Hello.
I am developing some video lessons about a variaty of topics. I thought that it would be wonderful if i could make a banch of animation characters to present these videos.
To be morespecific i want to use a video as a background scene and drope above it the character in order to present the material.
Is this possible?
I know that i could render the character in front of a transparent backround and then superimpose that character above video lesson through a.   Video editor software. I am afraid that following this solution i will have to deal with sychronization problems between the rendered video character and the video lesson

What do you think? What is the solution regarding presenters? 

Ah! One last question. What if i had a powerpoint presentation?how could i use CTA to create a video file that an avater presents those slides?

Done that for a couple of courses, using CrazyTalk and iClone. I found the synchronization not a problem - the key is to plan the lesson first - be sure that is set in stone - the visuals and the narration.  The narration can be recorded after the script is finalized and animations can be synchronized with the audio, this includes the "presenter".   As far as ppt, the question for you would be whether the presenter stays on the screen as the slides change?  The answer to that question will dictate the final format.

One more suggestion:  Use the onscreen character in the introduction, the summary/conclusion, and areas when you want emphasize important points.  All other sections, use the audio. 



sjonesdc

STILL LEARNING!!!

Edited
8 Years Ago by sjonesdc

Ok.
Thank you very much for your advices. 
The issue im seeking a software to do just this project. I have only checked a little crazy talk animator 2 ~ the trial. Not yet iclone. 
The question is which is the best software for this project?
Can I use crazy talk animator 2 to do what you are descriping?

Regarding the PowerPoint, options include:
a) Create a video from the slides.
b) Use the slides individually as background, in iClone you can use multiple planes - on for each slide - and turn their visibility on/off.
c) Put the character in front of a transparent background, and composite it in front of the slides in a video editor.

NOTE: In PowerPoint, you can SaveAs and other "other" (?) options you can export the slide show to a series of jpeg or png files.

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iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
Desktop (homebuilt) - Windows 10, Ryzen 9 3900x CPU, GTX 1080 GPU (8GB), 32GB RAM, Asus X570 Pro motherboard, 2TB SSD, terabytes of disk space, dual  monitors.
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You can use crazy talk animator 2, the output would be more 2D than 3D.  However, if you are doing this JUST FOR THIS PROJECT and you don't anticipate doing similar projects down the road, why not use a live person and video tape them as your presenter. That is much cheaper than buying the software. IMHO!   



sjonesdc

STILL LEARNING!!!

justaviking,

Thanks for giving another approach!!! It's nice to have other options.

sjonesdc

STILL LEARNING!!!

You're welcome.
Sorry to be so iClone-centric.  I opened the "Latest" post list, and didn't notice I was in the CTA zone.
Does CTA let you have multiple planes for you to turn on/off?  Maybe someone can shed some light on that.

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iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
Desktop (homebuilt) - Windows 10, Ryzen 9 3900x CPU, GTX 1080 GPU (8GB), 32GB RAM, Asus X570 Pro motherboard, 2TB SSD, terabytes of disk space, dual  monitors.
Laptop - Windows 10, MSI GS63VR STEALTH-252, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 (6GB), 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD

Thank you justaviking.
That is my question too. I knew the approch with planes because you told me in another topic. But in cta?
Could someone write how can I use a presenter above a video file or a ppt(the presenter shall stay while the slides change)?

dourvas,

Here are the instructions to play a video over several slides in ppt 2010: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/bgp/2010/09/01/how-to-play-a-video-across-multiple-slides-in-powerpoint-2010/

As for the presenter, video tape a live performer or animate the 3D character and render the project. Create the slides, bring in the video of the presenter, make sure that the presenter video in on the top layer then position the presenter on the slide. 

Just did a very quick test, you can bring different images straight into CTA. NOTE: I haven't used CTA very much.



sjonesdc

STILL LEARNING!!!

Thank you very much for trying to answer my questions. I really appreciate it.

I surely know how to create a video from powerpoint :-). There must be 100 ways. My question is how to put this video as background (layer) and add the character above it IN CTA. I get it with powerpoint - i understood your suggestions. But my lessons will contain mainly screencasts . So i need to know if i can place a video file as background.
The answer is really critical to me. If I can do this with cta then I am going to buy cta. The reason is because the learning curve is much smaller in that software than iclone.