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Using the Powtoon Character Builder

Amanda James
Using the Powtoon Character Builder

Available on: Pro+, Agency, and Business plans. The branding feature within the Character Builder is exclusive to Business plan subscribers.

The Character Builder lets you design custom characters directly inside Powtoon Studio. You can adjust a character's outfit, facial features, and accessories, then save the result to your personal character library for use in any Powtoon you create.

Characters available for customization belong to four style families: Cosmo, Rhapsody, Duo, and Boho. These families are available across Animation, Video, Whiteboard, and Cartoon looks. For more information about looks, see Character looks.

You can build a custom character in two ways:

  • Use the Character Builder Wizard to start from scratch, define basic features, and choose a preset.
  • Select an existing character from one of the editable families and customize it directly.

In this article:

Using the Character Builder Wizard

The Character Builder Wizard guides you through selecting a character type and choosing or customizing a preset. A preset is a professionally designed character you can use as-is or modify to suit your needs.

  1. In Powtoon Studio, click Create Your Character in the character library panel on the right side of the screen.
  2. Select a character type from the options shown.
  3. Choose a preset character, or select the option to build your own from the available features.
  4. Customize the face, outfit, and accessories as needed.
  5. Click Finish, give your character a name, and click Save.

The character is saved to My Characters, your personal character library, and is ready to use in any Powtoon.

Editing an existing character

You can customize any character from the Cosmo, Rhapsody, Boho, or Duo families after adding it to the stage.

  1. Select a character from the Cosmo, Rhapsody, Boho, or Duo family and add it to the stage.
    ► You can also click the Edit icon next to the character in the library to open it directly in the Character Builder without adding it to the stage first.
  2. Click Edit character to open the Character Builder.
  3. Use the tabs to customize the character:
    • Select the Outfit tab to change clothing.
    • Select the Face tab to adjust facial features.
    • Select the Accessories tab to add finishing details.

Customizing the outfit

The Outfit tab in the Character Builder is divided into four sections: Top, Bottoms, Footwear, and Headwear. Select each section to browse and apply clothing options for your character.

Branding your character

Available on: Business plan only.

Some outfit items support a branding icon, which lets you upload a logo or image that appears on the character's clothing. If a branding icon is visible on an item, follow these steps to add your image.

  1. Select an outfit item that displays the branding icon.
  2. Click the Upload image icon at the bottom of the Character Builder panel.
  3. Click Upload image and select an image file from your computer.
    ► Accepted formats: JPG, JPEG, or PNG. Maximum file size: 2 MB.
  4. Fine-tune the image placement if needed:
    • ► Use the slider to resize the image.
    • ► Drag the image on the grid to adjust its position on the clothing item.
  5. Click Save Logo when you are satisfied with the result.

Finishing and saving your character

Once you have finished customizing your character, follow these steps to save it to your library.

  1. Click Finish in the Character Builder.
  2. Enter a name for your character.
  3. Click Save.

The character is added to My Characters, your personal character library. To edit a saved character later, click the Edit icon next to it in the library and make changes in the Character Builder.

Deleting a custom character

  1. Open the My Characters library in Powtoon Studio.
  2. Hover over the character you want to delete and click the three-dot menu icon.
  3. Click the trash icon.
  4. Click Yes, Remove to confirm the deletion.

The character is permanently removed from your library.

Notes

  1. Poses available for Cosmo, Rhapsody, Boho, and Duo characters are unique to those families and cannot be applied to characters from other families.
  2. You can add any Cosmo, Rhapsody, Boho, or Duo character to your Powtoon without customizing it. Customization is optional, not required.
  3. Customized characters are saved to My Characters and are available across all Powtoons in your account.

Video Tutorials

Video Tutorial

Show Video Transcript

[00:00] How Toons Character Builder is a dynamic tool that allows you to create unique, customizable

[00:14] characters for your videos.

[00:16] With a variety of customization options, you can craft characters that reflect your brand

[00:21] story or audience perfectly.

[00:24] It's perfect for adding a personal touch and making your content more engaging and

[00:28] relatable.

[00:30] In this tutorial, we are going to use one of the templates with an editable character

[00:34] and the available customization options.

[00:41] Inside the studio, click the Character tab to the right and select Create Your Character.

[00:47] The Character Builder Wizard will open and this allows you to create a character from scratch.

[00:52] You can choose from the four character types, female, non-binary, male, and child.

[00:58] There are also four character families inside the studio that you can edit.

[01:03] These are Duo, Cosmo, Rhapsody, and Boho.

[01:08] These families can be found on both the animation and video looks.

[01:16] Our character on the slide has no facial features and has a non-human skin tone.

[01:21] This is on purpose so that you can create characters that are representative of a larger

[01:25] workforce in your organization regardless of race, nationality, or gender.

[01:30] However, you will always have the option to put facial features or change the skin tone

[01:34] in the Character Builder.

[01:36] Click on the Character on the slide and select Edit Character.

[01:41] From there, you can customize the character according to your preference.

[01:45] You can change the character's skin tone, head shape, hairstyle, eyes, nose, and mouth.

[02:09] You can now proceed in customizing the character's outfit by clicking Outfit on the left side.

[02:15] There are plenty of options available for the character's outfit across different use cases.

[02:20] You can change the outfits color, and there are some of them where you can upload your

[02:23] organization's logo, as indicated by this icon here.

[02:28] You can also change the character's pants, footwear, and add headwear as well.

[02:32] Click on Accessories on the left to add accessories to your character such as eyeglasses,

[02:37] headphones, masks, earrings, and apron.

[02:40] Click Finish once done.

[02:49] You can then give your character a name and hit Save.

[02:54] Your newly customized character will now be saved under My Characters, that you can now

[02:59] use on every video that you create within your account.

[03:03] All of your customized characters will be saved in this folder as well.

[03:09] You can also change the pose of your character.

[03:12] Click on the character on the slide and select Pose and Expression.

[03:16] A selection of poses and expressions will be displayed.

[03:21] Select a new pose or expression for the character.

[03:23] For our character, we're changing the pose to Walking and the Expression to Happy.

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