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So, What Exactly is HeyGen AI Video Generator?
HeyGen is an AI-avatar generating tool that allows you to create high-quality videos with AI-generated avatars and premium voiceovers.
Its most exciting features are:
- Create an AI avatar (video, photo, studio)
- AI Voiceovers
- Generating AI video
- Video Translation
Let’s see how each feature works and if it is useful for you…
How to Use HeyGen to Make Your Own AI Avatar?
HeyGen's AI avatar feature is the most talked-about and notable feature among video creators.
It offers a high-quality option that lets you create instant avatars from various ethnicities, ages, and styles.
There are two options for creating instant AI avatars:
- Create your own avatar (your digital twin) - In the free version, you can create only one AI avatar with your face. You’ll need to purchase a subscription to create more than one, which starts at $24/month, billed yearly.
- Select a custom AI avatar - Here, you can choose from an array of AI avatars of different ages, styles, and origins for your videos.
You can create AI avatars for the following purposes:
- Instant avatar for a quick video. It’s best for marketing and sales videos.
- Photo avatar for creative content. It lets you animate your photo with text.
- Studio avatar where you get 4K, in-depth avatars, which is best for learning and development videos.
Instant Avatar
Follow these steps to create your AI avatar:
- Choose Your Avatar Style
Select how you want your avatar to appear in videos, whether still or in motion.
- Read or Watch the Instructions Carefully
HeyGen has prepared detailed instructions for creating a world-class avatar. Read them carefully or watch a video tutorial.
- Upload Your Footage
Upload a video with your face in it or record directly with a webcam to get your instant AI avatar. For the most optimal and realistic results, upload a 2-5 minute video recorded with a high-resolution camera or smartphone.
After uploading the video, you’ll get options to remove the video background and receive results in 4K quality.
Note that this is a premium feature available with their Team plan starting at $120/month (quite costly, isn’t it?).
- Give Your Consent
HeyGen will ask you to record a video to prove that it’s really you who’s creating an avatar. This prevents misuse of their platform.
- Wait for a Few Minutes
It will take a few minutes for HeyGen to create your cloned avatar from your video.
And that’s it! This way, you’ll be able to create your digital twin (your AI avatar) from your video and use it to create multiple social media videos.
Similarly, you can choose multiple AI avatars from the HeyGen library that best suit your video. They have various AI avatars to choose from.
Photo Avatar
You can also create a 2D photo avatar using HeyGen to give voiceovers to your videos. You can either upload your own photo or choose from the variety of animated options in the HeyGen library.
If you don't find any option you like, you can generate your unique AI photo avatar by typing your prompt.
For example, we tried to generate an image of a middle-aged US realtor.
Studio Avatar
Studio Avatar is one of the best features available in HeyGen. It lets you create your entire video, similar to instant avatars, but with 4K high-quality AI avatars.
Follow these steps to create a video with a studio avatar:
- Simply choose your favorite avatar from their library and click ‘Create with AI Studio.’
- Type or paste your script into the script section to make your avatar speak in your video.
- Choose your speaker from their library. They offer a variety of speaker options, both free and premium, for you to choose from.
Our Take on HeyGen's Avatar Feature
In our opinion, leaving out the photo avatar feature, both instant and studio avatars are worth trying.
We think the photo avatar still lacks the quality of the other two. The output it generates by typing the prompt is also not up to the mark.
Instead of using their photo avatar feature, BIGVU’s Audiogram Maker stands out as far better. It lets you turn your voiceovers into professional, cool-looking audiogram videos with eye-catching captions and colorful waveforms.
Second, though they have the option to upload your script or even generate a new script in their GPT-4 script writer section, they still cannot write in your desired brand voice.
Whereas with the BIGVU script generator, you can generate your script 10X faster in your brand voice. Additionally, it gives you new video ideas and can even rewrite your entire script within seconds.
And the best thing is, BIGVU’s AI Pro plan costs only $14/month, billed annually.
HeyGen AI Voice Feature
Now let’s look at HeyGen’s AI voice capabilities. We were expecting a lot more from it.
No doubt, there are many AI voice options to choose from to make your AI avatar speak. But there’s no option to generate a new voice for yourself.
On the bright side, their library is vast with different AI voices to choose from in many languages.
However, remember, only a few of them are available in the free version.
Our Take on HeyGen’s AI Voice Feature
As discussed above, HeyGen does not let you create a new AI voice of your own choice.
However, you can still integrate third-party voices from ElevenLabs or LMNT.
In contrast, in BIGVU, you can generate a new voice and even clone your own voice for consistency.
How to Use HeyGen AI Video Generator?
Now, let’s see how you can use the HeyGen AI video generator to create videos.
Follow these simple steps to create your video:
- Start with a Template or from Scratch
HeyGen gives you 4 options to choose from on how you want to create your videos:
- Start from scratch
- Start with a template
- Start with a PPT or PDF
- Generate a script with AI
Then choose the layout of your video, whether in landscape or portrait mode.
- Select the Template
Now select the template of your video depending on its type. You have various options to choose from, such as advertisement, e-commerce, explainer videos, social media, etc.You can also create from scratch.You can now change the AI avatar, its voice, and script in the timeline.
- Choose AI Character for Your Video and Add Your Script
Each video template has its own AI character. After selecting your template, you can change the existing AI avatar based on your video type.
Or you can add your own avatar too.
Next, replace the script with your own video script that your AI character will read. Here, you’ll also get the option to change the voice.
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- Sprinkle on Finishing Touches
Make your video more engaging by adding text, images, music, and more. You can use assets from their vast library or upload your own.
- Submit and You’re Done
Click 'Submit' to generate your video and impress the world. And that's it.
Our Take on HeyGen AI Video Generator
In our opinion, HeyGen does a decent job of creating explainer or marketing videos.
However, we think it still cannot replace a complete video editing tool like BIGVU, which offers more advanced features such as recording your video with a teleprompter, adding captions to your videos, and much more.
It allows you to share your videos on all social media platforms with the click of a button, saving you time.
And how can we forget its outstanding scene-by-scene editing feature, which is much easier and more user-friendly than editing on a complex timeline?
BIGVU is easily accessible on all platforms, including Android, iOS, and desktop web browsers, compared to HeyGen, which is only available on desktop.
HeyGen Video Translator
HeyGen has a unique feature that translates the entire audio of your video.
This means you can create multiple versions of your video in different languages and upload them separately on various social media channels.
It helps you reach different audiences who speak different languages and improves engagement on each video.
Follow these steps to translate your video:
- Upload your video or enter the URL to import it.
- Choose the language and confirm your submission.
- Wait for a few minutes, and your translation will be ready.
Our Take on HeyGen Video Translator
Video translation is a powerful tool to reach new audiences from different countries.
When it comes to Avatar translation, HeyGen is definitely decent.
But, what if you don’t want an avatar but want to reach a new audience authentically?
Try BIGVU video translator, which translates your video into multiple languages without changing its original audio. It rather adds translated subtitles to your video.
It gives you the freedom to upload a single video with different subtitles. Your viewers can choose the language they’re comfortable with.
It has two advantages:
- They can watch the video with the sound off (if they want to).
- Your video ranks better because of the uploaded SRT files.
Wrapping it Up
In terms of creating AI avatars or your digital twin, HeyGen stands out. It’s one of the best AI tools for creating a realistic version of you.
Additionally, the predefined AI-generated voices are high-quality and sound like an actual human.
We were very impressed by their studio avatars, which are high-quality 4K avatars with no backgrounds. You can easily use them in any of your videos.
Regarding its pricing, we think HeyGen’s pricing is a bit on the higher side.
The Creator plan starts from $24/month, billed yearly, and gives you 180 credits. This means you can only create 180 minutes of video per month.
Moreover, this plan does not include background removal, 4K instant avatars, and many other important features.
In contrast, with BIGVU, you get full access to its features, including 4K video recording with a teleprompter, AI Magic Writer, Caption Generator, Video Translator, and much more for just $14/month.
Choose the software that best fits your video marketing needs.