Reallusion Forum / iClone / General / iClone2 Forum / Adding a soundtrack / Latest Posts

RE: Adding a soundtrack

bran — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 15:28:16 GMT

I have completed the tutorial on getting dialogue from multiple characters in iClone. it doesn't just work with two characters. As for getting characters to talk at once/together/interrupt it's all a question of timing. You'll see it on the editing timeline:

Tutorial: Two Characters talking

I have included all three known methods.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

bran — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:55:13 GMT

By using the method I outlined earlier in the thread - IMHO - the simplest method where the first soundtrack is added in the editing software, the second one is carried over in rendering to AVI, I don't see a problem. Using green screen is a nonsense it means two renderings so why bother?

I'm 75% through making a tutorial. It will be finished tomorrow and on YouTube by Sunday. I will post details here.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

jjwebb — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:46:39 GMT

[quote][b]Lionheart (12/2/2007)[/b][hr]Hi - Followed the links and then the second link into CoolClones and fou nd Cricky's answer - which seems to be pretty much what I had done (i.e. setting up a third, merged sound track) and that made me think of JJWebb's post and I would liek to know if the following solution to his problem is possible:

He needs two people talking at the same time - so, could he import character 1 Voice into character 1 to get that lipsync, do the same for character 2 and then - and this is where I need a bit of advice...

years ago, I used to have a program called OctoMed (I think) which wasfor musicalcomposition. What you could do was play a violin into Channel 1, a drum into Channel 2, piano into channel 3 etc. and thn merge the channels to create a single sound file which was -basically put -a full orchestral sound. If there is a similar program for speech JJ could then put Character 1 in Channel 1, Character 2 in channel 2 and export a single WAV file of the two character voices running simultaeneously, which could then be imported as the scene sound in I-Clone.

Could anybody see a problem with this? And if not, does anybody know software that can perform such a merge?

Hope this is a feasible solution for you JJ - Let me know if it works cos it may be something I would be interested in for the future.

Richard[/quote]

Hi,

I should say here that I have obtained the pdf about this topic from Cricky, but haven't tried yet to implement it. I'm hoping it works because I have several vids I'd like to implement with characters doing separate and simultaneous dialog.

I appreciate all the responses to this thread. Thanks a bunch guys.

-blue

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Lionheart — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 21:07:02 GMT

Hi - Followed the links and then the second link into CoolClones and fou nd Cricky's answer - which seems to be pretty much what I had done (i.e. setting up a third, merged sound track) and that made me think of JJWebb's post and I would liek to know if the following solution to his problem is possible:

He needs two people talking at the same time - so, could he import character 1 Voice into character 1 to get that lipsync, do the same for character 2 and then - and this is where I need a bit of advice...

years ago, I used to have a program called OctoMed (I think) which was for musical composition. What you could do was play a violin into Channel 1, a drum into Channel 2, piano into channel 3 etc. and thn merge the channels to create a single sound file which was - basically put - a full orchestral sound. If there is a similar program for speech JJ could then put Character 1 in Channel 1, Character 2 in channel 2 and export a single WAV file of the two character voices running simultaeneously, which could then be imported as the scene sound in I-Clone.

Could anybody see a problem with this? And if not, does anybody know software that can perform such a merge?

Hope this is a feasible solution for you JJ - Let me know if it works cos it may be something I would be interested in for the future.

Richard

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Lionheart — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:32:07 GMT

Yes - I agree. Could this not be added as a step-by-step tutorial guide on the Reallusion Site with the rest of them? I find these very useful for solving many of my queries.

Thanks.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

bran — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:28:53 GMT

If this can be done it is not at all obvious from within iClone. Would Reallusion PLEASE make this knowledge available to ALL iClone users because as you know a substantial number of people are unable to access CoolClones. It is absurd that it should be a secret only available to the favoured few.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Cricky — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:45:59 GMT

I keep seeing this come up and I have put out two different videos showing it CAN be done, and without post edits beyond iClone. This information has been available, with the process to do it, for over a year, and people still say it cannot be done. One of the videos showing it being done using an interview can be seen [url=http://www.videoclones.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5ee0bc9d43bbf5bbe87f]here[/url]. There were two people who recently asked this on CoolClones and only [u]one[/u] asked for the information on how it's done; they received the answer by message.

The video sample above intentionally left the characters in a still position so viewers can see that there is no post edits or overlays used.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Lionheart — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:48:02 GMT

Thanks Peter & Bran. I thought I was missing somethign in the guide!

Maybe this is something that can be looked at in I-Clone 3 or an additional upgrade patch later on?

I actually measured and merged the sounds in the free Sound Recorder that comes with Windows and used this to record the blanks too. It seemed perfectly adequate, but I am still fairly new to all of this, so as I progress, I will possibly need a more powerful sound editor.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

bran — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:18:30 GMT

Without complicating things the answer is no, you will not get two characters talking WITHIN iClone but you are on the right track. Create your soundtrack for character 1 with any gaps of silence where character 2 is responding. Create your soundtrack for character2 with silence in the place where character 1 is talking - it has to be carefully scripted and timed with a stopwatch etc.

So, only the last character will be heard talking, the first one will be silent but the lips will be moving at the appropriate time. Render to your movie file avi etc and you just have one character - the last one talking. Presumably you created your dialogue in some other software like Audacity. Just take the dialogue for character 1 and add it in the timeline of your video editing software where character 1 is talking. The lip sync is easy. In fact the whole procedue is easy once you get used to it.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Peter Edwards — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 18:58:19 GMT

I don't think in the current version of iClone there is one simple solution to this. Hopefully future versions of iClone will make this much easier to achieve. In the meantime workarounds like those explained in the link I gave above are the best ways to deal with this but as always there are other ways to get round this through post processing or careful scene creation in iClone.

I will try some other alternative ideas and share my thoughts on anything I find over the coming days.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

jjwebb — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:14:41 GMT

Hi,

Yes, that thread relates two characters talking at different times in the same scene.

BUT, (there's always a but) when two characters are speaking simultaneously, well ...

C3 (mother) "Who did this?"

C0 (oscar) "Ben!" and C1 (ben) "Oscar!" shout at the same time. OR

Two characters trying to convince a third of what to do, each with their own script, talking simultaneously. Each can have separate motions, but only one facial animation track means 'no joy' overlapping dialog. Unless there's a way within this thread you've pointed me to that I'm just too dense to fathom. I'll look it over again.

I was hoping for a way to attach ben's facial animation script to ben, oscar's facial animation script to oscar, and be able to have both present at the same point in the timeline. After a mere two tries, I feel like the only way to accomplish the task is to put one of the boys on a greenscreen and stitch 'em together in Premiere. I'm fairly certain I can do that easily, but I don't think I have the skillz needed to do that AND utilize an animated camera. Of course, I'm just starting, so who knows what I'll be able to figure out with a little time. If I'm making more of this than it actually is, I'd appreciate a step by step walk thru of how it's done in IClone.

Thanks for the response,

-blue

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Lionheart — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 06:05:23 GMT

Thanks Peter, but that was the advice I followed and that was exactly what I did.

Unfortunately, although the scripts are both running as both characters faces are moving as they should, only one soundtrack plays.

i.e. :I either get: 4 second gap, "Yes it is!"

or: "Is that a dagger I see before me?", 2 second gap.

But I can't get: "Is that a dagger I see before me?", "Yes it is!"

The only way I have made it workl is by merging both sounds into a third track which is then attached to a hidden character or an Alfred Hitchcock type background figure who walks past in every scene!

Hope this clarifies my query a bit.

Thanks.

RE: Adding a soundtrack

Peter Edwards — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:56:54 GMT

Hi,

You should be able to find out some answers to this issue here:

http://forum.reallusion.com/Topic10-10-1.aspx

RE: Adding a soundtrack

jjwebb — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:02:14 GMT

Hmmmmmm, a question posted 2 days ago without a response. No one knows the answer?

At another forum, this same question was asked in this way:

"Hello, Is there a way to bring 2 voices for 2 characters?
Thanks, Hank"

The response in the thread was "Cricky knows how, send him a private message and he'll tell you."

When I reasked the question in that thread I was told to do the same thing, "private message Cricky". Well, I was told to refer to the answer Hank got, not actually "contact Cricky". Anyway, I sent him a private message. So now, I'm waiting on a reply to my PM. But I'm a newbie at that forum too, so who knows how long it'll take for him to respond. I've noticed in my very few weeks within the IClone world, that emails and Private Messages go wanting for answers. Even when the emails are to sales addresses (must be real busy folks). And now a thread on this forum wanting for an answer.

Let me try a slightly different approach to 2 separate voice animations within an IClone scene:

"Can this be done inside Iclone? Assigning one script to character 0 and a different script to character 1? Or must it be done, 1. Script for C0 in the IClone scene. 2. Script for C1 as a 2nd pass on greenscreen. 3. Import both passes into 3rd party video editor to merge them? Which really screws animated camera work within IClone, right? It seems it shouldn't be too much of a thing to have two face animation tracks. But there doesn't seem to be one .. or can the music track be used for C1's facial animation track? And if so, how does one assign it to C1?

thanks for any help,

-blue

Adding a soundtrack

Lionheart — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 06:18:41 GMT

Hi. I have a problem with speech:

I have made the soundtrack to my animation, and played about with timings etc, recording and inserting blank spaces of the right lengths, so when they are played together it does actually come out as a "real" sounding conversation. I have quite impressed myself with this!

So, I imported them into crazy talk, and added facial animation and exported them as 2 scripts. I then imported script 1 into character 1 and script 2 into character 2, but when I play the scene, it only play the soundtrack to my last import. Even if I export it, I only get one side of the conversation, although both characters do have the facial animations I imported.

I have - as a getaround - created a third soundtrack by merging the tracks for 1 & 2 together and importing that as a single WAV file to a hidden character, but I am sure that there is a better way? Any advice would be appreacitated.

Thanks.