Virtual news anchor is an AI-generated character that reads news content for the viewers or the listeners. Similar to a human news anchor, the purpose of a virtual anchor is to share news such as weather, politics, entertainment, and more.
If you are in the journalism industry or a content creator looking to create news for your audience, hiring a journalist, reporter, host, or news anchor can be time-consuming and also heavy on the pocket.
You can, instead, utilize a virtual news anchor to do most of the work for you. Let’s explore ways to create and use a virtual news anchor.
Creating an Audio for a News Anchor
The first step in creating a virtual news anchor is deciding the anchor audio you want to use for your podcast or video. Is your news anchor a male or female? Is it a child or an old man?
Depending on the type of characters you want to use for your news, you can tweak the audio accordingly.
Secondly, you need to prepare a script for your anchor audio. It can be a piece of full-fledged news or a short snippet of an update about your channel.
Using an AI-powered tool such as a commercial voice-over generator can help you create the anchor audio. You can choose from a variety of voice actors and also set voice styles for each.
Creating a Video for a News Anchor
AI-powered tools are great for both audio-related projects as well as video projects. If you want to publish your content on YouTube, TikTok, or other video streaming platforms, an AI tool can be a great asset in creating news videos starring AI characters.
To get started, simply type, paste, or import your content or script into a software, such as Typecast. You can then choose from the 250+ characters — ranging from human looking characters to anime or cartoon characters.
For news broadcasts, it is also great to have a chyron banner. This banner appears when a news anchor or a subject is introduced on the screen. It contains the subject’s name, designation, and any other relevant details. For any hot or urgent news, you can also add a breaking news banner.
To add a bit of a fun element, you can add transitions in between clips. Recording one out-stretched clip can be boring but adding transitions can keep the viewers engaged.
Adding a background is also another option. Backgrounds can be a green screen or customized images that can be great for your news segment. For example, for the sports section, add a background featuring a footballer or a tennis player.
While animation software such as Adobe Animate can also be a great tool to create animation for your videos, some may find it daunting or complex. The best perk about using an AI software is that it does most of the work for you so you end up saving a lot of time.
Utilizing Text-to-Speech
AI voice actors and video editor software also offer a text-to-speech option. This feature is utilized in many modern products such as iPhones, iPads, and laptops to assist people with disabilities. However, text-to-speech is now commonly used in many areas of video making as well.
When creating a virtual news anchor, you need the anchor audio to go with it. This audio can initially be in the form of a script. When you feed that script to a text to speech video maker, it will convert that script into speech. Your character will then begin speaking the lines.
If you have recorded the audio separately, you may need to use an editing software such as iMovie or Adobe Premiere to add audio to video.
You can also use the auto sync feature to sync your audio and video. Other free software that offer auto syncing options include OpenShot and VideoPad.
Bringing The Virtual News Anchor to Life
News anchors are not boring or monotonous characters. They exhibit high energy and usually convey a captivating delivery style.
The purpose of a news anchor is to grab the audience’s attention so the audience can stay glued to the screen. Even when the anchor is delivering weather news, they try to make it as exciting as possible.
The idea of using virtual news anchors may seem like a far-fetched reality compared to humans, however, with the advanced AI technology tools, this is completely possible to achieve in today’s time!
AI characters can mimic facial expressions, and gestures like humans do. They can express emotions such as anger, disappointment, disgust, and horror. The creators are free to add a range of emotions and feelings to their virtual humans.
These expressions are not just visible on their faces but also in the tone of their voice. This is why it can sometimes be hard to tell an AI character apart from a human.
Using a Virtual News Anchor
In today’s day and age, automation is important for success. Businesses want to deliver tasks quickly and efficiently to their customers. Virtual humans make the job easy by saving time, money, and manpower while delivering practical solutions.
You can use your virtual news anchor in various domains, such as for a YouTube channel or for delivering internal company news.
Today, news channels are even utilizing AI powered news anchors to deliver the news. Recently, South Korean TV channel MBN featured a virtual female anchor for the news segment.
The broadcasting company hopes to utilize these news anchors in emergency situations when gathering staff can be a challenging task.
As the AI anchors do not require makeup or rehearsals, they can be quickly set up to produce news footage in a matter of minutes. This is not only beneficial for emergency situations but also for everyday tasks that may not necessarily require humans to complete.
