Feature
When to use an AI avatar: for plain facts, not personal stories
Use an AI avatar for ads where the information does the selling, like offers, price changes and product facts. Film yourself for stories, reviews and anything that needs your hands.
In short
- Use an AI avatar when the ad is plain information, like an offer, a price change or a shipping deadline.
- An avatar also helps when nobody is free to film, or when a series needs the same face for months.
- Film yourself for personal stories, reviews, product demos and apologies, which sound false from an avatar.
- Filming costs less: a 40-second ad is about 114 credits filmed and about 395 with an avatar in Cutroom.
- Avatars need Cutroom's Basic plan at $39.99 a month. Filmed videos work on every plan.
- Credits for a filmed 40-second ad in Cutroom
- 114
- Credits for the same ad with an avatar
- 395
- What an avatar ad costs compared with filming
- 3.5x
When an AI avatar is the better choice
An avatar costs more credits than filming, so it is worth it in these five situations.
- An avatar is also useful for the script nobody wants to read on camera, such as a policy update.
When to use an avatar
| Situation | Example | Why an avatar works |
|---|---|---|
| Plain information | Price changes, shipping deadlines, restock notices | Viewers want the facts, so it does not matter who says them. |
| Nobody free to film | The person who films is ill, away or busy | The ad still goes out on time. |
| A face that is not a staff member | A stock presenter | Your ads do not depend on someone who might leave. |
| Testing different opening lines | Six versions of the first sentence | Every version is said the same way, so only the words change. |
| A series that runs for months | Weekly updates or course promos | Same face, room and clothes every time. |
Situation: Plain information
- Example
- Price changes, shipping deadlines, restock notices
- Why an avatar works
- Viewers want the facts, so it does not matter who says them.
Situation: Nobody free to film
- Example
- The person who films is ill, away or busy
- Why an avatar works
- The ad still goes out on time.
Situation: A face that is not a staff member
- Example
- A stock presenter
- Why an avatar works
- Your ads do not depend on someone who might leave.
Situation: Testing different opening lines
- Example
- Six versions of the first sentence
- Why an avatar works
- Every version is said the same way, so only the words change.
Situation: A series that runs for months
- Example
- Weekly updates or course promos
- Why an avatar works
- Same face, room and clothes every time.
When filming yourself is the better choice
Some lines only work from a real person. A better photo or a better AI model will not fix them.
- Film yourself for personal stories, like "I have used this every morning since March". Viewers can tell an avatar never used it.
- Film yourself when you describe how the product smells, feels or weighs, because viewers need to see you handle it.
- Film product demos, like opening, pouring or holding the product up, because an avatar made from a photo cannot do them.
- Film yourself when real reactions matter, like a laugh or a pause, because they show that you mean what you say.
- Film yourself if your brand is built around you as the founder, because people buy from the person who made the product.
- Film apologies and bad news yourself, because they should come from a real person.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
What each option costs
Both options end as the same vertical 9:16 video, made in the same Cutroom account.
Only 5 to 8% of ads become winners, according to Motion's study of 550,000+ Meta ads. That is roughly one ad in every 13 to 20. So the cost per ad decides how many you can afford to try.
- Filming is cheaper if you want to test many different ads: twenty filmed ads cost less than a third of twenty avatar ads.
- Use an avatar for tests only when every version must be said exactly the same way.
- Cutroom's Basic plan is $39.99 a month for 2,500 credits, so a filmed 40-second ad costs about $1.80 and an avatar ad about $6.30.
- Twenty filmed ads fit inside one month of Basic. Twenty avatar ads need more than three months of Basic credits.
- With your own recorded voice, the avatar ad drops to about 348 credits, and 90 seconds of avatar video alone is 525 credits.
A 40-second ad in Cutroom, avatar vs filmed
Credits. Each charge is rounded up to a whole credit.
| Step | Avatar | Filmed on a phone |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | About 47 (generated, 70 a minute) | Free (your own voice) |
| Video | About 234 (350 a minute) | Free (your phone) |
| Edit: cuts, captions, extra clips | 100 | 100 |
| Export | About 14 (20 a minute) | About 14 |
| One 40-second ad | About 395 | About 114 |
| Twenty 40-second ads | About 7,900 | About 2,280 |
Step: Voice
- Avatar
- About 47 (generated, 70 a minute)
- Filmed on a phone
- Free (your own voice)
Step: Video
- Avatar
- About 234 (350 a minute)
- Filmed on a phone
- Free (your phone)
Step: Edit: cuts, captions, extra clips
- Avatar
- 100
- Filmed on a phone
- 100
Step: Export
- Avatar
- About 14 (20 a minute)
- Filmed on a phone
- About 14
Step: One 40-second ad
- Avatar
- About 395
- Filmed on a phone
- About 114
Step: Twenty 40-second ads
- Avatar
- About 7,900
- Filmed on a phone
- About 2,280
How long each option takes
Filming is quicker to start. An avatar needs a script and a voice first, and then you wait for the video.
- To film, you record a clip of you talking on your phone, up to 3 minutes long. Cutroom keeps every line you say, so do a second take if a line goes wrong.
- For an avatar, you write the script, record or generate the voice, and then Cutroom makes the avatar video.
- The avatar video is not ready instantly. Cutroom shows how long it will take and emails you when it is ready.
- The Cutroom edit then comes back in about a minute, for a filmed video and an avatar video alike.
Can you mix filmed clips and an avatar?
Yes, with clips of your product. Film them on your phone and show them over the lines where the avatar talks about the product. The voice stays the avatar's.
- Make the avatar video first, then open it in the Cutroom editor to add cuts, captions and your product clips.
- Highlight a phrase in the transcript and place your filmed product clip over exactly those words.
- Your product clips can cover up to 45% of the ad on the normal speed setting, and 52% on fast.
- One product shoot can be reused under every avatar script you make after it.
Questions people ask
- Is an AI avatar ever better than filming yourself?
- Yes, in five situations: plain information like a price or a deadline, when nobody can film, when you want a face that is not a staff member, when you test opening lines and want only the words to change, and for a series that needs the same face for months.
- How much more does an avatar ad cost than a filmed one?
- About 3.5 times as much in Cutroom: about 395 credits for a 40-second avatar ad against about 114 for the same ad filmed on a phone.
- I am bad on camera. Should I use an avatar?
- Not necessarily. You can film a video of up to 3 minutes and do it again until the lines come out right, because Cutroom keeps every line you say. The edit costs the same 100 credits however many takes you filmed.
- Can I film without showing my face?
- Yes. Film your hands and the product while you talk. Cutroom edits from what you say, so the ad works with no face in it.
- Can I mix filmed clips and an avatar in one ad?
- Yes, as pictures over the avatar. Film clips of your product and place them over the matching words in the editor. The voice stays the avatar's, because Cutroom makes one ad from one video.
- Do I need a paid plan for avatars?
- Yes. Avatars start on Basic at $39.99 a month. Your first filmed video is free.
Film the stories and demos, and use an avatar for the plain facts. Avatars come with Basic at $39.99 a month, and your first filmed video is free.