Have you ever stumbled upon a video and just went awestruck by its quality and presentation? Now, you can also create eye-catching and professional videos without a camera and crew. Want to know how? Read this HeyGen AI review.
Creating professional videos is not as easy as it appears. Even if you have a powerful idea and script ready, it takes a lot of creativity along with a bunch of tools to produce a video that leaves the maximum impact on your target audience. But what if you don’t have the resources, skills, or advanced equipment? HeyGen AI is here to save your day.
Read this comprehensive guide to learn everything about the latest AI sensation – the HeyGen AI video generator. We will discuss its key features, pricing, and use cases, along with some worthy competitors.
By the end, hopefully, you’ll be able to determine whether this AI tool deserves your time and money.
Let’s get going.
What is HeyGen AI?
Founded in 2020 as Movio, HeyGen is a generative AI video generation platform that uses artificial intelligence to produce compelling videos without the need for professional tools. The platform features a powerful text-to-video generator tool that can transform a script into a polished video containing natural-sounding words and avatars of your choice.
In traditional video making, you need extraordinary skills, professional equipment, actors to perform, and a knowledgeable post-production team to craft a compelling video, not to mention the hefty amount of money that goes into the whole process. With HeyGen AI, the whole process only takes a few minutes and you don’t need to have the whole crew behind you.
HeyGen features over 300 voices and 100 AI avatars you can choose to represent your videos. Simply with a script, this tool can create an eye-catching video with the avatar of your choice reciting your script with perfect lip-syncing, making it look like a manually produced video.
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Traditional Video Making |
HeyGen AI Video Generator |
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As you can see, HeyGen can be useful for startups looking to create advertisements and product marketing videos without breaking the budget. This is how HeyGen fares against the conventional video creation process:
Features of HeyGen AI
HeyGen AI streamlines your video production, saving you significant time and money. But what makes HeyGen so special? Let’s take a look at some key features of the platform.
1. Custom Avatars
With HeyGen, you don’t need to stand in front of the camera and record the video by yourself. The advanced generative AI allows you to create personalized avatars that convincingly resemble a natural human presenter for your video.
HeyGen AI models have been heavily trained using advanced AI algorithms to generate the digital equivalent of a real human being. Users can specify their requirements and generate an avatar in a few minutes. There is also an option to generate enhanced versions of avatars with better graphics and advanced lip-syncing, with the help of the HeyGen team.
All you have to do is upload a minimum of a 2-minute-long video and specify your requirements. You can also use pre-designed avatars and customize them to use in your videos. There are various parameters you can modify, such as viewing mode (half-body, close-up, and circle), outfit, face swap, and more.
2. Generative Outfit
Creators can also determine the clothing options for the video avatars. HeyGen generative outfits allow you to dress up your avatar for various occasions, such as business, casual, fun, etc. The outfit gives a personalized touch to the video and makes it more suitable for the purpose you are creating it. There are various styles available, such as professional, ethnic, glamorous, business, and casual.
Generative outfit is a paid add-on that is not included in free avatars. To take advantage of this, you must create an Avatar Pro, and specify your outfit requirement through a prompt, and HeyGen will generate outfits. You can also use AI’s outfit suggestions for different scenarios. Once the outfit is generated, you can save it to use in your upcoming videos.
3. Voice Cloning
Another great feature that brings a sense of personalization to your videos is AI voice cloning. Just by uploading your voice clip, you can generate your AI voice to be used for narrating your video content.
HeyGen provides nearly 100 voice samples that you can directly integrate into your custom video avatar. But if you want to use your own AI voice, all you have to do is upload a clear 2 to 10-minute audio file without background noise. Currently, the feature supports 25 languages, including English, Japanese, Spanish, Hindi, Polish, Turkish, and more.
Additionally, you can also extract the voice from a video clip and use it in your video. Please remember that the video should be in English and must not contain any background noise.
4. Photo Avatar
For those who want to infuse a bit of playful and creative element into their videos, a photo avatar is the perfect way to do so. With HeyGen, you can bring any photo to life and use it to narrate your video. Imagine iconic Monalisa is conveying your message to your audience.
All you need to do is upload a portrait and provide the script, and HeyGen will compile them into an expressive video featuring the face of your choice. The platform has some template photo avatars, such as Monalisa, William Shakespeare, Jonathan from GTA, Leonardo, and others. You can also use any photo and give it the voice you want. Photo Avatars have more than 300 voices and support over 40 languages.
5. Text to Speech
HeyGen AI works on the foundation of AI-powered text-to-speech conversion technology. The platform uses advanced algorithms that can transform any written world into articulate spoken words, delivered in the voice and language of your choice.
The platform features over 300 natural-sounding voices, suitable for a wide range of domains, such as explainer videos, e-commerce presentations, audiobooks, advertising content, professional communications, narration, e-learning materials, and others. The text-to-speech feature currently supports 40+ languages with diverse male and female accents.
6. AI Avatars
HeyGen boats a collection of over 100 AI avatars, spanning various ages, poses, and ethnicities. The avatars are so meticulously designed, that it’s nearly impossible to notice the difference between them and a real human being.
These AI avatars possess precise lip-syncing capabilities, seamlessly integrating with real human voices available in over 40 languages. All you have to do is provide a script, pick a script, and tweak the parameters to create a video.
7. Templates
For those who have zero experience in video creation, HeyGen offers over 300 end-to-end video templates. In mere minutes, you can create a scroll-stopping video in any domain, such as learning & development, content creation, business presentation, corporate training, YouTube, news, and many more.
8. Zapier Integration
With the HeyGen Zapier integration, you can link HeyGen with over 5000 apps on Zapier and facilitate a smooth workflow throughout your digital ecosystem. Thanks to this integration, you can create video templates, avatar videos, and animated photos just in a few clicks and save a lot of time.
You can also regulate repetitive and time-consuming tasks through Zapier, such as uploading a video to a platform, sending a notification when the video is ready on HeyGen, and more.
What Kind of Videos Can You Create with HeyGen AI?
Here are some of the domains for which you can produce videos using HeyGen.
1. Explainer and How-To
HeyGen can help you create fantastic explainer videos for educational purposes. In a few minutes, you can generate captivating videos, simplifying complex concepts and how-to guides. Simply pick a template, choose an avatar, and generate a video for your students and clients.
2. Training & Onboarding
You can create real-person training videos in more than 40 languages. There are numerous corporate communications and onboarding avatars available that you can use to produce life-like videos to convey your ideas to your team.
3. Personal/Social Media Videos
Apart from professional use. HeyGen is also a handy tool for creating videos for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms. You can also make greeting videos for special occasions, animated videos, and much more.
4. Marketing Material
Creating product marketing videos is always tricky and it requires a lot of effort and resources. With HeyGen, you don’t need to spend on professional equipment, actors, and production teams anymore. Simply by choosing marketing templates and writing a good script, you can have your product video ready in less than an hour.
5. Sales Videos
With HeyGen, it’s very easy to create sales videos that you can incorporate into your promotional emails to elevate your marketing campaign. You can create hundreds of personalized videos featuring digital avatars of your brand ambassadors and connect with up to 10,000 clients with HeyGen’s video email and messaging tool.
How to Use HeyGen AI Video Generator?
Creating videos using HeyGen AI is very easy. Here are the steps you need to take:
- Open your web browser and go to https://www.heygen.com/.
- Click on Try HeyGen for free to register on the website. Use HeyGen login and password to access your account.
- Next, you need to pick an avatar for your video. Click on the Avatar option on the left side of the menu.
- Select the most suitable avatar from Instant avatars, Photo avatars, or Studio Avatars.
- Go through the instructions and then click on Upload footage.
- You can also use your device’s webcam to record the video instantly.
- Next, click on the Voice option from the left-side menu and pick the most suitable voice depending on your video requirement.
- Provide the script and click on Create Video.
- In a few minutes, HeyGen will compile your preferences and scripts into an eye-catching video that you can download to your device.
- If you are not satisfied with the output, you can play around with various settings and modify the video to your liking.
How Much Does HeyGen AI Cost?
HeyGen offers 4 plans, including a lifetime free one. Let’s have a look at their pricing and features:
1. Free – $0/month
- 1 free credit (1 credit = 1-minute video)
- Create videos up to 1 minute in duration
- Single user license
- Create one instant avatar
- Access more than 120 public avatars
- Over 300 AI voices
- Voice closes (paid add-on)
2. Creator – $29/month
- 20% discount on yearly subscription
- 15 credits/month (purchase extra credit) (1 credit = 1-minute video)
- Create up to 5-minute-long videos
- Single user license
- 3 instant avatars
- Access to premium AI voices
- Auto caption
- Remove watermark
3. Business – $89/month
- 20% discount on yearly subscription
- Get 30 credits/month ((1 credit = 1-minute video)
- Three user license
- Create up to 20 minute-long videos
- 3 instant avatars
- API Access
- Create videos in 4K resolution
- Brand kit
4. Enterprise – Custom Pricing
- Create unlimited videos each month
- Custom user license
- Access to Studio Avatar (paid add-on)
- SSO (SAML)
- Dedicated data center
- Customized solutions
- Dedicated account manager
- Priority video processing
- Paired solution engineer
5. Add-Ons
- Custom Voice Clone – $99/year
- Finetune Avatar – $49/month, $468/year
- Studio Avatar – $1000/year
HeyGen AI Pros and Cons
To get a complete understanding of the platform, its features, and tools, our team conducted a week-long testing. Based on their assessment and public opinion on the internet, we’ve observed a few positive and negative points.
✅ Things I liked about HeyGen
- With HeyGen, you can customize your videos with numerous templates. You can modify voices, faces, clothes, and many other visual elements of the video.
- Compared to traditional video production, HeyGen is a much more cost-effective solution.
- HeyGen features a very user-friendly interface, so you can create videos without any prior experience.
- With Zalier integration, you can use HeyGen with over 5000 apps and save plenty of time.
- Community support is available.
- ChatGPT integration to write compelling scripts.
- It’s a web-based tool; no download is needed.
- You can create videos in multiple languages
❌ Things I didn’t like about HeyGen
- The Free plan offers very limited functionality, making it practically useless.
- No option to control the body language and facial expression of AI avatars
- Maximum video duration is very limited for basic plans.
- Custom voice is limited to a few languages.
- Videos may lack emotions and human touch.
- The credit system hinders creativity
- Videos created with AI templates lack quality.
Is HeyGen AI Worth?
Starting at just $29/month, HeyGen is worth a shot. In my assessment, I found the website extremely easy to use, even for non-tech-savvy users. Every single tool and feature is accessible right from the dashboard, accompanied by comprehensive tutorials at each step.
Coming to the video generation, it literally takes less than 15 minutes to generate a full-fledged video through HeyGen. Initially, you may struggle with numerous tools and options, but once you get hold of the platform, everything is a breeze.
The video quality could be better but with the right templates and proper customizations, you can come up with some professional-looking videos which, no one would believe, were generated using an AI platform. So, if your business requires you to make videos, you should give HeyGen a try.
FAQs
1. Is HeyGen AI safe?
Yes, HeyGen AI is completely safe to use. Before submitting any sample audio or video, you need to give consent to the website.
2. Which is the best AI video generator tool for 2023?
InVideo, Clipchamp, HeyGen AI, and Synthesia are among the best AI video generator tools in 2023.
3. Can I use the Heygen AI video generator online?
Yes. HeyGen AI is a web-based tool and can be accessed through the official website.
4. HeyGen vs Synthesia – Which is the better AI video generator?
Synthesia is one of the best HeyGen alternatives available right now. In terms of video editing capabilities, language support, and avatar library, it’s certainly a better option. However, HeyGen is a cost-effective AI platform, making it more suitable for beginners.
Final Word
That’s all with the HeyGen review. The platform, undoubtedly, is a valuable asset to small businesses that need to create hundreds of videos every month. While producing videos using HeyGen or any other AI platform is inexpensive and less complicated, the output still can’t match the videos that are recorded and edited professionally.
Nonetheless, for short-form content, promotional videos, and social media clips, HeyGen AI will do the job for you.
I am an engineer by education, tech writer by profession, and a motor sport fan by heart.
