How to put real employees in an AI video

What it means to put a real person in an AI video

A colleague in an AI video is not filmed. Instead, the tool draws an avatar from their photo and reuses it, so they are the same person in every scene. That makes employer branding, onboarding and team introductions possible without a shoot day.

A good result meets four criteria.

• The person agreed. They gave consent in writing, and they knew where the video would run.
• The avatar is recognisable. Colleagues and customers see who it is.
• The avatar is stable. The same face appears in every scene and every video.
• The person can leave. You know how to remove the avatar and the videos later.

Two kinds of employee avatar

AI video tools make two different things from a real person. The difference matters for consent and for how viewers read the result.

	Photoreal digital twin	Stylised avatar
What it is	A lifelike copy that talks to camera	A drawn character that resembles the person
Made from	A photo or video footage of the person	One photo, or a description
Examples	Personal avatars in Synthesia and HeyGen	Team member characters in GetReelCom
What viewers see	Something that can pass for a recording	Animation that is plainly not a recording
The tool’s consent step	Synthesia requires a live consent video from the person; HeyGen requires the person’s explicit consent	You must hold the person’s demonstrable consent under GetReelCom’s terms

GetReelCom only makes the second kind. Every avatar and every video uses one cinematic 3D animation style, and there is no photoreal mode. A stylised avatar still depicts a real person, so consent is still required.

Consent comes first

Consent is a legal matter before it is a product step. A photo of an employee is personal data. The Dutch data protection authority says an employer needs a legal basis to use images of staff. In most cases that basis is the consent of the employee portrayed.

The same authority sets two conditions. Employees can withdraw their consent at any time. An employee who refuses may not face negative consequences. Consent in a working relationship is therefore only valid when saying no is a real option.

In practice, that means five things.

1. Ask in writing. Keep the answer. GetReelCom’s terms require demonstrable consent before you add a person’s photo or likeness.
2. Be specific. Say what the avatar is, which videos it appears in and where they will be published.
3. Make it voluntary. Offer an alternative, such as an invented persona, to anyone who prefers not to take part.
4. Agree on the end. Decide what happens when the person withdraws or leaves.
5. Show the result. Let the person see their avatar and the video before publication.

This guide gives general information and is not legal advice. Rules differ per country, so check with your privacy officer.

How to make it, step by step

1. Open Characters in the left sidebar and click New character.
2. Set Who is this? to Team member. Fill in Name, Role and Description.
3. Paste a direct link to a clear, well-lit photo into Photo URL. See Add an image URL.
4. Click Generate avatar. It costs 1 credit and returns one portrait.
5. Add Always and Never rules, such as “always wears the company polo” or “never holds a phone”.
6. Click New video and select the person under Who is in it?. One or two characters per scene works best.
7. Write the scene, draw the frame and check the likeness before you generate the video.

People named on your website may already be in the project. When GetReelCom reads a site, it adds the named team members as characters. For up to three of them found with a photo, it draws the avatar during the import. Review those with the same care: consent applies to them too. The fields are explained in Characters.

A worked example

The clip above shows three characters from GetReelCom’s demonstration series: the host Maya, and Tomas and Aya on the set. Each has one saved avatar, and each looks the same in every scene of the series. This cast is invented, which is why it can appear here without anyone’s consent.

For a real team the setup is the same. Take an onboarding scene: “Priya from HR meets a new colleague at the front desk and hands over a laptop.” Priya’s avatar is drawn once from her photo. The front desk is a saved venue. The narration welcomes the new hire in about 25 words. Priya sees the frame before the video is generated, and her written consent is on file.

When someone withdraws or leaves

Plan the ending before you start, because a finished video does not update itself. In GetReelCom a finished video is generated once and never changes.

When a colleague withdraws consent or leaves, take three steps. First, delete their character in the Characters tab, so no new video can use the avatar. Second, delete the videos they appear in from the project’s Videos list. Third, take down the copies you published, because downloads live outside GetReelCom.

Short scenes limit the damage. Replacing a ten-second scene with a new colleague costs 11 credits, while a filmed video would need a reshoot.

Cost and time

An avatar costs 1 credit to generate, and 1 credit for each regeneration. Saving a character’s text is free. A ten-second scene with your colleagues costs 11 credits, and a 30-second video costs 33.

A team of five therefore costs 5 credits to set up. After that, every video reuses the avatars at no extra cost. New accounts start with 40 free credits.

Setting up a character takes a few minutes: a name, a role, a description and a photo link. Generate the avatar once and leave it alone, because regenerating replaces the face in later videos.

Common mistakes

• Treating consent as a formality. A colleague who feels unable to refuse has not consented. Offer a real alternative.
• Using a small or blurry photo. The model has little to match, so the avatar resembles the person less.
• Regenerating a good avatar. Each regeneration draws a new portrait. Later videos then show a different face.
• Skipping the avatar. Without one, the character is drawn differently in every video.
• Forgetting published copies. Deleting a video in the app does not remove it from LinkedIn or your website.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an employee’s consent to make an AI avatar of them?

Yes. A photo of an employee is personal data, and the Dutch data protection authority names consent as the usual legal basis for using staff images. GetReelCom’s terms also require the person’s demonstrable consent before you add their photo or likeness. Get it in writing.

Can an employee withdraw consent for their avatar later?

Yes. According to the Dutch data protection authority, employees can withdraw consent for the use of their image at any time. After a withdrawal, delete the character, delete the videos the person appears in, and take down published copies.

What happens to the avatar when an employee leaves?

Nothing happens automatically. The character and the finished videos stay in your project until you delete them. Agree in advance what happens at departure, and then remove the character and replace the scenes. A new ten-second scene costs 11 credits.

Will the avatar look like the real person?

It will resemble them, in a stylised way. GetReelCom draws the avatar from the photo in a cinematic 3D animation style, so it reads as an animated portrait and not as a photograph. A sharp, well-lit photo gives the closest match.

Do I have to label a video with employee avatars as AI-generated?

It depends on how real it looks. The EU AI Act requires disclosure of deep fakes: generated content that resembles real people and could pass as authentic. Those duties apply from 2 August 2026. Labelling any AI-generated video is the safe habit, and platforms may require it.

How much does an employee avatar cost?

One credit in GetReelCom, each time you generate or regenerate it. The avatar is then reused in every video for free. A ten-second scene with that person costs 11 credits, and a new account starts with 40 free credits.

Sources

External sources were checked on 30 September 2026.

• Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, Visual material in the workplace (9 April 2025): legal basis, consent and withdrawal for images of employees.
• European Commission, AI Act, Article 50 and the code of practice on AI-generated content (31 July 2026): disclosure of deep fakes, applicable from 2 August 2026.
• Synthesia, Personal avatars (26 August 2026): live consent video.
• HeyGen, Moderation policy (25 July 2024): explicit consent of the person represented.
• GetReelCom, Terms of Service: demonstrable consent for photos and likenesses of real people.

See it on your own website: create your free company video →

Related guides

• How to make a company introduction video with AI
• How to use a real location in an AI video
• How to keep an AI video on brand

In the help centre

• Characters
• Character avatars
• Add an image URL

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