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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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Why I decided to make this thread? The fact there are three reasons for this:
- I can see that the average quality of amateur CTA animation leaves much to be desired (let's be honest with ourselves);
- I offered to collect all my "tutorials" in one place, but I was too lazy :blush: to look for them on various video sharing;
- and finally, I recently became a Tutor! (here, at Reallusion Forum :D ).
How will it look? Very simple. You ask a question about the animation in CTA in this thread, and I answer it. Quick question - short (up to 5 minutes) video answer. I have a suspicion that you have the questions :rolleyes:
I do solemnly swear that I will use the most simple words in answers... just because I can not use more complex ones :D
So let's start from the blank page! Why not?
P.S. Frankly, I do not know what will come of this venture, but I want to believe the best. And if it helps at least one person, I'll be very happy.
P.P.S. ... and my apologies (in advance ;) ) for my awful english :)
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By sjonesdc - 14 Years Ago
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Igor,
Thank you for creating this thread. How-to's that are short and to the point and answer a specific question is what I'm looking for, which is my learning style and I wouldn't be surprise if it is a lot of others too.
And don't worry about your English, I'm not that great either and it's my native language:w00t:
Thanks again!!!!!
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By peteradam6 - 14 Years Ago
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Many thanks! Ok, here's one to start with... What might be the best way to do a "walking into the sunset" shot in Animator? I mean, the characters viewed from the rear, with motion?
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By Duncanduncan - 14 Years Ago
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Igor thanks for the thread idea and the help. I was working on masking a picture based character and I am wondering if you could offer do a tutorial on this?
Also somehow I popped out of the editor and cannot figure out how to put my character back in so I can start to mask and edit the joints which were not finished?
thanks!
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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peteradam6 (7/16/2011)
... What might be the best way to do a "walking into the sunset" shot in Animator? I mean, the characters viewed from the rear, with motion?
Thanks for question! Here's the answer :)
Hope it helps :)
Project file you can download here
Odd Job Jack torrent is here
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By rogdodge - 14 Years Ago
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Hi Igor, A Tutorial about how to save a JPEG/GIF etc photo of Head/Attire etc so that it can then be used in Crazy Talk would be great. i.e how to get .ctHead or .ctActor extensions. Many thanks, rogdodge
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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Duncanduncan (7/16/2011)
Igor thanks for the thread idea and the help. I was working on masking a picture based character and I am wondering if you could offer do a tutorial on this?
Thanks for question!
I can't make "5-minutes or Short answer" on this, believe me :) This will require a lot of work and there are RL-tutorials and they are all good, really! But! You can divide the problem into small parts and select the most important. There is no such things that you can not do anything at all :)
Also somehow I popped out of the editor and cannot figure out how to put my character back in so I can start to mask and edit the joints which were not finished?
The only way is save your work constantly. Open image in editor - save it immediately... next part of work - save it... and save... and save, and so on. This is the only way. Yes, sometimes I forget to save my works too. But my wife does not like when I - for no apparent reason - begin to speak loud with "four-letters" words... So if you like your family, your work and your time - just save constantly :D
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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rogdodge (7/17/2011)
A Tutorial about howto save a JPEG/GIF etc photo of Head/Attire etc so that it can then be used in Crazy Talk would be great.i.e how to get .ctHead or .ctActor extensions.
Thanks for question!
As I can understand .ctHead or .ctActor extensions are "inner" (propientary) RL-formats and no one third-party software can works with them. You can create/edit/save those formats/files only with CrazyTalk Animator.
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By thebiz.movies - 14 Years Ago
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Hey Kurzal, I would like to use some of Iclone's assets in CTA. In this particular case I want to import a particle effect (fire) on a transparent background into CTA. I dont know how to make it a transparent background. My tools are IC4, drawplus, vegas movie studio and gimp. Thoughts?
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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thebiz.movies (7/17/2011)
I would like to use some of Iclone's assets in CTA. In this particular case I want to import a particle effect (fire)on a transparent background into CTA. I dont know how to make it a transparent background. My tools are IC4, drawplus, vegas movie studio and gimp. Thoughts?
Thanks for question!
No thoughts from now! Just do it! :D
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By gregory.houston - 14 Years Ago
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Great tutorials Igor! Thanks for taking the time to help folks out here. Cheers!
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By thebiz.movies - 14 Years Ago
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Excellent. Thanks for the reply Igor. I have never used the popvideo format as I thought you hade to purchase popvideo to use it. Now if I can figure out how to start the particle out at full life Ill be in business. Very useful. Thanks!
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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thebiz.movies (7/17/2011)
... Now if I can figure out how to start the particle out at full life Ill be in business.
In fact, you are in business. Just remember what A.Rodin said "I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need." ;)
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By Duncanduncan - 14 Years Ago
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Igor, thanks I will take your advice.
DuncanDuncan
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By thebiz.movies - 14 Years Ago
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kurzal (7/18/2011)
thebiz.movies (7/17/2011)
... Now if I can figure out how to start the particle out at full life Ill be in business.In fact, you are in business. Just remember what A.Rodin said "I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need." ;)
A second export....sneaky smart! Very very good stuff. Thanks Igor.
This is a great way to increase your CTA effects library. Huzzah!
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Awesome! Thanks for this sunset tutorial! Very cool! And I LOVE the fact that you SHOW the difference between right and wrong method.
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Tutorial Request: How do I flip the body of a the puppet without flipping the head?
The face I imported faces left. The body faces right. But I can't flip just the head. (Or, more likely, I can't figure out how to make this happen.)
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Tutorial Request: Is there a way to set the camera independent of the actor?
I've been trying to get the camera to view the actor differently from the default position. I would like the camera to pan from left to right, while the actor stays in position. When I try this, the actor's face gets viewed from an extreme angle, and it looks flat, with no 3-d at the back of the head. I don't want the face to distort at all.
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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royblumenthal (8/1/2011)
Tutorial Request: Is there a way to set the camera independent of the actor?
I've been trying to get the camera to view the actor differently from the default position. I would like the camera to pan from left to right, while the actor stays in position. When I try this, the actor's face gets viewed from an extreme angle, and it looks flat, with no 3-d at the back of the head. I don't want the face to distort at all.
I hope I correctly understood your question. If not, do not hesitate to ask again. English, as you can see, not my native language:)
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Thank you, Igor!!! Yes! You understood me correctly! My focal length was 100. I've set it to 200, and it looks MUCH better! Thank you so very much for your help. And I LOVE your technique.
[UPDATE:] Here's the video I just completed. Thanks for your help! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vov5V5KT5lQ
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By Duncanduncan - 14 Years Ago
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Igor, your tutorials are so much better than everything else I have found. I would really appreciate anything else you could put out. The tutorial on the character standing and walking out of the room and the one walking into the sunset helped me immensely thanks for them! :)
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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Thank you all for kind words, for watching, and for patience in listening :D
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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royblumenthal (8/1/2011)
Tutorial Request: How do I flip the body of a the puppet without flipping the head?
The face I imported faces left. The body faces right. But I can't flip just the head. (Or, more likely, I can't figure out how to make this happen.)
Sadly, you can't do this (for now, at least) but you can cheat a little ;)
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Igor... You are an absolute GENIUS! Thanks! What a good trick! Thank you. It's EXACTLY what I was looking for! Thank you! Spacibo!
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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TUTORIAL REQUEST: How do I save my own custom face for re-use in later projects?
In your face-turning trick above, you had two faces saved in your 'heads' folder. If I have a face that I've already fitted and adjusted, how do I save it? How do I apply the same fitting and adjustment data to a flipped copy?
Thanks again for your killer tutorials. You are awesome.
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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TUTORIAL REQUEST: Linking two or more separate 'clips' together in one movie.
For instance...
I'm building a set of videos. They all start with one clip (the opening sequence), and they all end with another clip (the closing sequence). The sandwich in the middle is the content that changes.
The middle sequences are all different lengths.
So my challenge is to create some sort of template that I can just 'drop' the middle sequence into.
Something like this...
<---OPENING---><------CONTENT------><---CLOSING--->
<---OPENING---><---------CONTENT---------><---CLOSING--->
<---OPENING---><---CONTENT---><---CLOSING--->
I've currently 'sort of' solved the first part of the problem... getting a different opening and closing sequence.
But it involves a VERY clumsy trick of building three sets all in the same space, and hiding and showing all of the props.
In other words, OPENING, CONTENT, and CLOSING all have different props. When I'm seeing the OPENING sequence, I've hidden ALL props and things in the CONTENT and CLOSING sequences.
Then, when I get to the CONTENT sequence, I have to use the key frame to hide all OPENING props, and show the CONTENT props. VERY tedious, because it involves hiding each and every element individually.
Aaaaargh.
[UPDATE 7 Sept 2011:]
I had to make 9 videos all using the same scenes and props. I made the first three separately. Which was hellish. So I re-edited my sound clips to make one long sequence out of them. I then popped that onto the third video's timeline. Extended it, and simply used the existing collateral. Still hellishly time consuming. But easy to go into auto mode and get all the camera movements and actor flips sorted out.
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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(I used to do this in the old version of CrazyTalk by building each sequence individually, using a greenscreen background, and then stitching each piece together in Premiere Pro. But I would prefer doing it all in CrazyTalk Animator Pro.)
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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((Just found the 'Intro to Content Library' tutorial on YouTube. It probably answers my question about saving things for re-use, and also probably covers building sequences. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbm-Vw9voqk.))
[UPDATE:]
Just watched the vid. And it does indeed address how to save things for reuse.
It doesn't cover how to put saved sequences together to form a story though.
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Yay! Igor... I've just bought your sitcom set from the content marketplace. What a killer piece of equipment! Thanks!
Now HERE's a killer question for you...
Is there some way to angle the set?
In other words, if I look down upon the set from the top, can I rotate the set? For example, 15 degrees?
The purpose being that I've got depth and perspective when the camera pans across the elements.
Blue skies
Roy
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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My apologies for the delay in responses.
So... :)
Is there some way to angle the set?
In other words, if I look down upon the set from the top, can I rotate the set? For example, 15 degrees?
You can not do this. CTA is two-dimensional program. All that you can is distribute objects/props "closer-farther". Then a moving camera creates the illusion of spatial depth.
Linking two or more separate 'clips' together in one movie.
You perfectly described the complexities :) if you try to do it in CTA. I'm not a genius at all :D so I'm not trying to complicate the problem and do not force the program to do something that it was not intended :) I would have done it this way: I would have kept the project in Premiere and simply rendered the necessary pieces as needed. Projects are stored separately (OPENING, CONTENT, and CLOSING) in the CTA. Sets of props you can save/store as Scenes (read this chapter: Building a Custom Scene)
If I explained something not clear or did not answer the important question, do not hesitate to ask again.
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Thank you, Igor. I *thought* these would be the answers. But I had to ask. Thanks again!
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Hello Igor...
Can I import a full CrazyTalk Animator Pro timeline into iClone 4?
Blue skies
Roy
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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royblumenthal (8/13/2011)
Hello Igor...
Can I import a full CrazyTalk Animator Pro timeline into iClone 4?
Blue skies
Roy
There are no such export features. All you can is export graphics (video or images). So you can export separate objects (one by one, no active image on background) as popVideo (tab "Video" - Format) and then place those files in iClone (in 3D space).
That's all you can as far as I know.
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By Anonymous - 14 Years Ago
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Sorry for "breaking in" this topic. When posting a new topic I do get a server error.:crazy: This is my question, topic: How to do this? Two guys sitting in a bar. Front view There is a bottle of beer in fromt of them. Want to pick the bottle up and drink
Want the bottle behind the hand in z space. At the moment I make the arm and hand move to the mouth the bottle disappers behind the body. I can not move the arm parts in different z space positions. Do a have to create a hand sprite with bottle? Cheers,
René
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By kurzal - 14 Years Ago
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I hope I correctly understood your question :)
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By royblumenthal - 14 Years Ago
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Igor... You're awesome!
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By Anonymous - 14 Years Ago
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Kurzal. Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for! Many thanks.:laugh::satisfied: I did not realize that you can go to the character composer to set up the bottle. This example solves a lot of other problems I was faced with. Again, many thanks and have a drink! Cheers, René Ps: Can somebody tell me why I do get a server error ( most times) when trying to start a new topic?
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By perriced - 14 Years Ago
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Kurzal, hi. Wondering if you can "re-visit" this question--importing iClone particle assets etc. with a slight change. I'm embarrassed to say, I still have iClone 3.2 (shhhhh...don't tell anyone) as I've been focusing on CTA. I also have DrawPlus. But, I don't have any editing program. My guess is I can't do it, that is, import iclone assets with a transparent background, unless maybe I buy pop video converter or a decent editing program? As always, thanks, and don't wrack your brain on this one. I was just wondering, Dave
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By Olga(AWS) - 13 Years Ago
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Hi! My question is - how to create a character who stands sideways, how to do it from the back, I realized, but as a side?
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By taiwanwanderer2003 - 13 Years Ago
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Kurzai please add more tutorials. They are the best out there! :D
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By kurzal - 13 Years Ago
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Kind of answer, I think :D :D
BTW, there are great tutorials here: CTAStepByStep
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By lawlesstech - 13 Years Ago
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Broken English and all I've already learned a great deal from you! Thanks.
But I have a problem, see my image.
I can't get my center to stick to my character...why?
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By jlittle - 13 Years Ago
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That is not the center point of your character but a position in the character pathing.
If you click on the Transform button and select Curve the green path line should reappear or move to a new frame on the timeline and reposition the character and then the green pathing line should reappear.
For some reason, when in linear mode, with only two positions (keys), the green pathing line disappears.
Jeff
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By brothertcoleman - 12 Years Ago
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I need help with creating a decent golf swing if your still around kurzal to do the video tutorials .
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