Creating avatars

Before you can embed an avatar you need an avatar. This page covers the two paths — DIY in Avatar Studio, or have 2wai build you a custom one as a service — and what you get from each.

The two paths

DIY in Avatar Studio

Create your avatar yourself at https://2wai.ai/studio. Same tool consumers use. Fastest path.

2wai builds it as a service

For brand mascots, celebrity likenesses, specialized personas, or anything beyond what Studio supports — talk to your 2wai contact for a scoped engagement.

Path 1: Build it yourself in Avatar Studio

Avatar Studio is the self-serve avatar-creation tool. Developers use the exact same flow consumers use. You end up with an avatar_id and (via the API-expose toggle) a handle you can reach from your sk_.

Sign in at https://2wai.ai with your 2wai account (same one you enrolled with — see Getting access).
Open Studio at https://2wai.ai/studio.
Walk the wizard — a 3-step flow (persona → voice → outfit) that shapes the avatar: who it is, how it sounds, how it looks.
Wait for the bake — the pipeline produces the lip-sync plates, idle video, and poster. Studio emails you when it’s ready; typically a few minutes.
Flip the “API-expose” toggle on the avatar’s settings page. This writes api_exposed_at on the avatar — the developer-portal gate that lets the API see it. Without this, your avatar stays private to Studio and isn’t reachable via sk_.
Grab the handle — Studio gives you (owner, avatarname), e.g. (acme, support-bot). Use it with GET /v1/avatars/{owner}/{name} to resolve to the live avatar_id. See Catalog hydrate.

What you can shape in Studio

Persona — the character’s identity, backstory, speaking style. This becomes the system prompt that drives the default brain.
Voice — picked from the voice catalog, or clone your own from a reference clip. See Voices.
Outfit — the visual appearance. Studio supports common human appearances and a range of styles.
Idle video + poster — auto-generated from the above.
Greeting — a short intro clip the avatar plays on first connect; see the greeting fields in Catalog hydrate.

What Studio can’t do yet

Non-human appearances (robots, abstract characters, stylized art) — in-roadmap but limited today.
Multiple outfit variants per avatar — one outfit per avatar record today; multi-outfit personas on the way.
Fine-tuned brain — Studio’s default brain uses your persona prompt + a shared stack. If you need a custom LLM or RAG wiring, use Bring your own brain to drive the avatar from your own model.
Branded likeness or celebrity avatars — those are legal + licensing conversations; see Path 2.

Path 2: 2wai builds a custom avatar as a service

For avatars Studio can’t produce — brand mascots, licensed celebrity likenesses, specialized personas, non-standard rigs, or anything beyond the self-serve surface — 2wai will build one for you.

Typical engagements:

Brand mascot — custom character design, voice casting, persona writing. Delivered as an avatar on your tenant.
Celebrity / likeness — handled under license. 2wai manages the agreement + the delivery.
Specialized persona — doctor, instructor, concierge, product specialist. Includes voice selection, RAG preparation, and persona tuning.
Fine-tuned brain pairing — 2wai pairs your custom avatar with a brain that matches (optional, scoped per engagement).

How to start one: email your 2wai account rep (or hello@2wai.ai if you don’t have one yet). They’ll scope the engagement and come back with a timeline + price.

Catalog hydrate Resolve the handle you got from Studio to a playable avatar record.

Voices Clone a voice for your avatar from a short reference clip.

Bring your own brain Drive what the avatar says from your own LLM instead of the default brain.

Getting access If you haven't enrolled yet, that's the first step.