Live Puppetry Toolset Needed

[DK]

As a result of a discussion in another thread I would like to request a basic toolset for Live Puppetry in AS similar to Adobe Character Animator in the video link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=121&v=lmPo0_WZyPU

It is almost impossible for animators using current tools in AS to produce "Live" type content for platforms such as Youtube, Vimeo etc without it taking days or even weeks. I see this as a "Urgently Needed Feature" due to the current demands for content and an important next step for Anime Studio to take for it's userbase.

This tool set would not have to be as comprehensive as those seen in Adobe Character Animator, although live voice feed for mouth activation would be a given. I would see this feature as being for a more static type of animation like a seated interview or as Greenlaw suggested in the other thread a chat type show. As for other movements like hand gestures, head turns etc they could be as simple as preset actions assigned to keyboard shortcuts that are triggered in a "Live Puppetry Mode".

I really hope to see tools like these developed for AS in the near future as the offer of faster animation production in other software packages will be almost too strong for any animator to resist.

Regards
D.k

[jahnocli]

...I really hope to see tools like these developed for AS in the near future as the offer of faster animation production in other software packages will be almost too strong for any animator to resist.

Not only do I think this is overstating the case somewhat, this sounds uncomfortably like blackmail.

[DK]

Hi Jahnocli,
Great comment and sorry if it sounds like a desperate plea but I am very passionate about AS. We go back a long way.
I think I started at Moho version 1.? and I consider myself as being lifetime invested in the product as it pays my bills.
Mike has always been ahead of the pack when it comes to innovation and I just hope he and the team don't miss the
boat on this one.

Cheers
D.K

[jahnocli]

No problemo, DK, I know you're a genuine lifer like me!

[Víctor Paredes]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. This is the opposite direction a software like AS should take, in my opinion. It's even disappointing for After Effects, which is an extremely cool and powerful program that could really innovate with an useful character animation feature (like the one developed by Rovio, for example). But this is something like that webcam softwares that put you a mustache and a pirate hat. It's fun to play with it, but the result is not the one you would expect from a Pro motion graphics software.

[synthsin75]

Yeah, I'm afraid I have to agree with Victor here. While I can understand the argument that YouTube monetization now requires faster output for more frequent episodes, these Crazy Talk toy features do a lot to discourage the professional animator market from taking AS seriously (and the character wizard already does enough harm on that count). This feature would be a huge draw for the users who produce the very worst examples of AS animation (not that I consider you in that camp, DK).

What I would argue is more needed to help YouTube producers, while also being attractive to professional animators, is a more comprehensive workflow for bone tracking to mo-cap data (even though that really isn't a priority for me personally).

[funksmaname]

Sorry DK, I'm with Victor and Wes on this one... perhaps smith micro should consider bring out a separate product for live puppetry, and we could create content for this in AS core, but I don't think we would want this (or the character creator now we're on the subject) in AS Pro.

[synthsin75]

Sorry DK, I'm with Victor and Wes on this one... perhaps smith micro should consider bring out a separate product for live puppetry, and we could create content for this in AS core, but I don't think we would want this (or the character creator now we're on the subject) in AS Pro.

Doesn't the Sock Puppets app do something like this already? That may be a better platform to develop something like this anyway.

[DK]

Fair call and I can understand where you are coming from but AS already has the fundamental tools in place like Upload to Youtube and Upload to Facebook plus a rudimentary motion capture function. All I am suggesting is make these things a bit more usefull.

D.K

[Greenlaw]

To me, Adobe Character Studio and other 'puppetry' programs are just different kinds of animation tool--I'm not sure they really competes with the 'traditional' market. Digital puppetry is not the right tool for many animation productions, however, I can see it being used for shows along the lines of Beavis and Butthead or South Park, where the content tends to be topical and the jokes may have a limited shelf life. It will be interesting to see what some artists will do with it. If anything big come out of digital puppetry programs, I expect it will be unconventional to say the least.

I also agree that Adobe Character Studio looks like it needs a lot more development before going commercial. The UI is fun to play with but it seems pretty limited and 'toy like'. That said, the program is in beta (currently 'Preview 2) and I'm willing to give it time to develop. (Personally, I have a couple of in mind for Adobe Character Studio. Unfortunately, Alisa and I have two other short films in progress and we need to finish at least one of them before starting a new project.)

Does ASP need to follow suite? I guess I'd be okay with that if the developers have the resources (ASP already has some basic motion tracking features) but, personally, I'd prefer to see the program forcus on advancing its traditional animation tools and techniques. The recent addition of FBF tools is a very good start but it has a lot of room for improvement too. (Man, I wish we had this feature when we made Scareplane.)

G.

[seren animation]

I think an interesting compromise between live puppetry and cut-out animation could be achieved by allowing the mapping of parameters such as smart bones to osc or midi input, allowing live maniputation of bones/switch layers etc by ipad via osc or midi controller dials (or whatever).
It would be useful for keyframe animation, but would open the doors for interesting experimentation, just as smart bones went beyond their initial remit.

[funksmaname]

I think an interesting compromise between live puppetry and cut-out animation could be achieved by allowing the mapping of parameters such as smart bones to osc or midi input, allowing live maniputation of bones/switch layers etc by ipad via osc or midi controller dials (or whatever).
It would be useful for keyframe animation, but would open the doors for interesting experimentation, just as smart bones went beyond their initial remit.

This is interesting.

[Greenlaw]

I'm fairly open minded with it comes to puppetry techniques. In our own productions, Alisa and I have moved freely between hand keyframed 2D and 3D animation, traditional puppetry and 3D motion capture--adding 2D digital puppetry to our projects would probably seem natural at some stage.

IMO, if a technique is being used for creative expression rather than a crutch, it's all good to me.

G.

[DK]

Hi,
Just updating where we are up to on this Live Puppetry toolset.
Here's a sample of what I created yesterday using Anime Studio but all this animation
was done "LIVE" with no traditional AS keyframing. It was actually performed in real time.

Ain't no Mona Lisa but it works and it's incredible fun to do. I call it "Bone Scratchin" as
you can make some of the movements run backwards and forward like a DJ scratches a record:)


Video:
http://www.creativetvandmedia.com/Forum ... manRap.mp4

Hayasisdist is working on a special set of tools he will reveal at sometime in the future.
All I can say is this type of animation would not be possible to do with traditional techniques
in the time it took to perform the song live which was 20 seconds......great thing is....if I
stuffed up I just delete everything and do it again.

I believe this has a future for animation and I intend to make more complicated digital
puppets as time goes on.

Oh...one other thing....it is also possible to switch camera shots "Live" on the fly. It's a bit of
a workaround as Smart Bones cannot control the Camera but it works great.

Cheers
D.K

[strider2000]

I had never tried live animating before. I guess I just assumed it couldn't be done. What I found hard is that things happen too fast. If you could adjust the play back speed and punch in and out, like in music sequencing software, there might be some interesting value.