A live stream is the one format where a creator cannot be in two places. We build ReelMint, and Mint Live is the feature that lets a character you made go live on YouTube or TikTok, hosted by the AI in its own voice, reading and answering the chat, while you are asleep or at work. Mint Stage goes one further: a cast, a set and a schedule, and a show that writes, films and streams itself day after day. Here is what it does, what it costs, and the rules we learned the hard way.
Mint Live: one character, one session
- Prepare the character once. The studio renders its talking and idle loops from the character's look and voice. This is a one-time cost of a few minutes; an unprepared character can still stream as a still picture.
- Start the session. You set a maximum length, and credits for that length are held; the unused part comes back when the stream ends. The price per minute is shown first.
- It hosts. The AI reads the live chat, answers in the character's voice with synced lips, keeps a transcript, and you can put words in its mouth from your phone at any time.
- End it whenever you like, or let the length run out.
Mint Stage: a show that airs itself
Pick a cast; the first character is the lead on day one and the lead rotates daily. Describe the show in a sentence and the assistant writes the configuration. Each program buys two songs, a set with the cast on it and three dance clips, on top of the minutes streamed, and the whole monthly figure is shown before you save. A 24-hour music day is on the order of 1,600 credits, which is a real number and the reason the quote comes first.
The rules we learned
- Never loop pre-recorded videos as a "live" on TikTok. TikTok flags a replay of the same clips as a restriction. A show has to be new content: that is what the songs, set and dance clips are for.
- YouTube is the easier first platform. Its live API is forgiving and the chat is slower, so the host keeps up.
- Give the host a personality in two lines, including what it will not talk about. It will be asked.
- Watch the first ten minutes. The session view shows a preview frame and the transcript every half minute. If the character is answering too slowly, shorten its replies.
What it costs
Credits per minute streamed, plus the one-time character preparation, plus, for a show, the programs. Every figure is quoted before anything starts, and the held credits for unused minutes are returned. Plans start at Lite, $9.99 a month for 800 credits; a nightly show wants a larger plan, and the quote tells you which.
Build the character for free first
You can claim a free talking-photo example with no card on the examples page, which is the same face-and-voice technology the host uses, to see whether the lip sync and the voice are good enough for your audience. The Mint Live tutorial and the Mint Stage tutorial, one minute each, show a session on screen.
