Exercise 7: Can You Say That

[bumblv]

name: Linda s. Hill

ex completed: ex 7 Can You Say That

date completed: 8/23/ 2005

Instructor: Den Dotson

say_that_sm.mov

[Rodney]

Quite a bit of background noise in there Linda...

Sounds like Keekat is next to a airplane (prop type) taking off.

 

Maybe its on my end...

 

Rodney

[zowat]

Name : Erik Kirschberg

 

Excersice Completed : #7 Can you say that?

 

Date Completed 9/11/05

 

Instructor : A:M Community

can_you_say_that.mov

[c-wheeler]

Name : Chris Wheeler

Excersice Completed : #7 Can you say that?

Date Completed 9/13/05

Instructor : Frank Silas et al

 

Secret.mov

 

Comments: I found this tutorial fun to do. The first time I tried, back when 10.5 was the version, and it all went horibly wrong. Now though It was easy and took longer to render than to animate. There are a few things I would change - the expression on his face at frame one, the blink is just a bit too long and needs maybe a flick of the head, some of the hand positions are off, but ok for a first pass.

 

I also found the tail hard to control using the null. and it would have been nice to control the ears also.

 

I would recomend Jeff Lews vidio and Jason Ospia's book stop staring to one and all.

[Elissa]

Name: Melissa "Elissa" Heldenbergh

 

Exercises Completed: 7

 

Date Completed: Sept 12th, 2005

 

Instructor: A few years of A:M use, the book, and web tutorials, plus also doing the mentor program with Paul Daley.

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement:

I have never been a fan of lip sync and the wav file really doesn't get on your nerves after a while.

cattalkwire.zip

[arkaos]

Bad Kitty! Bad, Bad, BAD Kitty!

 

Hope you likey.

 

http://www.geocities.com/arkaos420

[bridget42]

Cheryl McKinney

EX: Completed Sept 10, 2005

EX: 7 Can YOu Say That?

Instructor: Den Dotson

[Odog2020]

Names: James Owens

Exercises Completed: 1-7

Date Completed: 14 October 2005

 

I don't know what was going on with Keekat, but he decided that he wanted to be a "Ham" in this picture, I told him to keep it simple, but he decided against me.

Anyways, here is the link to my exercise. Enjoy

[Dhar]

Rodney, I finished this excercise, but the file is too large to upload (1.9MB). I could only reduce the size to 1.5MB which is still too large.

 

What are the parameters that will reduce the file size yet retain a respectable quality?

 

Zowat's work looks good. That's what I would like to achieve.

[Dhar]

Name: Dhar Jabouri

 

Exercises Completed: 7

 

Date Completed: 10-21-2005

 

Instructor: Online Tutorials.

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: Took me a while to figure out how to reduce the file size. Would be nice to have standard instructions on how to render the excercises in small size files

can_you_say_that1.mov

[Bruce Del Porte]

Hey Dhar,

 

What codec are you using, my QT doesn't recognize it?

 

Bruce

[higginsdj]

Same here. Tried it in QT 6, 7, Realplayer, DivX Player and none could open it.

 

Cheers

[Dhar]

That's wierd I rendered in Sorensen 3 @ 24fps to QT movie and then zipped it. Could that be the problem?

[Dhar]

OK, my bad. Here's the zipped file again.

can_you_say_that.zip

[higginsdj]

Hey Dhar,

 

Yep worked that time.

 

OK, started well, got a bit 'busy' in the middle and the 'so' at the end was late. Now by 'busy' I mean it looks like you have tried to include every sound and mouth shape. The exercise probably encourages this but you might like to look into a mirror and repeat the words and see which sound shapes your mouth forms and skips.

 

Cheers

[Dhar]

I see what you mean David. There is always that tendency to 'chutter' when there are to many consonents put close to one another. I guess I could do without few of the words/letters to help smooth out the mouth/lips movements.

 

Your observations are welcomed, thanks

[splinesmith]

Name: Splinesmith(Kurt Lange)

 

Exercises Completed:7

 

Instructor:the manual and maybe the online tutorials

 

 

Remarks/Suggestions for improvement:

Can_You_say_That.zip

[kuep]

Name: John Kuepper

 

Exercises Completed:lesson 7

Date Completed: oct 24, 2005

 

Instructor: all kinds

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement: another quick animation. testing putfile

 

 

 

 

http://media.putfile.com/lesson7

[noewjook]

Name: Marc Vancouillie

 

Exercises Completed:lesson 7

Date Completed: nov 15, 2005

 

Instructor: t.a.o.A.M.

 

Remarks:When rendering to a avi or quicktime file

there was no sound in the media- or quicktime player.

When I imported the file in adobe premiere the sound

was very poor in quality.I have solved the problem by

deleting the soundtrack and adding the original soundtrack

from the original hash cd.

[attachmentid=11220]

say_that.mov

[Rodney]

When rendering to a avi or quicktime file

there was no sound in the media- or quicktime player.

When I imported the file in adobe premiere the sound

was very poor in quality.I have solved the problem by

deleting the soundtrack and adding the original soundtrack

from the original hash cd.

 

Marc,

Hmmm....interesting. Investigation time meethinks.

 

Glad to see you solved the problem though... and thanks for posting your fix.

 

One question.

Did you add the original soundtrack within A:M or did you use an external sound/video program?

 

Edit: You answer my question in another place:

Troubleshooting Adobe Premiere and Sound

 

Thanks!

Rodney

Edited November 16, 2005 by Rodney

[nlbakos]

help!!!

 

 

 

i'm trying to drop keekat's hand after he says I've got a secret. then his hand is supposed to drop. but....

 

as he is talking the hand is starting to drop.

 

i have tried many time to fix this but i keep running into the same problem.

 

please advise

 

attached you will find 2 projects zipped. saythat5 and saythat3. saythat5 has all the movements i want but after 5 hours of rendering i can see where my my mistakes are. so i mad saythat3 and you will see that my hand is still moving when it shouldn't.

 

 

 

 

 

Nicole[attachmentid=12193]

[attachmentid=12194]

Saythat3.zip

Saythat5.zip

[TeresaNord]

I need help

It's just me and the manual, and I have basically no previous experience. I made it through all the other exercises up until this one . . . Anyways, I went to the sounds tab and tried to drag-and-drop "secret" onto KeeKat, but the secret has a big question mark on it and won't work. All the other sounds on the tab work though. Does anybody know how to help me? It asks me to locate the file, and I don't know what to do.

[Dhar]

That's easy to fix: on frame 00:02:00, I believe is the end of the phrase, move his arm back where you want it. And that'll solve the problem. What you learn from this is that the computer needs to know not only when you move the arm up, but also how long you want it to stay there and when you want the arm to come down.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[attachmentid=12196]

[nlbakos]

That's easy to fix: on frame 00:02:00, I believe is the end of the phrase, move his arm back where you want it. And that'll solve the problem. What you learn from this is that the computer needs to know not only when you move the arm up, but also how long you want it to stay there and when you want the arm to come down.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[attachmentid=12196]

 

Thank you...

 

you're right that was an easy fix.

 

you're awesome

[dkarpp]

Name: Douglas Karpp

Exercise Completed: Exercise 7, Can You Say That

Date Completed: December 12, 2005

 

I used a different line of dialog, but still had to do a custom word and everything. I hope that's okay. If not, I will dust off the secret dialog and re-do the exercise. I appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

 

doug

 

[attachmentid=12242]

Ex7v.mov

[TeresaNord]

How do you use a different line of dialog, all of my sounds are well. . . sounds and the secret one doesn't work? I really like how yours turned out! I thought that it was really great! I would love to be able and do that! Anyways, I'm extremely new to this and don't know how to add dialog. Does anybody know what to do or try? I'm working my way through this manual as my high school senior project and I've been hung up on this activity for forever. I'm about ready to move on. Help! Any suggestions would do.

[dkarpp]

I got the sound from www.dailywave.com. They have a great selection of sounds from movies and TV shows. From there, I just added the file into my library and draged and dropped it onto Key Kat just like the manual said.

[Rodney]

Interesting... my current connection says 'www.dailywave.com' is a restricted site... and it's a commercial connection. Hmmm... it is a conservative company's connection so that must be it.

 

I personally think applying your own selection of dialog and lipsync in this exercise is preferred.

That is one way of demonstrating that the lesson has sunk in and is now part of your animator reportoire.

This is not to say completing the exercise 'as is' is any way unacceptable... it's not. It is designed to help animators understand the funcion of Dope Sheets and Lipsync in Animation:Master and it does an outstanding job of that if I do say so myself.

 

You picked a sound bite that is really quick1. A tough one to animate to for sure.

 

Screenshot of Douglas's animation attached for those interested.

[TeresaNord]

So I found a sound bite that I want to use off of some website, this is probably a stupid question, but how do I add it to the library? Thanks for your help, as I said I'm a beginner beginner.

[Dhar]

haha

 

Good one Doug.

 

So I found a sound bite that I want to use off of some website, this is probably a stupid question, but how do I add it to the library? Thanks for your help, as I said I'm a beginner beginner.

 

Teresa; are you following the tutorial? It'll tell you how to import the sound and create the dope sheet. It's too much information to post here. Just take your time and follow each step, before you know it, you'll be producing movies like there's no tomorrow

[TeresaNord]

I've been following book if that's what you mean, or are you talking about the training cd's (I haven't looked at those yet). I've looked through Exercise 7 and I can't seem to find it. I found how to create a dope sheet, and I can do that, I just don't know how to import my sound. All I get from the book is how to apply a sound from the library. Am I looking in the right place for it, or does it tell you sometime later in the book? Anyways, thanks so much, and I'll continue trying to figure it out (I had an easy time with all the projects up until this one

[Dhar]

I've been following book if that's what you mean, or are you talking about the training cd's (I haven't looked at those yet). I've looked through Exercise 7 and I can't seem to find it. I found how to create a dope sheet, and I can do that, I just don't know how to import my sound. All I get from the book is how to apply a sound from the library. Am I looking in the right place for it, or does it tell you sometime later in the book? Anyways, thanks so much, and I'll continue trying to figure it out (I had an easy time with all the projects up until this one

 

I know the books have changed slightly since I got mine early '05.

 

To import a sound file that is not in the Libraries, in the Project Work Space (PWS) right-click the Sound folder, choose import, then find where your file is on your hard drive and click it.

 

After you've imported the Sound folder, drag it from the Sound file into your Choreography folder in the PWS.

 

When you press play you should be able to hear your sound file.

 

Hope that helps.

[noewjook]

I've been following book if that's what you mean, or are you talking about the training cd's (I haven't looked at those yet). I've looked through Exercise 7 and I can't seem to find it. I found how to create a dope sheet, and I can do that, I just don't know how to import my sound. All I get from the book is how to apply a sound from the library. Am I looking in the right place for it, or does it tell you sometime later in the book? Anyways, thanks so much, and I'll continue trying to figure it out (I had an easy time with all the projects up until this one

 

I know the books have changed slightly since I got mine early '05.

 

To import a sound file that is not in the Libraries, in the Project Work Space (PWS) right-click the Sound folder, choose import, then find where your file is on your hard drive and click it.

 

After you've imported the Sound folder, drag it from the Sound file into your Choreography folder in the PWS.

 

When you press play you should be able to hear your sound file.

 

Hope that helps.

I have done the same exercise with keekat but did not use the libraries.

You have to go to "sounds" in the pws.

Right click on "sounds" en take "import sound".

A dialog box wil appear.

Set filetype to "all files"

Then go to your cd drive.Here is the file...

 

Hash cd/data/tutorials/sound/secret

 

When you have opened this the wav file will appear in the pws under "sounds"

 

Drag and drop that onto keekat.

 

Hope this helps.

[TeresaNord]

I'm sooooo excited!!!!! Thank you guys so much! I never would have guessed that. I tried the file path you suggested data/tutorials/sounds/secrets and it worked!!! I also tried it first with my wav sound bite from the internet, but it said the file was unsupported. So, for some reason I still can't add to my library, but I'm just happy I can complete this project now. Thank you so so so so much both of you, you're life savers!

[Dhar]

I'm sooooo excited!!!!! Thank you guys so much! I never would have guessed that. I tried the file path you suggested data/tutorials/sounds/secrets and it worked!!! I also tried it first with my wav sound bite from the internet, but it said the file was unsupported. So, for some reason I still can't add to my library, but I'm just happy I can complete this project now. Thank you so so so so much both of you, you're life savers!

 

Oh yeah, A:M likes MP3, and I believe you can get a 'converter' online for free or real cheap to convert wav files to mp3.

[TeresaNord]

That's weird I tried the sound bite in the MP3 format too, but it still was unsupported. The only sound it will let me import from the file path that is so called 'supported' is the "secret." When I try to import to the library A:M says that it can't be modified? I'll have to figure that out sometime . . . Anyways, thanks again!

[TeresaNord]

I'm back, a week later:( I decided to restart this activity and go step by step (following exactly what the book says to do). After I enter the words into the dope sheet and press ok, I don't see the words in a box that I can position and move around to fit with the timeline. I'm almost positive I've followed all the steps, any suggestions. I really really feel like skipping this project. It seems like everybody else has an easy time using a dope sheet, but I can't do this exercise for the life of me. It seems to be problem after problem. I'm very discouraged right now

[Dhar]

Post a screen capture of the problem you're having, it'll give everybody a better look at what you're looking at and hopefully see a solution

[TeresaNord]

How do I post a screen capture?

[Dhar]

How do I post a screen capture?

 

When you write a post, at the bottom, just above the Add Reply button, you see File Attachments, click Browse, find where your file is and click it, then click Add This Attachment, then click Add Reply, that'll add your screen capture to your post.

 

To screen capture, in case you don't know, press Ctrl and Print Screen/Sys Rq (top button on your keyboard next to F12). Then open Paint program (or any art program you choose), ,then press Ctrl V, that'll copy your screen capture into the Paint program. Edit the screen capture, or whatever you need to do, then save it as a JPEG on your Desk Top, or wherever you choose to save it. This will be the file that you want to post in the forum.

 

Hope this helped.

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Name: Jody Krivohlavek

 

Exercise Completed: Exercise 7

 

Date Completed: December 31, 2005

 

Instructor: AM Handbook, Video Tutorial and everyone that's ever posted to these forums.

(Been around since the Playmation days )

 

Remarks/Suggestions for Improvement:

Well, after just over 9½ hours of rendering this thing is finally done. Just over 2.2 megs so it's on my personal web space.

UPDATE 07/23/2012: I have uploaded a converted version of this in H.264/AAC MP4 for your viewing pleasure.

 

Things to note the walk cycle is actully a BVH that was only constrained to the hips and the arm and leg targets. Other action tweaks were done manually to the walk (i.e. - toe and foot adjustments and arm adjustments).

 

The secondary animation of the face and the arm movements were added in Choreography. The lip sync was created in action just as the exercise suggests. (Hope that still qualifies)

 

It's only 320x240 so you may want to save it off and play it back double size to really see it well.

Let me know if this is not bright enough to see his face, I never can tell if it's too dark.

 

Enjoy

 

Gotasecret.mp4

[Dhar]

Whoaaa

 

Jody; that was awsome

[MMZ_TimeLord]

Thank you kindly Dhar!

[TeresaNord]

I plan on posting the screen shot when I get the chance! I'm overwhelmed right now with school. Thanks for the advice Dhar and congradulations on your new A:M software. You've been such a great help, you really deserve it!

 

By the way Jody, I'd have to agree with Dhar. That was amazing!!! It was well worth the 9 1/2 hrs of rendering

[rossk]

Name: Ross Klettke

Exercise completed (iffy ): #7

Date completed: 1-19-06

 

remarks: Some wierd lighting glitch going on... any ideas?

say2.mov

[Dhar]

What are your render settings?

[rossk]

The problem shows up both in the render mode and the actual render. I've tried both preview and final render for both of these renders, also. It seems that this problem isn't showing up in any other projects... so I just saved the action and exported it. It seems to work now... the video is pretty low quality... trying to get less than a mB.

say2.mov

[Robert-Jank]

Im having a problem whenever it try to make the dope sheet...after im done making it and im done writing the sentence..it wants me to find....the index and when i look for it in AM folder its not there...whats wrong?

[Robert-Jank]

Hahah! Just tried onother way of rendering its going really fast should be up soon......yeah!

[Robert-Jank]

Darn....my file is too big ive even tried making it soren 3 and putting the compression to least anything i can do???