HeyGen photo avatar renders without a reference look (Aug 2026)

HeyGen's changelog for August 2026 says an Avatar V photo avatar can now render directly from the photo when its group has no eligible digital-twin or curated reference look, instead of the request being rejected. The fallback applies when reference_look_id is omitted and no eligible look can be picked automatically. motion_prompt still needs an animation reference. On Sume the photo path is two steps: create an avatar from the photo, then render by handle.

What did HeyGen change?

The entry, titled "Avatar V Photo Fallback", says video creation no longer rejects a photo avatar that lacks an eligible reference look. It renders from the photo. It adds that motion_prompt still requires an animation reference for Avatar V photo avatars, and that you should supply an eligible reference look when you need prompted body motion or hand gestures.

So the change removes a rejection; it does not add motion control for photo-only avatars.

How does the photo path work on Sume?

Post the photo to POST /v1/avatar-1.0/generate with an avatar_handle and input.type: "photo". The image_url must be a fetchable public HTTPS image: localhost, private-network, non-HTTPS URLs and non-image responses are rejected before generation.

Poll the job until it completes, then render with POST /v1/avatar-1.0/talking-video using that handle.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/avatar-1.0/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: avatar-image-001" \
  -d '{
    "avatar_handle": "reference_presenter",
    "input": {"type": "photo", "image_url": "https://example.com/reference.png"}
  }'

Which should I pick?

The choice comes down to the motion you need and how you reuse the avatar.

• You want a quick render from one photo and no motion prompt: both routes do this.
• You need prompted hand gestures on a photo avatar: HeyGen's entry says that needs a reference look.
• You want the avatar reused by a short name in code: Sume stores a handle normalized without @.
• Check that the avatar is ready before submitting a render on Sume, or the request returns avatar_not_ready.