Vidu

What it does

Vidu takes a reference image — a character sheet, a product photo, a mascot — and animates it while keeping the design recognisable. It also handles start-and-end frame interpolation, which is useful when you need a specific opening and closing shot.

The look skews stylised: animation, illustration and clean commercial footage come out well; photoreal human faces at close range still drift. Chinese-language prompts are handled natively, English works but with less nuance.

Standout features

• Reference-to-video with character retention
• Start and end frame control
• Native Chinese prompt handling
• Stylised and anime-friendly output

Main job: Animate an existing character or product image without losing its design.

Best for

Anime and illustration motion, mascot clips and branded shorts.

Getting started

Upload a clean reference with a plain background, describe motion rather than appearance, and lock the aspect ratio early — switching it later regenerates the whole shot rather than reframing it.

Watch out for

Watch out: a reference image you do not own produces a derivative you do not own either. For client work, keep the source file and the generation log, and confirm the commercial licence tier before delivery.