Runway Act-Two animates a character using a recorded performance. You supply a video of someone acting out the scene and a character image or video; the performance provides the delivery and expression, while the character input supplies the visual identity.
The character image is worth planning before you record. A dramatic poster may hide the mouth, crop the hands or put the face in shadow. This guide focuses on preparing a usable reference, including original prompts you can adapt in Nano Banana 2 in ShimmerPic. The Act-Two performance transfer takes place in Runway.
What Runway Act-Two needs
Runway's Act-Two guide describes two inputs: a driving performance video and a character reference. For both, it recommends one subject, waist-up or closer framing and clearly defined facial features. A continuous performance with a visible face is the starting point.
With a character image, gesture control can transfer body movement as well as facial performance. A character video retains its existing scene and camera movement; gesture control is unavailable for that input. Choose the input type according to the shot you need.
You can find Performance Capture with Act-Two in Runway's Apps area. Check the current access requirements, settings and displayed generation cost there before committing to a sequence.
Design the shot before designing the costume
Write a sentence about what the character has to do. “A harbor guide reassures a nervous traveler” suggests a readable face, a welcoming expression and room for a small open-handed gesture. “A mysterious figure watches from a roof” could produce a beautiful image with almost nothing useful for a spoken performance.
Decide whether the shot needs a close portrait or visible arms. Then choose the camera angle, background and starting pose. A simple costume with a few recognizable details is easier for you to check across revisions than a dense collection of badges, chains and overlapping layers.
Keep a short character note alongside the image. For example:
An adult harbor guide with short dark curls, round glasses and a faded ochre jacket. Warm, practical and quietly amused. The scene is a blue wooden ticket booth on an overcast morning.
This note is your own continuity reference. It helps you notice when a later image changes the glasses, hair or jacket, and gives you a consistent description for additional artwork.
A character image prompt for a speaking scene
Use the following as an original design brief rather than a request for a finished animation:
Create a single adult harbor guide with short dark curls, round glasses and a faded ochre jacket. Show a waist-up view facing the camera, with both hands visible and relaxed near the lower edge of the frame. Give the character clear eyes, a visible mouth and a calm, welcoming expression. Use a gently painted storybook style, soft even light and a simple blue ticket-booth background. Leave space around the arms. No text, extra characters or objects covering the face.
The character, framing and setting each have a separate role. If you change the visual style, keep those other parts fixed so you can compare versions fairly. If you want the guide looking slightly to one side, adjust that direction deliberately rather than adding several competing camera instructions.
For a more photographic image, replace the style sentence with:
Use natural photographic detail, believable skin texture and soft overcast daylight. Keep the eyes and mouth clearly readable without a harsh shadow across the face.
You can find other visual starting points in the ShimmerPic prompt library. Adapt the composition to your performance instead of choosing a reference solely because it looks striking as a still.
Prepare the reference image in ShimmerPic
Open Nano Banana 2 and enter your character brief. If you already have a character you want to preserve, add that image as a reference and describe the framing change. Choose the available aspect ratio for the intended composition and review the credit cost before generating.
Inspect the result before adding more design details. Look at the outline of the mouth, both eyes, the edge of the glasses and the hands. A hand blending into a jacket is easier to address at this stage than after you have recorded a performance around that pose.
For an existing character image, try a focused edit through the AI photo editor:
Reframe the uploaded character as a waist-up portrait. Preserve the face, hairstyle, glasses, ochre jacket and painted visual style. Show both hands relaxed and visible. Keep the mouth unobstructed and simplify the background to a blue wooden wall. Do not add another person or change the costume.
Save the chosen reference before experimenting further. A contact sheet can help you choose a design, but the image you hand to the performance workflow should contain the single character and composition you actually intend to animate.
Record a performance that belongs to the picture
Read your line aloud before filming. Mark the emotional change: perhaps the guide begins matter-of-factly, pauses, then offers a reassuring smile. A deliberate delivery gives you something specific to judge in the result.
Use the chosen character image as a visual reminder while rehearsing. If the reference starts upright with relaxed arms, begin your performance in a comparable position. For a hand gesture, leave enough space in your recording to show the movement rather than letting the hand disappear beyond the frame.
Listen to the recording as well as watching it. A chair scrape or a loud room echo can distract from a quiet line, even when the performance itself is expressive. Keep the final take and the character reference together so you can repeat the same pairing when adjusting the generation.
Review the animated shot in separate passes
First watch the face. Does the delivery read clearly, and does the character still look like the selected reference? Next watch the hands and shoulders. Then check the background and the edges of the frame for changes that distract from the line.
If a result needs work, identify the specific problem before changing inputs. A poorly framed hand calls for a different preparation step from a performance that sounds rushed. Keep a note of the input pair and the setting you changed so you can tell which adjustment helped.
For a longer scene, approve the character design and a short passage before planning every shot. Returning to the same reference and continuity note gives you a clear visual target, even though each generated result still needs review.
Common questions
Can I use Runway Act-Two inside ShimmerPic?
This workflow uses ShimmerPic to create or edit the character image. Open Runway for Act-Two and provide the performance and character inputs there.
Is a text prompt enough for an Act-Two performance?
The workflow described here needs a recorded performance and a character reference. A character prompt helps you design the still image; it does not supply the actor's delivery or timing.
Should I make a character sheet or a single portrait?
A character sheet is useful for planning the design. For the shot itself, prepare one clear view that matches the framing and action you want. Keep the sheet as a reference for future images.
Start with one character and one readable shot. Prepare your character image in ShimmerPic, then pair the selected reference with a performance in Runway.