Glossary · Making it with AI
Reference image
A reference image is an approved picture given to an AI along with a written description, to show it exactly how a person, object, place or style should look.
Why it matters
Some things are hard to put into words, like a particular face or the shape of a machine. A reference carries that detail, which helps keep it the same in every shot.
Depending on the system, a reference can be used as a starting frame, as a guide to who someone is, or as a guide to the look and colors of the whole video.
Clean references work best: one subject, a plain background, even light and no text. Several views of the same subject from different angles help the AI understand its shape.
When a reference shows a real person or a real object, it has to be accurate itself. If the reference gets a detail wrong, every shot drawn from it repeats the mistake.
For a short about an early electric car, one approved picture of the car, checked against photographs from the period, is the reference for every scene it appears in, so the wheels, body and lamps stay the same throughout.
How we use it
A person's approved look is the reference for every scene they appear in.
Last reviewed 15 October 2026.