# Avatar Invent > Invent a brand-new FICTIONAL avatar from a text description — no real person, photo or recording needed. Generates a front-facing, well-lit, seated half-body presenter still (photorealistic by default; soft3d/Pixar, anime or a custom style on request) in a room that fits the topic, derives camera-angle variations, and DESIGNS a matching voice with ElevenLabs Voice Design which is then cloned with MiniMax — all written into the same per-avatar folder structure (scene.json, talking_profile.json, refs/, angles/, voices/, avatar.json) that avatar-reel-composer and reel-restyle consume. Defaults follow UGC talking-head reel best practices (eyes to lens, soft key from the left + soft backlight, vertical 9:16). Use when the user wants to make up / invent / fabricate an avatar, character or presenter for a reel from just a description (e.g. "inventa un avatar de una psicóloga para un reel", "create a fictional presenter", "necesito un personaje para generar un reel"), rather than cloning an existing person. - Skill: `puntorigen/avatar-invent` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 10 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add puntorigen/avatar-invent` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/puntorigen/avatar-invent/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: puntorigen (https://skillmd.com/u/puntorigen) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/puntorigen/avatar-invent --- # Avatar Invent Fabricate a complete, reel-ready **fictional** avatar from a single text description. Where `avatar-reel-composer`'s `create_avatar.py` *clones* a real person from their Instagram reels, this skill **invents** one: it casts a face, a room, a delivery style and a voice, and writes them into the exact same per-avatar folder structure the rest of the pipeline already understands. The result is a first-class avatar — drop it straight into `avatar-reel-composer` / `reel-restyle` to produce reels. > **Output location.** A bare avatar name is created under `./avatares//` > (so generated avatars never clutter the project root); pass an explicit path > (e.g. `path/to/nora`) to override, or set `AVATARES_ROOT`. `/` below > refers to that folder. ## What it produces ``` / brief.json # the inputs (description, setting, style, ...) scene.json # subject / wardrobe / scene / light (drives the still + angles) talking_profile.json # p-video delivery prompt (calm presenter, eyes to lens) voice_brief.json # ElevenLabs voice description + sample text refs/_hero.png # the hero presenter still (+ _hero_master.png) angles/__916.png # camera-angle cuts (push_in, pull_out, ...) frames/frame_0001.png + manifest.json # hero exposed as a clean reference frame voices/.json + index.json + _design_sample.mp3 # MiniMax voice_id avatar.json # the record (invented: true, stages, artifacts) ``` ## Defaults (UGC talking-head reel best practices) All baked into `prompts/presets.json` and overridable: - **Photorealistic** render (use `--style soft3d` for Pixar-like, `--style anime`, or any custom style string). - **Vertical 9:16**, eye-level, **looking straight into the lens**, leaning in slightly. - **Seated, half-body** (waist/chest-up) medium shot, with clean negative space on one side for captions. - **Soft, flattering light**: soft key from the left ~45°, a gentle rim/back light, open fill — no harsh shadows. - **Phone-camera look**: ~35–50mm, shallow depth of field, natural color. - **Room fits the topic** via `--setting` (office, home, studio, street, outdoors, kitchen, cafe, gym, clinic, …). - Neutral **mid-sentence expression** (lips slightly parted) so the still animates well for lip-sync. ## Setup Keys are auto-discovered from the sibling skills (usually nothing to set): - **ElevenLabs** (voice design) ← `audio-theater/config.json` - **Replicate** (hero still via gpt-image-2 + MiniMax clone) ← `gpt-image-2` / `voice-clone` - **Gemini** (only for `--generator gemini`) ← `asset-generator/config.json` ```bash pip3 install -r .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/requirements.txt # sibling deps (usually already installed): pip3 install -r .cursor/skills/voice-clone/requirements.txt pip3 install -r ~/.cursor/skills/gpt-image-2/scripts/requirements.txt python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/setup_key.py --show # verify keys ``` Cloning the designed voice with MiniMax needs **`cloudflared`** (preferred) or **`ngrok`** on PATH, same as the `voice-clone` skill (`brew install cloudflared`). ## Workflow The orchestrator runs an idempotent stage machine and **stops once** for an agent review (the creative casting step) before any paid generation. ```bash # 1) Invent: auto-drafts scene/profile/voice, then pauses for review. python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/invent_avatar.py nora \ --description "Chilean woman, mid 30s, warm and reassuring, clinical psychologist" \ --setting clinic --language es # -> review & refine nora/scene.json, talking_profile.json, voice_brief.json # (make the SUBJECT a vivid concrete face; tune wardrobe/room/voice). # 2) Re-run to generate the hero still + angles + designed-and-cloned voice: python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/invent_avatar.py nora # Inspect readiness any time (no API spend): python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/invent_avatar.py nora --status ``` Skip the pause with `--no-review` for a one-shot run. Re-run any stage with `--force-stage hero` / `--force-stage voice` etc. ### The author checkpoint (why it matters) The script seeds `scene.json` / `talking_profile.json` / `voice_brief.json` from the brief + the topic's defaults, but the **`SUBJECT` field is just your raw description**. Refine it into a concrete, vivid person (age, face, hair, skin, expression) — gpt-image-2's identity fidelity is only as good as that text, and the same `scene.json` is reused for every camera angle, so a precise subject is what keeps the avatar from drifting between cuts. ## Common variations ```bash # Pixar-style soft 3D character instead of photoreal python3 .../invent_avatar.py leo --description "..." --setting home --style soft3d # Horizontal 16:9 (angles auto-off; the hero still is the deliverable) python3 .../invent_avatar.py max --description "..." --setting office -ar 16:9 # Use Gemini for the hero (native 9:16/16:9, up to 4K) instead of gpt-image-2 python3 .../invent_avatar.py mia --description "..." --generator gemini # Custom camera moves python3 .../invent_avatar.py mia --description "..." --moves push_in,low_angle,negative_space_left ``` ## Single-stage scripts (also usable standalone) ```bash # Just the hero still from a scene.json (preview the prompt with --print-prompt): python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/generate_hero.py \ --scene-file nora/scene.json --style photoreal -ar 9:16 -o nora/refs/ --slug nora # Just the voice (ElevenLabs design -> MiniMax clone): python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-invent/scripts/design_voice.py \ --avatar-dir nora --name nora --voice-brief nora/voice_brief.json ``` ## After it's READY Write a storyboard and compose, exactly like any other avatar: ```bash python3 .cursor/skills/avatar-reel-composer/scripts/compose_reel.py \ nora/reels/001_slug/storyboard.json --finish ``` ## How the voice works (ElevenLabs → MiniMax bridge) A fictional avatar has no recording to clone, so the voice is **designed** from text: ElevenLabs Voice Design (`/v1/text-to-voice/design`) invents a voice from `voice_brief.json`'s description and returns a long spoken sample. That clean sample is then handed to the **`voice-clone`** skill (MiniMax), producing the same `voices/.json` + `index.json` (`voice_id`) every avatar uses — so `avatar-reel-composer`'s `narrate.py` speaks the new voice with **no changes**. The ElevenLabs provenance (description, preview ids) is kept in `voices/_design.json`. See [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md) for the stage machine, the prompt internals, the presets schema and design notes. ## Related skills - [`avatar-camera-angles`](../avatar-camera-angles/SKILL.md) — the angle generator this calls. - [`voice-clone`](../voice-clone/SKILL.md) — the MiniMax clone step (+ TTS). - [`avatar-talking-video`](../avatar-talking-video/SKILL.md) — animate a still into a talking clip. - [`avatar-reel-composer`](../avatar-reel-composer/SKILL.md) — compose the finished reel. - [`reel-restyle`](../reel-restyle/SKILL.md) — apply another avatar's reel style to this one.