FaceEmote gives your characters a voice, a lip-synced mouth (built in — no extra plugins needed), and a face that acts the line. Seven setups cover everything from a single drop-in node to fully offline playback of your own recorded audio. Compare them below, or answer a few quick questions and we’ll point you at the right one.
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Speak
One node does it all: TTS voice, audio, timed emotions, and FaceEmote’s built-in lip sync — no add-ons.
Online · TTSCore plugin
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Stream + your lip-sync plugin
FaceEmote streams the voice & emotions; a lip-sync plugin you already own drives the mouth.
Online · TTSCore plugin
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OVR · full clip
TTS finishes, then Meta’s OVRLipSync analyzes the audio as it plays. Simplest OVR wiring.
Online · TTSOVR add-on
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OVR · streaming
OVRLipSync analyzes chunk-by-chunk — the mouth starts moving on the first TTS chunk.
Online · TTSOVR add-on
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Performance replay
Bake a TTS line once in the editor, then replay it anywhere — no network, no keys, no cost.
Offline replayCore plugin
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Pre-recorded + OVR
Your own audio files or SoundWave assets, OVR-analyzed mouth, hand-placed emotions.
OfflineOVR add-on
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Pre-recorded + your lip-sync plugin
Your audio, mouthed by a lip-sync plugin you already own; FaceEmote layers emotions & life on top.
OfflineCore plugin
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| Requirements | |||||||
| TTS key & network at runtime | ● | ● | ● | ● | –editor bake time only | – | – |
| OVRLipSync + FaceEmoteOVR both free add-ons | – | –your own plugin instead | ● | ● | – | ● | –your own plugin instead |
| Editor prep beforehand | – | – | – | – | ●bake once in PIE (runtime capture also works) | –just import or load your audio | –just import or load your audio |
| Blueprint wiring effort | Lowone node | Medium | Low–Medium | Medium | Low | Mediumemotions placed by hand | Mediumemotions placed by hand; wiring per your plugin |
| Playback & timing | |||||||
| Starts speaking before the full line is generated | ✓first chunk | ✓first chunk | ✕waits for the whole line | ✓first chunk | ✓instant — no TTS wait | ✓instant — no TTS wait | ✓instant — no TTS wait |
| Works fully offline at runtime | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Works in shipping builds | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓replay ships; baking is editor-side | ✓ | ✓ |
| Uses your own recorded audio WAV · MP3 · FLAC · OGG · Opus · Bink | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕replays its own captured lines | ✓files, buffers, or SoundWave assets | ✓whatever your plugin accepts; FaceEmote’s PCM nodes can feed it |
| Per-line runtime cost | TTS API usage | TTS API usage | TTS API usage | TTS API usage | Free | Free | Free |
| Facial performance | |||||||
| Timed emotions from [tags], automatic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓baked into the asset | ✕place emotions by hand | ✕place emotions by hand |
| Word events & live text highlighting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕no word timestamps in plain audio | ✕no word timestamps in plain audio |
| Mouth driven by FaceEmote’s built-in 15-viseme lip sync is included — no add-ons needed | FaceEmote built-in lip synctext-driven | Your plugin’s audio analysis | OVR audio analysis | OVR audio analysis | FaceEmote built-in lip syncbaked visemes | OVR audio analysis | Your plugin’s audio analysis |
| Non-English lip sync | ✕built-in lip sync is English-tuned | ✓depends on your plugin | ✓ | ✓ | ✕baked from the English lip sync | ✓ | ✓depends on your plugin |
| Blinks, fidgets & organic motion idle drift, micro-gestures, natural transitions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Built-in lip sync: FaceEmote ships with its own 15-viseme, text-driven lip sync — Speak and Performance replay use it out of the box with zero add-ons. The OVR and third-party setups swap it for audio analysis when you want audio-accurate or non-English mouths; everything else FaceEmote does (emotions, blinks, organic motion) stays the same.
OVR setups: OVRLipSync is Meta’s free audio-analysis lip-sync plugin; the FaceEmoteOVR bridge connects it to FaceEmote. Both are free add-ons on top of the core plugin.
Audio extraction: FaceEmote includes built-in nodes to load PCM from audio files or buffers (WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, OGG Opus, Bink), decode SoundWave assets at runtime, and save PCM back to WAV — no third-party importer plugin needed.
Mix & match: these setups coexist in one project — many games use runtime TTS for dynamic conversation and Performance replay or pre-recorded audio for scripted scenes.