The Outstanding Tiny Desk AI template, shot by shot
What the Outstanding Tiny Desk AI template is: the song, the five cuts and the five band seats every remix keeps, and how to use it without a CapCut template.
What “the template” means
When people ask for the Outstanding Tiny Desk AI template, they mean the fixed parts every remix keeps: the last ~19 seconds of Charlie Wilson’s “Outstanding” from his NPR Tiny Desk concert, the same five cuts in the same order, the cramped desk set and a vertical 9:16 frame. Only the faces change.
The shot list
Keep these five cuts in this order and the joke reads instantly:
- Lead at the mic, opening line
- The band: keys up front at a red keyboard, two backing singers behind
- The big laughing close-up of the lead
- The saxophone solo
- The whole band again for the ending
The five seats
The template has five people you can recast:
- Lead A: the singer, and the laughing close-up
- Keys B: front row, red keyboard
- Backing C: back row, left
- Backing D: back row, right
- Sax E: the solo
CapCut template vs Tiny Desk AI
A CapCut-style template gives you the cuts and the song, then you swap each face by hand, shot by shot, with a separate face-swap app. On Tiny Desk AI the template is built in: add one photo per seat and every shot with that person is regenerated, with sound, in one ~18s 9:16 video.
How to use the template here
Open the tool on the homepage, add photos to the seats you want, check the credit total (10 credits per video) and render. Empty seats keep the original performer. The step-by-step guide covers photo tips and what to do if a face looks off.
Ground rules
Only use photos of yourself or of adults who agreed to it, never children or public figures, and label the video as AI-made when you post it. Tiny Desk AI is not affiliated with NPR, Tiny Desk Concerts, Charlie Wilson or The Gap Band.