Problem Getting Lip Synch to Work in AS

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:03 pm

Hi!

Now that I know how to create Switch layers, I have assigned a Papagayo .dat file to it.

I have read Ch 24 in the Official Guide. Yet, after doing the steps, I still do not see anything happening.

Sorry if this is a lame question.

I double-checked to make sure the .dat file was in proper format:

MohoSwitch1
1 rest
16 rest
17 etc
18 AH
20 WQ
21 MBP
23 EH
24 etc
25 E
27 etc
28 AH
30 MBP
32 etc
35 MBP

and so on.

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:22 pm

I reread the manual, and it mentioned something about loading the audio file through the Data Source button as well as through the Import > SOundtrack method.

Now, I see something happening. The phonemes don't match, though, so I'm moving on to investigate how to correct this problem.

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:31 pm

Okay. Yet another issue:

After I load in the audio file through the Source Data button, the keys on the time line shift / change radically. The lip synch no longer is in synch.

Ideas?

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:33 pm

Do you have a switch layer with all of the layers named as described? You import the .dat into the switch layer. It should place keys matching the layer names of the switch from the dat file. The names must be EXACT.

These are the standard set of 10 phonemes that Papagayo uses.

rest
etc
AI
WQ
MBP
E
O
U
FV
L

I noticed in your code snippet some phonemes that aren't part of the standard Papagayo set up. Just checking.

EDIT:

If you load just the sound file as the lip sync source data it uses the amplitude to cycle through the switch layers in order. This is not using the .dat file that papagayo produces.

-vern

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:33 pm

It just sounds like you're not loading in the .DAT file properly.

Doubleclick the switch layer, and go to Switch and then do load data and choose the .DAT file. Not the audio file, the .DAT file. That should do it.

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:37 pm

I've done it both ways. Nothing happens when I only load the .dat file. I hear the .wav file, but the character doesn't appear to move her lips.

I do get animation when I load the .wav file through the Data Source button. I get lip movement, but the problem is that the lip movement no longer synchs with the audio. Plus, the key frames are altered. Additional ones, it seems, are added and shifted on the time line.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:48 pm

Digilusionist wrote:I've done it both ways. Nothing happens when I only load the .dat file. I hear the .wav file, but the character doesn't appear to move her lips.

I do get animation when I load the .wav file through the Data Source button. I get lip movement, but the problem is that the lip movement no longer synchs with the audio. Plus, the key frames are altered. Additional ones, it seems, are added and shifted on the time line.

Loading the sound file as the data source is NOT using the keys from the papagayo DAT file. It is just putting in keys for the switch layer based on the amplitude of the wav file. It "cycles" them. The louder highest amplitude of the audio uses the first switch, then goes down the list. It has NOTHING to do with Papagayo or the dat file. They aren't "linked". the audio wav file and the dat file have no relationship to each other in AS.

Also if the FPS is different for the Papagayo file and the AS file the dat file keys won't match. Check the papagayo file for the FPS. If it isn't the same as the AS file you need to either change the fps in the papagayo file and redo the lip synch or change the fps of the AS file.

-vern

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:56 pm

Vern's right. You need to use the standard phonemes used by Papagayo unless you define custon ones in Papagayo while you're making your lip-sync .dat file.

You can always open the .dat file in a regular text editor and check, or manually change, the phoneme names to make sure they match you're switch layers.

As long as these match, selecting the source data file and soundtrack will show the proper result.

::^What he said.

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:06 am

The FPS are both 24.

Like I said, I have loaded the .dat file only, and have seen nothing happen. It wasn't until I experimented by loading the .wav file as a data source that I saw the lips move.

So, if the FPS match, and I load the .dat file only, and the phoneme names correspond to the Papagayo .dat file text, what am I doing wrong?

I just looked at the .dat file and the custom text names are there. One thing, the file type is Video CD Movie instead of .dat. I added the .dat suffix to the file name. Still identified as Video CD Movie. Could that be the problem?

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:15 am

Not the file type -- that's just a file association thing.

I suggest you post a sample -- both the file and the .DAT and someone here will straighten you out (actually, to be complete I'd post the audio as well -- zip up the whole thing).

Loading in a .DAT file into a phoneme switch layer is about the no-brainiest thing there is to do. I can't imagine what you're doing wrong.

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:17 am

Oh, one more stab at it -- you say the switch layers match the loaded phonemes, right? Do they match in case as well? Because I'm almost positive the switch layer loading is case sensitive (I could be off here, but I've always made sure the case matched).

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:37 am

Here are the files in a zip file: http://www.eboncourt.com/balrog/DigiLusionist.zip

Thanks you guys for the assist so far. I appreciate it!

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:46 am

Ahhhh, leave out the '.jpg' extention. The layer's name must match the Papagayo phoneme name exactly.

I've never used image layers as phonemes before, so I would have never though of that problem when importing images.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:05 am

synthsin75 wrote: I've never used image layers as phonemes before, so I would have never though of that problem when importing images.

Silly me, I thought saying "The names must be EXACT" would have been enough.

-vern

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:19 am

Maybe it should have been:

The names must be EXACT. Cause I missed it too.