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Characters and voices

Set how a character looks and sounds, so they stay the same in every clip of every episode.

1 min 3 s of video No sound · captions on every video

Every character in a show has a page. What you write there goes into every story, picture and clip they are in, so it is worth a few minutes. To open it, go to the show's page and, under Cast, press Open next to the character. (To add a new one, see Getting started.)

Their look, and a voice from the library

Follow along

Video, about 60 seconds, no sound. The steps below say the same.

The page has these parts, top to bottom:

  • Who they are: Name (used in every prompt), Role (only for the cast list) and Personality (how they are across the whole series).
  • Look: Appearance is the body and face, what must never drift between shots: hair, build, skin. Usual outfit is what they wear unless an episode changes it. Their model sheet is drawn from these two.
  • Voice and speech: How they sound is the voice heard in every clip they speak in. How they talk (Speech style) is for the writers: sentence length, habits, catchphrases.
  • Reference image: the model sheet sent with every picture and clip they are in. Press Create reference image to have it drawn in the show's look, or Upload artwork.

Changes are saved as you type; the page says Saved.

To give a character a voice from the library:

  1. Step 1: Under How they sound, press Choose a voice (or Change if they already have one).
  2. Step 2: The Library tab lists ready-made voices. Narrow it down with Who, Age, Accent and Tone, or search (gruff, calm, british).
  3. Step 3: Press Play on a voice to hear it read a line.
  4. Step 4: Pick the one you want with the round button on its right. The button at the bottom changes to Use and the voice's name, for example Use Wise woman. Press it.

Clips made from now on are sent this voice sample, so the character sounds the same from clip to clip. Episodes already made keep the voice they have.

A voice made from words, or a real voice

  1. Step 1: Under How they sound, press Change (or Custom), then the Custom tab.
  2. Step 2: Describe it: in Describe the voice, write how they should sound, for example Soft and friendly young woman; short answers, always kind. It starts from what you wrote under Describe it on the page.
  3. Step 3: Press Make 3. Three new voices come back, each reading the same line, so you compare voices, not words. Press Play on each. Press Make 3 more for another three.
  4. Step 4: Pick one and press Use this voice.
  5. Step 5: Record or upload: on the same tab, press Record and read the line shown, or choose Upload a file (MP3, WAV or M4A; ShowMaker keeps ten clean seconds). Tick This is my voice, or I have the right to use it first: use only your own voice, or the voice of someone who said yes.

Tips

  • Keep Appearance about the face and body, and clothes in Usual outfit. A single episode can still change the outfit (see Outfit on a person's picture on the Cast & places step).
  • The words under Describe it are told to the writers too, and are the only voice a clip gets when it cannot carry the sample.
  • A show can also have a narrator: on the show's page, press Add a narrator, and give them a voice the same way.

About the recording: in ShowMaker's rehearsal mode the three described voices are stand-in samples; in the app they are made by a voice model.