Hello. I am using Crazytalk 8 to animate my dog. I assume I can only use the 2d animation since 3d examples are all human? I wish there was a basic tutorial for importing a photo of a pet and animating it. I've used Crazytalk 7 before but it's been awhile. When using one of the face animation features my animation seemed to warp and distort. Also I cropped the photo just to include the face but now I'm wondering how to get the rest of the body to show up. Newbie questions I'm sure, but you gotta start somewhere!!

Hi...

To help get the best results, try loading one of the sample 2D animals included with Crazytalk 8. You can choose between the Cat or the Hamster. If you then select "Face Fitting Editor" from the top toolbar you will be able to see how the fitting points are set which should help for your own dog character. 

One other important point is to ensure you select the correct Facial Profile. To do this just click the "Face Orientation" button from the top toolbar when you have your dog character loaded, and then select the appropriate profile. For example choose the "Long Snout" profile if your dog character is this type of breed. You can also choose "Short Snout" if applicable. Choosing the correct facial profile will greatly improve your results. 

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Hi, thank you, I'll try one of the sample animals. I did choose something with a snout, but will double check Face Orientation to see that I didn't miss anything else. Thank you for the response.

So I took a close look at the 2D cat character template and tried to carefully set the face fitting points appropriately on my dog character. I took a new photograph so he was directly facing the camera (as much as possible) and left a bit of space around the head. I used the long snout in the Facial profile setting and left the setting at a strength of 1. I did all the tests with head, eye, lips etc and everything looked fine. (Not finished with the masking yet.) Then when I added my voice file the animation warps and distorts and there is a lot of upward head movement that doesn't show up in any of the previews for head movement. The eyes end up being too small and there is a lot of movement under the chin. I don't know what to do to fix this. I used Crazytalk 7 previously and didn't have these problems, what am I missing? Here is the link to the distorted clip:  https://youtu.be/DNjtXOLF_k4  Here is another link to 3 characters I did with Crazytalk 7 previously without these issues (to such a degree): https://youtu.be/6qNqGuACZw8?t=5  (Sorry for the photos being at the top of this post, was trying to paste these pics at the bottom, but I can't see how to move them in this reply.)

To improve the results do check the following:

1. Try to use a high quality image of at least 1024 x 1024 as your source image.

2. Zoom right in when setting the facial wireframe and fitting points so you get accurate results, especially around the eyes.

3. In your screenshot the facial wireframe needs adjusting. Try lowering the jaw area so it isn't so close to the mouth. This will reduce the image stretching.


                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Thanks for more suggestions. I did the opposite with the jaw area (Instead of lowering it, I made it higher). It seems to eliminate the chin/neck issue. But will try lowering it for comparison as well. I replaced his natural eyes with the supplied ones and played around with them and they are better too. Is there a way for me to use his own eyes though? I saw something about a template that could be used in photoshop but I don't know if this works with my version of Crazytalk 8 or with 2D. 
The only thing I'd really like to fix if I could is when he moves his head to the right there is a "fold" just above his nose on his right side. I'm not sure if this is adjustable, or if so, how I would do that. Ideas?

This is what I have done so far: https://youtu.be/3C9xgPmGal4

These are my face fitting and orientation settings: