I'm testing CTA3 and how it would incorporate into a Premiere workflow.

I created a single scene in CTA3 (which worked great--love the free-form bone deformations!).  Once I was happy with it, I then proceeded to export the sequence (tried both AVI and MP4).

The problem I have is that the exported video is framed differently than what I see played back (via F12 aka Full Screen Mode without Safe Area, or just by watching what's in the safe area without going full screen).

For example, here's the final frame within CTA3 (which I like and is "correct"):



But here's the actual result of playing back the exported video: (Note also that F10 aka Current Frame Preview also exports an image identical to this one below.)


Is this a bug? Am I doing something wrong?  (And if so, what am I missing?)

Finally, the bone-based animations do not play back in the exported video either.  Is this a bug?  Is this a limitation of the demo?  If it is a demo limitation, what guarantee do I have that CTA3 really works right?

Thanks in advance for help!

--Chris
Windows 10, CTA3 DEMO (v3.01.1116.1), High-DPI screen

Hi..

I see from your screenshot that you have Live Camera ON. It may be that you something going on with an erroneous camera key that is causing the problem. Try turning Live Camera OFF to go back to the Preview camera and then try exporting the video again. Does the same issue occur?

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Without live camera on, no camera movements play back, and my whole scene is worthless, as I have very carefully laid out camera moves.  But I tested it anyway: exporting with live camera OFF exports a video where the image is completely static.  This is still interesting information, because:
1. The puppet animations do not play at all in the rendered WMV (or other formats I've tried)--why not?!?
2. What is exported is *different* than what I see from within CTA3 when I play the project back (with Live Camera OFF)--why?!?

So: the Render > Render Video menu item in both cases (Live Camera ON vs OFF) renders a video that is different than what is viewed when played back within CTA3 with the corresponding setting.  It's like the Render Video is using an improperly configured camera--it's partially correct, but the framing is different, and puppet animations do not play back.

Are you use the Trial version?
Take look the Trial part, there are some limitations.
http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-animator/download.html#comparison

This is clearly a bug in CTA3.  I've been able to fix my scene to work.  It appears that in 3D view, my background prop (i.e. the stars and sky) and the "hill" prop (back silhouette) where placed "below the horizon".  This should be 100% legal, but apparently the Rendering engine behaves differently when exporting (perhaps refusing to be move below zero on the Y-axis?).

Once I dragged everything "up" (higher on the Y-axis so that nothing was below zero) and re-entered all of my camera and transform keys, everything finally exported identically to what I was seeing in CTA3.

NOTE: Moving stuff up on the Y-axis *also caused the puppet movements to start rendering again*!  Is there logic in the Render Video to ignore animations on props below zero on the Y-axis?  Something really strange is going on within the Render Video code that needs to be fixed.

Note that I did, for thoroughness' sake, try re-entering all of my camera and transform keys *without* moving the props above the zero on the Y-axis, and this did NOT fix the problem.  So the problem did not appear to be the key frames, but rather something to do with the Y axis.  Finally, I also tried running CTA3 non-high-DPI in case this bug was related to a high-DPI configuration.  The problem persisted in both a "normal" DPI screen.  Furthermore, my above fix worked both on a high-DPI screen as well as a normal DPI screen.  So I'm fairly confident that this bug isn't high-DPI related, but can't totally rule it out since I work mainly on a high-DPI laptop.

Anyway, at least I can breathe a sigh of relief that I can actually use CTA3 for my Christmas project, although this bug really should be fixed--it's quite confounding otherwise.

--Chris

Great to hear you have resolved the problem. Your original post referred to a framing issue which made it seem like a camera issue initially. Now you have explained more it is clear there was a lot more going on than just a simple framing issue.

Regarding dummy Props showing in your renders. You don't want to use the Show checkbox in Scene Manager as this only applies to the preview window. If you don't want the prop to be visible in your renders just toggle the "Visible/Invisible" button on the top toolbar. Anything that is set to Invisible won't be seen in the final render.

                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com

Just to add if you feel there is a bug or issue with CTA3 please report it in our Feedback Tracker. This is monitored by the CTA team and they will supply feedback on any bugs or issues reported. Thanks.


                                                                

Peter
Forum Administrator

www.reallusion.com