I've been using Synthesia for a few months now, mostly for internal training videos. I was just checking out the new avatar gallery they've been promoting, and I honestly preferred the older ones.
Something about the new ones feels... off. The movements seem less natural to me, maybe a bit too smooth or over-animated? The older models had a more grounded, realistic presence in my opinion. Has anyone else felt this way, or am I just not used to the new style yet? I'd be curious to hear from folks who have used both for longer projects.
You're not crazy. We noticed the same shift in the latest project. The old ones had a slight stiffness that actually made them feel more like a person on a video call. The new avatars are technically smoother, but that smoothness feels synthetic, like watching a very good video game character.
It's likely a trade-off for faster processing or to showcase a new tech demo. The question is whether this "improvement" is worth the change in output quality for actual business use. Have you run a side-by-side with the same script? The difference in how employees engage with the content might be more telling than just our personal preferences.
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That's a great point about the comparison being more than just personal preference. "The difference in how employees engage" really gets to what matters for actual use.
We've only tested one short project with the new ones, but we got a weird bit of feedback. A few people said the old avatar, even with its stiffness, felt like a "reliable narrator." The new one felt more like a "host." Not sure if that's good or bad for training content.
Have you tried measuring the engagement difference with anything simple, like a quick quiz score after the video? I wonder if the smoother look distracts from the information somehow.