To make a Chipmunks Dance AI video, add three photos or one group photo on the Chipmunks Dance page, tick the box and press the button. Nobody learns the dance. The moves, the deck and the camera come from the most played post of the trend, and the faces and clothes come from your photos.
This guide covers the part that makes one version better than another: who stands where, what they wear in the photo, and how to post it.
What you need
- A photo for each of the three people, or one group photo of all three.
- A phone or a computer with a browser. There is no app to install and no prompt to write.
The routine is built on three places, so all three need someone in them. The photos do not have to be taken together. Three pictures from three phones work, which helps when your trio lives in three cities.
Step by step
- Add your photos. A photo each is the default, because it lets you decide who stands where. Every box shows the dancer that photo replaces. If all you have is one picture of the three of you, switch to One group photo.
- Tick the box. Confirm you have the right to use the photos.
- Press Make our Chipmunks Dance. If you are not signed in, you sign in first, and your photos and the tick stay where you left them. You can leave the page while it renders. The video waits in My videos.
- Download and post. Save the MP4, then post it from your camera roll.
Cast it on purpose
Under these videos, the casting is the conversation. "This was perfectly casted" has more than 58,000 likes under a post by @wenersisters, and one of the most liked comments on @jamestanner9's version is simply about which dancer has Theodore's energy. So it is worth a moment's thought before you upload. Each place does something different in the clip:
- Middle. Stands a step ahead at the start and comes back up to the camera near the end. This place shows the face the most, so give it your sharpest photo.
- Left. Goes up front first, turns with their back to the camera, then returns to the middle for the finish.
- Right. Takes one short turn at the front, then steps back beside the others.
Viewers notice who gets less of the spotlight. "Blue lowk didn't get enough time in the front" is a real comment under @bopieandjo's post. If one friend will mind, put them in the middle. The template guide goes through every turn.
In a group photo the people are cast by where they stand: left to right they take the left, middle and right places. With more than three in the picture, the three biggest faces go in. To change who gets which place, have the three of you swap spots and take the photo again, or switch to a photo each.
What to wear in the photo
The AI copies what it can see, so the clothes in the photo are the clothes in the video. You have three good options, and the comments have opinions on all of them.
- Everyday clothes. Plenty of the big posts are in hoodies and sweatpants. Under @jamestanner9's maroon, blue and green version, one commenter wrote that a lower-effort costume is how you sell it.
- Three colors. Red, blue and green, or close to them, are the colors the comments expect from Alvin, Simon and Theodore.
- A full costume. Round ears and matching tops turn it into a Halloween trio. Simple tends to win here: "Finally yall are actually dressed like them" has more than 112,000 likes, and "Finally someone who only puts the letter on Alvin" has more than 45,000.
A full-length photo carries the shoes and trousers through as well, so use one if you are dressing up.
Which photos work
The camera sees everyone head to toe, then each dancer comes close to it in turn. So the AI needs a sharp face and, if you have one, a full-length photo.
- Faces sharp and turned to the camera.
- Daylight or a bright room, with the light falling on the face.
- No sunglasses, masks, caps pulled low or heavy filters.
- In a group photo, nobody hidden behind anyone, and faces big enough to see clearly.
If it looks off
- A face is not quite right. Use a sharper, front-facing photo in good light, without a filter.
- Someone is in the wrong place. In a group photo, order follows the picture from left to right. To choose, switch to a photo each.
- A photo will not upload. Use a JPG, PNG or WEBP. If an iPhone photo will not open, upload a screenshot of it.
- The video did not render. The video goes back to your account on its own. Your photos are still there, so press the button again.
How to post it
The captions on the big posts are one short line and the tags. These come from real posts: "Dancing runs in the fam", "This dance is so fun" and "actually obsessed with this dance".
- Tags people use: #chipmunksdance, #alvinandchipmunks, #chipettes, #youspinmeround, #triocostume and #dance.
- Tag the other two. It reaches their friends as well.
- Switch on the label. Turn on TikTok's AI-generated content label before you post.
Then leave the rest to the comments. They will decide who is Alvin whether you ask or not. For more on how that works, read about the Chipmunks Dance meme.
Make our Chipmunks Dance