# How to put yourself (or your character) into any viral video with AI

> Video-to-video in practice — keep a clip's motion, cuts, lip-sync and sound, swap the people for your own character. What Replace does, what it costs, what is allowed, and the trends with a ready template.

Published 2026-10-10 · eroq.ai — canonical: https://eroq.ai/blog/put-yourself-in-any-viral-video-with-ai


Every AI video trend of 2026 is the same trick: a clip everyone knows, with somebody else in it. The rapper at the club door becomes your friend; the two performers in the orange booth become your characters; the dancer keeps the dance and loses the face. The tool behind it is called video-to-video: the engine reads a source clip, keeps everything that makes the clip recognisable, and rebuilds the people. This guide is the practical version, on eroq: what the two Replace engines do, how to cast yourself, what it costs, and what you are allowed to do with somebody else's clip.

## What video-to-video keeps, and what it changes

A face swap pastes a face onto a video, frame by frame, and it shows: the head floats, the lighting is wrong, the mouth lags. Video-to-video is a different operation. The engine takes the source clip as the *motion*: the choreography, the hand gestures, the cuts, the camera, the timing of every word. Then it renders new people into that motion, lit by the scene, mouthing the same syllables. The original sound goes back under the result, so the verse, the song or the line stays exactly what it was.

On eroq this is Replace, in the Video tool. Two engines sit behind it:

- **Replace** reads your words. "Replace the man in the striped shirt with a woman in a red dress" works; it cannot put a specific face in, because it never sees one. 8 credits per second of clip, up to 15 seconds, picture only unless you ask for the source's sound back.
- **Replace Pro** reads your characters. Each @mentioned character rides along as their identity sheet (or their photo), up to four at once, and the engine keeps their faces all along the clip, through every cut. 59 credits per second, clips of 2 to 10 seconds, up to 768p, with the source's original sound under the result. It renders in about five minutes. It opens with the Creator plan.

For a trend, you want Replace Pro: the whole point is that it is *you*.

## Step 1 — a character with a face

Open [Characters](/studio/characters), create one, and drop in three to six photos: a clear front view, a three-quarter view, a profile if you have one, in plain light, no sunglasses, no heavy filters. The editor opens on the Identity tab and builds an **identity sheet** from them: one picture with the face from several angles and the full body, which is what every render conditions on. It costs one image (20 credits) and takes a minute.

Can you skip the sheet? Since October, a character without one still renders from their first photo. It works, but the sheet holds the face much better across a clip with cuts and head turns, so for a trend it is worth the minute. If you create a character with no photo at all, nothing can put their face anywhere.

## Step 2 — a clip: a template, or your own

The fastest way is a **trend template**. In the Video tool, Replace tab, the templates row holds the clips people are remaking this month, trimmed to the window the trend uses, with the instruction already written. Pick one, cast your character in each slot (a two-person clip has two), press Replace. The [trend articles](/blog/category/trends) explain each one: where the clip comes from, why it works, and what to expect.

Your own clip works the same way: drop an MP4 or MOV of 2 to 10 seconds (the composer trims a longer one in the browser), describe who takes which part with @mentions, and keep the rest of the sentence about what must stay: "same moves, same lip-sync, same framing, same cuts". The engine follows the instruction literally; the less you ask it to invent, the closer it stays to the source.

Three things make a clip remix well:

- **One performer, facing the camera.** A profile view or a crowd gives the engine less to hold on to.
- **Short.** Five to ten seconds carries a joke; a minute dilutes it and costs six times more.
- **Audio that does the work.** A verse, a line, a sound everyone recognises — the face is the surprise, the audio is the recognition.

## Step 3 — the render, and what to do with it

Replace Pro renders in about five minutes; you can leave, it lands in your Creations. Check two things: the face across the cuts, and the hands. If the face drifts, the fix is almost always the photos: add a sharper front view to the character, rebuild the identity sheet, render again. If the motion is wrong, the source window was the problem: trim closer to the moment that matters.

From Creations, download the MP4 with the original sound, or open it in [Cinema](/studio/cinema) to add a title, a cut or a second clip. The [publishing connectors](/plugins) post it to TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels from the studio.

## What it costs

| Clip | Engine | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 5 seconds, your words only | Replace | 40 |
| 10 seconds, your words only | Replace | 80 |
| 5 seconds, your character | Replace Pro | 295 |
| 10 seconds, your character | Replace Pro | 590 |

One credit is about a cent on the Starter pack ($10 for 1,000 credits), less on a plan. A failed render refunds itself. The identity sheet is a one-time 20 credits per character, not per render. The full price list, per second and per engine, is the [AI video cost index](/ai-video-cost-index).

## What is allowed

The rule is short: fiction, your own face, your own characters. You can put yourself into a clip, or a character you invented from photos you have the right to use. You cannot put a real person who did not agree — a footballer, a politician, a singer, your ex — into anything, and the policy is enforced before a render is billed. Minors, never, in any role. The [acceptable-use policy](/legal/aup) is the full text; the short version is that the joke has to be about you, not about someone who is not in on it.

The source clip itself is somebody's work too. Trend clips circulate as fair use remixes on every platform, and that is how the templates are offered: for your own version, posted as a remix. Selling an ad made from a clip you do not own is a different matter, and a lawyer's.

## The trends with a template today

- [Bulin 47 freestyle](/blog/bulin-47-freestyle-ai-trend) — a fan with a speaker, a rapper at a club door, a verse made up on the spot. One slot.
- [Migos Hotel Lobby](/blog/migos-hotel-lobby-ai-trend) — the orange COLORS booth, one hanging mic, two performers. Two slots.
- [Migos Carpool Karaoke](/blog/migos-carpool-karaoke-ai-trend) — four seats, a windshield camera, quick cuts. Up to four slots.
- [Yung Lean storm dance](/blog/yung-lean-storm-ai-trend), [ceiling fan outfits](/blog/ai-ceiling-fan-trend), [shadowboxing in Paris](/blog/ai-shadowboxing-trend), [smile, cry, walk away](/blog/ai-crying-trend), [save yourself](/blog/save-yourself-ai-trend).

New ones land within a day of a trend taking off; the [trends category](/blog/category/trends) is the list.

## FAQ

### Does Replace Pro keep the lip-sync?

Yes. The source clip is the motion, mouth included: the new person mouths the same syllables at the same frames, and the original audio goes back under the result.

### Can I use a photo instead of creating a character?

Not directly: the engine casts from characters, so that it knows who takes which part when a clip has several. Creating one from a single photo takes a minute, and the identity sheet it builds is reusable in every tool, not only Replace.

### Why does my face look different in some shots?

Usually a photo problem: the identity sheet was built from a filtered, dark or angled set. Add a clean front view, rebuild the sheet, render again. A profile shot in the source clip is the hardest case for any engine.

### Can I do this through the API?

Yes: `POST /v1/videos/edits` with the clip as a media key, the characters in `elements` and the instruction as `prompt`; the [API reference](/docs/api) has the request. The studio is a client of that same endpoint.

### Is there a free way to try?

New accounts get 17 video engines and 50 credits. A Replace Pro render costs more than that, so a trend needs the Starter pack or a plan; the identity sheet alone fits in the free credits, so you can prepare your character before paying anything.