Re-aligning sound files

Rhoel · Post by **Rhoel** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:54 pm

I am animating scenes where the lip sync starts ( for example) 2 seconds into the scene, but my sound file starts 5 frames into the sound file.

I could simply add 45 frames of blank to the sound file and import that. BUt since this is going to be a longer project and my animation timings may change, I would like to slide the sound file to co-incide where the lip sync will eventualkly be.

Is there a way I can do that now in Moho.

If not, could it be a future program change/feature be added where the sound file can be imported in the same way an image is, then re-aligned with a key to sync with the action. It would be immensely practical soloution, providing the necessary control currently missing.

Rhoel.

(I understand the programmers desire not to have fancy sound features but moving the start of the sound file is kind of a necessity - adding an action can easily throw the scene timing out and common for the lipsync to be moved. Incidentally, I use Adobe Audition to do the final audio syncing - as near a perfect solution as I have found, supporting video and 128 tracks of audio).

mr. blaaa · Post by **mr. blaaa** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:15 pm

As far as i understood the problem, you want to insert the soundtrack at a different frame than 0, right?

One possibility is to set the start frame to another frame than 1, then the soundtrack will start at the start frame.
Very primitive, but maybe this works already.

There was another way to insert sountracks at certain frames, but i am sorry i forgot about it.

If the method i suggested did not help you at all, let us know.

myles · Post by **myles** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:14 am

Actually, you can possibly get at it from a slightly different angle.

Manipulate and slide your sound snippets in a different program - e.g. Audition.

Export the current version of the soundtrack as a single long sound (for each shot) for Moho.
Export or use just the segments of speech as smaller sound files for lipsynching (in Papagayo, for example).

Create each piece of lipsynch for just the appropriate speech segment, each piece of lipsynch within a separate action (I'm fairly sure you can do this).
You can then import the latest full soundtrack, and slide your lipsynch actions around on the timeline to match the soundtrack.

Does this make sense for your workflow?

Regards, Myles.

7feet · Post by **7feet** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 8:38 am

I had written a script to take care of this but there was one function missing from the script interface that good ol' LM has since thrown in. It basically takes your existing soundtrack and makes a new temporary track that's padded to start where you want. I was also setting it up to work as a simple mixer, so you could add other sound files to be mixed in with the temp track.

It's been a few months since I worked on it so I'm not entirely sure how far along I was, but I think it was just about there. I'll dig around and get it up here. I wrote a whole pile of audio functions for Moho and then set it aside because of the missing function, eventually it'll be a pretty proper mixer.

ulrik · Post by **ulrik** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 9:18 am

about this script, 7feet, is it also working on mac, osx?
it sounds like a really handy script

Rai López · Post by **Rai López** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 9:37 am

WOW! I read all the posts that you wrote about this possible sound mixer script, but the time passed and I was very sad

cause I thought that you had finally abandoned that interesting idea... Anyway I always have been waiting for it!

And now there is good news about the process! I can't believe it!!!

THANK YOU 7feet and good luck with it! I'll be waiting

...BYE!

7feet · Post by **7feet** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:25 am

Should work fine. All the audio processing is done inside Moho (now THAT was a lot of code) and only works with .wav files, but it's set up to recognize the OS you're on and read the data correctly. Don't have a Mac, but if there's a problem I'll see if I can hijack one of my roomie's machines to iron out any bugs. Shouldn't be a problem, though.

ulrik · Post by **ulrik** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:54 am

sounds great! Thanks a lot

7feet · Post by **7feet** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 12:29 pm

Okay, it was just about there, the thread where I posted it is here.
Have fun.

Rhoel · Post by **Rhoel** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:25 pm

Thanks for the help on this. Reseting the start frame proved the fastest way to check the lip sync is okay.

Suggestion here for the programmers - having the offset in the Preferences just for the sounf start frame woul be ideal.

Re{ Papagayo -
Just had to breakdown the sound on a big recording. Discovered that if I converted the line which has natural breaks

"Oh no, the mice have eaten the cheese ... now we have nothing to eat"

and write it the line in Papagayo's dialogue box like this -

Oh no
The mice have eaten the cheese
now we have nothing to eat.

Aligning the sound is much faster. Also if you stretch a word, the other clips stay the same, ie, it doesn't revert to the original breakdown spacing. May seem a minor procedural thing but if you have 50-100 clips to break, its a big improvement.

BTW Has anyone tried using the Papagayo Moho file with Maya or Max - it there cross compatability in the same way as Magpie?

Rhoel