> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://shoppad.gitbook.io/yedric/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://shoppad.gitbook.io/yedric/going-further/build-character.md). # Build a Character Build character generates a custom mascot for your widget with AI. You describe a character in a sentence or two, or upload the logo or mascot you already have, and Yedric draws it in eight different styles. Pick the one you like and it animates that exact character into the looping clips, launcher icons, and chat avatar the widget uses, all drawn in the style you picked. The result is a complete set, made for the places your widget actually shows a character: * A **placeholder image**, shown whenever no clip is playing * Four **looping pose clips**: Waving, Thinking, Thumbs up, and Presenting * A **beacon icon** and its hover state, for the launcher button * A **chat avatar**, shown next to the assistant's replies If you already have your own clips and icons, you do not need this tab. You can enter their URLs by hand in the Mascot section of [Widget](/yedric/getting-started/widget.md). ## Where to find it Open your assistant, click **Widget** in the left sidebar, then the **Build character** tab. It sits alongside Configure, Preview, and Install. *** ## Before you start Two things are worth settling first, because both affect what gets generated. ### A Google AI Studio key Generation runs on your organization's own Google AI Studio key, and Google bills your account directly. Add a key under **Organization** > **AI Service Keys** (see [Organizations](/yedric/going-further/organizations.md)). The Build character tab links you there if no key is set. Image generation has no free tier on Google's side, so a key belonging to a project without billing enabled is refused. Yedric checks this for you before a build starts and tells you what to do about it, rather than letting eight styles fail one at a time. Use **Check again** after you fix the key or paste a new one. ### Your colors Your character is composited onto the colors from the Configure tab, so set those before you generate: * **Panel background** is what the placeholder image and the clips are built against. * **Primary / accent** is the tile color behind the beacon icon. * **Assistant avatar background** is the color behind the chat avatar in the conversation. Step 1 of the tab shows all three as swatches, with a link back to Configure if you want to change them. *** ## Step 1: Describe your character A sentence or two is plenty. "A friendly orange robot with big eyes" or "a talking giraffe wearing a bow tie" is the right level of detail. The more specific you are about color, shape, and mood, the closer the first round will land. **Starting from your own artwork.** If you already have a logo or mascot, upload it here (PNG, JPEG, or WebP, up to 10 MB). When you do, the first of the eight candidates becomes **True to your image**: your artwork cleaned up and posed for the frame, rather than reinterpreted. The other seven are still restyles, so you can compare a faithful version against fresh takes side by side. Click **Show me some looks** to start. *** ## Step 2: Choose a style Yedric draws eight candidates, one per style: 3D render, Flat vector, Monochromatic, Soft & tactile, Storybook, Retro pixel, Line art, and Paper cut-out. They arrive one at a time, and the full set takes about two minutes. You do not have to wait for all eight. As soon as you see one you like, select it and click **Create videos & icons**. The candidates still queued behind it stop generating, which saves you both the wait and the cost. Any style you skipped keeps a regenerate control on its tile, so you can still draw it later if you change your mind. Everything after this point is built from the image you pick here. If you edit the description after the candidates are drawn, the tab points out that they no longer match what the box says. Generate a new set of looks to use the new wording. *** ## Step 3: Videos and icons Creating the full set takes a few minutes. You can leave the page while it runs, and the tab picks the job back up when you come back to it. Tiles fill in as each piece finishes. Anything the model could not produce shows **Error** with the reason available on hover, and the rest of the set is still usable. The beacon icon, its hover state, and the chat avatar follow the style you chose in Step 2, so a pixel-art or paper cut-out character stays that way in the launcher rather than coming back as a different render. As the tab's introduction notes, generating a full set generally costs USD$3-5 in Google AI Studio credits, billed to your own key. Video is most of it, so choosing a style early is the single biggest saving available to you. *** ## Step 4: Redo a single piece If one clip or icon did not come out the way you wanted, you do not have to rebuild the whole set. Hover the tile and click the regenerate control. You can add a short note describing the change, for example "a bigger smile" or "less green", or leave it blank to simply try again. The beacon icon and its hover state are always regenerated together, since they are the same button in two states and should stay a matching pair. *** ## Step 5: Make it live **Show preview** docks a real widget next to the page with your new character in place. Nothing is saved yet, so this is the safe way to see the character working in context before you commit to it. **Save widget** publishes the character to this assistant. It turns mascot videos on, sets the placeholder image, the four pose clips, the beacon icon and its hover state, and the chat avatar. It also sets the panel background back to the color the clips were generated against, so there is no visible edge behind your character. Two things to know about saving: * If you changed the panel background after generating, saving restores the color the clips were built on. To keep the new color instead, create the videos again. * If you regenerate a piece on a character you had already saved, save again. Until you do, your widget keeps showing the previous version. Like any other widget change, a saved character reaches your site within about two minutes. See [Seeing your changes](/yedric/getting-started/widget.md#seeing-your-changes) if you want it immediately. *** ## Reusing a character across assistants Once a character has a complete set of videos and icons, it shows up under **Reuse a character** at the top of the Build character tab, for every assistant in your organization. Pick its tile and you go straight to saving, with nothing to generate and nothing to pay for. This is the easiest way to keep one mascot consistent across several products, and it is worth remembering before you describe a new character from scratch. *** ## Building a character before you have an account You can try the builder without signing in at [yedric.ai/build](https://yedric.ai/build). It works the same way and runs on your own Google AI Studio key. The character you make there comes with you when you create an account, so nothing is lost between trying it and using it.