How to Make an Outstanding Tiny Desk Video With Your Friends

The Outstanding Tiny Desk trend recasts Charlie Wilson’s 2023 NPR Tiny Desk performance of “Outstanding”: one singer at the mic, a band grooving behind the desk and a song everyone knows. With AIRapVideoly you can take over the band from one photo, or up to five, without filming anything or singing a note.

What you get

• A 19-second vertical video of you as the lead singer, with up to four friends in the band, in time with the performance.
• The original scene around you: the same desk, the same shelves and the same camera moves. Spots you leave empty keep the original band.
• The original song included, timed to the performance, so the video is ready to post to TikTok, Reels or Shorts.

Step 1: Pick your photos

The lead singer needs a photo; the four bandmates are optional: the front mic, the back-left and back-right singers, and the sax player. That is up to five people in total, each with their own photo. Use one clear photo per person, with their face visible and them in frame from head to waist. Phone photos are fine. Nobody needs a mic or a stage outfit: the video keeps the microphones, headsets and sax from the original clip.

Not sure which photos to use? Read which photos work best.

Step 2: Generate

Sign in and add your photos to the slots in the Outstanding Tiny Desk studio. The lead singer is required; the other four positions are optional. Tick the consent box to confirm that everyone in the photos is an adult who agreed to appear, then press Generate.

Step 3: Wait a few minutes

Your video is ready in a few minutes, a little longer when it’s busy. You don’t need to keep the page open. When it’s ready, it appears in My videos. If a video fails, its credits go back to your balance automatically.

Step 4: Download and post

Open My videos and download the video. Videos are kept for 7 days and then deleted, together with the photos you used, so download yours before then. It already has the song, so you can post it straight to TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts.

The video is AI-generated, so follow your platform’s rules for labelling AI content.

Costs

Pay per video with credits. Failed videos are refunded automatically. See credit packs.

This is an independent fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by NPR, Tiny Desk Concerts, Charlie Wilson or The Gap Band.

Make my band video.