Consistent Characters in Seedance 2.0 Using Seedream 5 Reference Images

Melvin Vivas · X video post · 2026-04-17 · 0:33 · 62 views · Open on X

Topics: AI Dev Tools & Productivity · Level: intermediate

Summary

This short post with a demo video (no speech) shows a two-step workflow for keeping a character consistent in AI-generated video. First you generate character images with the Seedream 5 (Lite) image model and request BytePlus-hosted URLs. Then you pass those URLs as reference images or init images to Seedance 2.0 or Seedance 2.0 (Fast), so the same character appears across clips.

Key points

• Seedance 2.0 now supports consistent characters across generated videos.
• Step 1: Generate character images with Seedream 5 (Lite).
• When generating, set the parameter return_byteplus_urls=true so the images come back as BytePlus-hosted URLs.
• Step 2: Pass those image URLs to Seedance 2.0 or Seedance 2.0 (Fast) as reference images or init images.
• Reference images guide what the character looks like. Init images set the starting frame of the video.
• Seedance 2.0 (Fast) is a faster variant that takes the same character-reference inputs.
• The post doesn't name the API or platform that exposes the return_byteplus_urls parameter, so check the docs of the provider you use.

Resources mentioned

• Seedance 2.0 · tool · fal.ai · paid
  ByteDance's multimodal video generation model. It makes videos with synchronized audio from text, image, video and audio inputs.
  Also in: Opinion: Seedance 2.0 Still Beats Gemini Omni for Video (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Cheap API access to Seedance 2.0 via WaveSpeedAI? (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Seedance 2.0 on fal: Strict Content Filters Block Video Generation (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Seedance 2.0 + Suno: Prompting an AI K-pop Music Video Synced to Audio (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 8 more
• Seedance 2.0 (Fast) · tool · openrouter.ai · paid
  A faster variant of the Seedance 2.0 video generation model that also accepts reference or init images.
• Seedream 5 (Lite) · tool · seed.bytedance.com · paid
  ByteDance's image generation model, used here to create the character images.
• BytePlus · tool · byteplus.com · check price
  ByteDance's cloud platform, which hosts the generated image URLs that Seedance consumes.

Try this

• Generate character images with Seedream 5 (Lite) and set return_byteplus_urls=true.
• Use the returned image URLs as reference images or init images in Seedance 2.0 or Seedance 2.0 (Fast).