The prices are the studio's own: 6 credits for a frame, 45 for a 5-second shot, 90 for 10 seconds, and 100 free credits on a new device.
Why the reference is the character
An anime OC is a design: hair shape, eye color, outfit, silhouette, how light sits on the face. A video model cannot read those decisions off a sentence reliably; it can read them off images. The same prompt with a different reference produces a different person, and the same reference with a different prompt still produces yours.
FicReel accepts up to three references in one shot, and an upload is used for that shot only. Keep your OC set in a folder and attach it to every shot. The rules are in the reference image guide.
Build a three-image reference set
Three images cover most shots: face, half-body, and a second angle or expression. They must show the same character in the same lighting; warm lamp on one and blue sunset on another gives you a stranger who resembles your OC.
If you draw, export clean PNGs. If you generate them, do it in one session with the anchor line pasted into each prompt — 6 credits per frame — and accept only images that read as the same person at a glance.
- Face: front-facing, eyes visible, neutral light, cropped to head and shoulders. This image carries the face in every shot.
- Body: half-body or closer, outfit and silhouette clear, plain or softly blurred background.
- Angle: a three-quarter view or a second expression, useful when a shot turns the head.
- Same aspect ratio as the output. A wide reference fed into a vertical shot gets cropped.
- No text, logos or busy patterns. Anything legible gets copied into the frames.
A REUSABLE ANCHOR LINE FOR EVERY REFERENCE IMAGE
A 1990s cel-animation character with a dark bob, one white streak, a grey coat and a small red pin. Calm expression, soft overcast light, clean background; no text, no watermark.
Turn the set into one frame
Do not ask one shot to act out a sequence. Decide the frozen moment you want — at a window, turning their head, looking back — and generate that frame on Create. Judge it before you spend motion credits.
Attach the face reference
It carries more of the face than the body shot does. Add the others only if outfit or angle matters here.
Write the moment, not the story
One pose, one expression, one light direction, plus the anchor line and “no text, no watermark”.
Generate and judge
6 credits, usually 15–35 seconds. If the face is wrong, fix the reference — do not animate a frame you do not accept.
Animate one small motion
On Create video the frame is the anchor and the prompt only says how it moves. For an OC, small is not timid; it is what keeps the design. A signature gesture — hair brushed back, a sleeve adjusted, eyes opening — lands better than a full-body action in a five-second shot.
Five seconds is the default: 45 credits, about 3–6 minutes. A 10-second shot costs 90 and runs 6–12 minutes. It is one slower generation, not two 5-second clips joined, and it may look slightly different.
- One camera move: hold, slow push in, or a gentle orbit. Two moves in five seconds reads as a glitch.
- One subject action, kept small. A walk-in or a fight is outside what five seconds carries well.
- Ambience is free character: wind in the coat, dust in the light, rain on the window.
- Always add “no morphing, no new characters, no text”.
A MOTION PROMPT FOR AN OC CLOSE-UP
The camera holds steady. Her hair lifts slightly in the wind and her eyes narrow; drifting dust in the light. No cuts, no morphing, no text.
Keep the OC consistent across shots
Consistency comes from repetition, not from describing harder. Keep the reference set, the aspect ratio and the anchor line identical, and change only the motion prompt. Re-describing the character in different words each time adds drift.
Generate a scene's frames in one session. Never mix two characters' references in one shot; if a shot needs a second character, make it a separate shot. Across takes, expect family resemblance rather than pixel identity.
- Judge the frame first. A shot cannot repair a face that was already wrong in the still.
- Accept small variation; re-generating a face you already like usually costs more than it fixes.
- There is no editor in FicReel. For a sequence, generate shots and cut them together elsewhere.
A 100-credit session plan
100 trial credits are enough for a real test. One plan: 51 for a complete shot (frame plus 5 seconds of motion) and 48 for eight more frames to explore poses — 99 of the 100. If you animate your own art, the same 100 covers 2 motion-only shots.
Nothing is charged automatically. Each press is one charge, and a failed generation is returned automatically.
Spend on the face
Most of the budget goes to frames, because the frame decides whether the shot is worth keeping.
Buy one motion take, then judge
Face first, then motion, then atmosphere. Do not buy four takes to escape a reference problem.
Generate again deliberately
Reuse the same setup only when the face and framing are right and you want a different take.
What this workflow cannot do
It does not rig your OC: no skeleton, no expression slider, no turnaround sheet, no character library. Each shot is an independent generation anchored by references. It does not make a full video either — no timeline, no music, no lip-sync, no long-form export.
It does not ship third-party characters. An OC means a design you own or have the rights to use. That is deliberate, and it is also the only kind of design whose references you can control.
Questions
Common questions
- Can I animate an anime OC I did not draw myself?
- If you designed it and have the rights to the images, yes — keep the reference set and reuse it. If the design belongs to a third party, no; there is no character library and no IP reproduction.
- How many reference images should I attach to one shot?
- Start with one clear face reference. Add the half-body image when outfit and silhouette matter, and a second angle when the head turns. Three is the maximum, and mismatched references average into a different face.
- Why does my OC look slightly different in every shot?
- Each shot is an independent generation. The reference set sets the odds, not the outcome. Fixed references and one small move get you close; pixel-identical identity is not promised.
- Do I need to describe the character in the motion prompt?
- No. The motion prompt controls movement, composition and light. The reference carries the design, so re-describing the face usually adds drift.
- Can I make a 30-second OC video in FicReel?
- Not in one generation, and there is no editor. You make one shot at a time, download each clip, and assemble anything longer outside the tool.
Try the workflow on one frame.
New devices start with free credits; nothing spends without your press.
FicReel is an AI anime image and video studio. Prices and wait times on this page come from the same credit table the product uses; if the product disagrees with this page, that is a bug — write to admin@mail.ficreel.com. More: beginner guide, pricing, all guides, glossary, about FicReel. Canonical source: https://ficreel.com/learn/anime-oc-video-guide.