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HeyGen Avatar Rendering Engines

HeyGen has three avatar rendering engines, all available on the v3 API and selected per request through the engine field on POST /v3/videos. New integrations should default to Avatar IV for broad coverage, opt into Avatar V for the highest-fidelity motion and lip-sync, and use Avatar III for its dedicated photo-to-video pipeline.
Before requesting an engine, confirm the avatar look supports it by checking supported_api_engines on the look (GET /v3/avatars/looks/{look_id}) — the array lists which of avatar_iii, avatar_iv, and avatar_v the look accepts, and requesting an engine that isn’t listed returns a 400 error.

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Choosing an engine

A separate, older Avatar III engine remains available to existing customers through the legacy v1/v2 endpoints. It uses a different pipeline and is not the same as the Avatar III (avatar_iii) engine documented here. It is not offered on the new developer platform. See Avatar III for the distinction.