Why your Drake AI video doesn't look like you, and how to fix it

You uploaded a photo, waited a few minutes, and the person leading the party is almost you. Or it's someone who only shares your hoodie. This page goes through the problems we've seen while testing the Burning Bridges and POPSTAR templates, what causes each one, and what to change before you spend credits on another try. Choosing the photo in the first place is covered in the photo guide. This page is about what to do after a result comes out wrong.

First: is your Drake AI video actually wrong?

Some changes come from the model, not from your photo, and they can show up on any run:

• The room is a little brighter than in the music video.
• A gesture lands early or late. In one of our Burning Bridges test renders, a wave turned into the hands-over-the-eyes move a beat early.
• The guests stay the same. Only the lead spot changes. The party guests in Burning Bridges and the security guards in POPSTAR come from the original scene.

None of these mean the photo was bad, and a new photo won't change them. If your face, hair and outfit come through, the video worked.

The face looks like someone else

This is the most common complaint, and it usually shows up as one of two things.

The face is a "polished" version of you. The skin is smoother, the jaw sharper, and sometimes the outline of the face drifts toward the original performer. We saw this in one POPSTAR test: hair, skin tone and clothes all matched the photo, but the face had picked up some of the original lead's shape. The model fills gaps with what's in the scene, and it gets more gaps when your face is small, turned or soft in the photo.

The face changes during the clip. It looks right at the start, then slips when the head turns, a hand passes in front of it, or the light changes.

What helps:

• A bigger, sharper face. Waist-up rather than full body from across the room, and the original file rather than a screenshot or a chat-app copy.
• Straight on, both eyes visible. No profile shots, no looking down at a phone, no sunglasses or low caps.
• No beauty filter. The model copies the filtered face, not yours.
• A neutral expression or a small smile. A big laugh or a pulled face is harder to keep consistent.

The skin or clothes look orange

Both scenes have warm light, the Burning Bridges party especially. If your photo is warm too, from a sunset, a warm filter or yellow indoor bulbs, the two add up and you come out sunburnt.

Fix: use a photo taken in daylight or soft white light, with no color filter.

Your outfit doesn't match

If the clothes in the video look made up, the photo probably didn't show much of them. A tight selfie gives the model a face and nothing else, so it invents the rest. Busy patterns and small print on a shirt can also shimmer or change as the camera moves.

Fix: use a waist-up photo in the outfit you want. Plain or darker clothes come through most cleanly.

A strange object is in your hand

Both scenes put something in the lead's hand: a silver cup in Burning Bridges, a champagne bottle in POPSTAR. If your photo already shows a phone or a drink, the model may try to keep both and merge them into something odd.

Fix: use a photo with empty, relaxed hands, or with the hands out of frame.

A stranger is in the lead

If someone you don't recognize takes the lead, check the photo for more than one person. Group shots and photos with someone half in frame confuse which face to use.

Fix: crop the photo so only one person is left.

The Drake AI video failed or never finished

If generation fails, or runs past 60 minutes, the video is marked as failed and the 150 credits go back to your balance on their own. You'll see the refund in your credit history. You don't need to contact anyone.

When to ask for your credits back

Some videos finish but are clearly wrong: the person isn't recognizable as the one in your photo, the face is badly distorted, or the wrong person appears. Email us within 7 days with the link from My videos, and we'll review it by hand and return the credits if the result is clearly wrong. Smaller differences don't qualify, such as a slightly brighter room or a glitch in one frame. The refund policy has the details.

Try again with a better photo

Most bad results come down to the photo. Before the next try, check that it shows one person, facing the camera, waist-up, in neutral light, with empty hands and no filter. Then use it on Burning Bridges AI or POPSTAR AI.

Only upload photos of yourself or of someone who agreed. Photos of public figures and of anyone under 18 aren't allowed.

This site is independent and isn't affiliated with Drake, OVO or his label.

Try again with a new photo