Avatars

May 9, 2024 · Last updated on May 27, 2025

How to Use Gesture Control to add realism and expression to your Avatars

# Gesture Control

# Editing

# Avatar

Add natural movement and expression to your avatars with gesture control

With Gesture Control, your avatar can do more than just talk. From a simple thumbs-up to a smiling expression, or even a dog walking behind you, you can now bring expressive, timed movements into your videos.

Gesture Control is only compatible with Hyper Realistic Avatars that were created by uploading video footage.

This guide walks you through how to film gesture-ready footage, how Gesture Control works in Studio, and how to add gestures to new or existing avatar looks.

What’s covered in this guide:

Why use Gesture Control?

How to record gesture-ready footage

Annotating gestures for new avatars

Adding gestures to existing avatars

Using gestures in Studio

Tips for best results

Recap

Why use Gesture Control?

Sometimes, voice and script alone aren’t enough to convey the energy, personality, or nuance you’re aiming for. Gesture Control solves this by letting you:

Add natural expressions, hand gestures, or subtle body language

Sync movements precisely to words or moments in your script

Highlight emotional shifts, reactions, or visual emphasis

Include dynamic background elements like a pet walking by

Whether you’re creating an explainer, a personal intro, or a social-ready announcement, Gesture Control helps your avatar feel more lifelike, expressive, and engaging.

How to record gesture-ready footage

Gesture Control requires specific structure in your training footage.

Here’s how to film it when creating a new Hyper-Realistic Avatar.

Time Range	What to Do
First 30 seconds	Record neutral “base” footage, speaking with no gestures
After the first 30s	Continue speaking and add one gesture every 2 seconds (e.g. thumbs-up, smile, point)

Best practices:

Keep at least 2 seconds between gestures

Always return to a neutral pose after each gesture

Capture up to 10 gestures per video (subject to change)

Keep in mind that gestures aren't limited to hand movements and can also be facial expressions, body language, or notable background activity (like a dog walking behind you).

After you add or adjust a gesture, it may take 3–5 minutes to process.

If you make a timing change or add a new gesture, please wait before previewing to ensure the update is applied.

What to Avoid

The following types of gestures are not supported and will result in your avatar being rejected:

Rapid face movements, like vigorously shaking your head

Covering your face, such as hands over mouth in surprise

Obstructed or missing face, like turning fully around or spinning in place

These disrupt facial and body tracking and cannot be processed accurately.

Annotating your gestures

After uploading your new Hyper-Realistic Avatar footage, Gesture Control will automatically detect gestures and suggest placements. You can review, add, remove, or fine-tune each gesture directly in Studio.

To get started annotating, navigate to your avatar look. On the right-hand panel, you’ll see a list of detected gestures. You can adjust their timing to align perfectly with your script.

Want more control? You can also manually add gestures by selecting “Add Gestures.” From there, simply choose the moment in your video.

Whether you're using new gesture-ready footage or reusing older looks with gestures already present, annotation gives you full control over how and when each gesture appears.

Adding gestures to existing avatars

Have an already created Hyper Realistic Avatar you want to add gestures to? No problem!

Simply navigate to your avatar from the Avatars tab, select it, and click 'Add a new look.' Then, upload your new gesture-ready footage, and follow the same annotation steps above.

Using gestures in Videos

In Studio, you can trigger gestures to appear in sync with your script by clicking on a word and assigning a gesture to that moment. You can move and align gestures to match the exact word or phrase they should appear with similar to how you trigger animations.

Gesture playback is synced to the selected point in your script, allowing for precise timing and natural delivery.

All gestures require a scene cut a few seconds before they appear. This helps ensure a clean transition into the gesture, though it may not always feel perfectly seamless. That’s expected, and often preferred for pacing.

Frequent scene cuts (e.g. every 5–10 seconds) can feel jarring to viewers. Keep cuts closer to every 20–30 seconds for best results.

Tips for best results

Use natural gestures with clear start and end points

Add subtle expressions or movements to increase realism

Consider using Gesture Control for background actions to add depth and character

Think of Gesture Control as “offset control” — it’s about choosing when a visual moment plays

Recap

Here’s what we covered:

Why use Gesture Control?

How to record gesture-ready footage

Adding gestures to existing avatars

Annotate your gestures

Editing gestures in Studio

Tips for best results

We’re excited to see what you create with Gesture Control. Start experimenting and bring your avatars to life in new ways.

Comments (0)

Popular

Table Of Contents