Overview
When an avatar is added to a scene, it is static. You can see its face and hear its voice, but there is no movement. This lets you preview the avatar in the content and ensure you're happy with the look before animating it (which requires credits).
The animation process, to add movement, can be completed at two different points:
Here are key points to know about animating an avatar:
1. | Animating an avatar requires animation credits. To avoid spending credits unnecessarily, we highly recommend that you animate the avatar only after the narration for the scene is completely finalized and you do not anticipate any edits. |
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Once the avatar is animated, you will need to reanimate using animation credits if any of the following occur:
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3. | If you animate an avatar in a scene while previewing, you will not need to use credits to animate the same scene again when approving the video. This is true as long as no changes have been made to the narration, pronunciation, or the avatar selected for the scene. |
4. | During the approval process, those avatars in the video that are still static will be animated. This ensures that the video shared with your audience is visually appealing and does not contain static elements. |
The guidelines in this article apply to both stock and custom avatars.
Animating an Avatar When Previewing
1. | Open the relevant video in the Studio. |
2. | In the Avatar Library, note your balance of animation credits. ▶ Animation credits are consumed according to the length of the scene in which the avatar appears. For example: if a scene that includes an avatar plays for three seconds, three seconds are deducted from the credits after the avatar is animated. |
3. | From the scene line-up, select the scene containing the avatar that you want to animate. |
4. | In the Workspace, click the preview button. |
5. | Select the scene or scenes that you want to animate. |
6. | Preview the selection to make sure that the narration is exactly as you want. ▶ At this stage, the avatar is static. |
7. | When you are ready to animate, click Click to animate. |
8. | Click Animate (takes 5-10 mins). ▶ 5–10 minutes is the estimated time for animating the scenes you selected. ▶ During the animation process, some actions in the Studio will be unavailable. |
A video preview page opens in a new tab. ▶ This is the page used for processing the animation. When the animation process is completed, the results are displayed on this page. |
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After several minutes, the process is completed and the animated scene can be played in the preview page. ▶ To learn more about the preview page, see Video Preview. |
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9. | After returning to the Studio, note the updated balance of animation credits. ▶ In the example below, the balance has been reduced by 9 seconds, according to the duration of the animated scene. |
Animating an Avatar When Approving
1. | Open the relevant video in the Video Page. |
2. | Make sure that the Edit tab is selected. |
3. | Click Approve. |
A message is displayed, indicating the number of scenes with avatars that need to be animated. ▶ 5–10 minutes is the estimated time for approving the video, including the time for animating the scenes you selected. |
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4. | If you want to proceed, click Approve (takes 5-10 mins). |
The approval process is in progress. | |
When the approval process is completed, the video status changes to Approved to share. | |
After returning to the Studio, note the updated balance of animation credits. | |
Reanimating an Avatar
If you have animated an avatar, you will need to reanimate it if either of the following occurs:
- The narration in the placeholder has changed in any way, including changes as small as adding punctuation
- The pronunciation of any word in the placeholder has changed (as a result of a pronunciation library entry).
The requirement to reanimate will be indicated in the Narration dialog window, as in the example below:
If you replace an animated avatar with a different one, you are essentially "starting from scratch" and will need to animate the new avatar.
The instructions for reanimating an avatar are the same as those for the initial animation. Similarly, you can reanimate in the preview window or when you are approving the video.
Replacing an Animated Avatar
When you replace an avatar that has already been animated, you'll need to animate the new avatar. This applies even if the narration hasn't been changed.
If, in the future, you return the original avatar—and use the original narration—there is no need to animate the avatar again.
1. | In the scene, select the avatar. |
2. | In the Avatar Library, locate the avatar that you want to use. |
3. | Hover over the avatar thumbnail and then click the Replace icon. |
4. | Note the message, informing that the new avatar has not yet been animated. |
5. | If you want to proceed, click Replace. |
The avatar is replaced. ▶ The Narration dialog window displays that the avatar is currently static. |
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