CrazyTalk 5

[mkelley]

Gary,

Yes, you noticed that as well -- what I've found (and I worked with the program for months) was that the examples they post have been worked on quite a bit in order to look right. The actual algorithm they have for parsing an audio file isn't very good (but when you stop and think about it it's very hard to do).

If you want to spend the time tweaking the timeline you can get good results but it is VERY labor intensive (particularly since the timeline is crap -- you can't zoom in very well nor scrub the audio. Yipes! Without being to scrub it literally takes weeks to get something to look professional).

I suggested to them quite early in beta (I was on the beta for 6) that they allow data like from Papagayo into the program -- that would have improved it *greatly* and allowed for multiple heads quite easily. But they weren't too interested in changing their basic timeline stuff.

I still think it's a great program for kids or those who want to whip out a quick talking head for their loved ones (birthday, special occasion, etc.). But it's not really for serious animation work.

[human]

I still think it's a great program for kids or those who want to whip out a quick talking head for their loved ones (birthday, special occasion, etc.). But it's not really for serious animation work.

All right, I welcome this balanced view regarding lip synch and I agree people ought to weigh this discussion completely in that light.

Truth is, I wasn't paying much attention to the lip sync quality. Lip sync isn't relevant to my script, which uses a voiceover instead.

I think you and I share a similar trait in conversation style. Knowing that conciseness and clarity are so important in communication, we are both capable of going overboard while making a perfectly valid point in a manner which is too simplistic (dismissive).

Your post makes it sound as though the program isn't worth having because it's too artistically risky to do an animation consisting solely of a "talking head."

Well, maybe it is too risky (and maybe it's not, if you're a consummate storyteller), but your conclusion doesn't follow from your premise.

It's a little bit like saying that you shouldn't have a scanner, because animations should not consist of too many still images.

Gary, on the other hand pointed out that while the lip synch is less than desirable, the ability to portray emotions is "cool."

So there you have it, folks. You can keep doing Roger Rabbit toons where the eyeballs jump out of the character's skull, or you can try to get enough artistic horsepower to animate a shift in mood flickering across someone's face.

I guess that's the point I was trying to make--no more and no less.

[human]

You can keep doing Roger Rabbit toons where the eyeballs jump out of the character's skull, or you can try to get enough artistic horsepower to animate a shift in mood flickering across someone's face.

After all this time, success at last.

I seem to be a very very slow learner, but over the years I've been refining my both style and my attempts to do a likeness.

I seem to have gotten there just in time to take advantage of Crazy Talk 5.

[speedking4]

Human thank you so much for posting.I have not been this excited about a program since finding anime studio . I agree 100 percent that anyone working solo in anime studio can benifit using this program to dramatically increase expression,emotion,and lip syncing . It saves so much time as compared to papayago.

[chucky]

Hmm all very interesting, but I think it's easier and faster to forget the third party lip synch and just use anime. I actually tested this theory by racing someone to finish lipsynch on a character talking for about a minute or something. Of course there was no head turning in the test, so nothing complicated.
I used anime straight out and my interstate buddy used 'papayaya'. Well the result was , anime took the flag ( so proud) whilst the wooden spoon went to papayoyo with the accompanying clarion of aaaarrrghh it's not even in synch.....what the? and a few choice swear words.
So I suggest to enjoy the process more just forget papagayo and just use the timeline and good old left click right click.
Cant speak for crazy talk but if all you get is a talking head, then I've got to agree with mkelly.
Hey human that 'spartan' lookin' character looks good though how did you make it- anime?

[madrobot]

Chucky's right.
(I got the wooden spoon )

Papayago is fun to fiddle about with, as an interesting exercise. Ultimately more of a fun toy than practical tool IMO. Especially when dealing with accents Papayago was left behind. I wouldn't even recommend it for roughing out dialogue, as in the anime timeline you have the WAV there and can see your phonemes.

Lip syncing directly in anime cut out the middle man, I had everything there in front of me, and could tweak right there in the app. I think lip syncing this more direct way encourages better lip sync and attention to detail (again, IMHO.)

[jhbmw007]

Hey just wanted to say that you can use a crazytalk created head animation and put it onto a anime studio animated body. Don't forget that anime studio can accept .mov files with transparency. I don't think crazytalk can output transparent movie files but you can put a solid background behind the character and alpha it out in a video editing program.

I too stumbled across crazy talk a while ago and thought it was cool, but after a while it does prove more gimmicky than anything else. But, as Human said, no one's figured out a way to create a similar effect in AS (yet).