Runway Act-Two is an AI video generation model from Runway ML that animates characters using performance videos. You provide a driving performance video, of a character speaking or acting, and a reference image. Act-Two then transfers the movements, speech, and expressions from the performance video onto the character, and produces realistic and animated, expressive and lip-synced animations.

7 Features of Runway Act-Two

Runway Act-Two brings these game-changing features to the overall AI video generation workflow and is the talk of the town because of the output and creative possibilities:

1. Performance-Driven Animation

Act-Two takes a real driving performance video, someone acting out your scene and maps that movement onto your reference character.

pic.twitter.com/Yr5RSsJ9rH

— Heather Cooper (@HBCoop_) July 25, 2025

Everything transfers precisely: from subtle facial twitches to full-body gestures and you get a studio-grade creative performance that feels natural.

2. Gesture Control

When using a character image, you can toggle gesture control to decide how much of the hand and body motion from the performance video you want to transfer. Turn it on to capture expressive poses, or keep it off if you only want facial animation and subtle environmental motion.

3. Gesture Control and Facial Expressiveness

Dial up or tone down how expressive your character becomes.

Lower settings keep characters steady and consistent, while higher values push performances into more emotional, animated territory. So for creators, Runway Act-Two brings more freedom to match tone for use cases like subtle drama, sitcoms to exaggerated comedy.

4. Environment-Aware Motion

Act-Two automatically adds small camera shakes, depth, and environmental movement when you’re working with static character images. This prevents shots from feeling flat and helps blend animated characters into video workflows.

5. Flexible Inputs

You can make characters do perform literally anything and this workflow can start as still images, illustrations, or existing videos.

Images give you more gesture control, while videos keep their original camera movement but enhance facial expressions.

Either way, Act-Two adapts to different styles, including stylized art and photorealistic outputs.

6. Resolution & Format Options

Act-Two supports multiple aspect ratios at 24fps:

• 16:9
• 9:16
• 1:1
• 4:3
• 3:4
• 21:9

7. Voice Editing

You can swap out voices in finished generations without re-animating the video.

This makes it easy to test different tones, languages, or character fits without restarting from scratch.

What You Can Create with Runway Act-Two

Here are the top use cases you can automate at speed and scale with Runway Act-Two.

Talking head videos

Act-Two generates realistic talking heads, so you can deliver news updates, tutorials, or company messages without hiring on-screen talent.

Documentaries

You can mix archival footage with Act-Two’s AI-generated scenes to build richer, more cinematic documentary storytelling.

AI films

Act-Two brings your scripts to life, letting indie creators produce full AI films that mimic Hollywood-style cinematography.

UGC ads

With Act-Two, you can scale lifestyle and testimonial-style ads that look authentic and ready for social media campaigns.

VTubers

Act-Two powers animated digital characters, so you can launch or enhance virtual influencer channels with lifelike motion.

Educational / Training videos

It transforms plain scripts into engaging explainers, so you can create professional training content fast.

Complete online courses

Act-Two enables full course production, giving you consistent narrators, visuals, and lesson modules all in one place.

Branded character ads

You can animate mascots or branded characters into high-quality ads that feel like they came from a studio.

Real-like, professional product demos

Act-Two creates polished product showcase videos, so you can demonstrate features without costly production setups.

Recommended Read: How to use Runway Act-Two

Who Should Use Runway Act-Two – and Why

Small business owners

Act-Two gives professional-looking videos a production team. As a growing brand, startup or small business owner, you can save labor hours and tons of money you’d otherwise spend on sizzle reels, [CGI ads], talking head videos, and influencer campaigns.

Creative agencies

Media agencies, advertisement service providers and creative businesses can speed up campaign execution and pitch ideas with Hollywood-quality prototypes. Act-Two delivers branded characters, UGC-style ads, and product demos at scale, without ballooning budgets so you make money and retain it too.

B2B companies

You can simplify complex messaging by turning whitepapers, presentations, and training manuals into engaging video explainers. With Act-Two, you can produce onboarding flows, client education, and complete training manuals at a fraction of the usual cost.

Runway Act TWO vs Google Veo 3

Google Veo 3 vs Runway Act-Two

Pros and Cons of Runway Act TWO

Pros

1. Image-to-video pipeline with Gen-4 References

Runway Act-Two gives a strong and efficient workflow especially with the Gen-4 References feature. As a content creator or marketer, you start with an image, animate it with Act-Two, and extend it into full video.

2. Cheaper than Google Veo 3 for several use cases

Google Veo 3 is powerful for cinematic, high-fidelity storytelling, but for shorter ads, social content, or character-driven motion, Act-Two is more cost-efficient while still producing strong results.

3. Hollywood-style workflow for cinematic videos

With Aleph + Act-Two + Gen-4 References, creators can mimic Hollywood-style shot extensions and professional pipelines without needing massive budgets.

Cons

1. Strong dependence on input quality

Your output in Act-Two heavily relies on the performance footage or the references you use. So if your input is weak in terms of gestures or expressions, you may need strong post-generation edits to correct stiff animation or awkward transitions.

Runway Act-Two Pricing

Within the Runway ecosystem, creating with Act-Two costs 5 credits per second: more features and depth like image creation with Gen-4 References increase the cost.

Within the ImagineArt, you can use Runway Act-Two alongside other AI video generation models with the basic plan that’s $10/month paid yearly.

Runway Act-Two X ImagineArt

With Runway Act-Two in ImagineArt, small businesses and creative agencies can create cinematic motion capture for branded ads, storytelling videos, user-generated content and product shots more professionally without expensive studios!