To keep the same character across an animated video series, make one reference picture of the character and use that same picture for every video, pair it with a short description you never change, save the channel's drawing style so every episode is drawn in the same hand, and check a few specific things before each upload. The reference picture is what does most of the work. A description alone, however detailed, is read a little differently every time, which is why a character described in words drifts over ten episodes while a character given as a picture does not.

Why characters drift

Image models do not remember. Each time a scene is drawn, the model reads its instructions fresh. "A 16-year-old with a green hoodie and messy black hair" has hundreds of valid drawings, and you get a different one each time. Within one video a good tool holds the character steady by drawing every scene from the same reference. Across videos, nothing holds it steady unless you give it the same reference again.

Step one: make the reference picture once

Spend real time here, because every episode inherits it.

• Full figure, plain background, facing slightly to one side. A head-and-shoulders crop loses the clothes and the build; a busy background leaks into later scenes.
• One distinctive feature that survives any pose. A red scarf, an oversized coat, round glasses. Viewers recognise a character by one or two features, not by the exact face.
• Simple clothes. Patterns and logos are the first thing to change between drawings.
• Drawn in the channel's style. A photo-real reference for a hand-drawn channel pulls every scene toward photo-realism.

In openCanviz you can generate the picture from a description or upload your own, and it becomes the character every scene in that video is drawn from. Save the file. That file is your character.

Step two: a description you never edit

Write two or three sentences and keep them in a text file:

Use exactly this text every time alongside the picture. Changing "mustard hoodie" to "yellow sweater" in episode six is how a character quietly becomes someone else.

Step three: save the style, not just the character

A consistent character in an inconsistent world still looks like a different show. Save a reference for the style itself: a frame from an episode you are happy with, or your own artwork. In openCanviz a style reference is kept on your account and shown to the illustrator with every drawing in every video, so the line, palette and shading stay the same from episode to episode without you setting them each time.

Use a frame with little text in it. A labelled diagram as a style reference can carry its labels across along with the look.

Step four: every new episode

1. 1

   Paste the script

   Keep my wording if the script is final.

2. 2

   Attach the same character picture

   Upload the saved file, not a newly generated one. Generating a fresh picture each episode is the most common cause of drift.

3. 3

   Paste the same description

   From your text file, unchanged.

4. 4

   Keep the saved style switched on

   Check it before generating, especially if you tried a different look for a one-off.

What to check before you publish

Scrub through and look only at the character:

• The distinctive feature. Is the scarf red in every scene?
• Hair and clothing colour. The two things most likely to shift.
• Age. Drift often shows up as a character looking older or younger in close-ups.
• Extra copies. In a scene with a crowd, make sure the lead appears once.

Redraw any scene that fails. It is cheaper than a comment section asking who the new character is.

Several recurring characters

The same approach scales, with one rule: make the characters look different from each other in silhouette. Two characters who differ only in face will be swapped by the model in group scenes. Give each a different height, build, colour and signature item, and a reference picture of each.

Common questions

Can I use a character I drew myself? Yes, and it is the most consistent option, because it is already in your style. Upload the drawing as the character picture.

Can I use a well-known cartoon character? No. Characters belong to their owners, and a series built on someone else's character can be taken down. Make your own.

Does the character stay the same between 16:9 videos and 9:16 Shorts? Yes, if you use the same picture and description. The framing changes; the character should not.

What if the character still changes a little? Small changes in pose and expression are normal and read as animation. Changes in clothing, colour or age are drift. Fix those scene by scene.