AI character in Reels — a mascot that speaks your text
Upload a picture of a character — a mascot, an animal, your brand's hero. Craft animates its movements once, and after that any reel with it is put together in a couple of minutes: the character speaks your text, opens its mouth when the voice plays, stays quiet in the pauses and stands in the frame wherever you say.
The AI character lives in Content Factory → Avatar reels → My avatar. The feature is in closed beta for now: the AI character button is visible to beta participants.
This is not the face of a real person but a brand hero: a tiger, a panda, a robot, a cartoon expert. The character stands full-length on top of the reel, speaks your text and gestures — like the mascots in viral reels about travel and business.
Step 1. Create the character#
On the My avatar tab press New avatar and choose AI character. Upload a picture and describe the voice in words: "low, kind voice, speaks with a smile". The picture must be at least 512 pixels on the short side, ideally full-length.
Craft picks a voice from your description and voices a test phrase — listen to it on the card.
Step 2. Check the pose#
Animation needs a pose: the character full-length on a plain green background, with room at the sides so that arms and objects don't go past the edge. Craft prepares it from your picture and shows it on the card before you pay. If you don't like the pose, press Different pose.
Craft finds the character's mouth on the pose by itself — later it uses it to check that the character speaks when the voice plays. If it couldn't find the mouth reliably, the character window will ask you to tap the mouth in the picture — once.
If the character is holding something — a flag, a phone, a mug — Craft will notice and write under the pose: it will keep an eye on this item during animation.
Step 3. Animate the character#
Press Animate character. Craft draws a set of its movements once: 20–24 pieces where it talks and where it listens. It takes about an hour and a half, and you can close the page.
- Each piece is checked: during speech the mouth is open, in pauses it's closed. Defective pieces are redrawn.
- Items in the hands (a flag, a phone, a mug) are checked too: they don't disappear and don't switch to the other hand.
What it costs. Animation is a prepayment of 300 credits toward reels with this character. The credits don't expire: your reels with it are charged from them until they run out, and after that from your balance. If the animation fails, all 300 credits come back.
Step 4. A reel with the character#
On the New reel tab the scenarios are the same as for the avatar: a viral reel from a link, your own file, your own text. In the Who's in the video field choose the character. When the text is ready, before Approve and build choose the quality and the character's place in the frame:
| Quality | How it's made | How long to wait | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Craft assembles the character from ready-made moves to fit your voice | 1–3 minutes | 20 credits per minute of video |
| Maximum | The character is redrawn for each phrase | 20–30 minutes | 80 credits per minute of video |
"Standard" is almost indistinguishable from "Maximum". Choose "Maximum" only if you need perfect animation for an important reel.
Where the character stands. By default — full-length in the bottom left corner, on top of the reel. Drag it anywhere in the frame, and use the Size slider to make it small in a corner or large in the center. Subtitles sit above the character. Craft remembers the spot for your next reels. In the "Your text" scenario the character stands on top of a background you upload in the Background behind the character field — images or video; without a background it stands on a dark one.
If something goes wrong#
- "Animate the character first" — the character doesn't have a set of movements yet; do step 3.
- "Mark the mouth" — Craft couldn't find the mouth on the pose reliably. Tap the character's mouth in the picture once.
- "Too few usable pieces" — the character barely opens its mouth to the voice. Your credits came back; press "Different pose" and animate again. What helps most often is a picture where the mouth is clearly visible and not covered by an object.
- An error at the build stage — credits come back automatically, press "Retry".
- An item in the hand behaves strangely — animate again with a different pose, where the item is held large and doesn't cover the face.
Frequently asked questions#
Do I pay for the character separately? No. The 300 credits at animation aren't a fee for the character, they're your future reels with it, paid in advance.
Why is a reel with the character ready so fast? The character's movements are drawn once. After that Craft picks ready-made pieces to fit your voice: where the voice plays, the character talks; in a pause, it stays quiet. No graphics card is needed for this.
Can I make several characters? Yes, each one is animated separately.
Does the character speak any language? Yes: the voice speaks your text, and the mouth opens to the sound, not to the words of a particular language.
From Claude, ChatGPT or Codex#
Through the Craft MCP connector you can ask: "animate my character" or "make a reel with the tiger from this link, put him bottom right". The AI will tell you the price and start the animation or the build only after you say "yes".