Outstanding Tiny Desk AI template, one shot and one seat at a time

The template is one fixed clip, not a project you edit by hand. To make your Tiny Desk AI video, you only choose which seats get a new portrait.

What we measured

On 2026-10-28 the source file was 19.04 seconds, 24 fps, 720×1280. The cuts below come from that file. A 480p render of the full file kept these four cuts, and each reference image stayed on its seat. Clothes followed the reference photos, so printed marks did not remain. 720p, real portraits, and leaving a seat empty have not been measured.

A shorter file can drop the opening side profile. That cut has to remove the picture and the sound together. Point TEMPLATE_VIDEO_URL_TRIMMED at that file and set TEMPLATE_TIMELINE=trimmed. Otherwise the render uses the full source.

Shots

0.00–1.38s, close-up. Lead in side profile, chin slightly down, expression held. Seats on camera: lead.
1.38–6.71s, medium group. Keys sits front center at a red keyboard. Back left and back right stand behind on headset mics. Back right pumps a fist. Seats on camera: keys, backLeft, backRight.
6.71–13.00s, close-up. Lead faces the lens and laughs, mouth open, head tipping back. One hand lifts a little. Seats on camera: lead.
13.00–16.38s, close-up. Sax plays into a studio microphone with over-ear headphones. Keys is partly in frame at the lower right, nodding. Seats on camera: sax, keys.
16.38–19.04s, medium group. Same three seats as the first group shot. Back right raises a fist on the last phrase. Seats on camera: keys, backLeft, backRight.

The five seats

Lead. The close-up. This face is on screen the longest, including the laugh.
Keys. Front center at the keyboard, plus a sliver of the sax shot.
Back left. Standing rear left in the group shots. The face is small in frame.
Back right. Standing rear right. This seat lifts a fist on the chorus.
Sax. One close-up, headphones on, during the solo.

Empty seats

If you leave a seat blank, the prompt tells the renderer to keep that performer as they appear in the source. That instruction has not been scored on a finished batch of renders. It is not a separate price.

Photos that fit a seat

Use one adult per file, face toward the camera, with even light. Lead is the seat where a mismatch shows, because the face is large. The back seats are small in the group shots, so hair shape carries more of the likeness than fine detail. These are preparation notes. We have not published a side-by-side of glasses, hats, or cropped group photos.

Questions

Do I have to fill every seat?

No. One portrait is enough. Seats you skip are described to the renderer as unchanged.

Which photo matters most?

Lead. That face is in the long close-up. Keys, the two back seats, and sax are smaller or shorter on screen.

Are these times from a finished render?

The times are cuts on the source file, measured 28 Oct 2026. A 480p render of the full 19.04-second file kept those cuts. A shorter opening cut is optional, not the default.