How do I make a Switch Data File?

[Toontoonz]

How do I make a Switch Data File?

When one double-clicks the Switch layer in the Layers panel, and in the dialog that opens up, one goes to the Switch tab, presses "Source Data" and select a file.

On that window it says one can select (besides an audio file which I understand how works) a "Switch data file". How does one make a "Switch data file" as the Source Data? Perhaps I am misunderstanding something.

I read the section in the Manual: Layer types: Switch, but I must have missed something because it is not clear to me.

And in what instance(s) would one want to have a Switch layer in an animation go to a ""Switch data file"? Why not just create a Switch folder layer in the animation one is working on?

Any tips or insight into this would help.
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Also in the manual it states:
"Switch layers have a feature that allows for "smooth" switching. To use this feature, all the sub-layers need to be Vector layers, and they need to have the same number of control points. Then, when switching, Moho can smoothly transition between sub-layers. To enable this feature, turn on "Interpolate sub-layers" in the Switch layer's properties dialog. An example of using this feature is included in one of the mouth sets mentioned above."

What is the likely hood that each layer would have the exact same amount of control points? - and I have to count all control points to make sure they each have 121 (or whatever) each? This would only be feasible on very basic shapes, correct?
For example, a switch layer of a hand with one finger pointing and a switch layer of a hand with 4 fingers curled out can not have the same number of control points.

[nobudget]

Switch data is generated by programs like Pamela or Magpie for lip-sync mouth animations (never tried it but that's what it's for I think).

The interpolation is a bit like morphing actually. And you need the same number of points for that. It can be useful for mouth animation, open/closed or eyes. Or maybe clouds that alter shape. It will often be with simple shapes, but it can be as complex as you can handle as a designer really. And combine several switch layer groups to create even more complex effects. A mouth talking with eyes in a "normal" "angry" "happy" state, an eyebrow switch layer etc.

Good luck,

Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com

[7feet]

The most common uses for switch data files seems to have always been, in Moho at least, to control mouth shapes. Usually output from programs like Pamela or Magpie. I don't recall if they would work for Moho, but I've heard of some software that would also allow you to output switch data that you could use to adjust facial expressions and such based on and in sync with the speaking parts. Someone on the board had talked about writing a program that would output separate (dialogue) switch data files for lips, teeth and tongue based on a spoken audio file. That would make some mighty nice lipsync.

I also often use Switches to create different eye shapes for blinks, expressions, etc, usually set up as a mask so I can plunk the pupils behind the switch layer. Never found a cause to use a data file for this, but who knows. Maxic had whipped up a script(http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=792) that would output a switch data file based on the keys you had set up for a Switch layer. I can see at least one extremely useful purpose for this. Say you set up and animated a character, using switch layers for the mouth, eyes, hands, whatever else you can think of. Now you decide that you would like to make another shot of the same character, that you would like to smoothly intercut with the first, but with the character drawn from a different angle. Instead of painstakingly trying to match the action of all those switch keyframes, export them from the first shot and import them into the second. Save yourself hours of work.

So, basically, a switch data file is just a list of where keyframes should go. And it's a simple file format. If you felt the urge you could make one up in the worlds simplest text editor. Its a list, where each line gives a frame number and the name of the sublayer you are supposed to switch to at that point. Try getting a copy of Pamela, it's written by a member here, free, and pretty dang cool. That should help you get a better handle on what switch data files useful for. But you don't have to use them. They just make pain-in-the-butt tasks like lip sync a lot easier. But you don't need them, you can do the work by hand in Moho for most things.

As far as the Switch Interpolation - Yeah, I've actually gone through the hassle of trying to make drawings that had the exact same number of points, and it bites. And doesn't usually work right. What does work just fine is to make your first drawing, making sure that you have enough points in it for the next part. Which is to make as many duplicates of that sublayer as you need using the button with the red plus sign on the top of the Layers window. Then move the points around for the different shapes you need. They all automatically have the same number of points, set up in a way that Moho is pretty happy with. It's the only way I've gotten it to work succesfully, but it really does work nicely. If you made an original hand where the individual fingers and palm were separate shapes on the same vector layer, set up in the right shape depth order, you could probably make it work pretty well. I'll see if I whip up an example of that for you. Think of it like any other point animation on a single layer, except that you get to set up a few stock positions for the points. If you have a point in one place at frame one, and move it to another spot at frame 20, when you play back the animation it moves smoothly from one place to another. Same concept here, on a more industrial scale. But still the same idea.

Hope that helps a bit.

--Brian

[Toontoonz]

Thanks for help.

I have tried using the Switch layer within an animation to switch between different mouths and eyes and it works fine.

I was curious as to see why one would want to do it in a Switch data file outside the layers of the current animation. It seems to be a bit much.
Perhaps there is the thought that one could make a master set of mouth shapes, hands, eyes and reference them for different animations. But when is the mouth shape in Male Character 1 like Female Character 2?. I guess if they were basic enough that would work.
But then why not just save the Switch file as a Moho file and import it into the current animation (as a Moho object) as needed?

I guess I would like to see it documented and in action so I can understand the value of the Switch date file.

[nobudget]

If I'm understanding your question correctly you assume switch data involves the actual shapes, it does not. It merely tells Moho in a text file which layer to use. For speech you'd make a mouth with "o" "e" "l" positions, as much as is required. For a male or female mouth you design different mouths. You then tell the lip-sync program what layer is what sound and it can automatically create the right sequence of "switching" in the timeline. So the external program does not require specific graphics. I hope that makes sense (and is correct).

For more information look here: http://www-personal.monash.edu.au/~myle ... index.html

Good luck,

Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com

[Toontoonz]

Thanks for the reply - that clears it up more.
And basically says to me forget ever using that function.

All I see is code, code, code writing - I draw, can´t do the code thing.
(Which is what turned me off Flash.)

As for Pamela I downloaded and played around with it but could not get it to work. It was lots of time setting it up (seemed more time to set up Pamela than I spent drawing the clip) and then when I went to click on the "Phoenetic Breakdown" nothing happened. So Pamela was abandoned.

As an artist (only) I wish the people that create this things would keep in mind the simplemindedness of people like me who just want to plug in some values or data and let the computer figure it out.
For example, in the Particles section of Moho there is a form that lists all the Parameters one can plug in to adjust the particle; i.e. number particles, velocity, angle, etc, etc. Now I am sure this could be made a "do it yourself write the code for it" animator, but it is not - it is a form (complicated for sure) that all I have to do is put in numbers or click boxes and something will happen.

When in Moho using a Switch layer it says use the "Switch data File" and this has to be done completely outside of Moho with a different (possibly complicated code writing) program that has no immediate interaction with the animation work I am currently doing (which means going back and forth, back and forth tweaking and re-tweaking it), then as I see it now it is worthless to me. Mainly because I am too dumb to understand it or get it to work.

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In this age of animation where it is drawn in one country for one language and then shown in another country with another language and the foreign-language voices don´t match the mouth movements I guess I will just stick to the lipsyncing as outlined in tutorial 5.1 for right now.

I guess I should also try out Magpie before totally closing the window on using phoenetic lipsyncing.

[nobudget]

I'm also very non-technical and the lip-sync parts I've done so far I did in Moho. Create switch layers and key the right one where I need it with a soundtrack as a guide. Not perfect but it works. I draw the most important mouth positions and choose the most fitting. I use the interpolation but in just one or two frames so the mouth movements are smooth but not "drifting". But you need to plan the mouth in terms of points. That means hiding the teeth point behind the lips in some layers and showing in others. Thick outlines usually do the trick covering that up.

There are several ways to get where you want, it's good when software allows the user to decide which one is best.

Good luck,

Reindert.
www.nobudgetvideo.com

[Toontoonz]

I have been successful with the lipsyncing I have done so far using Moho. I use the technique as described in Tutorial 5.1 - with a Switch layer and multiple mouth positions. This is a clever way to do mouth movement and works in most instances.

Being new to Moho, I am curious in exploring all the functions and possiblities of Moho....however, when script writing is involved...well..I have never had any success at that.
However, I will try Magpie lipsyncing program and see how that works. It seems to be used by a lot of professionals.

[Lost Marble]

All I see is code, code, code writing - I draw, can´t do the code thing. (Which is what turned me off Flash.)

I agree - code can be a real turnoff. No one ever needs to code when using Moho (although some of us like to). That said, switch data files are not about coding.

You don't need to worry about what's inside a switch data file. All you need to know is that it tells Moho at which frame to display which mouth shape. Programs like Magpie and Pamela are lip-syncing programs. They let you analyze a sound file to determine what sound is being produced at which frame. For example, the word "house" could be broken down into the sounds 'h', 'ow', and 's'. The spacing of these sounds depends on how fast the speaker said the word.

When you're done lip-syncing in Magpie or Pamela, those programs will export the result as a Moho switch data file. You don't need to care what's in that file. When you load the file into Moho, it basically tells Moho which sound occurred at which frame. Moho uses this to insert keyframes for the switch layer to switch on and off the different mouth shapes.

If this sounds technical, well, yes, it is a bit more technical than Moho's built-in lipsync function. However, it is also much more precise. Moho lip syncs based on the volume of the speech, which is kind of like Kermit the Frog talking. Using Magpie and Pamela to do proper lip-sync lets you animate a mouth changing shape to fit the actual words.