I'm playing around in CTA, making an actual clip, amd I've run across something that I'm not quite sure how to handle from a technical perspective.  I'll resolve it with createive camera angle and zooms, and visiblibility keyframes, however for a project where this kind of trickery wont work, I wonder if there is a solution.

First of all a gripe... drag anything onto the stage, and there's no easy way to place it at the proper z-depth in the scene.  I have a prop I want my character to carry, but whenever I place it into the scene,it's so far back in the z-depth, that unless you actually check the depth placement of things, it causes quite a bit of irritation in getting it placed correctly.  Just something for others to watch out for.

Ok, 2 other gripes...  zoom your scene in on a place you're specifically wanting to look at, click the 3D view button, and it resets the placement of the view.  I'd rather it stay positioned and zoomed where I'm at, because it's that position I really want to check the 3D depth position of stuff.

And if you have the timeline open and docked, and have the object related track enabled, and delete the active item, the timeline closes.  I always have to re-open it, and of course any time you re-open it, you have to reconfigure which tracks to have open.

Ok, anyways... the issue.  I dropped my prop onto the stage, positioned it correctly in all three axises, and I want to link it to the character left hand.  No problem there.  Then I want him to walk across the scene.  As his hand and arm passes over his body, the item he's carrying is behind his body.  For this particual video, it's initially ok because the item will be hidden at the beginning of the animation.  But at some point, he's going to pull this item from his pocket, and pull it out in front of him, which will require passing over his body, and the item itself will be behind his body.

See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnhcPBuFBLw

Anyone, specifially someone at RL, know how to deal with this?  I'd like it behind his hand, but in front of his body...

[EDIT]

Oh, and one more question... Is there a way to flip just the head of my character while standing still, to give the appearance that he's looking both ways?  I can only seem to flip the whole character but I just want the head to flip horizontally...

"match vanishing behind a leg"

I might be able to help you on this issue. As you know, there is no user's manual for Animation Pro. What manuals are available are well concealed, almost impossible to find. Go here:

Download Manual

This is a download link for a PDF manual claimed to be the PRO manual but is not. Download, open with Acrobat Reader, go to pages 223 and 224. There is discussion on how to move props to foreground and to background. This might work.

Another potential solution is find your way into "layer order" and move his leg to a lower position, behind other "things" in your animation. If I remember right, this pops up on a right mouse click, puppet choice, scene manager appears on your right. There you can change layer order. Hopefully you will not have to dump your project and start over to access this feature.

A note of caution is the "PRO Manual" download is NOT for Animator Pro. This is a mismatched jumble of pages from CrazyTalk 6. A dozen or more features in this manual are not available in Animator Pro. A dozen or more features in Animator Pro are not in this manual.

Download the manual, this is helpful, but keep in mind there is NO documentation NOR a user's manual for Animator Pro. This download manual is nonsensical disordered pages from CrazyTalker 6. Some features are not present, some features present are not covered.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

Actually, that manual is for CrazyTalk, a completely different program with limited animation capabilities.  I know in CTA how the re-ordering the layer works, it's strictly off the z-translation coordinates, unfortunately the matchstick being a prop external to the character, there is no way to layer it between his arm and the rest of his body.  With manual entry of values I might get it's z position just right, but seeing that there is very very very little gap between the torso's z axis position and the arms z axis positon, it just might not be worth it. 

Wizaerd comments, "Actually, that manual is for CrazyTalk, a completely different program with limited animation capabilities."

Precisely. This had me scratching my noggin for hours trying to find those features in the PRO manual. Finally I discovered those features are not in Animator Pro. Crazy maker! This drove me more crazy trying to find features of Animator Pro in the manual, not there!

Much of Animator Pro remains undocumented.

I downloaded, printed all pages, punch holes and mounted this manual in a three ring notebook. Then I bought index pages with stick out tabs which are hand labeled by topic. Ends up an inch and a half thick stack of papers.

Those index tabs really help to make sense of this alleged manual. Used 36 index tabs in total to organize this manual into something workable.

Appears to me Reallusion tossed two CrazyTalk manuals into the air and whatever order those pages fell, this is the order of this manual. Not sure why RL is calling this a manual for PRO, this is certainly not.

Wizaerd, I will politely urge you to continue playing around with layers. You might luck into a solution with the right combination of events. Only other solution I can think of is to create two actors, one without the match, one with the match as part of your original graphic so this match is NOT a prop. Animate both and "butt" those together. Actor without a match ends, actor with a match begins.

This is a common practice in Sony Vegas Pro. However, I do not know if Animator Pro has this ability to blend from one animation into another.

I sincerely hope you find a solution, I know how aggravating this is.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

But it certainly is, it's the PRO manual for CrazyTalk, specifically CrazyTalk Pro version 6.2, again a completely different program.  Just because it has CrazyTalk in the title, it doesn't mean it's for CrazyTalk Animator.

There is CrazyTalk Standard and Pro for animating the faces on photographs, and CrazyTalk Animator Standard and Pro.  Completely different and separate.

Still I appreciate your response and insight, but alas, it has nothing to do with layers, and had everything to do with z-depth. The match is outside of the linked hierarchy of parts for the character,and the layer up and down functionality is only for pieces that fall within the same hierarchy.  The match is a prop, not related via structure or functionality to the character's hierarchy.

I could easily make a hand sprite that carries the match, that how it would be accomplished in other software packages, but I'll find another alternative.  As more and more people use the software and find this out, there'll either be a solution (work around) or it'll get fixed by RL at some point.

Wizaerd writes, "it doesn't mean it's for CrazyTalk Animator."

Sticky point. A search of this web site for an owner's manual for Animator Pro leads to the manual for CrazyTalk 6 Pro.

Bottom line is there is no documentation nor user's manual for CrazyTalk Animator Pro. When I purchased Animator Pro I expected documentation and a user's manual. There are neither. When a customer buys CrazyTalk Animator Pro, all you receive is the software. Customers are left to "guess" at how this software works and how to use this software.

This almost never happens. What good is software without instructions how to use the software? This is so ludicrous to be laughable. This is like buying a computer with no instructions how to use this computer.

I will be bluntly truthful, Reallusion cheated me out of my money.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

You do realize that there is an online manual, and while it may not be 100% complete, it is thorough: http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/animator/help/animator/pro/

The application is not that hard.  While granted there are somethings it does that seems a bit wonky, it's still not difficult to use.  iClone is way more complicated than this.  It is perfect?  No, as I've said elsewhere, there are lots of things this application is lacking, but it is a first version, and given Reallusion's history of updates and upgrades, I'[m confident they'll be adding features.

Do I feel like I got my money's worth?  Absolutely. Is it the besy animation software I've ever used?  Not by a long shot, but it is usable. And it is easier to use than either of the other major competitors in this marketspace.  Try your hand at ToonBoom or Anime Studio Pro and really feel some frustration and irritation...  They're way more advanced, and documented with large manuals that don't explain things very well, and the number of video tutorials is fairly low.  I have both, and have been way more productive in CTA so far, because I don't have to get bogged down in the technical details like you do with the others...

Wizaerd delights me, "While granted there are somethings it does that seems a bit wonky...."

Wonky! You read to be a British boy! Long live the queen and her right funny words.

I am an English professor. I spot oddities in language right off. Reality is I am an ornery Okie farm girl who tends to really annoy people. This annoyance might be a result of English not being my native tongue; I say and write words which others tend to take the wrong way.

Wizaerd, there are some good features in this software. I have successfully produced some videos which work well. However, I am processing what is produced via Reallusion through Sony Vegas Pro. This Reallusion software is simply ancillary software for Vegas Pro.

I have decided part of my frustration and displayed temper results from my being accustomed to working with high end professional level software. My expectations of Reallusion are a tad bit too high, but for a Reallusion $180 price tag, I expect more, like no bugs and documentation along with a user's manual.

For my needs, exacting precision is needed. I cannot have flaws, however minor, in my final product. You have a character which slides around unintended, I have a character head bouncing around unintended. This is aggravating, an anger maker.

Being fair, the lip sync talking head of Reallusion is excellent. I am sincerely surprised by how well this works; lip motions and forms are near perfect. I will use this feature frequently.

Body animation of Reallusion is "wonky" as you British folks would write. There are a lot of bugs in this part of programming, with all being very frustrating. An acceptable level of quality cannot be produced with the body animation part of this software. This is not the high level of difficulty using this feature, I am accustomed to having to do a lot of detailed work through Vegas Pro. What is frustrating is the moment you import a graphic into the Reallusion body animation programming, quality begins to degrade and quality is unacceptable by final conclusion of animation; looks like a child used crayons to draw a cartoon.

I have Reallusion "Face Filter" and have used this for years. I rate this software "perfect" and this is probably the best software Reallusion has produced; top of the line. I rate the animated head part of Animator Pro as "near perfect". Contrasting, I rate the body animation part of Animator Pro as "junk".

For me, the most frustrating part of this software is no documentation and no user's manual. I am one of those who insists upon "instructions" to follow. Guesswork, trial and error, those simply make me mad and prompt me to vent my anger in these forums. Second most frustrating part is graphics imported into the body animator instantly degrade into junk.

On those online help files you mention, I have consulted those numerous times. I have yet to find an answer for a question I have. There is a dire need for a user's manual for this Animator Pro software. I am truly shocked to learn there is no user's manual.

Best action Reallusion can take is to have its programmers come here to these forums and read. I am doubtful they do, I have doubts these numerous bugs will be fixed through future bug fix releases. Nonetheless, participants here provide a valuable service for Reallusion through critique and bug reporting. There is no way of knowing if Reallusion recognizes this value of our discussions of bugs found albeit harsh critiques at times.

Wonky, such a cute British word.

Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation

And I'm not even British, I just enjoy fun words...  :D

Hi wizaerd..

Apologies for the delay in replying. Been a bit snowed under (literally here in the UK).

To resolve the problem you are having in the video do the following:

01) In the Stage Mode, select a character and click the  Character Composer button.
02) Click the Prop button on the top panel.
03) Navigate the tree view in the Content Manager, and find the Accessory you require.
04) Double click on the accessory to apply.
05) In the Composer, make sure the accessory is selected and then click the Attach button found on the top tool bar.
06) Click on the target body part to attach the accessory (eg left hand).
07) The parent node of this prop is now changed to the body part you assigned. See this in the Scene tab.
08) Move, rotate or Scale the accessory to the appropriate location or size.
09) Switch to the Layer tab and move your accessory down to the correct layer (under left hand etc)
10) Click the Back to Stage button to leave the Composer mode and update your character.

Now when your actor walks the accessory will not go behind the leg or body as it did before.

Hope this helps. :)

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com