My Hands-On Experience Creating Human Avatar Videos in Virbo
Ever wondered how to create videos with human avatars? I'm sharing all the nitty-gritty details of my experience.
Getting Started with Virbo’s Interface
When I first opened Virbo, I was surprised by its clean, intuitive dashboard. No overwhelming buttons or confusing menus—just a straightforward interface that lets you choose your aspect ratio (16:9, 9:16, 4:3, or 1:1) right from the start.
The left sidebar is where all the processing happens. It houses everything you need: templates, avatars, backgrounds, text options, stickers, and music. While Virbo does offer an AI-prompt feature to create videos automatically, I wanted to get my hands on and build something manually. After all, that is the best way to really understand a tool's capabilities.
One thing I immediately noticed (and appreciated) is that Virbo uses a timeline approach rather than slides. In my experience, slide-based editors like Synthesia are easier for beginners, but I've always found timelines give me much more precise control over my content. It's a trade-off between simplicity and flexibility.
Choosing Templates and Avatars
I decided to start with a template rather than building from scratch. Virbo doesn't disappoint here—they've got tons of options categorized as Popular, Advertisement, Festival, and more.
When it comes to avatars, the platform gives you decent control. I could easily drag and drop my chosen avatar, resize it, and even select how much of the character to display (full body, circle, or half body). One limitation I noticed, though, unlike some competitors, Virbo doesn't offer the option to create avatar-free videos.
Voice Options and Script Writing
The voice library is quite impressive. Virbo offers a good range of voices and tones to match different target audiences. However (and this is a big however), I couldn't find controls to adjust voice pitch or speed. That's a pretty significant oversight in my book, especially when you're trying to nail the perfect delivery.
Another missing feature that had me scratching my head: there's no way to set specific phonemes for words that AI typically mispronounces. If you've worked with AI voices before, you know exactly what I'm talking about—those awkward moments when the AI misspells a brand name or technical term.
Each template comes with pre-written script text that's easy to edit. When I hit a creative block, I tried Virbo's AI writing assistant, which actually did a decent job expanding my text. Not a professional copywriter, but definitely helpful.
Adding Visual Elements and Music
The background library is vast and royalty-free—a huge plus. This avoids going out for an external tool looking for graphic resources. I browsed through animated stickers and GIFs, a helpful resource for sure.
Music options are similarly plentiful, with a good selection of background tracks accessible from the dashboard. The subtitle options impressed me too—both static and dynamic styles that genuinely help boost viewer engagement.
Rendering and Final Thoughts
After adding a new scene and making a few adjustments, I rendered my 27-second video. The process took about 2.5 minutes—pretty standard for this type of software.
Unfortunately, on the Free Plan, there's no download option (a common limitation), so I had to record my screen to capture the final product. The lip-syncing and avatar movements turned out quite well, though the voice speed wasn't ideal (remember that missing speed control I mentioned?).
How I Made A Talking Photo With Virbo
I've been itching to try out Virbo's Talking Photo feature, and I finally took the plunge yesterday. Let me walk you through my experience.
When you first land on the dashboard, you're greeted with a treasure trove of pre-designed characters with diverse looks and styles. Of course, you can upload your own photo (which I was tempted to do), but I decided to challenge the AI by creating a character from scratch using just a text prompt.
The process was surprisingly straightforward. I typed in a brief description, selected my preferred aspect ratio, chose a pose, and hit "Generate." Then came the waiting game—about 40 seconds of anticipation while the system worked its magic.
The result? Four distinct images appeared on my screen. Not bad! I could select any of them to add to my library. I picked my favorite and proceeded to generate an AI Portrait by selecting this character. It turned out—much better than I expected for an AI-generated image.
Now for the fun part—designing my talking photo. The interface is quite intuitive; you simply input your text in the box, adjust voice settings (I went with something slightly deeper than the default), tweak the speed (slower for me, as I tend to talk fast in real life), add some background music, and decide whether you want subtitles. There's even an option to remove the photo background or let AI generate a script if you're feeling creatively blocked.
Here is how my AI-generated police officer looks
Like most similar platforms, you can preview the audio script before committing, but—and here's the catch—you won't see the character animation until after rendering. So I crossed my fingers, clicked "Create Video," and waited.
Two minutes later (which felt like ten), my talking photo was ready. For a 13-second video on a Free Plan, I have to admit the waiting wasn't terrible. The lip syncing was on point, and the head movements looked natural enough to not fall into the uncanny valley. Not professional-grade, perhaps, but certainly good for AI.
Here's where my enthusiasm hit a wall, though. The free plan doesn't allow you to download or share your creation! I had to resort to recording my screen just to show you the video.
So what's my verdict? The technology is impressive, the interface is user-friendly, but the free plan? It's essentially a glorified demo. If you're serious about creating talking photos, you'll need to upgrade. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for—or in this case, don't.
Creating Product Videos from URLs with Virbo: My Hands-On Experience
Have you ever wished you could instantly create product videos without spending hours on editing? Virbo lets you generate videos directly from product URLs, and I tested it with an Amazon coffee maker.
The process seemed straightforward—just paste the product URL into Virbo's text box and click "Analyze."
What happened next was really good. The system quickly scraped all the product information and images from the Amazon page. No tedious manual uploads or copying text! Within moments, I had a workable foundation for my video.
Once the system processed my coffee maker listing, I could modify various elements:
- Edit the product text (though I found the auto-generated content needed some personality)
- Add or remove images from the product page.
- Adjust the aspect ratio for different platforms.
- Select language options.
- Set video length and subtitle preferences.
I'll admit, I was hoping for something like Heygen's AI script writing feature—which brilliantly transforms product specs into compelling narratives. Virbo doesn't quite reach that level of sophistication, but it still handles the basics competently.
After spending about two minutes waiting for my video to generate (not bad!), I was ready to download and share my creation. That's when reality hit me with an unfriendly pop-up: "Downloading the video is a premium feature."
Really? After all that work?
I ended up recording my screen just to capture what I'd created to post it here. The video quality was actually quite good (despite the watermark really sucks), but what's the point of a "free" tool if you can't actually use what you create?
This seems to be Virbo's pattern—lure you in with promising features, then block you at the finish line. Is it worth upgrading? Perhaps for some businesses, but I'm left questioning the value of a free plan that's essentially a demo with no practical output.
Additional AI Virbo Tools
Virbo offers many additional AI video tools. Let me describe the most important:
AI Ads Maker
Let me walk you through my experience with this tool that turns simple product images into video advertisements.
When you upload a product image to Virbo Ads Maker, the system does something pretty clever - it automatically extracts product information and generates two pre-defined storyboard options along with highlighted features. It's like having a mini marketing team at your disposal.
I decided to test it with a coffee maker image (because who doesn't need more coffee in their life?). The system quickly analyzed the image and created a video advertisement. Was it perfect? Well... not exactly. The Black Friday themed video it produced definitely needs some refinement.
To be completely honest, I think this feature shows promise but still requires some polishing. The concept is brilliant - transforming static product images into dynamic video ads with minimal effort - but the execution isn't quite there yet. Sometimes the most innovative tools need a few iterations to reach their potential, right?
Check the video here:
AI Video Translator
Have you ever struggled to reach international audiences with your video content? I certainly have. That's why I was thrilled to discover Virbo's video translation feature—a game-changer for anyone working with multilingual audiences.
The process couldn't be simpler. You just upload your video—keeping it under five minutes works best in my experience—select your source language, choose your target language, and let the system work its magic.
But here's where it gets really interesting. Virbo doesn't just slap subtitles on your video and call it a day. You can actually include lip-syncing (which is a big plus), add subtitles, and even proofread the script before finalizing.
AI Montage Maker
This nifty feature lets you upload your own images and videos, then the AI works its magic to craft a complete video for you.
First things first—this is a desktop-only feature. I learned this the hard way after trying to access it on my web browser. So if you're planning to use it, make sure you're on your laptop or desktop computer, as it won't work with the web version of Virbo.
Want to see it in action? Check out this video
I've got to be honest—I'm a bit torn about this feature. While I appreciate what Virbo is trying to do here, I don't see a dramatic difference between this and their standard (and better) URL-to-video functionality. And requiring the downloadable version? That adds another layer of complexity that might be a dealbreaker for casual users like me.
I wonder if I'm missing something obvious about its advantages, or if it's just another feature to grow the list.
Virbo Support and Onboarding: My Personal Experience
Let me tell you about how Virbo handles its support system—it's pretty typical of what you'll find in the SaaS world, but with some quirks worth noting.
In my experience testing different subscription tiers, I've found that Virbo follows the industry-standard approach of "you get what you pay for" when it comes to customer support.
Free users? You're pretty much on your own. Paid plans unlock email support and that coveted 24/7 assistance when things go sideways at 2 AM (which, let's be honest, is when technical issues love to appear).
What I find a bit odd is their lack of transparency around Business Plan support options. They're surprisingly tight-lipped about what high-tier customers receive. I'm assuming these users get the white-glove treatment, but why not advertise it? Seems like a missed opportunity.
Need help figuring things out? The support access is actually quite straightforward—there's a button in the upper right corner of your dashboard that takes you to their Video Academy. It's filled with tutorials that, while not exactly mind-blowing, can give some help.
These tutorial videos aren't going to win any production awards, but they've sometimes helped me find the right direction when I've been stuck. Sometimes, the simplest explanation is exactly what you need, right?
You can also access their user guide, which covers the basics of platform navigation and video creation. It's nothing revolutionary—think of it as the "quick start" version rather than a comprehensive manual.
And if all else fails? There's always the AI Chatbot. I've had mixed results here. Sometimes it's surprisingly helpful, other times it feels like talking to a wall that occasionally spits out keywords. But hey, it's there when human support isn't available, and sometimes that's enough.
Mario here. I am the owner of Vidmetoo, a one-man band.
I founded this website to provide you with useful insights about video tools and related resources. Thanks for reading!