How to Make a Release Notes Video with Synthesia

Most “AI changelog video” posts skip the two facts that actually decide the project. First: a release-notes clip is not a Friday all-hands and it is not a sales demo. It is 60–90 seconds that names the version, who it ships for, and the two or three items that actually landed — then points at one place to read the rest. Second: the tool this site sends for that talking-head file is Synthesia (synthesia.io). This guide is the working path when you will not film the PM every time a line in the notes moves: list, host, one slide, generate, shelf.

When a changelog needs an avatar — and when it doesn't

Use an avatar when the changelog page, the in-app What’s New drawer, or the customer email needs a face and you cannot or will not sit a named PM in a room every time a version ships. Edit the line, swap the one slide, generate again. That is the economic case.

Skip the avatar if customers only need the written list. Skip it if the news has to be a live Q&A — the cut closes with “read the notes” or “open What’s New,” it does not replace a launch webinar. Skip it if the file is a Friday comms blast — the internal-update how-to is the other desk. Skip it if the file is a handbook amendment — the policy-update how-to reads a signed clause. Skip it if the file is a concept definition — the explainer how-to names the idea, not this version’s list. Skip it if the file is a buyer walkthrough — the product-demo how-to lands a trial card.

The seven-step Synthesia release-notes video

1. 01

   Write a 60–90 second shipping-notes script from the signed changelog

   A release-notes video is the changelog, spoken. Open on the version or ship date, name who the cut is for, then read the two or three items that actually shipped — not the whole ticket list. Close on one place to read the full notes or try the change: the changelog page, the in-app What’s New drawer, or the customer email this clip sits in. Copy the words product already published. Time it out loud. Most shipping-notes cuts sit between 60 and 90 seconds. If you wanted a Friday all-hands recap, that is the internal-update how-to. If you wanted a handbook amendment, that is the policy-update how-to. If you wanted a concept definition, that is the explainer how-to. If you wanted a buyer walkthrough with a trial card, that is the product-demo how-to.

2. 02

   Confirm a talking-head shipping note is the right format

   Use a presenter when the changelog page, the in-app What’s New drawer, or the customer email needs a face and you will not film the PM, the founder, or a camera every time a version lands. Skip the avatar for a silent changelog list, a live launch webinar, or a written post that does not need a voice. Skip it if the file is really a Friday comms blast, a handbook clause, a concept explainer, or a sales demo. The avatar is a release host reading the current signed notes, not a substitute for the changelog and not a substitute for a named PM when the ship is still in review.

3. 03

   Open Synthesia (synthesia.io) — check the domain

   Synthesia is the presenter desk this page is written for. On the home screen, start a blank video — Synthesia’s assistant help currently labels that Create video; some workspaces still show New video. Same start. Synthesys (synthesys.io) is a different company. HeyGen and a Loom-style recorder show up in the same “AI changelog video” search; they are editorial mentions here, not hops. Mixing the names is the expensive mistake. This page sends you to Synthesia only. The changelog CMS, the in-app What’s New drawer, and the customer email tool are shelves, not hops.

4. 04

   Pick one stock avatar as the release host

   Select the Avatar tab in the top menu and choose one stock presenter. Keep that face for this series and for later recuts when a line in the notes moves. A shipping-notes read is second-person and specific: you, this release, these items. Head-and-shoulders. Do not commission a founder likeness until product and legal have watched a stock cut of the real notes. Do not clone a PM voice unless you have written consent. One host. One crop.

5. 05

   Add one slide of what changed — not a ticket tour

   The picture job is a single visual the avatar can point at: the version, the ship date, the two or three items that shipped. Select Media at the top of the canvas and choose Upload media — Synthesia’s help lists images as .jpeg, .png, and .svg. Export that one “what changed” slide as an image and upload it. Import PowerPoint exists for a full .pptx; for one release slide, the image upload is enough. If a change only makes sense on a live product screen, select Record at the top of the canvas, then Record Screen, or Upload screen recording if you already have an MP4 — crop anything that should not leave the build. Place the visual beside or under a head-and-shoulders crop. We do not invent a “release notes” or “changelog” template. If your workspace has a saved layout, use it. If it does not, Media or Record plus the Avatar is the whole move.

6. 06

   Paste the script, then Generate

   Select a scene in the left scene menu, open the script box, and paste the spoken notes. Split the version line and the “what shipped” beat across scenes if you want a pause on the slide. Use Generate at the top right. If the file will play muted on a changelog tile or in an inbox preview, turn Burned-in captions on in that panel before you generate. Preview a scene first if you only need to check framing — Synthesia’s preview help says a preview does not use credits; Generate consumes minutes. Watch the first second, the version, the ship date, and the one visual. Mouth-sync is consistently strong in English and major European languages. Hand gestures loop. These are narrators. Edit the line and generate again instead of re-booking the PM.

7. 07

   Download the MP4 or copy the share link, then drop it on the changelog, in What’s New, or in the customer email

   A clean download starts on a paid plan — Synthesia’s download help says Basic and trial users cannot download. After generate, use the three-dot menu and choose Download, then the MP4 (Full HD 1080p). Or open Share, create a link, and copy the link or the embed code; Synthesia’s share help says an embed updates when you edit. The same Share panel can copy a GIF thumbnail for email. Paste the embed above the written notes on the changelog page or in the docs What’s New article, upload the MP4 if that editor wants a file, or drop the file into the in-app What’s New drawer. For email, put the GIF or the MP4 above the written list. Keep the written list. Name the export so the next recut is obvious: release-notes-reports-3-4_aug_v1. When a line in the notes moves, change that line, generate, bump the version, replace the file or the link.

Release-host avatar vs a written changelog vs filming the PM

“AI changelog video” is a search, not a product. The decision is the format. Plan names and download gates on the Synthesia column match the live synthesia.io/pricing page as of August 2026. Confirm the current grid before you tell product the export is included.

A 60–90s shipping-notes script is the changelog, spoken

Do not write a launch keynote and hope someone cuts it down. Open the signed changelog, the What’s New draft, or the customer email product already approved: the version or ship date you can stand behind, who the cut is for, the two or three items that actually shipped, the one next step that will still work next week. Those sentences are the script. If a ticket is still in review, that clip waits. An avatar reading last sprint’s list is worse than a written changelog, because it sounds finished.

Four beats, in this order. Name the release in the first sentence. Say who it ships for in one line. Walk the two or three items against the one slide. Close on one next step on that same changelog page, in that same What’s New drawer, or in that same email: read the full notes, try the change, or open the related article. Second person. No joke about “shipping Friday at 4:59.” Time it out loud: 60 seconds is a tight list; 90 seconds is a list plus one “what this is not” beat. Longer than that and you are making a demo.

A Reports 3.4 read that fits the window sounds like this — about 75 seconds when you say it, not when you skim it:

Reports 3.4 is live as of August 12. This cut is for anyone who already builds a saved report — not a first-week tour. Three things shipped. You can schedule a CSV export instead of downloading it by hand. Shared filters now travel with the report, so a teammate sees the same slice you saved. Dark mode covers the report canvas, not just the chrome. The slide in this clip is the whole list: the version, those three items, and the changelog URL. Open What’s New in the product, or keep reading the notes under this video, if you want the edge cases. Nothing else in 3.4 is in this file on purpose.

An API-version or a mobile-ship read uses the same skeleton. Name the release, name who it is for, point at one slide of what changed, close on the changelog or What’s New. Do not stack a six-item ticket dump, a pricing tease, and a trial ask in a single file. One ship, one list, one picture.

Do not write a learning objective with a quiz. Do not write a Friday Slack recap. Do not write a trial CTA card. Do not write a numbered password-reset list. Do not ask the avatar to “sound like the PM.” These presenters are narrators: blink cadence, micro head-tilt, a looping hand. On a head-and-shoulders framing that is enough. Full breakdown of what the avatars actually do is in our Synthesia review.

Pick one release host. Keep that face.

Select the Avatar tab in the top menu. Choose one stock presenter and keep that face when you recut the series so the changelog and the inbox do not look like a new hire every version. A release host says you and this release. It is not a comms host reading Friday’s brief, not a policy host walking a handbook, not an explainer reading a glossary, and not a demo host selling a trial.

A custom founder likeness is a later decision, not the first invoice. Prove the script on a stock presenter. Personal avatars sit on paid plans — confirm the current count on synthesia.io/pricing. Synthesia’s pricing grid lists a Studio Express-1 avatar as a $1,000/year add-on that can take up to ten days. Clone a voice only with written consent. The consent rule is the same one in How to clone your voice for YouTube.

One slide of what changed — Media, Record, or an image export

People watch these muted, on a phone, above a changelog paragraph or in an inbox preview. The voice is not enough. Pick one visual the avatar can point at for the whole cut.

If the ship is a slide you own, select Media at the top of the canvas and choose Upload media. Synthesia’s media help lists images as .jpeg, .png, and .svg, and videos as .mp4 or .webm. Export one “what changed” slide from the notes deck as an image and upload that. Import PowerPoint is a home-screen path for a full .pptx — useful when you already have the deck, easy to overshoot when you only need one frame. We do not invent a “release notes” control. If your workspace has a saved layout, use it. If it does not, this upload is the whole move.

If a change only makes sense on a live product screen, select Record at the top of the canvas. Synthesia’s screen-recorder help lists Record Screen (Full Screen, Window, or Browser Tab) and Upload screen recording for an existing MP4. Crop the chrome you do not want on a public changelog. You are showing the one shipped item, not walking the whole admin console.

Optional on-screen label: select Text at the top of the canvas and pick Title 1 or Title 2 for the version, Subtitle or Body for the two or three items. Type the same words the avatar will say. Drag a corner to size it; keep it readable on a narrow changelog column. Do not stack the whole ticket list on the card.

Captions: Synthesia’s help lists closed captions, dynamic captions (Captions in the top menu), and a Burned-in captions toggle in the Generate panel. For a muted changelog tile or inbox preview, turn burned-in captions on before you generate. After generate you can also download .srt or .vtt from the video menu if the page builder wants a separate track.

Generate, then export onto the changelog, What’s New, or the customer email

Generate sits at the top right. Title the file the way the changelog heading or the email is titled. Watch the first second and the one visual against the live notes. Proper nouns, version numbers, and feature names are where these reads go wrong — fix the script, generate again. That loop is the product. A PM re-book is what you are not buying.

A logo-off download starts on Starter. After the render, open the three-dot menu and choose Download, then the MP4 (Synthesia’s help lists Full HD 1080p). Or open Share, create a link, and copy the link or the embed code. The share link is the better shelf when you will recut the same series; the MP4 is the better shelf when the changelog CMS or the What’s New drawer wants a file. Interactive buttons and branching cannot go out as an MP4 — leave those off a shipping note you need to download. If a last scene still points at a “next scene” instead of ending the video, Synthesia’s download help says the MP4 can stay locked; set that last scene to end, generate again.

Paste the embed, or upload the file, above the written notes on the changelog page or in the docs What’s New article. Drop the MP4 into the in-app What’s New drawer if that surface only accepts a file. Put the same next-step line in the page or the drawer that you put on the slide. For the customer email, the Share panel can copy a GIF thumbnail; keep the written list under the player. A viewer who cannot play video still needs the sentences. The changelog CMS, the What’s New drawer, and the customer email tool are ordinary destinations on this page, not hops — use whatever control that editor already has for an embed or an upload. We do not invent a “Synthesia app” inside those products.

Name the object so the next person can find it: release-notes-reports-3-4_aug_v1, release-notes-ios-12-1_sep_v1. When a line in the notes changes, edit that line, generate, bump the version, replace the file or the link. Leave the clips that are still true.

Which Synthesia plan ships a release-notes video in 2026

The live pricing page (August 2026) lists Basic at $0 with 9 avatars and 10 minutes a month. Downloads and logo removal start on Starter at $29/month, or $18/month billed yearly. Creator is $89/month, or $64/month yearly, with more minutes and personal avatars. Languages and voices are published as 160+ on every tier. Confirm the current grid on synthesia.io/pricing before you tell product the download is included — we do not invent a checkout total or a commission rate.

For a first shipping note, start on Basic with a real changelog paragraph, not a placeholder greeting. Move to a paid plan when you need a logo-off file or a link you will actually publish. Buy Creator for a personal release-host avatar or more minutes — not for “more cinema.” Buy Enterprise when brand asks for a kit or you are ready to localize a locked English master. Confirm commercial and customer-facing terms on the plan you will export from. Ten minutes a month is a handful of 75-second ships, not a year of versions.

Localization and other desks are next steps, not this brief

Ship the home-market notes first. A second language is a translation of a signed changelog, not a reason to start in Enterprise. When you are ready, lock this cut, then follow how to localize training videos — same loop, different packet. A Friday all-hands recap is the internal-update how-to. A handbook amendment is the policy-update how-to. A concept definition is the explainer. A SaaS walkthrough is the product demo.

Customers still deserve a plain-language note when the presenter is synthetic. Say it on the changelog, in What’s New, or in the email, above or under the player: this is a release-host avatar reading the current signed notes. If you later publish the same file on a public platform, you also need that platform’s current disclosure for synthetic media. That is separate from the vendor license. You need both.

The comparison of presenter platforms — including where Synthesys sits as a different company — lives on Synthesia vs Synthesys and Best AI Avatar Video Tools 2026. This page does not hop there. The only Try button here is Synthesia.

HeyGen, a Loom, and a filmed PM — editorial only

Those names sit in the same “AI changelog video” search. HeyGen is the usual Synthesia alternative in reviewer write-ups: faster custom-avatar turnaround, punchier social presenters, less of the changelog or What’s New shelf. A Loom or a native screen recorder is the right tool when you do not need a face. A filmed PM is the right tool when the face has to be that person and the file will not be recut. None of them have a live hop on this page, so there is no Try button. If you need the shipping-notes cut we can route, it is Synthesia.