Reallusion Forum / CrazyTalk / Training - Tutorials, Hints and Tips

face profiles in crazy talk 4

jerie — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:58:27 GMT

Does anyone have any tips for working with the wireframes to animate decent looking profile views in Crazy Talk 4.6? I could really use some help with that... I know version 6 has everything I need and want and can't live without but for now I have to stick with 4.6 - my boss just cut my work hours, so while I have more time to play with Crazy Talk, I got less money to spend on upgrades.... :crying:

Modifying the models

wizaerd — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:31:21 GMT

With the Animation Toolbox, available as a bundle when CT6 first came out, there are a series of cartoon faces from the Comic Character Specimen content pack. In the description of this content pack, you will see:

"Put on different backgrounds such as papers, walls, signs, etc. You can create productions for different purposes. You can even put them on T-shirts or mugs and color the faces with any image editor. The possibilities are endless."

Now how exactly do we get it into an image editor? The files themselves are .ctm files, which obviously isn't an image...

Let's say I want to combine three of these comic faces, included in this content pack, into a single image so I can animate all three of them within the same clip. How do I get them from this .ctm format into something I could actually pull into an image editor, inorder to color them or combine them, so I can re-import them into CT6 in order to use them.

Crazytalk with VB

bwd2 — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:33:59 GMT

Has anyone found a way to get CrazyTalk to read text in a textbox in VB6.0? I'm guessing that one would convert the TTS to wave and then to CTS. If anyone one knows how to do this I would appreciate the help. I'm not even sure if it can be done.

Creating Custom Teeth In CrazyTalk 5

Rainman — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:03:57 GMT

One of the many new wonderful features included in the latest upgrade in CrazyTalk 5 is enabling the user to create their own custom teeth on the character to add an authentic touch, and offers more realism if needed. The teeth templates included can accommodate most situations, however some people may have a unique, or famous smile that can be better presented naturally using their actual teeth.

Below is an example of such an instance. Instead of "Jack" Clone, I used Jack Nicholson :) You can refer to the CT5 help files for more information.

[img]http://www.coolclones.net/ct5teeth.jpg[/img]

[url=http://www.coolclones.net/jackdemo.html]CLICK HERE[/url] to view a quick demo I exported showing the end result using the new flv export option in CT5 which includes a standby motion option upon exporting.

Save Lips track?

kylethesweet — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:33:12 GMT

Hello, I am very new to crazy talk. I have done a bunch of work getting the lips to match up just right to a music track. I now have a new mix of the same song (just some instrument changes) and would like to replace the music track or create a new project without having to start over on the lip sync. The default sync isn't even close. Can anyone help?

Thanks

The eyes just never look right

wizaerd — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:19:39 GMT

I'm trying to animate this angry kitty's face, and the eyes just never look right. I've tried, and tried, and tried... When aligning the points for the eyes, should the points be just inside the inner edige, just outside the edge or lined up as best as possible along the edge? When he blinks, it's overly obvious the texture is smearing...

[img]http://www.wizaerd.com/hold/AngryCat.jpg[/img]

Crazy talk 6 and MS powerpoint

Robert.kennon — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:57:39 GMT

How do I put in Powerpoint? The output options are not the same in crazytalk6.

Idle model movement settings

aaajanssen — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:04:36 GMT

Hi there,

newbie here, helping out a friend. We created a model, complete with eyes, mouth and idle time settings, imported some audio in the script, used motion clips etc. No problem so far. When playing back in CT6 all is well. But after exporting the clip to WMV 640x480, all motion clip-movements are OK, but all idle movements are very quick, nervous-like. Like blinking 3 times a second, shaking head like the model suffers from ADHD etc. As if idle-time motions are played back at high speed. This makes me nervous watching it ;).

Also, the transitions between idle time and motion clip movements seem very abrupt. Once again, this was not the case when playing it back in CT6.

Of course I tried changing the idle movement-head motion strength, but this again only affects the playback in CT6 (which is perfect), not in the exported file.

Did I miss a setting? Any ideas?

Any help is appreciated.

T. Janssen

Selecting Photos for Crazy Talk

seeker9505 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:51:38 GMT

what is the best size, and type of image to use for Crazy Talk? Many photos seem to become blury as they are cropped. Also what is the best size for backgrounds of the images? It is difficult to size the image to fit into the background properly. Either the image is too large and the background is too small or the image is very small and the background is huge. What is best to use to make it seem the most realistic. I am mostly using pet photos and trying to put them into different backgrounds and staged scenes such as a dog behind a desk or at the beach etc..

best way to edite script

kenneth.bernardo2 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:43:13 GMT

I have four characters and one script which is a long mp3, do I first take it into a sound editor and make mp3 for each character or can it be done in crazytalkpro's editor. If not which editor would you recommend? Kenny Bernardo

how to trim audio

djps55 — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:03:20 GMT

how do i trim the audio to make it look like my projects are singing to each other using my songs?

Music Video - Best Practices

wizaerd — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:52:29 GMT

I'm curious about the best approach for making a music video... I have a song I want my character to sing, but obviously the lips move during the music as well. So I'm curious as to the best approach for synching the lips to the words only and not the music?

Audio speed problems with MP4 output

nita — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:44:10 GMT

How do I fix this? Is it a setting I can change or is there a problem with Crazy Talk 5?

When I output to MP4 the resulting video has the audio at almost twice the speed. When the audio is over I still have my avatar moving her lips with no sound.

Only partial output, part of time line pink

tech_20090922190714926 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:01:34 GMT

Hi,

I'm new to CT6. I have created a character, imported sound. Lips move just fine. Looking at the timeline part of it is "pinked" out (very light pink or red color). When I export to avi, the avi is up to the pink section but no more. I cannot tell it to get the whole clip? it's only 1:30 seconds.

I know its me, but i cannot find this in the help or tutorials.

Thanks,

tech

CrazyTalk6 Training Resources

Visconti — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:59:47 GMT

[url=http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/crazytalk_training.asp][img]http://www.reallusion.com/images/crazytalk6/main_training.jpg[/img][/url]

In CrazyTalk6 Training Resource Home page, you can follow the video tutorials there to quickly get familiar with CrazyTalk6. You can also click "Online Help" for more product knowledge or print out the training materials by downloading CrazyTalk6 "Manual" and "Reference Guide" (PDF).

TTS

frankhm — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:36:10 GMT

My cepstrall voice does not work with ct5.1. How do I get it to work?

video production software and blurred outcomes

seeker9505 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:16:12 GMT

I want to tie several clips together into a short video sequence. Now I create the clips in crazy talk; video them with a camera and then export into imovie (MAC video production software) I tried exporting all the types of Output and importing into imovie and it did not work very well. I had problems with the audio/video tracking, blurred picture etc. Can you recommend video production software that is fairly easy and will work best with Crazy Talk and a PC? Is there a best type of output to select which works best with video production software? I am very new to this. Also, the pictures work great in crazy talk but when I show them on the full screen, they become blurred. What types of photos work best? Is there a particular pixel or size which can be used without becoming blurred on a larger screen? Finally, Are there any online classes (not the tutorials; which can be helpful but are sometimes too advanced for my thick skull), or persons in the South Florida Area which are well versed in Crazy Talk willing to provide tutoring or Classes I can attend that might help me to improve my skills?

Modifying Web Avatar in CrazyTalk6

Visconti — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:21:37 GMT

Modifying Web Avatar

Web Avatar Projects are templates which can be used to instantly create interactive flash videos (.swf). You may post them on blogs or social networks so the viewers may interact with the videos. By modifying the .ini file you can export the specified regions defined in the .ini and export the videos as individual flash videos. When you are watching it on the web all the videos will be played in sequence while the quality of the video and audio is maintained.

· In the Widget Output panel, the Export Web Avatar button is activated only if the current project is a Web Avatar Project.

· You can open the .ini with notepad.

· Both the .ini file and the project file must be placed in the same directory. You can access the .ini file and the project from CrazyTalk 6\Templates\CrazyTalk 6 Template\Project\Web Avatar.

The .ini file is structured in the following format:

1	Frame_Base defines the export time between images of the specified frames.
2	These Default parameters will be used as the default settings unless they are specifically defined under each set.
3	Template Path defines the file path of the prerequisite files and folders for you to be able to play the video on the web.
4	Preview File designates the video skins you use when displaying the video.
5	Set the total number of the .flv video clips and pack them into a single flash video.
6	Each of these sections defines the parameter of an exported video clip. Each video clip may have independent settings.
7	The modified Talking Script video.

The following illustration demonstrates the relationship between the Talking Script clips and the .ini file.

Note: We highly recommend you keep the Flv_Num = 5 setting.

Export

After you are done modifying the .ini file you can start the exporting procedure.

1. Click the Export Web Avatar button.

2. Designate a folder to export the files.

3. If the system does find existing files, a warning window shows to overwrite the files.

4. Click OK to confirm.

Note: When exporting, the program will then export the specified regions as individual clips to the designated folder that is defined in FileName. Then, you can open the SyncVideo.html file, the video clips will be referred to and will be able to show the videos in the browser playing clip by clip defined in the .ini file.

Note: After you open the html file you can move your cursor on top of the avatar to interact with the anchor man. By clicking the play button on the left, you can make the anchor man talk.

help with custom teeth

mottica25 — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:03:19 GMT

hello,excuse my english i will like to know how to create custom teeth,i have photoshop and found a picture of teeth but i don't know how to do to look like the ones in crazy talk i mean they look open i don't know ,i din't find open teeth,i hope you understand what i mean

It’s SHOWTIME!

ppadgett — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:39:42 GMT

How can I get the backgrounds that are included in It's Showtime to load. I have found all the effects (Lighting, band, etc..) but can't find the backgounds?

Framerate change if export bmp files

RoGrie — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 12:47:43 GMT

Hi, if I try to export my CrazyTalk sequence to .bmp files it is not possible to change the framerate to 24 frames because the switchbox seems to be out of function. If I export with 30fps there are 795 bmp files, same with 24fps. Why ??
thanks in advance, best regards
griessbx

idle animation movement when talking?

fallenangel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:20:35 GMT

when crazytalk characters are not talking they play an idle animation, the head moves about in a natural manner, I import my own wav to make my character talk, his face will talk, no head movement, just the mouth, so I change the mood to cute, the face is now more animated, but we don't have idle animation, ie the head slightly looking up and down or looking left to right, when the character is not talking, when one isn't doing anything, the character plays a default idle animation, but when the character talks, we don't get that.

In model/face profile/ we can add motion strength, that gives the character an idle animation, but for what reason, because I don't see anyway to have that in our character, its just for when we view the character while we set it up, but come to making your own character speak, its not there. Perhaps we can add the idle animation in the time line, but I don't see i in the list, so Ive no idea how we get our character to play the default head movements, ie the idle animations that we set the character with in model/face profile/. My talking character just don't have the head movement at all for talking.

What can we do here, am I missing something?

Crazy Talk pro

lagreen — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:25:33 GMT

I created a project and a flash output. It works locally but I can not get it to work online. I uploaded all the data in the data directory and the FLV Files and the SWF file. All I see are the start and stop buttons. Are there any other files that need to be uploaded I am not seeing besides these like a bin directory?
AC_RunActiveContent.js
dog_talk.flv
dog_talkstandby.flv
flashswf.swf
dog_talk.html

I checked the page code and can see nothing amiss. Please let me know what I am doing wrong.

This is the link.

[b][i]http://netspaceads.com/ad_talk.html[/i][/b] - page in which I pasted the code.
or
[i][b]http://netspaceads.com/dog_talk_data/dog_talk.html[/b][/i] - Page generated by crazy talk Pro.

Confused

Cartoon Eye Fitting

kylethesweet — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:25:25 GMT

Hello:

I have been working on a series of images and am excited to work with them in crazy talk 5. I am having trouble getting the eyes to work right on this image.

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3399/3423625677_c4913bb8a0_o.jpg[/img]

I have done a ton of experimenting.

The blink is highly distorted (which may just be a limitation of the size and shape of the eye). I could live with that but the "pupil" also distorts alot as the eyes emote.

Basically, in detailed face mode I have placed the yellow points along the "eye lash" with the whites running from either end of the eye lash an around the bottom. The eye brow point follow the eyebrows almost exactly.

Can anyone give me some help on how to make this look as "natural" (for a cartoon) as possible? It would be a great help.

Thanks.

Crazy Talk-Backroundimage

peter99123 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:13:04 GMT

Hello, i need Help for Crazy Talk about Backroundimage.

How can i get the Backroundimage stretched over the fullsize?

Thanks for Help

Please help with output

dcolson — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:55:45 GMT

I have created an animated character to place on a clients website. She wants the character to immediately start talking when her website loads. She also does not want any arrows to play the movie...just play once then stop and sit in standby mode. I have been back and forth with tech support...and all I have gained is many lost hours and hair.

I use Dreamweaver...I have embeded the swf file which is supposed to work...all i get is a picture off those darn arrows...

Maybe this can not even be done...Is there anyone that can please help me?

Thanks in advance:crazy:

Adding voices

malca2 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Your advice please.
I am new to this program and cannot find a way to add a voice to the script.
I am trying to add voices to animated photos of my brand new grandchildren (a girl and a boy) and would like to use childrens voices rather than the pre-set voices available.
Changing the pitch/speed of the pre-set voices doesn't sound right.
Is there a site where such voices could be obtained ?
Thanks
Malcolm Nelson

Facial Movement ... need help

jhughes1 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:13:26 GMT

Good Day ...

I hope all is well.

1. I have CT 5

2. For my model I use:

Human Profile

Profile Strength = 0.4

Motion Strength = 58%

Standby Motion is checked and = General

3. When I play my model w/my script, I get great lip movement but no other movement, like blinking eyes, smiles, nodding, etc.

4. If I play my model w/Elvis or Gump, I get total facial movement.

5. If I play my model with emotives, other than neutral, I also get total facial movement

6. My question ... how can I get more realistic facial movement, e.g., blinking eyes, smile, head movement, etc., with my model using my script ???

Thank you for your time & consideration.

Jim

************************

making two people in photo talk in crazytalk pro

djps55 — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:56:05 GMT

can you make both people in a photo talk at the same time,if you can please tell me how to do this.also what is funtion of edit buttun,i hit on it when i tried to edit finished product,did not respond,tried edit button new project,did not respond,so what does edit buuton do?

Batch Processing for CrazyTalk5?

bjgillette — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:48:49 GMT

CT5 is brilliant! I have built a CT5 avatar that I wish to deploy for tech support on the company web site.

Can you tell me how to create a [b]batch[/b] process that automatically lip-synchs my avatar to various wav or text files, then exports flvs, avis, wmvs or other?

AVI export with alpha channel?

tk_20090922190920122 — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 09:14:16 GMT

Does anyone know whether it's possible to export a CT .avi file with an alpha channel? It seems that although CT can handle alpha channels internally, when it comes to media export the codec strips out any alpha information. I am trying to export a CT sequence into Flash CS3 with a transparent background. It works fine if I export/import as a .tga sequence, but not as an embedded .avi video.

alpha channel output

eswar3d — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:58:44 GMT

Hi,

I'm trying to take output with alpha channel in iclone 3.2. But the output is not coming with alpha channel. Can somebody help me

getting I clone figure to Crazy Talk

heather_20090922173857783 — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:25:02 GMT

I was so sure I posted this and I beg your pardon if I have. But how do I put an IClone character into Crazy Talk please

Need more dots on mouth.

spamanfire — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:37:25 GMT

Why do I sometimes only have like 3 white dots and no yellow dots for the mouth area located on the wire..It doesnt happen all the time..Thanks...bill

muliple characters

LILWOLFIE17 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:39:52 GMT

I need help figuring out how to animate more than one character. Anyone please help!!!

Songs and mouth animation

spamanfire — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:32:10 GMT

:)Ok, How do I keep my subject from moving her mouth when there is no singing, only music../the subjects mouth moves even with the instrumental part of the song...Any help would be appreciated..Thanks..Bill Im using Crazytalk 5. Pro

How do I get back into Iclone 3 after Crazy talk

sfischer — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:40:12 GMT

I'm having an awful time trying to figure out how to get my iclone character to open up back in Iclone 3 after I add stuff such as sound and face movement in crazy talk pro.Please anyone have any answers for me. I can do everything but getting it back into iclone. thanks,Sandra

How do I get my Iclone 3 character back into iclone after crazytalk

sfischer — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:49:26 GMT

Can I record about 30 seconds of standby motion

lululee — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:11:21 GMT

Hi,
1) Can I record about 30 seconds of standby motion without any audio? I find that my character is very static without adding the emotives. I want my character to be speaking in a very peaceful manner and the emotives are too distorted for her. It seems that without the emotives her head and body no longer have any movement.
cheerio
lululee

Good Day --I am brand new to crazy talk ..

tjonckheere — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:29:07 GMT

Hello & Good Day/Evening D:I am new to crazy talk but love the idea completely. My first question is how do I upload it to work like a splash page on my site? Or do I have to use a program such as you tube to get it to work. I found no video's on how to upload crazy talk to websites and if someone else possibly knows where to go could you direct me in the right direction please?Am I allowed to make commericals with Crazy Talk and sell them too? hehehe.. had to ask that as well. For now I start with these two questions but rest assured I will no doubt be back with more questions! lolIn the meantime Thank you kindly for taking the time to read this and answering in advance.Kind RegardsToni :)