Avatars Overview

Avatars let you create polished videos without ever stepping in front of a camera. Just designate a speaker, assign an avatar, write a script, and Descript will generate an animated presenter to deliver your content onscreen.

Usage note

On current plans, this feature uses AI Credits. Learn more about tracking your Media Minutes and AI Credits.

Legacy and Sunset plans track usage differently. See our Understanding your Legacy and Sunset plan guide for details.

What are avatars?

An avatar in Descript is an animated presenter that appears on screen and delivers your script. It can stand in for a talking head and speak using a stock AI speaker or your custom AI speaker.

  • Choose an avatar from Descript’s gallery. Gallery avatars are professionally designed to generate reliably and work well across different scenes.
  • Create your own: upload a photo, generate from a text prompt, or combine both. Learn more in our Custom Avatars guide.
  • Avatars work with both text-to-speech (TTS) and recorded voice.
  • Each speaker can have one avatar assigned at a time, used consistently across a single project.

Avatar gallery showing a selection of avatars

How to use avatars in your project

The workflow depends on the type of audio you’re using:

  • Write a script and generate audio with text-to-speech.
  • Record your own voice directly in Descript.
  • Import pre-recorded audio, like a podcast or screen recording.

For step-by-step instructions for each workflow, see How to use avatars in Descript.

Manage avatars in a project

Once assigned, an avatar follows its speaker anywhere that speaker appears in your composition. You can:

  • Update or remove avatars by clicking the speaker label and choosing Update speaker’s avatar.
  • Resize, reposition, and crop the avatar in the Scene panel.
  • Use avatars with visual effects like Green Screen.
  • Regenerate the avatar at any time. (Note: changes to the script or speaker label require re-generation.)

Example of an avatar presenter

Avatar generation and limits

  • When you click Generate avatar, you’ll see your remaining avatar minutes and the estimated generation time.
  • Avatars generate in the background; you’ll get an email when the render is complete.
  • The maximum avatar generation length is currently 12 minutes.

Avatar tips

  • Generate after you’ve finalized your script and speaker labels.
  • Use Replace media to swap a camera layer for an avatar.
  • If an avatar isn’t visible, confirm it’s above other visuals in the layer stack; see layer order.