Generate AI avatar videos from text with HeyGen and upload to YouTube
# Create Video with HeyGen and Upload to YouTube
## Overview
This workflow automates the process of creating an AI-generated avatar video using **HeyGen** and directly uploading it to **YouTube**. By sending text input via a webhook, the workflow generates a video with a chosen avatar and voice, waits for processing, downloads the completed file, and publishes it to your configured YouTube channel.
This template is ideal for automating **content creation pipelines**, such as daily news updates, explainer videos, or narrated scripts, without manual intervention.
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## Use Case
- **Marketing teams**: Automate explainer or promotional video creation from text input.
- **Content creators**: Generate AI-based avatar videos for YouTube directly from scripts.
- **Organizations**: Streamline video generation for announcements, product updates, or tutorials.
Instead of recording and editing videos manually, this template allows you to **feed text content into a webhook** and have a ready-to-publish video on your YouTube channel within minutes.
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## How It Works
1. **Webhook Trigger**: The workflow starts when text content and a title are sent to the webhook endpoint.
2. **Code Node**: Cleans and formats the input text by removing unnecessary newlines and returns it with the title.
3. **Set Node**: Prepares HeyGen parameters, including API key, avatar ID, voice ID, title, and content.
4. **HeyGen API Call**: Sends the request to generate a video with the provided avatar and voice.
5. **Wait Node**: Pauses briefly to allow HeyGen to process the video.
6. **Video Status Check**: Polls HeyGen to check whether the video has finished processing.
7. **Conditional Check**: If the video is still processing, it loops back to wait. Once complete, it moves forward.
8. **Download Node**: Retrieves the generated video file.
9. **YouTube Upload Node**: Uploads the video to your YouTube channel with the provided title and default settings.
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## Requirements
- **HeyGen API Key**: Required to authenticate with HeyGen’s video generation API.
- **HeyGen Avatar & Voice IDs**: Unique identifiers for the avatar and voice you want to use.
- **YouTube OAuth2 Credentials**: Connected account for video uploads.
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## Setup Instructions
1. **Import the Workflow**: Download and import this template JSON into your n8n instance.
2. **Configure the Webhook**: Copy the webhook URL from n8n and use it to send requests with `title` and `content`.
- Example payload:
```json
{
"title": "Tech News Update",
"content": "Today’s top story is about AI advancements in video generation..."
}
```
3. **Add HeyGen Credentials**:
- Insert your HeyGen API key in the **Set Node** under `x-api-key`.
- Provide your chosen `avatar_id` and `voice_id` from HeyGen.
- To find your HeyGen `avatar_id` and `voice_id`, first retrieve your API key from the [HeyGen dashboard](https://app.heygen.com/). With this key, you can use HeyGen’s API to look up available options: run a GET request to `https://api.heygen.com/v2/avatars` to see a list of avatars along with their `avatar_id`, and then run a GET request to `https://api.heygen.com/v2/voices` to see a list of voices with their `voice_id`. Once you’ve identified the avatar and voice you want to use, copy their IDs and paste them into the **Set HeyGen Parameters** node in your n8n workflow.
4. **Set Up YouTube Credentials**:
- Connect your YouTube account in n8n using OAuth2.
- Ensure proper permissions are granted for video uploads.
- To set up YouTube credentials in n8n, go to the [Google Cloud Console](https://console.cloud.google.com/), enable **YouTube Data API v3**, and create an **OAuth Client ID** (choose *Web Application* and add the redirect URI: `https://<your-n8n-domain>/rest/oauth2-credential/callback`). Copy the **Client ID** and **Client Secret**, then in n8n create new credentials for **YouTube OAuth2 API**. Enter the values, authenticate with your Google account to grant upload permissions, and test the connection. Once complete, the YouTube node will be ready to upload videos automatically.
5. **Activate the Workflow**: Once configured, enable the workflow. Sending a POST request to the webhook with title and content will trigger the full process.
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## Notes
- You can adjust **video dimensions** (default: 1280x720) in the HeyGen API request.
- Processing time may vary depending on script length. The workflow uses a **wait-and-poll loop** until the video is ready.
- Default YouTube upload category is **Education (28)** and region is **US**. These can be customized in the YouTube node.
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