Leave Your Comments On CrazyTalk Animator


https://forum.reallusion.com/Topic71633.aspx
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By Visconti - 14 Years Ago
After the launch of CrazyTalk Animator, there have been many wonderful comments and praises about this new generation of CrazyTalk. We are very fortunate to have such a strong community with such high expectations and generous feedback, and we wish not to miss out on the opportunity to collect all your official quotes. Whether it’s about the product features itself, or how CrazyTalk Animator changes the way 2D animation is done, or even just a quick comparison between different 2D animation solutions, we invite all of you to leave your comments here as Reallusion would love to share your personal quotes, and names, with the rest of the World. All chosen quotes will be properly labeled and credited in our testimonial sections, and future PR activities.

A Million Thanks,
- The Reallusion Team

http://www.reallusion.com/testimonial.asp 

By jah.nocli - 14 Years Ago
I'm a long-time user of Anime Studiio and Toon Boom Studio, and bought Crazy Talk 6 recently out of curiosity, and so I could take a look at CT Animator. Crazy Talk 6 -- even the Standard version -- was so good and simple to use it was almost spooky. Consequently, I expected great things from CT Animator, but it has been a little disappointing for me. For one thing the Standard version, while not crippled exactly, lacks so many features that the Pro version is almost mandatory - something I haven't found with other software.

The Tutorials for the software are mostly good, but lack perspective of a user -- where is the tutorial which shows the setting up, construction and animation of a project from start to finish? Tutorials are tools-based. That's fine, but it's only half the story. Also, tutorials make no distinction within them as to whether Pro or Standard features are being used. This can be confusing.

There have been many posts about the licensing issue - my view is that Reallusion's marketing department have got this very wrong, and need to put it right soon. Uninstalling software so you can use it on another machine!? That's just a disincentive to buy the software.

But the biggest negatives for me are constructing puppets from scratch, and having to buy the Pro version so I can rig up puppets. The former is like some kind of weird obstacle course for a user, and the second represents a considerable expense for a hobbyist, when a much superior system already exists in Anime Studio.

Wow. Didn't mean to ramble on! But it's easy to see how good this software could be. I've been involved in software development in a different life, and it is very much like steering a supertanker. If you start going in the wrong directiion, it can be increasingly difficult to get back on course. Good luck, anyway! Reallusion seem like a very responsive company, so you deserve to succeed.
By Nop3D - 14 Years Ago
where is the tutorial which shows the setting up, construction and animation of a project from start to finish?

================================
Agree to above questions
By AverageJoe - 14 Years Ago
There are two major advantages to CTA, advantages that as far as I know, the other 2D animation applications do not offer.

The first one is: Pre-canned motions, walk cycles, actions, etc... In the other applications, one must meticulously create the appropriate bone animation keyframes to have a character walk across the room. Neither of them have a pre-included walk cycle.  The CTA takes it one step further, and using a series of sliders a user can come up with their own unique walk,  by adjusting sliders.  As opposed to re-keying keyframes, or starting completely over such as the other apps would force you to do.  And if you do come up with something you like, save it to a library and re-use it whenever you want.  Create any motions, by keyframing, and save them as re-usable motions.

The second one is the linking/unlinking of props.  In the other applications, it's the typical approach to create additional switch layers where the character's hand is drawn of created using said prop.  The there's a copy of it in the main scene.  So picture a character walking in, picking up that prop, carrying it around, passing it to another character, or throwing it, or dropping it.  In the other apps, it's a great deal of work to do this.  In CTA, with prop linking and unlinking it becomes a real snap.

For anybody who's attempted 2D animation knows these two things along are a great deal of work for an animator, and the facilities within CTA providing this type of functionality is phenonemal.  That's not to say that CTA is perfect, and it could really use with lots of missing features, tweaks to things, and some fixes but for a first version, it's not too bad.  I look forward to watching it's evolution and progress...

By jah.nocli - 14 Years Ago
Pre-canned motion is fine, as long as you can integrate it seamlessly into other motions you want the character to perform. But you can't do that easily in a convincing way. A walk cycle isn't inherently fascinating. And the ability to link and unlink props is good, but I don't have a problem with doing this differently in other software, which otherwise is also a lot more responsive to the user's creativity.

It's early days, I guess.
By honshin - 14 Years Ago
I am generally impressed with the software.  It is a great next step from Crazy Talk and a good compliment to Iclone.  I am not happy about the licensing.  I work at home on a desktop and at work on a laptop.  Every other piece of software I own allows for to license both units as long as they are not used concurrently.  Animator doesn't.  I am also finding that it constantly crashes.  I have experienced better stability from other Reallusion products so I hope that they will fix this soon.  I think the software has great potential and I hope that Reallusion will make a few changes to improve it further.
By Enviroman - 13 Years Ago
yes definitely, need how to, instructions, not just features.
By deenice - 13 Years Ago
I was very excited to get the CTA - but agree the tutorials should have a more user-friendly based explanation.

the licensing is a real mess, and cannot work on my projects remotely.
By pauze - 13 Years Ago
As a long-time user of both Crazy Talk and CTA's competition, Anime Studio, I really wanted CTA to be wonderful. Finally, I thought, a way to combine the terrific facial animation features of CT with the basic 2D bones animation features of Anime Studio.

Unfortunately, after struggling with CTA for nearly two weeks now, I'm giving up and will not be purchasing this software. I'm sorry to say I have found it to be the single most frustrating, unintuitive, and downright byzantine application I have used in many a year. Things that should be ridiculously simple to do are either impossible or maddeningly convoluted.

I must assume the creators of this application did not purposefully set out to create a stressful and frustrating experience for their customers, but that's sure how it seems.

Sad and disappointed,

PP
By jah.nocli - 13 Years Ago
I have to agree. I have Crazy Talk 6 Standard, and would consider upgrading to Pro in the future if I can get a good deal. I also have Crazy Talk Animator Standard, but would not consider moving to the Pro version for the reasons outlined in the previous post.
By Peter (RL) - 13 Years Ago
Thanks for the feedback. For users coming from CrazyTalk 6 there is a steeper learning curve with CrazyTalk Animator for sure. I would keep an eye on the growing number of video tutorials that are appearing for CTA. I think these will help explain the amazing features and power that CTA possesses. Smile
By kjyahooforward - 13 Years Ago
Yes, the new video tutorials are VERY helpful, thank you!

Another training help I finally discovered are the sample projects under the project tab. Because, those allow you to see what's happening on the timeline, and move back and forth through the process.

Couple of small things: wish I had a human female character wearing a pantsuit or slacks. Have tried creating one but not too successful.

So, would be great to be able to move the legs from a male character, e.g. to a female, such as in the human character pack the businessman to businesswoman. In fact, would be great to be able to interchange parts -- maybe it already is, in the sprite editor, but haven't discovered how to use parts from one character on a different character.

Otherwise, have to do a lot of work with Photoshop to create something that works. Via launch, but it's very time-consuming.

In general, I'm much more interested in realistic photo characters than in traditional cartoon characters which is why I'm no longer spending time with Anime.
By Peter (RL) - 13 Years Ago
kjyahooforward (2/7/2011)
So, would be great to be able to move the legs from a male character, e.g. to a female, such as in the human character pack the businessman to businesswoman. In fact, would be great to be able to interchange parts -- maybe it already is, in the sprite editor, but haven't discovered how to use parts from one character on a different character.

You can certainly mix and match parts of a CTA character. That is a big feature of the software.

To do for the human characters, load up Sally from Actor - Character - Human.

Switch to Composer Mode, then to Body - Lower - Human and load Mr Rosenberg's pants.

Now you will just need to tweak the sizes of the various parts until you get a good fit. That's it. Smile

By kjyahooforward - 13 Years Ago
Wow! that's a great relief! And I had just a few minutes ago discovered that while looking into how to create a new prop sprite by importing multiple media, but haven't solved that one yet-- wow, I'm sllllooooowwwww.
By flatcap - 13 Years Ago
after 3 months of using CTA and hours of reading and watching in my opinion unclear manuals and not very user friendly videos and constant practice along with the constant program crashes. i'm giving up before my sanity does.
but I'm sure in a couple of versions down the road it will be a great program
By Peter (RL) - 13 Years Ago
flatcap (2/24/2011)
after 3 months of using CTA and hours of reading and watching in my opinion unclear manuals and not very user friendly videos and constant practice along with the constant program crashes. i'm giving up before my sanity does.
but I'm sure in a couple of versions down the road it will be a great program

Sorry to hear that Flatcap. Which particular areas of CrazyTalk Animator are you having problems with? Perhaps we can help guide you through any sticking points.

Also If you are having technical issues with crashing then why not contact Reallusion Support who will gladly try to resolve these issues for you. Please use the link below if you would like to contact Support.

http://www.reallusion.com/CustomerSupport/User/QForm.aspx

By flatcap - 13 Years Ago
Hi Peter,
i think my main problem is with sizes which i think is causing the crashes
as a cartoonist i am only interested in creating my own characters to animate which is causing problems
although i have read all the help files and white papers i'm finding it difficult to create my own actors and bring them in to CTA and in my opinion the help files and white papers are not clear or precise enough for a complete novice.
for example the white papers say
actor head 750px750p
actor body size 1000x1000 is that the size for upper torso or the lower torso as well?
the hands 200x200 that is all the info i can find so what about leg and arm segments and feet. at the moment i'm guessing the sizes which is i assume the problem for my persistent crashes.
Or am i supposed to open a certain size canvas in png and draw all the body segments on to one canvas and then cut each one out to a new layer?
I made my first actor after coming across a video adding parts to the black dummy unfortunately there was no audio to the video with specific information on body part sizes
so i guessed the sizes and managed to build an actor in between crashes i'd add a part and if the program did not crash i'd save until eventually i got all the parts in. So it does seem to me every body part must be of a specific size

since then i tried to build another actor by using the dummy with no success. So back to the help files and eventually found 3 ways of making a sprite
but once more i have problems
1. loading media to create sprite
tried and followed instructions but nothing happens except folder with the body parts i created on my hard drive opens.
from instructions on help i think what should happen is a folder in CTA should open as well for me to drag my files in to. Which then will create a sprite not sure whats happening there
2 using prop composer to make sprite
can't do that as the button i need to press is greyed out? and i have followed the correct procedures as described in help
had a bash with character composer in the early hours of the morning with some success although eddie is a bit distorted fro0m the body parts i've added but i think that will be fixed by repositioning the pivot points. But using eddie as a template will that restrict the body types i like to draw. i lik a tubby cartoon character but will that cause problem using a skinny eddie for a template?
All in all i think CTA is great and i don't have a problem with spending hours reading help files, but it is frustrating to lose hours looking only to find the info you need is not there or its unclear.
I brought this program for my business as i have been asked to animate some customers caricatures. from a business point of view this could be lucrative.
But i'm not an animator so cta will eventually be perfect for someone like me to build an animation quickly and efficiently by dipping in to help files when needed and finding solutions. so i can turn out cost effective work
but i think that will be a bit down the road. so cta will be on the back burner for me for a while.
trouble is its so addictive i've lost count of the days and hours i've lost messing with cta instead of working
best wishes


By Peter (RL) - 13 Years Ago
Hi Flatcap

Thank you for sharing more information on the problems you are having.

The sizes given in the white paper are the recommended minimums to maintain good quality at various levels of zoom. It is not essential to use exactly these sizes but it is a good guideline to follow.

When it comes to the crashing you get when using large size images then I really do think you should contact Support as I mentioned previously. You should not be getting crashes like this. I have been working today with some vector based characters using body parts of 1500 x 1500 and have not encontered any crashes at all using these sizes.

1. loading media to create sprite
tried and followed instructions but nothing happens except folder with the body parts i created on my hard drive opens.
from instructions on help i think what should happen is a folder in CTA should open as well for me to drag my files in to. Which then will create a sprite not sure whats happening there.

When you are adding parts to your character, say for example using the black dummy as a template, you would select the body part, open the Sprite Editor and then choose Replace. This will then open the Windows Open explorer for you to browse to the folder where you have your images stored. Simply find your body part image you want to add and then click Open.

2 using prop composer to make sprite
can't do that as the button i need to press is greyed out? and i have followed the correct procedures as described in help
had a bash with character composer in the early hours of the morning with some success although eddie is a bit distorted fro0m the body parts i've added but i think that will be fixed by repositioning the pivot points. But using eddie as a template will that restrict the body types i like to draw. i lik a tubby cartoon character but will that cause problem using a skinny eddie for a template?

Which button is greyed out? When you are working in Character Composer you only need to select the individual body part and select the Sprite Editor to begin replaceing parts.

Very importantly when you have selected the part you want to replace and choose Open it will most likely appear in Composer the wrong size and wrong rotation. You should make all the rotation adjustments to the part before you close the Sprite Editor. You won't be able to roate the part after you close the Sprite Editor.

So from reading through your description of the problems it really seems that it is purely down to a lack of experience with the software rather than a failure of CTA to be able to achieve what you want to do with it.

I really would advise you to stick with it. Please try watching all the video tutorials available again, pausing and stoping so you can try each part. With practice I do believe you will soon get the hang of it.

I would also ask that if you get stuck at various points, please post a question here on the forum and I will gladly try to help further.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide the feedback. I appreciate it. Smile

By flatcap - 13 Years Ago
thanks peter, for your reply i've also contacted support
i don't think i explained very well about one of the the ways of making a sprite so i have posted screenshots of the type of sprite i was trying to make from help files and also the button i mentioned that is permanently greyed out i will post in the main forum
thanks for all the help you have given me
By RicksWorks - 13 Years Ago
If you guys want to teach us to get the most use out of this program then teach us step by step in the construction of character bodies using different clothes (shirts, pants, shorts, etc.) Then teach us how to create arms and legs for the short sleeved shirts and shorts. Where do the arms and legs come from when wanting to design these types of bodies? Can you guys design various human arms and legs for us to use with the program?

HELP US PLEASE!!!! I'm finding this aspect frustrating and hard to do.

Thank you in advance for any and all help.
By ca310 - 13 Years Ago
I have found it very challenging and have a team of 3 people, including a professional artist.

The tutorials are NOT very helpful -- they go by sooo fast! It's click, click, click. If Reallusion wants to know how to make a good tutorial -- I recommend looking at some of the Sony Vegas experts who put up tutorials on YouTube -- they are very clear to list EACH STEP.

EACH STEP. Like "first click this to open the program, then click this to save."

For example -- it took me 2 DAYS to figure out how to save a character. Do you know why? Because you have to click on it which highlights it with a box and THEN the plus sign to add lights up and is not gray and THEN you can add it! Hello! In the tutorial, the guy's like "and then you just save/add your character."

I've been saying that step by step clear tutorials would really help. One member of my team has already bailed for Anime Studio. I wanted CTA because the amazing facial animation packs, great way to add facial expression. I'm really hoping that this works because I'm in a big project and I need to figure it out!

Also -- the tech help support sucks. I ask a question and they send me a link to a white paper. Really? They can't just answer it?

right now I see plusses and minuses and am hoping one will outweigh the other.
By Anonymous - 13 Years Ago
Animation is redifined with the introduction of the kinect/mocap developments.

I do speculate that Adobe will cause a tsunami in animation.

To many different software developers with great ideas are splintered.

Adobe will bring the total concept to a new level.

Facial recognition is not a element of the future, it is already here.

Crazytalk was a great concept, back then. Crazytalk and it's extension animator is a dead street.

Bringing animation to the masses will be very simple within 1-3 years.

Just look at all the ideas and concepts, even toonboon will look prehistoric within a few years.

I put my money on Adobe.

Cheers,
René

Ps: when trying to post a new topic I do get a server error.

By AverageJoe - 13 Years Ago
Rene77 (9/7/2011)
Animation is redifined with the introduction of the kinect/mocap developments.

I do speculate that Adobe will cause a tsunami in animation.

To many different software developers with great ideas are splintered.

Adobe will bring the total concept to a new level.

Facial recognition is not a element of the future, it is already here.

Crazytalk was a great concept, back then. Crazytalk and it's extension animator is a dead street.

Bringing animation to the masses will be very simple within 1-3 years.

Just look at all the ideas and concepts, even toonboon will look prehistoric within a few years.

I put my money on Adobe.

Cheers,
René

Ps: when trying to post a new topic I do get a server error.

Sorry, but I completely disagree.  Adobe makes (buys) great image and illustration software, and fairly good video editor (Premiere and AfterEffects), but it knows next to nothing about 3d or 2d character animation.  Even Flash, which now features bones, was bought out by Adobe from Macromedia is limiting in many animation aspects, while it has some great animation and timeline manipulations.

While putting together custom characters in CTA is still a tedious process, it cannot be beat for animation.  It has many useful automatic features for animations, and yet revelas the lower level keyframing animation techniques that are common in all animation applications.  I've used a lot of animation applications, bth 2D and 3D, and by far CTA was one of the easiest to come to grips with and start using right out of the box.  Try using ToonBoom or even Anime Studio Pro, and tell me that CTA is hard.  Anime Studio Pro, in my opinion, would probably be the next easiest to use, then ToonBoom.  But both of these latter programs are far more technical, while using CTA is just plain fun, quick, and easy.

The other applications are all about the technical aspect and process of creating animations, every aspect of it.  Drawing, rigging, animating, etc...  CTA is about animating, making movies.  I don't think that niche will ever go away.  Although CTA does need a bit more variety, but again, for quick animations, it cannot be beat.

Adobe can keep the image editing, illustration demographics, but it's very doubtful they'll ever be an animation powerhouse.

By bg38 - 12 Years Ago
I just purchased CTA the other day, after weighing it against Crazytalk 6 pro.
I'll admit I 'm happy with my purchase. Sure there are some things it isn't going to be able to do, but then again, it can do quite a lot as well.

I haven't worked with it extensively yet and am already making and importing my own goodies for it.
One thing I do wish it had (if i haven't missed it yet during my playing around with the software ) is a direct motion control like iclone 5 has, thus making personal animations easier.

Can some of you more seasoned users suggest some methods for custom animations I can implement?Or is that something left for the RL gang to handle?
By Peter (RL) - 12 Years Ago
bg38 (2/1/2012)
I just purchased CTA the other day, after weighing it against Crazytalk 6 pro.
I'll admit I 'm happy with my purchase. Sure there are some things it isn't going to be able to do, but then again, it can do quite a lot as well.

I haven't worked with it extensively yet and am already making and importing my own goodies for it.
One thing I do wish it had (if i haven't missed it yet during my playing around with the software ) is a direct motion control like iclone 5 has, thus making personal animations easier.

Can some of you more seasoned users suggest some methods for custom animations I can implement?Or is that something left for the RL gang to handle?

Hi BG

Direct animation is done by using the Motion Key Editor from the left toolbar when you have a character selected. You can choose control over Pose, Body and Face. To find out more about the Motion Key Editor just go HERE.

You also have the same Puppeteering controls as you do in iClone5. These enable you to tweak and customise the puppeteering profiles supplied or purchased in motion packs.

Any motions you do create yourself can be saved for later use using Collect Clip.

By bg38 - 12 Years Ago
Thanks a lot Peter, for the response Smile
By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
there is no waveform for the audio files. that's bad! that's very bad!
By Peter (RL) - 12 Years Ago
alexdobras (2/18/2012)
there is no waveform for the audio files. that's bad! that's very bad!

There is a waveform for the voice track but not for the music or sound effects tracks.

By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
how to activate it? so i could see it
By jlittle - 12 Years Ago
To see the wave form:

With an imported wave file or recorded voice using CTA loaded for an actor, go to the actor in the timeline and click on the facial button for that actor. You will now see the voice clip and facial clip tracks for the actor. Select the voice clip that was inserted and right click and then ungroup. Expand the voice clip to show the voice and lips tracks. On the voice track click the button to the left of the header "Voice" (looks like a waveform) and the track will be displayed as a waveform.

Note: The waveform display is only available in the voice track, not the music or sound FX tracks.

Jeff
By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
that's great news! i have found it now. still the waveform is a bit small but useful.
would be great to see waveform for soundfx and music too.

but what about a time scrubbing feature? like After Effects has, if you are familiar with it.

basically, when draging the mouse over the timeline while keeping CTRL presed, you can hear the sound of the clip just for the portion of the strip you're draging onto.

since with Spacebar pressed the sound keeps on playing, and not very good for workflow.

does CTAnimator has this feature that i'm unaware ?
By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
how to do this in CTA ?
here is time-sound scrubbing in AE: [/url]
[url=http://youtu.be/py0RZA4C8Q0?t=34s]
By jlittle - 12 Years Ago
Not that I know of.

The only thing I can think of is to use the markers to set a start and end point to play.
Then every time you hit the space bar it cycles thru that section.
It is not the best because you have to continually move the markers for each section you are working on but it is something.

Jeff
By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
it is not okay. it's too hard to animate without a time sound scrubbing feature, if you're working with lots of sounds, of course.
By Peter (RL) - 12 Years Ago
alexdobras (2/18/2012)
how to do this in CTA ?
here is time-sound scrubbing in AE:

As Jeff has already mentioned, time/sound scrubbing isn't possible in the current version I'm afraid.

I will add it to the wishful features list though. Smile

By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
hi guys, is there a way to add vector files into CTA ? it seem that only swf is supported, and i get only ragged edges with it.

would importing ai / svg / eps would be implimented any time soon ?

thanks
By Peter (RL) - 12 Years Ago
alexdobras (2/26/2012)
hi guys, is there a way to add vector files into CTA ? it seem that only swf is supported, and i get only ragged edges with it.

would importing ai / svg / eps would be implimented any time soon ?

thanks

Have you ensured that you have Anti-Alias checked in Preferences? This can cause jagged edges. Also try setting your Max Real-Time Map Size to a higher setting. This may help.

Remember also that you can use PNG, TGA, BMP format images etc to create sprite based characters. You aren't limited to SWF format.

By jlittle - 12 Years Ago
One thing I have found is that if you draw your object too small then it can get ragged when it is enlarged to size.
I prefer to draw a larger object and then shrink it down rather than a small one and enlarge it.

Also, don't use line widths smaller than around 2.5pts.
The typically outline for a character, that I use, is 5pts.

Jeff
By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
if there was a SVG export , CTA would work with Inkscape too. and probably with Illustrator.

if i export a model (A4 paper size) to swf and import it to CTA, i get some ragged edges no matter what options i choose, but also i get no rolling eyes from the illustrator's swf file. Do you know how to work it ?

cheers!
By jlittle - 12 Years Ago
I export 1 frame from CTA as a SWF file and then use the SoThink SWF Decompiler to export the shape as SVG files.
I can then use them in DrawPlus and they don't have ragged edges.
By alexdobras - 12 Years Ago
jlittle (2/18/2012)
To see the wave form:

With an imported wave file or recorded voice using CTA loaded for an actor, go to the actor in the timeline and click on the facial button for that actor. You will now see the voice clip and facial clip tracks for the actor. Select the voice clip that was inserted and right click and then ungroup. Expand the voice clip to show the voice and lips tracks. On the voice track click the button to the left of the header "Voice" (looks like a waveform) and the track will be displayed as a waveform.

Note: The waveform display is only available in the voice track, not the music or sound FX tracks.

Jeff


could the next verison of CTA please have the ability to view the waveform without needing to ungroup the voice clip from the lipsync ?
that is only by clicking the wave button - currently it does nothing without ungrouping
By Panzerkampfwagen - 12 Years Ago
I am a terrible artist and cartoonist. Although, i have ideas, my hands never used to listen to my brain. Now CTA is just performing this role. I must say that this software is super awesome not just for animation, but along with drawplus, it has helped me design the title cover of a book. Smile

The developers at the Reallusion city are awesome and i must credit "Kurzal" in particular for the awesome dynamic props that he has created, which i have purchased and used, and i think that they are awesome..

The members at this forum are also largely helpful, responding to at times ( even basic and possibly stupid queries ) of mine and their responses have largely helped me in understanding and getting more out of this awesome software.
By Peter (RL) - 12 Years Ago
Hi Ksugeeth,

It's great to hear you are enjoying using CrazyTalk Animator. We always enjoy receiving feedback from users, so thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Smile

By zeidabuodeh - 12 Years Ago
I badly need a tutor to teach me how to use it ! please guide me

Zeid
By Peter (RL) - 12 Years Ago
zeidabuodeh (10/17/2012)
I badly need a tutor to teach me how to use it ! please guide me

Zeid

Hi..

Have you cheked out the many video tutorials below, covering all aspects of CrazyTalk Animator. These should certainly get you started on creating your own animations.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyTalkTutorial

By Kawatzakka - 12 Years Ago
CTA is a great product as long as you don't plan to take it to a professional level. As long as you are doing animations for friends and family, it's all good. In fact, it's great. But once you need CTA to step up to the professional level, your honeymoon with CTA will be over in a jiffy!

We have been battling CTA bugs for over a year, and CTA has NOT delivered the type of support that compensates for their poor programming and management.

We truly regret being fooled by CTA. We thought this product was serious, but it is not. It's not ready for prime time, it's not ready for anything outside amateur hour.

I wish we had better things to say, but we can't....CTA has been a total waste of our time and resources.
By rampart - 12 Years Ago
Does the current release version of CT animator contain the CT7?

If no, when will it release?

All the specials for CTA look good, but if I have to turn around and buy CT7 I will be disappointed.

I was annoyed as heck to realize when I bought the FaceFilter3 to find there is another add on to it that is $50 more. I really felt deceived when there is constant hipe about new products soon to be released and the MakeUp Pro thing wasn't mentioned until FF3 was released. Yeah I got some kind of bonus, but I would have waited otherwise.

Doing business in such a sneaky fashion like that without sharing the whole story is lousy.

Especially, when I finally get the FF3 and find there is already another addin for it, never mentioned. Really SUX.



By Peter (RL) - 11 Years Ago
rampart (12/26/2012)
Does the current release version of CT animator contain the CT7?

If no, when will it release?

All the specials for CTA look good, but if I have to turn around and buy CT7 I will be disappointed.

I was annoyed as heck to realize when I bought the FaceFilter3 to find there is another add on to it that is $50 more. I really felt deceived when there is constant hipe about new products soon to be released and the MakeUp Pro thing wasn't mentioned until FF3 was released. Yeah I got some kind of bonus, but I would have waited otherwise.

Doing business in such a sneaky fashion like that without sharing the whole story is lousy.

Especially, when I finally get the FF3 and find there is already another addin for it, never mentioned. Really SUX.

Hi..

CrazyTalk Animator does not contain CrazyTalk 7. These are two separate products. You do not need CT7 to be able to use CTA.

I'm sorry to hear you feel annoyed about the Makeup Pack being a separate purchase for FF3. Releasing content packs for our titles is normal practise for all our products.

Please do remember that if you have any concerns about a purchase you made, please contact Customer Support using the link below. They will certainly try to help you resolve any issues.

http://www.reallusion.com/CustomerSupport/User/QForm.aspx

By Plonka - 11 Years Ago
Love CTA!!

We've been working hard with this great software!

We hope to be able to share with you some our creations very soon Smile

Our best to all Smile!!
By Charmothuran - 11 Years Ago
Hi, I'm new here; just to add to the point about the standard version being "crippled":
How annoying to find that Cut & Paste, features which you'd expect as standard in any self-respecting graphics editing software, are only available on the Timeline in the Pro version!! Which means that, unless there's another way around the problem, I have to enter all repetitive Timeline events individually! Sad
Also, the fact that an external editor should be needed to create substitutes for actors' body parts - but that's a lesser gripe.
By Peter (RL) - 11 Years Ago
Charmothuran (7/15/2013)
Hi, I'm new here; just to add to the point about the standard version being "crippled":
How annoying to find that Cut & Paste, features which you'd expect as standard in any self-respecting graphics editing software, are only available on the Timeline in the Pro version!! Which means that, unless there's another way around the problem, I have to enter all repetitive Timeline events individually! Sad
Also, the fact that an external editor should be needed to create substitutes for actors' body parts - but that's a lesser gripe.

Thank you for the feedback.

Unfortunately there has to be some differences between the Standard and Pro versions to compensate for the price difference. However we always make this clear in our version comparisons so the user knows which Pro features are not present in the Standard versions.

The CrazyTalk Animator comparison is below:

http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/animator/animator_matrix.aspx

By markk1 - 11 Years Ago
Crazy Talk Animator is a fun program to work with, getting even better with the upcoming version 2.

There are some great assets to use, if you have the dosh to spend. Though some of it seems to have jagged edges even with anti-alias on. I haven't made a movie to see whether that is still the case.
By justin.s.leary - 11 Years Ago
I have to agree with flatcap as well.

I bought CTA1 about a year ago, and also bought some training videos, and spend many weeks and couldn't figure out sqat about CTA1 so I gave up in frustration. I too find that the (paid for!) videos fly by at 100 miles and hour and skip most of what he is doing and only show the results, so I couldn't follow what he was doing or figure out anything. I just bought CTA2 thinking from what I had heard that it was vastly improved, but sadly, it is just as frustrating! The manual help files are useless to me, they seem to assume you are familiar with the program, and I can't figure out how to do the simplest of things at all! It is so frustrating. I use anime studio 9 pro successfully, as well as carrara 8 and daz studio, no problems.

For example, I am trying to figure out how to move a character's start position. Whenever I click on the character to move it, it moves the bounding box but not the character. I am at the first keyframe. Of course if I advance the playhead, it will move that character. But I am trying to reposition the character at the start. If someone could please explain to me how to do this, I would be grateful.

And of course I gave up trying to use my own content a long time ago, and I still can't figure out whatever steps are needed to do this.

I would appreciate it if reallusion would make help files or video tutorials that back off from the hyped sales pitch and "wow, aren't these features great" and make some help material that is of more use to anyone except psychics and polymaths.

Sorry if this offends. Just being honest.
By slooky1958 - 10 Years Ago
I just purchased CTA2 and it's totally useless, someone said you need to have to wait for the upgrade! Well that's really sweet! Why put it out when it's not ready?