# Characters (/docs/characters)



AI image generators give you a different face every time you ask. Character Studio fixes that. You create a character one time, SimpliGen locks in a base portrait, and from then on every image and every video you make reuses that same face.

<Video youtubeId="ahMgnh3W3us" title="Create a character once, use them anywhere" />

<Cards>
  <Card title="Creating a character" href="/docs/characters/creating">
    Build a base portrait by describing a look or uploading a photo.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Generating images" href="/docs/characters/images">
    Put your character in any scene.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Making videos" href="/docs/characters/videos">
    Animate your character into a clip.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Enhancing" href="/docs/characters/enhancing">
    Sharpen a result to a finished image.
  </Card>
</Cards>

## How it works [#how-it-works]

Character Studio has four steps, and the video above walks through all of them end to end:

1. **Build a base.** Shape the look from simple menus (hair, eyes, skin tone, face shape), or upload your own photo. Pick a base model, generate a few options, and choose the one that fits. That portrait becomes your character's anchor.
2. **Generate images.** Put your character in any scene by describing the scene, not the person. The face comes from the character; the prompt is only the setting.
3. **Enhance.** Upscale a result for crisp, finished detail. The Enhancer is in beta and works on any image in SimpliGen, not just characters.
4. **Make video.** Generate a starting frame, enhance it, then animate it into a short clip that holds the face steady the whole way through.

## Local and free [#local-and-free]

Everything in Character Studio runs on your own machine through the built-in engine, so it is free to use once installed. Cloud is used only if you have SimpliGen Cloud connected and you choose it for a generation.