When is the GA release for customization of Avatars in Microsoft TTS Avatar service and non-photorealistic options for custom avatars

Question

Two part question on the TTS Avatars

1. When is the TTS Avatar - customization of Avatars going to be GA ?
2. How can we do non-photorealistic Avatars (i.e, Animated/Cartoon characters like the Microsoft Mesh)?

Answer 1

Asgar Ali Greetings & Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum!

When is the TTS Avatar - customization of Avatars going to be GA ?

I understand your concern. Custom text to speech avatar access is limited based on eligibility and usage criteria. Request access on the intake form.

We do not have an exact ETA for the GA. However, I would suggest you to follow updates on the What's new in Azure AI Speech? page.

How can we do non-photorealistic Avatars (i.e, Animated/Cartoon characters like the Microsoft Mesh)?

It is not available yet. see What is custom text to speech avatar?

As per my understanding, Text to speech avatar capabilities include:

• Converts text into a digital video of a photorealistic human speaking with natural-sounding voices powered by Azure AI text to speech.
• Provides a collection of prebuilt avatars.
• The voice of the avatar is generated by Azure AI text to speech. For more information, see Avatar voice and language.
• Synthesizes text to speech avatar video asynchronously with the batch synthesis API or in real-time.
• Provides a content creation tool in Speech Studio for creating video content without coding.
• Enables real-time avatar conversations through the live chat avatar tool in Speech Studio.

With text to speech avatar's advanced neural network models, the feature empowers you to deliver lifelike and high-quality synthetic talking avatar videos for various applications while adhering to responsible AI practices.

See Text to speech avatar overview for more details.

Do let me know if that helps or have any further queries.