Problem Getting Lip Synch to Work in AS

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:15 am

0.o

Gentlemen, I am not a moron. Please refrain from the snarkiness.

I followed everything as I read and was told. And it STILL doesn't work.

I will simply figure this out myself.

Digilusionist · Post by **Digilusionist** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:35 am

I figured out the problem.

Synth, your response was correct. However, I took that to mean that the names of the images files within the hard drive folder needed to be named exactly the same; and they were.

What I didn't get was that you were telling me to make sure the names of the image files within the AS Project Layers window were name exactly the same. I had no idea that AS names items within layer with their extensions attached.

So, for anyone else who has had this simple to resolve problem, that's your answer.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:42 am

I'm glad you got it sorted out.

Wasn't trying to be snarky. I really missed that bit in Vern's post too. Appearantly I'm not as funny as I sound in my head.

...Who said that?!

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:49 am

I did the same thing the first time importing image layers as phonemes. Sorry if it sounded "snarky" it wasn't meant to be... thus the...

----

To be fair however, your attitude (which is why someone might get a tad snarky in these situations) about having done everything correctly and trying every option and also by not reading the responses or the help file carefully can lead to... uh... inappropriate sarcasm.

-vern

rogermate · Post by **rogermate** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:38 am

I downloaded your sample as i'm at the learning stage for papagayo and AS Pro. You probably already know this, but for other learners: I'm pretty sure that animators will usually have just the mouth in the switch layer, and keep the rest of the character in a parent layer. That way the head , body, arms etc, can be animated separately from the mouth actions.

Also, it seems that any change to the name of a switch layer item causes all of the key frames set when the .DAT file is imported to be lost. Is that behavior intended?

How do you keep from losing your work if you put in additional keyframes for additional switch layers for extreme accents or mumbling, having the tongue wave, etc?

Digilusionist wrote:I figured out the problem.

Synth, your response was correct. However, I took that to mean that the names of the images files within the hard drive folder needed to be named exactly the same; and they were.

What I didn't get was that you were telling me to make sure the names of the image files within the AS Project Layers window were name exactly the same. I had no idea that AS names items within layer with their extensions attached.

So, for anyone else who has had this simple to resolve problem, that's your answer.

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:58 am

At least in version 5.6 I don't know what you're talking about -- you can edit the name of the switch layer that you loaded in a .DAT file to, and you can add additional layers to that switch layer all without losing the keys already there.

I just tried it and it worked fine for me. And truth be told, I don't know why it would work any other way.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:00 pm

rogermate wrote:How do you keep from losing your work if you put in additional keyframes for additional switch layers for extreme accents or mumbling, having the tongue wave, etc?

First off, don't change the names of switch layers AFTER they are animated. Switch layer key frames are based on the names of the layers. If you change the names you "break" the animation.

However if you add new layers to a switch and you use papagayo just reimport the dat file. Actually adding new layers with different names should not effect switch layer keys. They are based on the layer name so as long as new layers don't use the same names and you aren't changing the names of other layers the keys shouldn't be effected.

If you change the names of or delete layers of a switch that contain animation, those keys are not "gone" they are just "hidden". If you create a new layer or change a layer name back to the original one the keys will return. Those keys are still in the AS file but only referenced by the name of the missing layer. Bring that layer back and the keys return.

-vern

mkelley · Post by **mkelley** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:06 pm

It occurred to me you didn't mean what you said but rather was wondering why, if you changed the name of a sub-layer in a switch layer, that the parent key would no longer work.

That would make sense -- if your key in your switch layer was set to, say "AI" and you changed the name of that layer to "AI2" then of course the key wouldn't work anymore. You can't do that. However, you can as I said rename the parent layer as well as add additional layers to the switch all without affecting existing keys.

If you want to do what I think you're suggesting (which is to have multiple "AI" expressions) then just dupe the layer. That way the parent key will still refer to the correct one, and you can add whatever changes you want to the lower one.

Also be aware the .DAT file produced by Papagayo is a simple text file that can be edited any way you'd like and then loaded in. So if you want it to point to different "AI" expressions you can first edit it in any sort of text editor (a search and replace would work wonders).

rogermate · Post by **rogermate** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:08 pm

mkelley wrote:It occurred to me you didn't mean what you said

My misinterpretation of the User Interface of AS. If any sub layer of in the layer pane is active, then the Timeline window changes and the keyframes are no longer visible. Also, if you press play the audio still works but the main window does not preview the animation but just displays the active layer.

A simple beginners error, thought I'd explain it just in case another newbie runs into the same problem.