The separate dragger behaviors for right and left hand movements is so simple but so useful! I’ve been struggling to synchronise arm performances up until now. Thank you!
This is perfect, thank you so much! Was struggling with recording the second arm over the first arm performance. Your video was so helpful, thank you!!
When I am recording a story in CH, I mess up a lot with what i am saying, so i do a retake right away without stopping the recording. I am so used to premier to where i can just cut and delete the part i don't want. Are we able to do that in CH?
Kind of. :) I use the Edit > Command a lot, so you could isolate out the audio + takes you don't want and delete them, then manually move things together and use blend handles to close the gaps. It's not as easy as Premiere, it's more as if you were trying to do the same in After Effects.
Very well done. Thank you! Have you done an episode that extensively jumps in to AE and covers some of the techniques you use to create scenes and add multiple characters? If not, please do! It would warrant a 2 or 3 part mini series. (Yes your channel is CH, but most of the advanced projects you've showcased have used AE as the crucial final tool in what is a CH workflow).
The closest so far has been the Evan Flamethrower behind the scenes: Part 1: ruclips.net/video/vbNXq8NTIWk/видео.htmlm32s & Part 2: ruclips.net/video/RMo-z8hO2HM/видео.htmlm47s, but I'm hoping to do a video version of the Adobe MAX class I did in the next month or so, which covered the full workflow. So stay tuned!
wow this is an amazing tutorial :D too much to take in for someone who doesn't know anything yet, BUT whoa~ this is very clear and systematic d^_^ thank you for this~ sub!
Not 100%, but the beginning of this video talks about it a little: ruclips.net/video/1mTSNfMSFck/видео.html. If you look at the Linden example on okaysamurai.com/puppets you should be able to emulate his setup and get it to work!
If you just play back the timeline or an audio file from the project panel, it will prioritize that - the way to record your face at the same time is by pressing the red record button. To get the lip sync from your audio do this: ruclips.net/video/XolxHNixBpA/видео.html
Excellent Tutorials, Thank you so much for dedicating your time to teaching us. I have an issue with creating the second dragger to animate the two hands independently. After creating the second dragger, when I'm dragging the left hand, it doesn't have full range of movement and does some strange janky arm behaviour. Any ideas on what I might be missing?
Thanks! Usually when this happens it means something else (the other dragger behavior?) has already recorded something with it, so in trying to reconcile between it and new data it's basically running at 50% strength. I'm guessing if you recorded with only one dragger you wouldn't run into this issue? So if that's the case, see if you can delete any prior recordings for that handle. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.
@@okaysamurai Thanks for the reply. Deleting the previous recording does seem to make it work, however this adds some extra steps compared to how easy it was in the tutorial video. Doing it in this manner also requires that I have to place the hand back in its resting position if I wanted to add extra movement after the first. I'll post my file in the feedback and see if I can find some more help there. I noticed that another user there had the exact some issue as me, but couldn't find a solution. Here is the page with their issue: community.adobe.com/t5/character-animator/multiple-dragger-behaviours-not-working-as-expected/m-p/11660718?page=1#M15750 Could it be a bug?
I don't think it's a bug - I think, if I'm understanding things correctly, it may just be a workflow difference? 1. Arm the right arm dragger and only record the right arm. Don't touch the left arm at all. 2. Arm the left arm dragger and only record the left arm. Don't touch the right arm at all. I'll post in that thread later today.
@@okaysamurai Thank you thank you thank you! This explains exactly the issue I've been running into and arming and disarming one arm at a time absolutely solves it. I really appreciate the effort you put into these videos, even making a separate video to help solve our issue.
CH doesn't currently support video input, so you would need to do that in Premiere Pro or After Effects (which you can dynamic link your CH recording into).
Cool. Thanks for all you do. So, the reason my character takes a few seconds to get its arms into position, after I have recorded it, is because I’ve got the dragging behavior armed?! (Semi rhetorical question)
Even if I record something dragger usually takes a frame or two to settle into place, so I usually start my recordings a second or two after the start just to make sure I don't have any extra bumping. If it's a few seconds though that seems too long - hopefully it's just a short easily skippable bump at the beginning.
Great tutorial, thanks! I am wondering if there’s a way to insert a take seamlessly. So for example, if I forget to say something in the middle, can I record/animate just that section and edit that in the middle and blend it with the handles? Thank you!
Yep - you would just be blending several behaviors simultaneously, like Face, Draggers, Eye Gaze, etc. - things like triggers or lip sync are more binary (off/on) and don't need to blend.
@@okaysamurai Gotcha, I think I just need to play more. I’m mentally in editing mode so in my head, I’m trying to essentially cut the current edit and insert about 5 seconds in between the cut. Thank you for the tutorials you do. They are the best on here for this…
Im having a hard time recording some physics, i made red blood cells that are being emitted on the left and falling right with gravity, then i have a “blood clot” that i want to move in and start blocking some of the cells for my project (presentation on anti-coagulation medications) but when i record everything gets messed up, the blood clot that i want to drag in disappears, im kind of confused on the best way to do this
Physics is a "simulation" so it can be tough. Basically, it starts running right at 0:00, so that's when gravity kicks in and things start falling. There are a few ways around this - you could move or trim the puppet to start at exactly the right time, or drag at 0:00 and wait until the right moment to move onstage and/or release, or record a physics parameter like gravity and only turn it up when it's the correct time, or use a magnet (see the magnets tutorial on this channel) to hold it into place. Eventually we want to add a way to "bake in" physics to your timeline so you can see it correctly, but for now, you'll unfortunately have to work around it. If you still can't figure it out please post in the official forums for more help: adobe,com/go/chfeedback.
Thanks for some really great tutorials! Is the separate dragger behaviors still working in the same way? I just end up with two Target Handles in each behavior and I feel like I have tried everything.
If you don't move the dragger, it won't record. So when you're doing two draggers, make sure not to touch the one you're not recording and it won't put down anything on the track.
Is there a way to "script" the timeline without live recordings? Of course scripting arm movement won't make sense, but for example face expressions. And then the ability to move these on the timeline to the exact frame would be helpful. Or changing the puppet position on the stage via recording (and dragging with the mouse to an exact position) is a pain. I'm a Character Animator novice, I've read the manual but I can't find this.
No scripting/keyframes yet, but the most common way to strike & hold a particular pose (at least from pro studios we've visited) is to do Timeline > 1 Frame Take. Then this pose can be extended and blended to hold and have a transition as short or long as you want it. Same for puppet position - do a 1 frame take of a new position (arming position X like shown in this video), then blend it in/out to transition from the first position to the second. 2.0 added more blend controls too so you can customize the curve of the blend more.
Yes, but not natively - you have to use a third party tool like Manycam to trick your webcam into thinking it's a video. The more common approach is using someone's voiceover and then doing the other performance elements separately.
I love this I’ve been looking for something like this, however I wanted to know how can I then maybe put my own different scenes (background) throughout the creation of the animation? I want to create animations more like a mini movie where it will require me to have multiple scenes.
Hi there! I love your content for teaching others how to use character animator. I have a question about making characters that are animals like dogs and cats that are not up right like humans. How would one rig that? I'm working on an animation of a dog that will be on four legs but then stand up on its hind legs as if trying to catch something. This is my first time character rigging and lol I feel like I'm being too complicated.
CH is definitely more slanted towards bipedal characters, but in your case there are a few ways you could do it - fixing the hind legs and putting a dragger in the head might allow you to drag the dog up while keeping the back legs planted. Or a frame by frame cycle layers animation, which would be more complex but give you a little more control. I haven't seen a great example of either of these yet though!
Mr Dave, I really would like to know how you did the "mood" with the mouth on the sticky character. It would help a lot in character expressions for my animations. Thanks
I didn't make Sticky, but it's made by fixing the edges of the mouth and moving the middle up and down with a transform tag. If you dig into the puppet in Rid mode, specifically the "Mouth Holder" group inside the Face, you'll see what's going on.
Question: I have a fun track recorded, but the articulation of the character is a bit off. I would like to add particular visemes to the timeline. For example: My character says "Sinister" and it only gave me an "S" and an "R"... I would like to add in an "N" and "I" and another "S" before going to the "R". Is there a way to do add those visemes to the timeline manually?
We are looking at all sorts of new input possibilities for the future. But yes, I would love to have full body tracking - I think it's inevitable for one day!
Any webcam should work well with Character Animator. I use my laptop's built-in webcam as well as a Logitech Brio for a slightly wider angle. Both work perfectly.
One issue I am having with editing is how the puppet goes back to recording form while editing the timeline rather then showing the edits made. (example: I skim through the timeline and see the edits but the moment I stop it goes back to the the default pose as fits ready to record). IS there a way to maintain the preview mode to show the edits made. I know this is worded badly sorry.
Yes - if you click the red button in front of the character in the timeline, this will disarm the live performance and only show you timeline recorded stuff.
I have a question about recording two hands. When we first placed both hands on the character's waist, in the timeline, both hands were recorded in the right hand behavior section. Now when we add a new behavior with the name of the left hand. now if you try to move Chloe's left hand, there is a disorder which that is normal. Because in right-hand behavior, left-hand behavior is also recorded. Now if we want to remove the previous part of the left hand from the behavior of the right hand, the main position of the left hand is lost. what should I do about this?
So basically if you don't want to record it, don't move it. If CH sees any change from the original position it will record something in the timeline. If you don't touch it, it won't record. So if you're recording the left hand, don't touch the right one at all, and vice-versa.
I scaled her and the window up a little, but mainly because I have the resolution set to 1/2 (see the bottom right corner of the window). I'f I'm dealing with hi-res footage I usually do this just to make things play back a little smoother during the editing experience.
Hey man! I love this, I learned so much. I have a question (I don't think this video was made before we started our characters last summer, so I think I'm in the right place). We have a podcast with two puppets performed by two actors. We are recording animation on two separate computers. However, I want to be able to combine all the performance data from both projects into one so that I can edit them perfectly like a little movie. Is this possible? Or do I need to edit them separately and then composite them together in AE/PR? You've shown how to import audio and create lip sync form it, but is there a way to import the animation "tracks"? I know you are a super talented artist and musician, but if there's any way I can contribute, let me know. I'm a music composer and sound designer. I live in CA as well. I write music for ads as well as a couple tv cartoons, and I'd love to help. Contact me if you'd like access to my library for backing tracks for youtube, or anything like that. Thanks!
Yes, you can combine multiple scenes together - just drag scenes into an existing scene. You will just see a solid bar though - you'll have to double-click it to see what's inside. That should work! Although personally I'd go with AE or PR for compositing once you're happy with your recordings - just more options. Thanks for offering help! Sure, I'd love backing tracks, that would be awesome.
@@okaysamurai dm me through my channel (it's mainly just a reel), or just my website of the same name. I worked on a couple Disney and Nick shows last year that I probably can't share publicly yet. Happy to help though! I will try this, but I think I did already without luck. I have one project open, how do I import a scene from another project? Just click+drag the project in? I know how to create multiple scenes in one project, but not how to combine...
Great update and video :-) Love the Sticky character but when edit in photoshop the source psd file (the scene one) if i save the file (even without adding nothing , just check uncheck layer) the puppet seems broken back in the editor, with the background moving with te puppet or the hair layer below the character . Is there anything to consider like de photoshop version (i have the latest) or something like that? I can edit the other puppets psd without problem but this crashes...
Sticky is unfortunately complex and not the easiest to edit. The reason is that there's a lot of CH-specific rigging, including several "shareable" parts (see the shareables folder that he comes with), and CH-created groups, so saving altered versions can mess things up. There are some features in our backlog to try to address this in the future. But CH also shouldn't crash when this happens - if it persists please let us know in the official forums.
Okay Samurai thanks for the answer! :) Sorry i explained bad, CH is not crashing just the puppet shows broken . Again thanks for the answer and congratulations for your great job with CH communication :)
Hey Miguel. Sticky is an amazing character, but she's also surprisingly complex. When you make a change to Sticky.psd, we automatically bring back some layers that were deleted in the original puppet. Specifically, the shareable puppets The Head, Torso, Facial Hair, and Hair_Back. You can safely delete these layers because their shareable puppets are actually used within Frontal, Left Profile, and Right Profile. It's annoying having to delete these layers each time you save in PS, but for now, that's the workaround. I'm currently working on restructuring Sticky to be a little more resilient to editing.
Is it possible to remove background noise from the audio when you are recording? I notice I am picking up a tonne of background ambient noise when I am recording myself talking in my room.
Is this happening for all puppets or just your own? If all puppets, check your lip sync prefs: ruclips.net/video/HTdKGYjdSFY/видео.html. If just your own, make sure your mouths (up to 14 different shapes) are properly tagged and your mic is on - otherwise you might just see the neutral / smile / surprised (non-audio) mouths.
Hi, I can't import character animator file to animate, animate says: One or more files were not imported because there were problems reading them. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks (Animate version: 23)
First of all, thank you so much for such a great video. I can't see "Enable work area" under Timeline bar and the recording duration stack in 30 sec. How could I get to Enable work area back?
If you're not seeing the work area it's possible you're in an older version? Make sure you're using the 2020 version. You can also adjust the duration by selecting a scene in the project panel and adjusting the duration property that shows up on the right.
i have a question ... im working with sticky figure template ( minimal blue guy ) already ... it has good different cloth and color ... but when i change them nothing will happen on main scene and main puppet i just can hidden hand and leg but not about changing cloth, mustach and other customize. need ur help
Hmmm, Sticky should update in the scene when you change the sliders in the Controls panel on the bottom...if he doesn't, that's a bug. Please post to adobe.com/go/chfeedback with a screenshot or video and we can try to help you more directly there!
Is Adobe Character Animator avaible on windows 8.1? I don't see the newest version in my Creative Cloud Library.. Can you help me? Great video as always!
Dave, why are some dots under behavior FULL RED DOTS and armed, and are others smaller and darker of color? I cannot figure out why. Pressing them doesn't make them big and red like for instance Eye Gaze, Face, Lip Sync and so on...
We call those passive behaviors. They don't need to be armed to take effect. Things like your scale, position, physics, etc - these just work in the background, you don't have to record a track to commit them.
Right clicking on the viseme in a timeline allows changing/replacing of a particular viseme but is there a way to add new visemes? (for example if I wanted to replace a W with an S and then an Ee.)
This may be a stupid question, but how do you make triggers using previously recorded animations? For example, if my puppet needs to drastically alter its pose mid-recording to start playing guitar... or something? I tried doing this using a different puppet with new props and triggers, and then swapping out the first puppet during recording... but that messes up the entire animation up until that point. :(
If you press record, anything with a red dot next to it on the right can be added to. So for example, if I want to change him to play guitar at 10 seconds but I've already recorded 30 seconds, I just move my playhead to :10, arm the face and dragger behaviors, and record him playing the guitar. When I stop recording, those takes will show up above the old ones and you can blend them in like I show in this tutorial. Hope that helps!
Hi, super beginner level question - but let's say I do a 10-second recording and want to delete the entirety of it. Is there a way to delete the recording? Thank you!
Yes - if you record for 10 seconds you'll see takes appear in the timeline for everything you activated. You can delete all of those to get rid of them, or Edit > Undo, or go back a step in your history panel.
How do you increase/scale the track size in the timeline? Somehow mine is scaled very small so whenever I hit record my character will disappear. Thanks!
Unfortunately there is no way (yet) to make tracks taller or smaller, but you can press + or - to zoom in and out, or use the slider in the bottom right of the timeline to zoom as well.
how can we edit the movements of the recorded movements? i find it frustrating that i have to rerecord the whole thing instead of being able to edit a detail of the movement.
Think of it more like recording live music instead of traditional keyframe animation. Typically what I'll do is record a base performance for the entire duration of my animation, and then add on little blended extra recordings over top of it, especially with draggers and triggers. I talk about my process a little more in the full workflow videos. ruclips.net/p/PLq4LynfF_r15MB40HNeLSw8Rebrd8os9D
Is there a way to control the lip sync without audio input? Also how do you control the face and head without the camera? The reason is my computer does not process a camera and I don't have a microphone..
Yes, see 6:29 for doing lip sync with prerecorded audio. You could add a dragger or transform behavior to manually control the Face too. But if you really want to get the most out of CH, I highly recommend getting a basic webcam and mic.
Hi, is there a way to record in mono in Character Animator? I have a scarlett interface, and I can record only one channel and thus I can hear audio only on one side. Can't find any solution online. Only solution is to record in another software which seems like an unnecessary hustle.
This might help: community.adobe.com/t5/character-animator-discussions/recording-output-goes-only-to-one-side/m-p/10285947#M9091. If not, please add to the thread and we'll try to help you figure it out.
I’m having this issue suddenly in character animator where the exported video looks different then what’s in the preview window. It looks like it’s zoomed out so now I’m getting the black bars on each side as well ass my puppets waiting off screen where they are not visible in the view finder. This is happening with all my scenes where they were not happening before. Nothing has changed to my knowledge. I have checked each scene settlings and they are all set to the default. Any ideas?
Very weird. Yeah, I was going to say to check scene setting and make sure you're at 1920 x 1080 or whatever you wanted. I would also check the zoom level in Record mode and make sure you're not zoomed all the way in or something, hiding stuff on the sides. If you add a background it should be obvious if parts of it are getting cut off or not. Finally I would check export settings (if going through media encoder) and making sure they match your scene settings. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.
I recorded something, and all my recorded inputs like eye gaze, lip sync, is all there. I exported as an alpha. Noticed my character didn't move while the audio played. Went back to Ch and my puppet doesn't move when I playback what I recorded. again, all the inputs are on the timeline. Its only my puppet, no background or anything else. Why/how?
Things record in the timeline only if a change is detected, so seeing things in the timeline makes me think something did record (if you saw things moving during recording) and I wonder if it's a playback issue. Behaviors could be turned off via eyeballs in the properties leading to them not showing up. Hard to diagnose here... If the problem persists, please upload a video or screenshot of your issue to adobe.com/go/chfeedback and we'll try to help you out.
@@okaysamurai I just figured it out I was pulling up a script to read in notepad so the camera was disabling!! The next thing I’m stumped on or very sad about is not being able to split recordings on the timeline. I have a character I’m performing as talking to someone on the phone and I just did my puppets speaking part and figured that I would fill in the audio for the person later in my video software (die-hard davinci guy sorry lol). but because there are pauses during my performance (to let the other character speak), the pauses are not perfect. I can’t split and move the audio/lip sync closer to create that natural dialogue if that makes sense, thank you for all the help you always provide the community!
Are there particular changes that were confusing? The Chloe puppet is slightly updated and "Set Rest Pose" is now "Calibrate," but those are purely cosmetic and the general functionality should be the same. But if there's something I'm missing please let me know!
@@okaysamurai The whole thing is a big bundle of confusion. Very little works they way yours does. Something is very wrong. I cannot close anything I open, even if I shut the program down. I reopen the program and there is the file again. "Close" is grey and unclickable in the menu. Also, nothing moves but the facial features. I just now tried to follow your "creating an illustrator puppet." I thought maybe that video would help shed some light and when I double click on the zip file (7z program) it just opens and shows what is inside the folder, then I double clicked on each of those files and the only one that does anything is the Blank (Illustrator).tmp.chproj file which goes to Ch, but is blank, meaning nothing is there, but it's now another file I cannot close.
Not being able to close seems like a major bug - that definitely shouldn't happen. I'm wondering if your computer meets the system requirements? helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/system-requirements.html. If it persists, please post a screenshot or video to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more direct help.
Was tryng to make a character flap his arms in unison. Is there a mirror function, onion skinning or ability to view the recording while Im recording a new action? Couldnt find anything
Your best bet is to do the technique at 4:22 and do one arm at a time. So arm and record the left and then disarm it and do the same with the right to match what you're doing on the left as a reference.
Your mic volume settings are set at the OS level - check your computer settings and turn the mic volume up. The only other place is in your Character Animator preferences under Audio.
Can't believe I've been following all animator videos. but I got one problem, I imported voice over into animator and when I hit record it stopped following my head movement, the lipsync is still working tho. Any idea why this is happening?
Anything that is armed (red dot on the right) should be following your movements if new data is coming in. So for Face to properly record, you need to make sure that Face has a red dot next to it on the right. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.
A disappearing mouth probably means either a trigger is creating a conflict, a tagged mouth has hidden / non-visible artwork, or a behavior like cycle layers is causing it to disappear. For more direct help post a video to adobe.com/go/chfeedback.
Hi Okay Samurai, I like your channel, thank you for all you share to the world. I need some help, I'm new in this. I have problem to export my adobe character animation (my puppet). Can you help me?
Select what you want to export in the Project panel and go to File > Export to see your options. If you just want to share your puppet, select the puppet in the project panel and go to File > Export > Puppet to make a .puppet file.
The separate dragger behaviors for right and left hand movements is so simple but so useful! I’ve been struggling to synchronise arm performances up until now. Thank you!
This guy understands how to make a tutorial! Great info presented clearly and quickly. You should make a video about how to make tutorials! Thank you!
You are by far the best animation teacher I have seen online. Keep up the good work.
You deserve way more subscribers, thanks for taking the time of teaching us how to animate
After these detailed explanations, I’m falling in love with Ch
I’m always in awwww, after watching your videos. I learned something new again.
This is perfect, thank you so much! Was struggling with recording the second arm over the first arm performance. Your video was so helpful, thank you!!
imagine how cool it is when you master Character Animator
That's what I was thinking watching this tutorial 😀
Thank you for this updated video! I ❤️using this software 😊 (newbie here)
bro thank you, i'm finna learn this whole program and you makin' it easy
Just wanted to say your videos have been so helpful for us creating our new show!
Love it!
thanks!! @@okaysamurai
When I am recording a story in CH, I mess up a lot with what i am saying, so i do a retake right away without stopping the recording. I am so used to premier to where i can just cut and delete the part i don't want. Are we able to do that in CH?
Kind of. :) I use the Edit > Command a lot, so you could isolate out the audio + takes you don't want and delete them, then manually move things together and use blend handles to close the gaps. It's not as easy as Premiere, it's more as if you were trying to do the same in After Effects.
Just way to cool!!! Why didn't I find this software earlier? Love it!!!!
Again, dense-packed, but clear. Thanks.
one of my favorite channels!
i like your videos, it helps alot, just that a get in some problems but i start all over again. god bless.
Very well done. Thank you!
Have you done an episode that extensively jumps in to AE and covers some of the techniques you use to create scenes and add multiple characters?
If not, please do!
It would warrant a 2 or 3 part mini series. (Yes your channel is CH, but most of the advanced projects you've showcased have used AE as the crucial final tool in what is a CH workflow).
The closest so far has been the Evan Flamethrower behind the scenes: Part 1: ruclips.net/video/vbNXq8NTIWk/видео.htmlm32s & Part 2: ruclips.net/video/RMo-z8hO2HM/видео.htmlm47s, but I'm hoping to do a video version of the Adobe MAX class I did in the next month or so, which covered the full workflow. So stay tuned!
After a long time I found my favorite channels!
Best tutorial I ever seen
Love You Brother for Such a Fantastic Explanation
nice clear and concise video 👍
This is Gold! How did I miss this??
Nice video thanks
wow this is an amazing tutorial :D too much to take in for someone who doesn't know anything yet, BUT whoa~ this is very clear and systematic d^_^ thank you for this~ sub!
Keep posting these. You are awesome 👏
Nicely done tutorial!
Thanks for this awesome tuotrials
Sir David, we salute you!
Again, great job!
This was exactly what I needed. Thank you!
I love it and very nice tutorial!
Thanks for these amazing videos!! Do you have a guide for creating and rigging the guitar 🎸 in your puppet?
Not 100%, but the beginning of this video talks about it a little: ruclips.net/video/1mTSNfMSFck/видео.html. If you look at the Linden example on okaysamurai.com/puppets you should be able to emulate his setup and get it to work!
Thank you, your video is very informative, I have learnt so much!
Class act. Thank you.
As always, you are great :) Thank you!
NICE
Love watching your informative videos - thank you!
If you just play back the timeline or an audio file from the project panel, it will prioritize that - the way to record your face at the same time is by pressing the red record button. To get the lip sync from your audio do this: ruclips.net/video/XolxHNixBpA/видео.html
@@okaysamurai Thank you!!
Excellent Tutorials, Thank you so much for dedicating your time to teaching us. I have an issue with creating the second dragger to animate the two hands independently. After creating the second dragger, when I'm dragging the left hand, it doesn't have full range of movement and does some strange janky arm behaviour. Any ideas on what I might be missing?
Thanks! Usually when this happens it means something else (the other dragger behavior?) has already recorded something with it, so in trying to reconcile between it and new data it's basically running at 50% strength. I'm guessing if you recorded with only one dragger you wouldn't run into this issue? So if that's the case, see if you can delete any prior recordings for that handle. If it persists, please post a screenshot, video, or File > Export > Puppet (.puppet file) to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more help.
@@okaysamurai Thanks for the reply. Deleting the previous recording does seem to make it work, however this adds some extra steps compared to how easy it was in the tutorial video. Doing it in this manner also requires that I have to place the hand back in its resting position if I wanted to add extra movement after the first. I'll post my file in the feedback and see if I can find some more help there. I noticed that another user there had the exact some issue as me, but couldn't find a solution. Here is the page with their issue:
community.adobe.com/t5/character-animator/multiple-dragger-behaviours-not-working-as-expected/m-p/11660718?page=1#M15750
Could it be a bug?
I don't think it's a bug - I think, if I'm understanding things correctly, it may just be a workflow difference? 1. Arm the right arm dragger and only record the right arm. Don't touch the left arm at all. 2. Arm the left arm dragger and only record the left arm. Don't touch the right arm at all. I'll post in that thread later today.
Try this: ruclips.net/video/OYFm0yuqOhQ/видео.html
@@okaysamurai Thank you thank you thank you! This explains exactly the issue I've been running into and arming and disarming one arm at a time absolutely solves it. I really appreciate the effort you put into these videos, even making a separate video to help solve our issue.
Super useful tutorial. Thank you.
Great Video littered with helpful tips :)
An awesome tutorial
Love this!
nice
Another great video. Thanks
Nice narration
very useful info thank YOU SO MUCH. but how about Syncing with External video is it possible ?? and how
CH doesn't currently support video input, so you would need to do that in Premiere Pro or After Effects (which you can dynamic link your CH recording into).
Cool. Thanks for all you do. So, the reason my character takes a few seconds to get its arms into position, after I have recorded it, is because I’ve got the dragging behavior armed?! (Semi rhetorical question)
Even if I record something dragger usually takes a frame or two to settle into place, so I usually start my recordings a second or two after the start just to make sure I don't have any extra bumping. If it's a few seconds though that seems too long - hopefully it's just a short easily skippable bump at the beginning.
Great tutorial, thanks! I am wondering if there’s a way to insert a take seamlessly. So for example, if I forget to say something in the middle, can I record/animate just that section and edit that in the middle and blend it with the handles? Thank you!
Yep - you would just be blending several behaviors simultaneously, like Face, Draggers, Eye Gaze, etc. - things like triggers or lip sync are more binary (off/on) and don't need to blend.
@@okaysamurai Gotcha, I think I just need to play more. I’m mentally in editing mode so in my head, I’m trying to essentially cut the current edit and insert about 5 seconds in between the cut. Thank you for the tutorials you do. They are the best on here for this…
Amazing Tutorial👍👍👍
Im having a hard time recording some physics, i made red blood cells that are being emitted on the left and falling right with gravity, then i have a “blood clot” that i want to move in and start blocking some of the cells for my project (presentation on anti-coagulation medications) but when i record everything gets messed up, the blood clot that i want to drag in disappears, im kind of confused on the best way to do this
Physics is a "simulation" so it can be tough. Basically, it starts running right at 0:00, so that's when gravity kicks in and things start falling. There are a few ways around this - you could move or trim the puppet to start at exactly the right time, or drag at 0:00 and wait until the right moment to move onstage and/or release, or record a physics parameter like gravity and only turn it up when it's the correct time, or use a magnet (see the magnets tutorial on this channel) to hold it into place. Eventually we want to add a way to "bake in" physics to your timeline so you can see it correctly, but for now, you'll unfortunately have to work around it. If you still can't figure it out please post in the official forums for more help: adobe,com/go/chfeedback.
Hi! :) Is a 720p webcam okay to use for this or is it preferred to use only a 1080p or higher resolution webcam? Thanks!
720 should work great.
Hi,
Great info. I also wanted to know about the transparent background.
Georgina : )
Thanks for some really great tutorials! Is the separate dragger behaviors still working in the same way? I just end up with two Target Handles in each behavior and I feel like I have tried everything.
If you don't move the dragger, it won't record. So when you're doing two draggers, make sure not to touch the one you're not recording and it won't put down anything on the track.
@@okaysamurai That's it! Thank you so much for your fast reply.
Is there a way to "script" the timeline without live recordings? Of course scripting arm movement won't make sense, but for example face expressions. And then the ability to move these on the timeline to the exact frame would be helpful. Or changing the puppet position on the stage via recording (and dragging with the mouse to an exact position) is a pain. I'm a Character Animator novice, I've read the manual but I can't find this.
No scripting/keyframes yet, but the most common way to strike & hold a particular pose (at least from pro studios we've visited) is to do Timeline > 1 Frame Take. Then this pose can be extended and blended to hold and have a transition as short or long as you want it. Same for puppet position - do a 1 frame take of a new position (arming position X like shown in this video), then blend it in/out to transition from the first position to the second. 2.0 added more blend controls too so you can customize the curve of the blend more.
Is it possible to generate your animation by importing a video file, rather than a live performance?
Yes, but not natively - you have to use a third party tool like Manycam to trick your webcam into thinking it's a video. The more common approach is using someone's voiceover and then doing the other performance elements separately.
I love this I’ve been looking for something like this, however I wanted to know how can I then maybe put my own different scenes (background) throughout the creation of the animation?
I want to create animations more like a mini movie where it will require me to have multiple scenes.
Yep! Easy to add as many backgrounds as you want: ruclips.net/video/7pgm_u4VkQk/видео.html
Hi there! I love your content for teaching others how to use character animator. I have a question about making characters that are animals like dogs and cats that are not up right like humans. How would one rig that? I'm working on an animation of a dog that will be on four legs but then stand up on its hind legs as if trying to catch something. This is my first time character rigging and lol I feel like I'm being too complicated.
CH is definitely more slanted towards bipedal characters, but in your case there are a few ways you could do it - fixing the hind legs and putting a dragger in the head might allow you to drag the dog up while keeping the back legs planted. Or a frame by frame cycle layers animation, which would be more complex but give you a little more control. I haven't seen a great example of either of these yet though!
Mr Dave, I really would like to know how you did the "mood" with the mouth on the sticky character. It would help a lot in character expressions for my animations. Thanks
I didn't make Sticky, but it's made by fixing the edges of the mouth and moving the middle up and down with a transform tag. If you dig into the puppet in Rid mode, specifically the "Mouth Holder" group inside the Face, you'll see what's going on.
thank you so much
9:37 I foresee that I'll make plenty of edits to takes, is there a way to mix and flatten the edits into 1 track afterwards?
Currently no, but you can "twirl up" groups of takes on the left so they seem a bit more consolidated.
@@okaysamurai cool, thanks!
Question: I have a fun track recorded, but the articulation of the character is a bit off. I would like to add particular visemes to the timeline. For example: My character says "Sinister" and it only gave me an "S" and an "R"... I would like to add in an "N" and "I" and another "S" before going to the "R". Is there a way to do add those visemes to the timeline manually?
Yep! Edit > Split. This will split the current viseme at the playhead and let you edit them to whatever you want.
@@okaysamurai Coolio! Thanks so much!
SO WHEN ARE YOULL COMING OUT WITH THE FULL BODY RECOGNITION? IS THAT IN THE WORKS?
We are looking at all sorts of new input possibilities for the future. But yes, I would love to have full body tracking - I think it's inevitable for one day!
Ooooo ohhhh myyyyyy goddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!!Cooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!! I can't believe!!
Wow very good video🤗🙏👍
which webcam is better for Adobe character? Please introduce a webcam.
Any webcam should work well with Character Animator. I use my laptop's built-in webcam as well as a Logitech Brio for a slightly wider angle. Both work perfectly.
One issue I am having with editing is how the puppet goes back to recording form while editing the timeline rather then showing the edits made. (example: I skim through the timeline and see the edits but the moment I stop it goes back to the the default pose as fits ready to record). IS there a way to maintain the preview mode to show the edits made. I know this is worded badly sorry.
Yes - if you click the red button in front of the character in the timeline, this will disarm the live performance and only show you timeline recorded stuff.
How do you create a simple animated loop and slap it in a scene? Like a waterfall is a perfect example. Is it through a video? Or something else?
Cycle layers! See part 2 of ruclips.net/video/WzYJbZYhxmk/видео.html
I have a question about recording two hands. When we first placed both hands on the character's waist, in the timeline, both hands were recorded in the right hand behavior section. Now when we add a new behavior with the name of the left hand. now if you try to move Chloe's left hand, there is a disorder which that is normal. Because in right-hand behavior, left-hand behavior is also recorded. Now if we want to remove the previous part of the left hand from the behavior of the right hand, the main position of the left hand is lost. what should I do about this?
So basically if you don't want to record it, don't move it. If CH sees any change from the original position it will record something in the timeline. If you don't touch it, it won't record. So if you're recording the left hand, don't touch the right one at all, and vice-versa.
Hi Dave, (8:50 / 9:50) in this time your Character got little blurrier. is there any way to solve this blurriness. Thanks in Advance Dave
I scaled her and the window up a little, but mainly because I have the resolution set to 1/2 (see the bottom right corner of the window). I'f I'm dealing with hi-res footage I usually do this just to make things play back a little smoother during the editing experience.
Hey man! I love this, I learned so much. I have a question (I don't think this video was made before we started our characters last summer, so I think I'm in the right place). We have a podcast with two puppets performed by two actors. We are recording animation on two separate computers. However, I want to be able to combine all the performance data from both projects into one so that I can edit them perfectly like a little movie. Is this possible? Or do I need to edit them separately and then composite them together in AE/PR? You've shown how to import audio and create lip sync form it, but is there a way to import the animation "tracks"?
I know you are a super talented artist and musician, but if there's any way I can contribute, let me know. I'm a music composer and sound designer. I live in CA as well. I write music for ads as well as a couple tv cartoons, and I'd love to help. Contact me if you'd like access to my library for backing tracks for youtube, or anything like that. Thanks!
Yes, you can combine multiple scenes together - just drag scenes into an existing scene. You will just see a solid bar though - you'll have to double-click it to see what's inside. That should work! Although personally I'd go with AE or PR for compositing once you're happy with your recordings - just more options.
Thanks for offering help! Sure, I'd love backing tracks, that would be awesome.
@@okaysamurai dm me through my channel (it's mainly just a reel), or just my website of the same name. I worked on a couple Disney and Nick shows last year that I probably can't share publicly yet. Happy to help though!
I will try this, but I think I did already without luck. I have one project open, how do I import a scene from another project? Just click+drag the project in? I know how to create multiple scenes in one project, but not how to combine...
File > Import > Import the other chproj file. It will show up in a folder in your Project Panel.
Great update and video :-) Love the Sticky character but when edit in photoshop the source psd file (the scene one) if i save the file (even without adding nothing , just check uncheck layer) the puppet seems broken back in the editor, with the background moving with te puppet or the hair layer below the character .
Is there anything to consider like de photoshop version (i have the latest) or something like that? I can edit the other puppets psd without problem but this crashes...
Sticky is unfortunately complex and not the easiest to edit. The reason is that there's a lot of CH-specific rigging, including several "shareable" parts (see the shareables folder that he comes with), and CH-created groups, so saving altered versions can mess things up. There are some features in our backlog to try to address this in the future. But CH also shouldn't crash when this happens - if it persists please let us know in the official forums.
Okay Samurai thanks for the answer! :) Sorry i explained bad, CH is not crashing just the puppet shows broken . Again thanks for the answer and congratulations for your great job with CH communication :)
Hey Miguel. Sticky is an amazing character, but she's also surprisingly complex. When you make a change to Sticky.psd, we automatically bring back some layers that were deleted in the original puppet. Specifically, the shareable puppets The Head, Torso, Facial Hair, and Hair_Back. You can safely delete these layers because their shareable puppets are actually used within Frontal, Left Profile, and Right Profile. It's annoying having to delete these layers each time you save in PS, but for now, that's the workaround. I'm currently working on restructuring Sticky to be a little more resilient to editing.
@@danielmckittrick Thanks for the info!!! :-)) i´ll try and see how it goes :-)
thank youuu
Is it possible to remove background noise from the audio when you are recording? I notice I am picking up a tonne of background ambient noise when I am recording myself talking in my room.
There's nothing built into the app to do this yet, but you can take the audio file into Adobe Audition to do something like this if you want.
I'm trying to figure out how to make the right mouth shape match the audio or my jaw, it doesn't seem to match or it seems like I'm missing shapes.
Is this happening for all puppets or just your own? If all puppets, check your lip sync prefs: ruclips.net/video/HTdKGYjdSFY/видео.html. If just your own, make sure your mouths (up to 14 different shapes) are properly tagged and your mic is on - otherwise you might just see the neutral / smile / surprised (non-audio) mouths.
Hi, I can't import character animator file to animate, animate says: One or more files were not imported because there were problems reading them. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks (Animate version: 23)
Character Animator and Animate files are unfortunately not compatible.
First of all, thank you so much for such a great video. I can't see "Enable work area" under Timeline bar and the recording duration stack in 30 sec.
How could I get to Enable work area back?
If you're not seeing the work area it's possible you're in an older version? Make sure you're using the 2020 version. You can also adjust the duration by selecting a scene in the project panel and adjusting the duration property that shows up on the right.
Okay Samurai Thanks for your reply. I found the property window. Looking forward to your future video.
i have a question ... im working with sticky figure template ( minimal blue guy ) already ... it has good different cloth and color ... but when i change them nothing will happen on main scene and main puppet i just can hidden hand and leg but not about changing cloth, mustach and other customize.
need ur help
Hmmm, Sticky should update in the scene when you change the sliders in the Controls panel on the bottom...if he doesn't, that's a bug. Please post to adobe.com/go/chfeedback with a screenshot or video and we can try to help you more directly there!
Is Adobe Character Animator avaible on windows 8.1? I don't see the newest version in my Creative Cloud Library.. Can you help me?
Great video as always!
I believe the CC video apps now require Windows 10 with the latest release. See helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/system-requirements.html.
Dave, why are some dots under behavior FULL RED DOTS and armed, and are others smaller and darker of color? I cannot figure out why. Pressing them doesn't make them big and red like for instance Eye Gaze, Face, Lip Sync and so on...
We call those passive behaviors. They don't need to be armed to take effect. Things like your scale, position, physics, etc - these just work in the background, you don't have to record a track to commit them.
Right clicking on the viseme in a timeline allows changing/replacing of a particular viseme but is there a way to add new visemes? (for example if I wanted to replace a W with an S and then an Ee.)
Never mind...I think I just figured it out....option right click on a Mac
I also like to Edit > Split and add new shapes between others that way.
thankng for you that you nicely done it.good job.but i have aproblem that how to export as a mp4 video.plz explain it.
When you go to File > Export, it will open up Adobe Media Encoder. If you press the green play button in the upper right, it will export an mp4.
This may be a stupid question, but how do you make triggers using previously recorded animations? For example, if my puppet needs to drastically alter its pose mid-recording to start playing guitar... or something? I tried doing this using a different puppet with new props and triggers, and then swapping out the first puppet during recording... but that messes up the entire animation up until that point. :(
If you press record, anything with a red dot next to it on the right can be added to. So for example, if I want to change him to play guitar at 10 seconds but I've already recorded 30 seconds, I just move my playhead to :10, arm the face and dragger behaviors, and record him playing the guitar. When I stop recording, those takes will show up above the old ones and you can blend them in like I show in this tutorial. Hope that helps!
@@okaysamurai Thanks so much! :)
Hi, super beginner level question - but let's say I do a 10-second recording and want to delete the entirety of it. Is there a way to delete the recording? Thank you!
Yes - if you record for 10 seconds you'll see takes appear in the timeline for everything you activated. You can delete all of those to get rid of them, or Edit > Undo, or go back a step in your history panel.
How do you increase/scale the track size in the timeline? Somehow mine is scaled very small so whenever I hit record my character will disappear. Thanks!
Unfortunately there is no way (yet) to make tracks taller or smaller, but you can press + or - to zoom in and out, or use the slider in the bottom right of the timeline to zoom as well.
how can we edit the movements of the recorded movements? i find it frustrating that i have to rerecord the whole thing instead of being able to edit a detail of the movement.
Think of it more like recording live music instead of traditional keyframe animation. Typically what I'll do is record a base performance for the entire duration of my animation, and then add on little blended extra recordings over top of it, especially with draggers and triggers. I talk about my process a little more in the full workflow videos. ruclips.net/p/PLq4LynfF_r15MB40HNeLSw8Rebrd8os9D
Salut Sir David. love u, from Congo DRC
Is there a way to control the lip sync without audio input? Also how do you control the face and head without the camera? The reason is my computer does not process a camera and I don't have a microphone..
Yes, see 6:29 for doing lip sync with prerecorded audio. You could add a dragger or transform behavior to manually control the Face too. But if you really want to get the most out of CH, I highly recommend getting a basic webcam and mic.
Hi, is there a way to record in mono in Character Animator? I have a scarlett interface, and I can record only one channel and thus I can hear audio only on one side. Can't find any solution online. Only solution is to record in another software which seems like an unnecessary hustle.
This might help: community.adobe.com/t5/character-animator-discussions/recording-output-goes-only-to-one-side/m-p/10285947#M9091. If not, please add to the thread and we'll try to help you figure it out.
how can i change the background of the main screen ...and how to add some shapes on it
Add any image as a background: ruclips.net/video/7pgm_u4VkQk/видео.html
I’m having this issue suddenly in character animator where the exported video looks different then what’s in the preview window. It looks like it’s zoomed out so now I’m getting the black bars on each side as well ass my puppets waiting off screen where they are not visible in the view finder. This is happening with all my scenes where they were not happening before. Nothing has changed to my knowledge. I have checked each scene settlings and they are all set to the default. Any ideas?
Very weird. Yeah, I was going to say to check scene setting and make sure you're at 1920 x 1080 or whatever you wanted. I would also check the zoom level in Record mode and make sure you're not zoomed all the way in or something, hiding stuff on the sides. If you add a background it should be obvious if parts of it are getting cut off or not. Finally I would check export settings (if going through media encoder) and making sure they match your scene settings. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.
I recorded something, and all my recorded inputs like eye gaze, lip sync, is all there. I exported as an alpha. Noticed my character didn't move while the audio played. Went back to Ch and my puppet doesn't move when I playback what I recorded. again, all the inputs are on the timeline. Its only my puppet, no background or anything else. Why/how?
Things record in the timeline only if a change is detected, so seeing things in the timeline makes me think something did record (if you saw things moving during recording) and I wonder if it's a playback issue. Behaviors could be turned off via eyeballs in the properties leading to them not showing up. Hard to diagnose here... If the problem persists, please upload a video or screenshot of your issue to adobe.com/go/chfeedback and we'll try to help you out.
@@okaysamurai I just figured it out I was pulling up a script to read in notepad so the camera was disabling!! The next thing I’m stumped on or very sad about is not being able to split recordings on the timeline. I have a character I’m performing as talking to someone on the phone and I just did my puppets speaking part and figured that I would fill in the audio for the person later in my video software (die-hard davinci guy sorry lol). but because there are pauses during my performance (to let the other character speak), the pauses are not perfect. I can’t split and move the audio/lip sync closer to create that natural dialogue if that makes sense, thank you for all the help you always provide the community!
Yeah, this is why I do all my audio editing in Audition. ruclips.net/video/VhCKD5vl848/видео.htmlsi=O_cOwM_X59wY4crg&t=255
Are there a newer version of these tutorials? There are a lot of changes and it's very confusing.
Are there particular changes that were confusing? The Chloe puppet is slightly updated and "Set Rest Pose" is now "Calibrate," but those are purely cosmetic and the general functionality should be the same. But if there's something I'm missing please let me know!
@@okaysamurai The whole thing is a big bundle of confusion. Very little works they way yours does. Something is very wrong. I cannot close anything I open, even if I shut the program down. I reopen the program and there is the file again. "Close" is grey and unclickable in the menu. Also, nothing moves but the facial features.
I just now tried to follow your "creating an illustrator puppet." I thought maybe that video would help shed some light and when I double click on the zip file (7z program) it just opens and shows what is inside the folder, then I double clicked on each of those files and the only one that does anything is the Blank (Illustrator).tmp.chproj file which goes to Ch, but is blank, meaning nothing is there, but it's now another file I cannot close.
Not being able to close seems like a major bug - that definitely shouldn't happen. I'm wondering if your computer meets the system requirements? helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/system-requirements.html. If it persists, please post a screenshot or video to adobe.com/go/chfeedback for more direct help.
Sir what specifications laptop is needed to do this animation?
Anything that can run these specs: helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/system-requirements.html
Was tryng to make a character flap his arms in unison. Is there a mirror function, onion skinning or ability to view the recording while Im recording a new action? Couldnt find anything
Your best bet is to do the technique at 4:22 and do one arm at a time. So arm and record the left and then disarm it and do the same with the right to match what you're doing on the left as a reference.
TY!
Hi bro can u just tell me that How to increase the volume here in this software 🤔
Your mic volume settings are set at the OS level - check your computer settings and turn the mic volume up. The only other place is in your Character Animator preferences under Audio.
Can't believe I've been following all animator videos. but I got one problem, I imported voice over into animator and when I hit record it stopped following my head movement, the lipsync is still working tho. Any idea why this is happening?
Anything that is armed (red dot on the right) should be following your movements if new data is coming in. So for Face to properly record, you need to make sure that Face has a red dot next to it on the right. If the problem persists, please upload a screenshot, video, or your File > Export > Puppet file to the official forums at adobe.com/go/chfeedback so we can take a closer look.
Which version of Character Animator is available on Win7 ??
Windows 7 is not currently supported. helpx.adobe.com/adobe-character-animator/system-requirements.html
I was wondering if u know how to solve the problem where the mouth disappears between frames when recording?
A disappearing mouth probably means either a trigger is creating a conflict, a tagged mouth has hidden / non-visible artwork, or a behavior like cycle layers is causing it to disappear. For more direct help post a video to adobe.com/go/chfeedback.
@@okaysamurai thx it was the behaviour like cycle layers that caused it to dissappear
how to make the character playing guitar or any instrument like the beginning of the video
Check out the beginning of ruclips.net/video/1mTSNfMSFck/видео.html
Hi Okay Samurai, I like your channel, thank you for all you share to the world. I need some help, I'm new in this. I have problem to export my adobe character animation (my puppet). Can you help me?
Select what you want to export in the Project panel and go to File > Export to see your options. If you just want to share your puppet, select the puppet in the project panel and go to File > Export > Puppet to make a .puppet file.