Similar to others here, the reintroduction of the animate from photographs would be hugely useful. I had no idea this feature had been removed when I bought the Pipeline version for Mac - boy was I grizzly about that.

The reason I bought Crazy Talk Animator was for the ability to animate a photo. Also add SVG support for props and actors.


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Hi Theodosios

Thanks for all the suggestions. these will be reviewed by the CTA team and considered for future inclusion.

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Ok. As this is a place for wishes, I am not ashamed to make some more. So here they are:
1) Face motion capturing feature directly from CTA using one simple video camera, like the plug in developed by Mixamo named Face plus. To implement this they use morph targets or blend shapes as they call the different images of different expressions of the same face, morphing them according to camera data through an algorithm and face rigging.
If this is not possible to be developed by Reallusion's team, which I don't believe, then I would ask for full suport of importing/exporting in FBX file format, so that I can use Mixamo's software at my workflow along with CTA.
2) Full suport for data gloves with 22 sensors (3 sensors per finger), of various manufacturers.
3) 360o panoramic distant backgrounds, automaticaly adjusting according to position and angle of caracter or camera view. 360o placement of closer bacground props on a circle with sorter radius than the one of the distant backgrounds.
Thanks again
Theodosios

Having now watched most of the video tutorials for CTA2, my wishfull features for CTA's next versions, have become as following:
1) I would like to be able to choose among three modes for each of my projects: replacement animation only mode, morph based animation only mode and a default mixed mode of both. This would simplify greatly the program's interface, menus, tools, etc. and also the content appearence and arangement in libraries. Unnecesary tools and content should vanish from a program of increasing complication, for those who use either the one, or the other mode only.
2) At the moment, when we use replacement animation of sprites, it is not possible at the same time to give emotions to the face, the way this is accomplished with morph based animation. So why not changing the priority level of lip syncing and sprite replacement only for this case, so that sprite replacement layer to be set by us first, before the emotions layer? I mean that after putting the sprite replacement phonemes, the resulting images to be flattened automaticaly by CTA internaly, and then, to a next layer of emotions, use morph based animation on key images/frames, just to produce face expressions simultaneously.
3) In morph based animation mode I would like to see all the phonemes and all face emotions and expressions to work also at ¾ and profile positions of the head, and all the inbetween as well.
4) For the critical face-animation, we could get more precise animation, if we have two more angles, one between the frontal and the upper one, and another one between the frontal and the lower position of the face. This would help in truthfulness of morph-based animation. Again at Fabian's Web Pages one can see some sientific propositions on similar problems.
5) For the critical animation of the face again, I would like to propose in profile position, to let a little of the otherwise hiden eyelid and eyelash and just a little of the hiden chick appear, and not be so dogmatic. That would increase face expresiveness even in the profile position.
6) Automatically generated natural movements of the upper torso, as if breathing, in medium shots and close ups.
7) Full suport to the new vector-stroke files, those ones that the new drawing/painting program Mischief produces. This innovative tiny program unites the two wolds of bitmaps and vectors in one new form of small size files, that maintain resolution indipendence of vectors while achieving the aesthetical and stylistic results that only bitmaps can produce, just as CTA so innovatively unites the 2D world with 3D movements. The strategical partnership between Reallusion and 61 Solutions, only added-value results could give to your programs. Why not hiring them to develop the drawing/painting tools of CTA, or at least, some of them, those related to their file formatt. Disney already did this, why not us? Their tools are exceptionally precise and feeling natural. Just an idea...
8) At the section of sound, I would like to see a Normalise/DC offset command of the wave files, and another one of Insert Silence, automatically muting all sounds under a given thresold in a clip, so that we won't need an external sound editor at all.
9) Also, from timeline I would like to be able to disengage the channel of sound from the channel of animation-images, and move it a little bit at wish in order to compensate the delay, for I find that sound comes a little faster than the images produced by the lip syncing generator.
10) Twain drivers for direct scanning control through CTA, for a more automated hand-painted image workflow. I strongly believe that CTA's morph based capabilities could produce stunning animation when combined with traditionally hand-painted images produced by natural (and not only by digital) media. If digital media are constantly trying to copy the natural media, then why go digital? With CTA it is now possible to use hand-painted artwork easily, skipping the digital step alltogether, which may be a headache for traditional artists.
11) 4K resolution for the imported bitmap images (resolution even bigger for the scenes), and the exported video files, and full suport for the new enhanced color space of the 4K standard, all the way from scanner to monitor, in Pipeline or in another, lets call it Production, edition. CTA cannot be a toy, targeting only to amateurs and semi-professionals, but its engine at the hands of professional artists, could shine (and attract even more amateurs and semi-professionals within its world...). By suporting 4K resolution we also future-proof from now our current work for our long termed projects, and we become practicaly resolution indipendent also within bitmap territory.
12) Levels, Contrast, and Color Correction commands, for the scanned files inside CTA.
13) Mocap file suport for the face and the hands.
14) Animatable long hair, falling in front of or behind the soulders.
15) Animatable long garments, with wide sleeves, like the ones we can find in the ancient world, or in today's India and the middle East. (I need this feature more urgently).
16) Iclone and 3DXchange parts of software that are critical also for CTA use, should be completely incorporated to CTA itself.
17) Compositing and FX tools like Adobe's After Effects inside CTA.
18) I would like also to see being fully developed all those features that apply to normal characters (face expressions, emotions, gestures edtc.) and can enhance their animation, as opposed to comic-style characters.
19) Characters of various proportions should be suported as well.
Best regards
Theodosios

I have just read this in a developer blog

I think what he write is important to note




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liebe Grüße vidi

meet us here

Hi everyone,
First of all congratulations to Reallusion team for this great software. The potential seems to be enormous and I think reducing its target group to just vector-based animation users, is unfair firstly to itself. It is as if using a tank, to kill a mosquito. The twelve-valve engine of Crazytalk Animator can be used, not only for the present, stylistically uniformed and, from a point and on, monotonus animation sprites, but also in a variety of animation styles. The stylistic kinds of animations that can be produced, may be vast. I myself am a painter, not a digital painter, though I am also well-trained to use Adobe's Illustrator and Corel's Painter, but the posibility of using my paintings drawn with natural media, seem to be great and cost-effective, since me and my team will be not in need of buying expensive equipment, like sofisticated Wacom tablet for everyone, for example. Even for people who draw, ordinary artists that are not willing to be engaged to computer aided drawing, it is far easier to produce with natural media. So here are my wishes for the future or even the present version (for some of them) of this software:
1) Full suport in all features for bitmaped files, pngs or Jpegs, either with morph based or replacement based animation or with both. You could also check Fabian's Web Pages, to see how to do that. If the team was focused in vector sprites for this version, then you could develope your software in a tic-tac wise tempo, by developing bitmap suport in the next and in every other version of Crazytalk Animator, not letting both worlds unpleased.
2) 4K resollution image import and video export formats, in order to be practically resolution-indipendent, and not to be in need of the mathematical (and definetly not artistical) quality of vectors. Also, in this way we can future-proof our work. I know of course the mainstream PCs are not capable of handling these files now, but please give us at least a way to work with our long-time projects even from now. Technology as always, soonner or later will follow our needs.
3) Direct suport for BVH mocap files (I intend to use Yei's equipment, not Microsoft's Kinnect, is it OK?)
4) Your guidance and suport on how to produce detailed face and hand mocap files, and what equipment to use.
I was waiting for years for such a software to come out. Now that it has come out, it is a pitty it cannot animate photos and paintings in its second version. I too find Reallusion moved from version one toward the wrong direction. I hope you will change this as soon as possible. If not, be sure, others will do.
Thanks in advance,
Theodosios Petmezas

Thank you for all your feedback. This will all be used to shape the future of CrazyTalk Animator. :)

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Being able to create characters from photos is what initially hooked me into CTA1. I have a lot of original paintings of my characters that I would like to animate by converting the painted images into CTA characters.

Being able to create characters from photos made CTA1 one of the best tools for satirical/parody animations about real people. To not develop this further alongside the new flash based 3D G2 characters in CTA2 in my opinion is a big misstep by RL.

Given that with iClone you can actually create 3D avatars based on real people using photos I would think that this process could be adapted to CTA2 to create all the views required by a CTA2 G2 character.

- TET
Animation and Video Life
The Lazy Animator - Tutorials for Cartoon Animator

The reason I bought Crazy Talk Animator was for the ability to animate a photo. Hope they can make 3D characters from photos. Is that what iClone is for?