# MovieCharacter: A Tuning-Free Framework for Controllable Character Video Synthesis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.20974 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.20974/

## Key facts

- Cited by 12 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 34 of its 37 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Oct 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 34)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Denoising Diffusion Implicit Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.02502/) (2020)
- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05233/) (2021)
- [Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.06125/) (2022)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.00667/) (2022)
- [Adding Conditional Control to Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.05543/) (2023)
- [GLIDE: Towards Photorealistic Image Generation and Editing with Text-Guided Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10741/) (2021)
- [SAM 2: Segment Anything in Images and Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.00714/) (2024)
- [CogVideoX: Text-to-Video Diffusion Models with An Expert Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06072/) (2024)
- [Tune-A-Video: One-Shot Tuning of Image Diffusion Models for Text-to-Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.11565/) (2022)
- [Animate Anyone: Consistent and Controllable Image-to-Video Synthesis for Character Animation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.17117/) (2023)
- [Text2Video-Zero: Text-to-Image Diffusion Models are Zero-Shot Video Generators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13439/) (2023)
- [Scaling up GANs for Text-to-Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.05511/) (2023)
- [FateZero: Fusing Attentions for Zero-shot Text-based Video Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.09535/) (2023)
- [TokenFlow: Consistent Diffusion Features for Consistent Video Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10373/) (2023)
- [Pix2Video: Video Editing using Image Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.12688/) (2023)
- [Champ: Controllable and Consistent Human Image Animation with 3D Parametric Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14781/) (2024)
- [Rerender A Video: Zero-Shot Text-Guided Video-to-Video Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.07954/) (2023)
- [MimicMotion: High-Quality Human Motion Video Generation with Confidence-aware Pose Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.19680/) (2024)
- [ProPainter: Improving Propagation and Transformer for Video Inpainting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.03897/) (2023)
- [FLATTEN: optical FLow-guided ATTENtion for consistent text-to-video editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.05922/) (2023)
- [ControlNeXt: Powerful and Efficient Control for Image and Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06070/) (2024)
- [RAVE: Randomized Noise Shuffling for Fast and Consistent Video Editing with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.04524/) (2023)
- [UniAnimate: Taming Unified Video Diffusion Models for Consistent Human Image Animation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.01188/) (2024)
- [MIMO: Controllable Character Video Synthesis with Spatial Decomposed Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.16160/) (2024)
- [COVE: Unleashing the Diffusion Feature Correspondence for Consistent Video Editing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.08850/) (2024)
- [FRESCO: Spatial-Temporal Correspondence for Zero-Shot Video Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.12962/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [SkyReels-A2: Compose Anything in Video Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.02436/) (2025)
- [Animate Anyone 2: High-Fidelity Character Image Animation with Environment Affordance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.06145/) (2025)
- [SkyReels-A1: Expressive Portrait Animation in Video Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.10841/) (2025)
- [Generative AI for Film Creation: A Survey of Recent Advances](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08296/) (2025)
- [SkyReels-Audio: Omni Audio-Conditioned Talking Portraits in Video Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.00830/) (2025)
- [Ingredients: Blending Custom Photos with Video Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.01790/) (2025)
- [AniCrafter: Customizing Realistic Human-Centric Animation via Avatar-Background Conditioning in Video Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.20255/) (2025)
- [SocialDirector: Training-Free Social Interaction Control for Multi-Person Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.10079/) (2026)
- [AnyCharV: Bootstrap Controllable Character Video Generation with Fine-to-Coarse Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.08189/) (2025)
- [UniTransfer: Video Concept Transfer via Progressive Spatial and Timestep Decomposition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.21086/) (2025)
- [SwapAnyone: Consistent and Realistic Video Synthesis for Swapping Any Person into Any Video](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09154/) (2025)
- [Customizing Video Portraits via Identity-ActionDecoupling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.22347/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recent advancements in character video synthesis still depend on extensive fine-tuning or complex 3D modeling processes, which can restrict accessibility and hinder real-time applicability. To address these challenges, we propose a simple yet effective tuning-free framework for character video synthesis, named MovieCharacter, designed to streamline the synthesis process while ensuring high-quality outcomes. Our framework decomposes the synthesis task into distinct, manageable modules: character segmentation and tracking, video object removal, character motion imitation, and video composition. This modular design not only facilitates flexible customization but also ensures that each component operates collaboratively to effectively meet user needs. By leveraging existing open-source models and integrating well-established techniques, MovieCharacter achieves impressive synthesis results without necessitating substantial resources or proprietary datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that our framework enhances the efficiency, accessibility, and adaptability of character video synthesis, paving the way for broader creative and interactive applications.