Talking Animation: 3 Ways to Make Characters Speak Online

How to create character talking animation with an AI-powered tool

Making professional animations used to require years of training, but modern AI tools have made it accessible to everyone. Dreamina is an advanced AI avatar video generator that uses the cutting-edge OmniHuman 1.5 model to bring static photos to life. What makes it special is how it creates realistic character talking animation from just a single photo, enabling you to customize speech and movements with text prompts. The lips match up perfectly with the words, and the facial expressions move naturally instead of looking stiff or weird. OmniHuman 1.5 also provides a multi-person scene, environmental interactions, and context-aware audio-driven animations, offering flexibility in generating more creative results. You can make anyone from family photos to fictional characters, speak, sing, or deliver presentations with incredibly realistic lip sync and natural expressions.

Steps to create talking head animation with Dreamina

Now, let's walk through the step-by-step process of creating your lip-sync animation. First, click the link below to visit Dreamina and create your free account. Once you're logged in, follow along with these simple steps:

STEP 1
1. Upload your photo

Once you're inside Dreamina, look for the "AI Avatar" option on the main dashboard and click on it. This will take you to the talking character creation page. Next, click the + icon to upload the photo you want to turn into a talking character; make sure it shows a clear face for the best results. Now it's time to add what you want your character to say. Type exactly what you want your character to say in the "Speech content" section, using simple, clear language. Alternatively, if you already have an audio recording you'd like to use, simply click "Upload audio" and select your file from your device.

STEP 2
1. Generate your talking character

Next, you'll see the "Action description" section. Here you can add specific instructions to control how your character moves and behaves. Write a simple prompt describing what you want, like "The person should speak calmly while looking directly at the camera" or "Make the character gesture naturally with their hands while talking." These prompts help the AI understand exactly how you want your animation to look and feel. Scroll down and select either "Avatar Pro" or "Avatar Turbo" by OmniHuman 1.5 for realistic results. Next, click on AI Voice to choose a voice for your character (i.e., if you are using text-to-speech). Once you've chosen your model and added your prompts, click the Generate icon on the far right to start creating your talking character.

STEP 3
1. Download

Once Dreamina finishes generating your talking character, you'll see your animated video appear on the screen. Take a moment to preview it and make sure you're happy with how it looks. If everything looks good, look for the Download button at the top and click it to save the video to your device.

Find more AI magic:

1
1. Text-to-speech animation

Skip recording your own voice and let Dreamina handle it for you. Simply type your script, and the AI converts it into natural-sounding speech that perfectly matches your character's lip movements. Choose from different voice styles and adjust the speed to match the mood you want.

2
1. AI voices

Choose from multiple AI voice options that sound realistic and natural. Dreamina offers different voice styles, genders, and accents to match your project needs. You can adjust voice speed and tone to create the perfect speaking style for your talking avatar.

3
1. Frame interpolation

Enhance your talking animations by adding extra frames between existing ones. Dreamina's Interpolate feature smooths out any choppy movements in your video, creating fluid, professional-looking motion that feels natural to watch.

4
1. HD Upscale

Enhance your talking animations with sharper and clearer quality. Dreamina's Upscale feature improves the resolution of your video, making everything look more detailed and professional. It's great when you need your animation to look good even on bigger screens.

How to make a talking face animation with a pre-designed avatar

Pre-designed avatars save time since you don't have to take your own pictures and can start creating right away. Adobe Express offers a collection of ready-made animated characters that you can customize with your own voice or text. This method works great when you need to ensure your brand image is uniform or when you require talking head animations for a project immediately. You only need to pick an avatar style that matches your content, add your audio, and this talking animation AI will handle the animation automatically.

Steps to create talking animation with Adobe Express

STEP 1
1. Select your character

Head to the Adobe Express web homepage, then click Animation under the Create tab. Once you're in, browse through the character options and pick the one that fits your project. You can adjust the character size using the Character scale slider to make it bigger or smaller on screen.

STEP 2
1. Customize and record

Next, click on the Background tab to change the background image. You can either upload your own background image or choose from Adobe's preset collection. Select your preferred aspect ratio based on where you plan to share your animation.

Now, click the Record button and speak what you want your character to say. The AI will automatically process your audio and sync it with your character's lip movements.

STEP 3
1. Download your animation

Once the AI finishes processing, tap on your finished animation to preview it and make sure everything looks good. If you're happy with how it looks, click the Download button to save the animated video to your device. Your character talking animation is now ready to share on social media or use in your projects.

Key features

1
1. Pre-designed character library: Choose from a variety of animated characters without needing your own photos. Adobe Express provides different character styles, from professional to casual, so you can pick one that matches your project's tone and branding needs.
2
2. Background customization: Replace the default background with your own images or select from Adobe's preset collection. This feature lets you create consistent branding or match your animation to specific themes and settings.
3
3. Voice recording and lip sync: Record your voice directly on the platform and the AI automatically syncs your character's mouth movements to match your speech. The lip sync technology ensures natural-looking animations without manual adjustments.

How to create a talking mouth animation with manual 2D animation

Manual 2D animation offers the ultimate creative control, allowing you to make your character's mouth move and facial expressions from scratch. In this traditional method, you draw each mouth shape separately, time them to match the timing of the sound, and then make frame-by-frame people talking animations that exactly match your artistic vision. While it requires more time and artistic skill than other methods, manual animation gives you the most freedom to make changes and give each character their own personality. This method works best for animators who want complete artistic freedom and have the time to learn how to do detailed animation.

Steps to create a talking animation with OpenToolz

STEP 1
1. Set up your software and upload your character

First, download and install the Rhubarb lip sync software by Daniel S Wolf from GitHub—it's a command-line tool that creates 2D mouth animations from recordings.

Open the OpenTools software on your computer and upload the image of the character or avatar you want to make talk. Next, go to File > Preferences > Auto Lip-Sync, then click the ellipses button (beside Rhubarb Path) to select the Rhubarb file you just downloaded.

STEP 2
1. Upload your audio file and mouth shapes

After adding the auto lip sync file, upload an audio file in .WAV format by heading to the animation tab, right-clicking, then selecting "Load Level…" to add the file.

Next, upload the mouth shapes (check Rhubarb's "README.adoc" to see how to draw mouth shapes). Once you have drawn the mouth shapes, upload them to a column after audio upload.

STEP 3
1. Apply lip sync and generate your animation

Click on the first frame for the mouth shapes, then head to Lip Sync > Apply Auto Lip Sync to Column. This opens the Auto Lip Sync window with an audio script box.

Type the words from your audio file into the empty box, check the "Extend Rest Drawing to End Marker" box, then click Apply. Once loading is complete, click the play button to watch your character speak, then save your completed animation.

Key features

1
1. Manual precision control: OpenToolz gives you complete control over every frame of your animation. You can fine-tune the timing of mouth movements and make expressions that are just right for your artistic vision. This hands-on method lets you make as many changes as you want, but it takes a lot of time and drawing skills.
2
2. Custom mouth shape creation: You can design and draw your own mouth shapes to make videos of characters that are truly unique. The software works with Rhubarb's phoneme system, which makes it possible to make custom mouth moves that fit the style of your character. This feature offers creative freedom but demands artistic abilities and understanding of facial anatomy.
3
3. Professional audio synchronization: Built-in Rhubarb lip sync technology makes sure that your mouth movements are correct and match your audio perfectly. The system listens to your audio file and matches it to mouth shapes. This makes realistic speech patterns that produce professional-quality results.
4
4. Frame-by-frame editing capabilities: You can use the detailed timeline settings to precisely time animations and make smooth changes between mouth positions. You have the same tools that professional animation companies use to change individual frames and timing gaps and make animations that look natural and are fun to watch.

How to choose the right talking animation method

Choosing the perfect talking animation approach depends on your specific needs, skills, and goals. Let's break down the key factors to help you make the best decision for your project:

• Skill level assessment: Manual 2D animation needs advanced artistic abilities and animation software expertise. Pre-designed avatar tools need basic computer skills and design sense. AI-powered animation works for everyone—if you can upload a photo and record audio, you can create professional talking animations with Dreamina.
• Time budget considerations: Each video can take days or weeks to animate manually, but once you know how to use pre-made avatars, it only takes a few minutes or hours. Dreamina, on the other hand, completely changes this timeline by letting users make their first talking animation in just a few minutes. This is perfect for content makers who need to get their work done quickly or are working on tight deadlines.
• Quality requirements analysis: With manual animation, you can change anything (it offers unlimited customization), but you need to be very skilled to get professional results. While avatar platforms offer consistent quality, they have less room for personalization. AI-powered tools like Dreamina offer the best of both worlds by delivering cinema-quality results automatically through advanced technologies like the OmniHuman 1.5 model, which allows you to create talking avatars that meet your creative vision.
• Budget constraints evaluation: Drawing animations by hand typically requires expensive software and tools, whereas pre-designed avatar platforms charge a monthly fee. Dreamina takes a different route when it comes to making talking avatar creation available to everyone by offering free daily credits. This means that anyone can make high-quality animation without having to commit to a subscription.
• Platform compatibility needs: Consider where you'll share your videos—TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and professional presentations all have distinct requirements. With Dreamina, you can automatically create realistic talking avatars in formats you can easily share on any social media (or video sharing) platform you like. With it, you no longer have to worry about technical compatibility issues—just make sure your uploaded avatar has the right aspect ratio, and the AI will handle the rest.

Conclusion

Creating talking animations has never been more accessible. In this guide, we've shown you 3 different ways to bring your characters to life. While manual 2D animation offers complete creative control and pre-designed avatar tools provide good customization options, Dreamina's OmniHuman 1.5 changes everything by merging professional quality with effortless ease of use. Our AI-powered platform can transform any photo into a realistic talking figure in seconds, allowing you to precisely control your talking animation in terms of speech and actions. The best part? You don't need to know anything about animation or have any technical skills to do it. So, whether you're making movies for social media, for school, or for fun, Dreamina gives you cinema-quality results that typically require expensive software and months of learning. Ready to make your first talking animation? Get started with Dreamina today and experience the future of character animation.

FAQs

1
1. How long does it take to learn lips talking animation?

The learning time varies dramatically by method. For example, to get good at lip-syncing and timing in manual 2D animation, you have to practice for months. While it only takes a few days to learn how to use pre-designed avatar tools like Adobe Express, it can take a long time to get professional results. However, AI-powered animation is entirely different. You can make professional talking avatars in minutes with Dreamina's OmniHuman 1.5, not months. There is no learning curve because the process is so easy—you just upload your picture, add audio, and create. So, while other methods require technical skills, Dreamina lets you focus purely on creativity. Don't waste time learning how to create talking avatars, visit Dreamina today and create talking avatars in seconds.

2
1. What file formats work best for talking animation?

When sharing, most talking animation needs MP4 videos with audio in WAV or MP3 file. Different platforms have different needs. For example, TikTok prefers vertical 9:16, while YouTube works best with 16:9. Quality settings can get complicated when using different tools. Dreamina gets rid of all format problems. It works with any audio file and can import standard JPG and PNG images. It also automatically exports optimized MP4 videos that can be uploaded right away to TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. You don't need to know anything about formats, resolution, or compression. Start creating talking avatars you can easily share on your favorite social media platforms with Dreamina today.

3
1. Do I need drawing skills to create talking face animations?

It depends on your chosen method. To make believable mouth movements in manual 2D animation, you need to be able to draw well, know how facial anatomy works, and have artistic skills. For pre-made avatar tools, you need to know a bit about design, though no actual drawing is required. Dreamina's method doesn't need any artistic or technical skills. You just need to add any picture—of yourself, your pet, or even a cartoon character—and the AI will take care of the rest. Plus, you don't need to know how to draw, animate, or create, because the model can recognize facial features and instantly make animations that look like real people talking.