characters, which is how you build a library of consistent moves instead of re-rolling each time.
Body and expression handling
Models differ in how much of the face they carry across. Some transfer expression as well as body; others move the body and leave the face to the still.
Framing has to match
A full-body driving clip needs a full-body character still. Mismatched framing is the single most common reason a transfer looks wrong.
How it works
1. Get the driving clip
Film it on a phone against a plain background, or use footage you own. Keep the subject fully in frame throughout.
2. Pick the character still
One image, framed the same way as the driving clip, with the whole body visible if the motion uses it.
3. Generate
The model maps the pose sequence onto your subject and renders the result at the driving clip's timing.
4. Composite or retime
Drop the result onto a background, trim it to the beat you need, and upscale if it is going somewhere paid.
Who uses AI Motion Transfer
- Dance trends performed by an original character
- Mascot and brand-character animation
- A re-usable library of gestures
- Streamer and VTuber-style motion
- Choreography previews before a shoot
- Consistent motion across a campaign
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to start?+
Two things: a driving video showing the motion, and a still of the character that should perform it. Framing, distance and orientation should match between them as closely as you can manage.
Does it copy the face as well as the body?+
That depends on the model you pick. Some motion-control models carry facial expression across from the driving clip; others move the body and keep the face from your still. Each model's page says which it is.
Does the background come across too?+
Treat these as subject-level jobs. Expect to composite the result onto a background, or generate the background separately and layer the performance over it.
How is this different from image-to-video?+
Image-to-video invents motion from your description. Motion transfer copies motion you have already captured. If the exact timing matters — music, choreography, a gesture that has to hit a word — the transfer route is the only one that gives it to you.
How long can the driving clip be?+
These models bill per second of output, so cost scales with the length of the performance. Short, deliberate clips transfer more reliably than long ones and cost proportionally less.
Related tools
Try AI Motion Transfer inside Versely
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