Should I Use a Picture or Video for New Presenter Gestures in Runway Act-Two?

Identify Which Movement Must Change

A merchant may have an approved photograph of a presenter holding a teacup, or an existing video showing the presenter beside a product display. These sources are not interchangeable simply because they depict the same person.

Act-Two uses a driving performance to influence the character. For a character image, the Gestures setting determines whether poses and body and hand movement transfer; when it is off, processing focuses on facial and environmental motion. Image inputs also receive automatic camera and environmental motion. A character video retains its original body, environment and camera movement, with facial performance driven by the reference.

Before selecting an input, identify whether the merchant needs a new physical performance or wants to preserve an already approved shot.

For a new pointing or presenting gesture, evaluate a character image and verify that Gestures is enabled in the actual task. For a shot whose body and camera motion must remain, evaluate a character video; that input does not expose the Gestures setting.

Read the official Act-Two input and Gestures guidance together before choosing the character source.

Check Whether the Driving Performance Contains the Required Action

A driving performance should communicate the intended movement clearly. If the presenter must lift a teacup, point toward its handle, or place it on a counter, the reference should make those actions observable.

For gesture transfer, the official preparation advice is to keep the performer’s hands visible at the start and begin with a pose similar to the character image. It also recommends a single subject, a visible face, waist-up framing or closer, and an uninterrupted shot. These are preparation conditions, not a guarantee that hands will grip a product correctly.

However, transferring a gesture does not guarantee accurate physical interaction with a product. A generated hand may approach the cup without maintaining the intended grip or contact position.

Separate the desired gesture from the product-contact requirement. The former concerns movement direction; the latter concerns whether the hand, cup, and supporting surface maintain a plausible relationship throughout the shot.

If the available performance does not clearly show the required action, obtain a better reference or revise the scene. Repeatedly changing the character input format cannot recover movement information missing from the driving performance.

For a character video, also compare the source duration with the driving performance. A shorter character video may reverse and repeat in a boomerang-like sequence when paired with a longer performance.

Record the Configuration and Both Source Durations

Proposed manual review, not an executed Runway generation: retain the actual character file and driving-performance file. Record image or video input, the visible Gestures state where applicable, the starting hand visibility and pose, and both source durations. Leave inaccessible or unknown settings unresolved.

A new teacup-pointing brief needs the image route with Gestures enabled and a suitable driving performance. An approved moving-camera video needing different facial performance uses the video route with its original body motion. In either case, inspect any generated hand–cup contact separately; a correctly configured task is not a successful product-handling test.

Review Gesture Scope, Contact, and Duration

Create separate acceptance checks for facial performance, body movement, product contact, and camera continuity. A satisfactory facial expression does not establish that the presenter handled the product correctly.

For image-based characters, inspect whether the intended gesture occurs and whether the product remains plausibly positioned relative to the hands. For video-based characters, check that the original physical performance remains suitable.

When using a character video, examine whether the source duration is sufficient for the intended performance. If a reversal or repeated movement would disrupt the advertisement, obtain a more suitable source rather than accepting an unintended loop.

Stop the current workflow when the required product interaction cannot be supported by the available reference. Reconsider the shot or capture additional material.

This is an input-selection and editorial review method, not a guarantee of exact motion transfer, stable object contact, or physically accurate handling.

Character and driving-performance record — actual observations

Save a copy of this record and enter actual inputs, actions and observations. Keep incomplete checks pending; do not prefill success.

Download review worksheet (CSV)