How to Use Runway Act-Two for Creative Projects

2025-07-16
5 min read
Runway
Act-Two
Motion Capture
Character Animation
AI Creation

A comprehensive guide to using Runway Act-Two, from basic operations to advanced settings, helping you easily create professional-grade character animations.

Imagine bringing any character to life with just a performance video—this is the magic that Runway Act-Two brings. As a next-generation motion capture model, Act-Two not only perfectly replicates human movements, expressions, and voice, but also achieves a qualitative leap in image quality and motion accuracy. Whether you’re a professional creator or a creative enthusiast, this guide will help you easily master Act-Two’s usage techniques.

What Makes Act-Two Special?

Act-Two, as Runway’s latest masterpiece, has achieved breakthrough progress in multiple dimensions:

  • Significantly Enhanced Image Quality: Compared to previous generations, there are notable improvements in clarity, coherence, and motion naturalness
  • Comprehensive Motion Capture: From facial micro-expressions to hand details, from head movements to body postures, nothing is missed
  • Exceptional Adaptability: Whether it’s cartoon characters, realistic figures, or different artistic styles, it handles them all perfectly
  • Ultra-Simple Operation: You only need a performance video and a character image to start your creative journey

Step 1: Prepare Your Materials

Before starting creation, you need to prepare two things:

1. Performance Video (Your “Actor”)

This is the core of the entire process—a video of real human performance. The video should contain all the elements you want the character to display:

  • Rich facial expressions
  • Natural body movements
  • Clear vocal content
  • Vivid gesture expressions

Duration Requirements: Between 3-30 seconds Size Requirements: Video size cannot exceed 16MB

2. Character Image (Your “Protagonist”)

A high-quality character image that will be the protagonist in your video. It can be:

  • Real person photos
  • Illustrated characters
  • 3D rendered images
  • Any character you want to “bring to life”

Step 2: Choose Output Format

Based on your use case, select the appropriate video aspect ratio:

Recommended Common Ratios

  • 16:9 (1280x720) - Perfect for YouTube, website displays
  • 9:16 (720x1280) - Perfect match for TikTok, Instagram Stories
  • 1:1 (960x960) - Universal format for social media
  • 4:3 (1104x832) - Traditional video ratio
  • 3:4 (832x1104) - Optimal for vertical content
  • 21:9 (1584x672) - Cinematic widescreen effect

Step 3: Start Generation

Click the ‘Generate’ button to begin video generation

Best Practice Recommendations

Performance Video Best Practices:

  • Ensure clear facial expressions and movements
  • Avoid excessive camera shake
  • Use good lighting conditions
  • Keep performance natural and smooth

Character Input Best Practices:

  • Choose high-quality images
  • Ensure character’s face is clearly visible
  • Consider character style and environment matching
  • Try to match poses in the performance

Creative Tips

Suggestions for Better Results:

  1. Match Poses: Try to match the character’s pose and orientation in the performance
  2. Test Settings: Experiment with different gesture control and facial expressiveness settings
  3. Maintain Consistency: Use similar lighting and angles for better results
  4. Control Duration: Consider costs and reasonably control video length

Common Problem Solutions:

  • If the character doesn’t look natural enough, try adjusting facial expressiveness settings
  • If movements aren’t accurate enough, check the quality and clarity of the performance video

Conclusion

Runway Act-Two represents a major breakthrough in motion capture technology, simplifying the creation process of professional-grade character animation. By understanding its features, mastering the correct usage methods, and following best practices, you can create impressive character animation works.

Whether you’re a professional animator or a creative enthusiast, Act-Two provides you with a powerful and intuitive tool to realize your creative vision. As technology continues to develop, we can expect to see more innovative applications and higher-quality animation works.

Start your Act-Two creative journey now!

How to Use Runway Act-Two for Creative Projects