AI can draw almost anything. That's exactly why it shouldn't draw your product. A video ad that shows a slightly different bottle, a nicer colour or a label that doesn't exist is a misleading ad — and the customer who receives the real thing notices immediately. Returns, complaints and one-star reviews follow.
So the rule on Facefluence is simple: we never generate your product. Product shots are made from your own photos, and when a presenter holds or wears your product, your photo is the reference the shot is built from. The better the photos, the better the video.
The good news: you don't need a studio. A recent phone, a window and twenty minutes are enough if you follow a few rules.
Why photo quality matters more for video
A still photo only has to look good once. A video shot built from that photo has to look right from a slightly different angle, in motion, in a presenter's hands. The model fills in what it can't see — and anything it fills in is a guess. Clear, well-lit photos from several angles leave less to guess, so the product stays itself from shot to shot.
The checklist
Light
- Shoot next to a large window in daylight, out of direct sun. Soft light shows shape without hard shadows.
- Turn off the flash. Turn off any other lights in the room so the colours don't mix.
- If one side is too dark, bounce light back with a sheet of white paper.
Background
- Plain and contrasting: a white wall or paper for dark products, a darker surface for light ones.
- Nothing else in the frame — no cables, no other products, no hands unless the hand is the point.
Angles
- At least three: front, side or back, and a three-quarter view (45°).
- Add a top view for anything flat, and the inside for bags, boxes and packaging.
- Add close-ups of what matters: the label, the texture, the stitching, the button.
Framing
- Fill most of the frame with the product, but leave a little space around it; don't cut off edges.
- Hold the phone level with the product's centre, not looking down at it, unless it's a top view.
- Don't use digital zoom. Move closer instead.
Labels and text
- Labels should be straight, sharp and readable in the photo. If you can't read it, the video can't either.
- Glossy packaging reflects windows and lamps: tilt the product slightly or move until the glare is gone.
Colour and honesty
- No filters, no beauty modes, no "enhance". The colours in the photo are the colours customers will expect.
- Photograph every variant separately — each colour, each size — rather than recolouring one.
Scale
- Add one photo of the product in a hand or next to an everyday object, so the size is clear.
Files
- Use the original full-resolution files, not screenshots or images saved from a chat app.
- Give files names that describe them, like
cafe-ruth-sourdough-front.jpg. They're easier to find, and file names travel with your work.
Rights
- Use your own photos, or photos you have the rights to. A supplier's or marketplace's photos may come with conditions — check before using them in ads.
Common problems and quick fixes
- The product looks flat. Move it so the window light comes from the side, not from behind you.
- The label is unreadable. Get closer, hold the phone steady and tap to focus on the label.
- The colours are off. Switch off warm room lights and shoot in daylight only.
- Reflections everywhere. Change the angle by a few degrees, or diffuse the window with a thin white curtain.
- The edges are cut. Step back; you can always crop later, you can't un-crop.
When a shot shows something you didn't film
Sometimes an ad needs to show how a product works — a gadget blending, a cream absorbing — and you only have still photos. A generated depiction of how a product works is acceptable only when it's clearly marked as an illustration and doesn't show results customers wouldn't typically get. Real "before and after" results must come from real photos of real results, never from a generated image.
What happens to your photos on Facefluence
Your photos live in your workspace's private storage, reached only through short-lived links. Images are re-encoded when you upload them, which removes hidden metadata such as the location where the photo was taken. They're used for your own videos — product shots, presenter-holding-product shots and storyboard stills — and you confirm you have the rights to every photo you upload.
Twenty minutes, once
Set aside twenty minutes for each new product: one window, one plain background, three angles, a few close-ups. Those photos will serve every video you make about that product for as long as you sell it — in every format, with every presenter, in every language.