Need a talking avatar for your live streams, videos or presentations? Perhaps for your website or app? Here is a selection of talking avatar software that will help you jazz up your content.
Just before we jump into that… why should you use a talking avatar?
Let’s just say, the statistics cannot lie – people simply love video content. These days, videos and animations are one of the most powerful marketing tools that engage the audience and keep it interested for longer. And not just speaking in terms of social media content. People prefer watching videos instead of reading text everywhere. They simply accept the information times faster and more efficiently. It’s better to watch a 1-minute video than read a piece of 1000 words, right?
Talking avatars engage the audience in presentations, videos, live streams, virtual romance games, and more. As a result, help you convey your message and achieve your goals. But you already probably knew that. So let’s find out the software options you have.
What talking avatar software to choose?
No matter if you need a talking avatar for your website, live streams, videos, presentations, apps, or something else, this selection of talking avatar tools and software will help you identify the best option for your needs.
Adobe Character Animator
- A part of Adobe Creative Cloud
- A free trial of 30 calendar days
Adobe Character Animator is a software which has all the arsenal you would need to create a talking avatar or a talking full-body character. The software supports a lip-sync function which you can use with a pre-recorded audio file or animate the character live as you speak on the mic and cam.
Adobe Character Animator works with 2D characters in all kinds of character design styles. Pretty much, you can draw your own character and adjust it for the software, so it detects its mouth, eyes, eyebrows, etc. (a process called rigging). Of course, you can find many pre-made avatars and characters prepared for Adobe Character Animator and ready for animation – these characters are called puppets.
The great thing about Adobe Character Animator is that it allows you to stream live talking avatars on different platforms. The software comes as a part of Adobe Creative Cloud and as such, it is available with a full month of a free trial which is enough to find out if the software is suitable for your needs.
If you are interested in the software, check out our article Top 10 Tutorials to Learn Adobe Character Animator.
CrazyTalk
- Available for Windows and Mac OS
- Standard, Pro, and Pipeline editions (15-day free trial)
One of the most popular software options for creating a talking avatar for your projects. With CrazyTalk, you can create dozens of talking avatars from any photos and images, as well as very accurate life-like 3D characters, again by using real person’s photos.
CrazyTalk uses a technology that animates the face of a character recreating different facial expressions. The software also achieves smooth lip-syncing through text-to-speech technology, pre-recorded WAV files or by using the Record function in the software.
CrazyTalk is available for Windows and Mac OS with 3 different versions: Standard, Pro, and Pipeline. The software also provides a 15-day trial to test out its full capacity.
Voki
- Free basic version
- Paid plans from $4.99/month (15-day free trial)
Voki is a platform which contains a library of over 200 customizable characters waiting to become your next talking avatar. The platform is oriented towards education and learning and has developed different tools for the needs of teachers and students, each available with a 15-day free trial:
- Voki Presenter – a tool for creating presentations with a talking avatar;
- Voki Classroom – a management tool for teachers allowing them to involve up to 90 students;
- Voki Teach – engaging lessons prepared by teachers;
- Voki Hangouts – a virtual discussion with each student participating with their own talking avatar.
Voki platform is suitable for use by people of all ages and all fields of occupations. However, its main purpose is to help teachers engage students with speaking animated characters and make lessons more comprehensive.
Voki offers a free basic version, as well as licenses for entire schools. The free version is very handy if you’d like to test out the software but you will only have access to a limited set of characters. The advanced versions allow you to create as many characters as you wish, as well as use the full capacity of the provided tools. Voki also comes with a mobile app for Android and iPhone.
SitePal
- Paid plans from $9.95/month (15-day free trial)
SitePal is a service which adds an animated character to your website. The talking avatars can also be used in emails, mobile apps, on blogs, and even in PowerPoint presentations.
The library contains over 250 characters with many customization options. You can choose from full body characters or avatar characters – in 3D photoface style or 2D illustrative style.
You can customize the overall look with hairstyles, accessories, different backgrounds, and more options. SitePal lets you create an avatar even from your uploaded photo.
When it comes to making your avatar talk, you have several options. You can upload a pre-recorded audio with your voice, you can use a text-to-speech feature available in more than 25 languages, you can use a professional voice talent, and more.
With the online publishing tool offered by SitePal, you can upload your talking character on the web easily, and without any programming knowledge.
The pricing for SitePal starts from $9.95 per month. However, this plan doesn’t include full-body character models, as well as any of the add-on features.
If you are going to use SitePal professionally, you should probably go for the Platinum plan which will cost you $249.95 per month but includes all premium features of the software.
