An AI digital clone of yourself can be incredibly useful for scaling your content production, whether it’s for training videos, sales, or social media.
These clones act as an avatar of you, allowing for the generation of various types of content more efficiently. The process involves two main tools: HeyGen for your video avatar and ElevenLabs for your voice clone.
Here’s how to create your own AI digital clone:
Step 1: Set up HeyGen Account
Go to HeyGen and create an account. You can start with a free account, though a paid one offers more features.
Step 2: Prepare Your Training Video
Before you start, ensure you have a video of yourself ready for training your digital clone.
Crucially, the quality and professionalism of your training video will directly impact how your digital clone looks. If you want a professional-looking clone, your training video should be professionally shot.
Step 3: Create Your Digital Twin in HeyGen
In HeyGen, navigate to the ‘Avatars’ tab and select ‘Create new avatar’.
Choose to create a ‘hyper realistic avatar’, which is designed to be your ‘digital twin’.
HeyGen will guide you through the process, emphasising the need for the right equipment and environment for your training video.
Drag and drop your prepared training video into HeyGen.
Follow the prompts, including recording a personal allowance statement.
Once complete, your digital clone will be generated by HeyGen based on your training content.
Step 4: Create Your Voice Clone in ElevenLabs
Head over to ElevenLabs to build your voice clone. You’ll likely need a paid account for this, although it’s not overly expensive.
Go to ‘Your voices’ and select ‘Create or clone a voice’.
The recommended method is the ‘professional voice clone’, which requires approximately 30 minutes of clean audio of you speaking. This ensures a more lifelike voice clone.
Alternatively, you can try the free ‘instant voice clone,’ which is less accurate but still functional.
Upload your audio and follow ElevenLabs’ prompts.
Step 5: Integrate Your Voice into HeyGen
Return to HeyGen and go to the ‘AI voices’ section.
Select ‘Integrate third-party voice’.
You’ll need to bring over your API key from ElevenLabs to import the voice you’ve cloned.
Step 6: Generate Your Video
Now you’re ready to create a video using your AI avatar and cloned voice.
Choose your desired video mode (e.g., landscape or portrait, with portrait being common for social media content).
Select your newly created AI avatar.
In the HeyGen interface, you can then feed a script that you want your clone to speak.
Change the voice option to your cloned voice imported from ElevenLabs.
Give your video a name and submit it.
HeyGen will then render and generate the video, featuring your digital clone speaking your script with your AI-cloned voice.
While the result might not be absolutely perfect, these AI digital clones can be highly effective for specific content types, such as training videos or social media.