If you mean animating the mouth to match words I'd say no. But if you want speech bubbles to pop up in sync with your audio then sure, that should be no problem. Just set up markers on the time line where you want the bubbles to change. Then create the bubbles and have them appear and disappear on the timeline in coordination with the audio. Should be pretty straight forward..
Well, I don't think it's necessary to have them move their mouths if states change with what the character is saying.
For example, at first a character is looking to the user, and then with a list of bullets, it turns to the left and has a pointer.
Is it possible to do this?
This is possible. To create this, you will set up the character with the pointer in different positions as the different states, and then set triggers to change the states when you want them changed. When I use this type of interaction, I create squares off frame that end when I want the character to move.
Trigger: Change state of Character to [Pointer 1] when timeline [Rectangle 1] ends.
As for the talking Avatar... For me it's not really a good result. You can see a still picture moving a mouth that 'doesn't belong' to it.
I think we should focus in learning and instructional facts more than in characters moving. Moving characters in Storyline may not be worth it: extra work and users feeling weird with those characters that only move their mouths. What do you think?
If you have the budget (under $200), there is Crazy Talk software that can animate a flat image including lip syncing, emotions and head or body movements.
Similar to Linda's suggestion, Anime Studio Debut also supports lip sync (chug in your audio and line up your phonemes and the program does the rest). I picked it up for $39 on the Apple App Store. You can find it cheap boxed on Amazon.
iClone exports to a variety of movie formats. So you'd basically export to something like WMV or AVI and import into SL. iClone is really keen if you have the patience for the learning curve and don't mind purchasing extra content. It's essentially a game engine. You can even control your avatars using standard WASD game keyboard controls.
The latest version is pretty cool. With the addition of Kinect support you can even use it like a poor man's motion capture studio.
If you have a relatively modern machine, it'll work. They are using DirectX, so most modern GPU's should do the trick. They sell some software toolkits for converting objects. Access to the Google SketchUp Warehouse and ability to use Sketchup to build out environments really expands the opportunities offered by the tool.
I've never had good results in creating talking avatars, and I don't think it may even be worth the work. After all, how seriously is your audience going to take a talking drawing?
Focusing more on informative aspects of the course, you can use animated characters sparingly to highlight important points in the material through bubbles. Most would recommend this as a best practice.
There are a lot of eLearning vendors that supply the resources for creating effective storylines and courses with relatable characters, live or animated. The best I've encountered is elearningstock.com. Everything there is high-quality and royalty-free. You can even get a freebie once a week on their blog. I highly suggest checking it out!
My team and I regularly insert talking avatars in our Storyline content using AlterEgo http://www.alteregos.com/. License costs 50$ and the software allows you to choose from a variety of avatars and import a recorded narration or use text to speech. You can sync the lips with a simple click or two. You can output to different video formats then import to Storyline slide. Ta-daaa!
My team and I regularly insert talking avatars in our Storyline content using AlterEgo http://www.alteregos.com/. License costs 50$ and the software allows you to choose from a variety of avatars and import a recorded narration or use text to speech. You can sync the lips with a simple click or two. You can output to different video formats then import to Storyline slide. Ta-daaa!
Hi Anna - I've been meaning to put one together for a while now I tell you what. If no one creates a tutorial between today and Friday , I'll record one when I return home Saturday.
I have used Flash and a little bit of ActionScript 3 programming to turn several of Storyline's illustrated characters into animated versions. The ActionScript automatically synchs the mouth movements based on the volume of the audio file being played (spoken). I export the Flash movie as a QuicktIme file and then import that into Storyline. The result works well, and is quick and easy to do (once I had built the library of characters), and the output works on IOS devices, despite being built in Flash
35 Replies
If you mean animating the mouth to match words I'd say no. But if you want speech bubbles to pop up in sync with your audio then sure, that should be no problem. Just set up markers on the time line where you want the bubbles to change. Then create the bubbles and have them appear and disappear on the timeline in coordination with the audio. Should be pretty straight forward..
There is also Text-To-Speech soiftware that you can purchase such as TextAloud that you can purchase various voices for.
Using Storyline's timeline layers, you can include a talking mouth video under your main character to create a talking avatar:
Talking characters (Conan O'Brien style)
Cool! I have to learn how to do it!
Well, I don't think it's necessary to have them move their mouths if states change with what the character is saying.
For example, at first a character is looking to the user, and then with a list of bullets, it turns to the left and has a pointer.
Is it possible to do this?
Cool thanks David! Have you made the lips of the main character transparent in Storyline? How do we do this?
Hi Belen,
This is possible. To create this, you will set up the character with the pointer in different positions as the different states, and then set triggers to change the states when you want them changed. When I use this type of interaction, I create squares off frame that end when I want the character to move.
Trigger: Change state of Character to [Pointer 1] when timeline [Rectangle 1] ends.
@ Belen, check this post out: http://community.articulate.com/forums/t/13139.aspx
Hi Belen,
I created a quick scenario for you using the characters the way you described.
View the Published version
Here is the Storyline source
You can also see Tom's Screenr on changing characters using states and triggers.
I hope this helps you. Please let me know if you have any questions!
M
@ Eric, thanks for this, I finally used squares off frame to set triggers related to what the character is saying.
@ Montse, thank you very much for the quick scenario you prepared! I also saw Tom's Screenr.
I think this is what I needed, thanks all!
B
As for the talking Avatar... For me it's not really a good result. You can see a still picture moving a mouth that 'doesn't belong' to it.
I think we should focus in learning and instructional facts more than in characters moving. Moving characters in Storyline may not be worth it: extra work and users feeling weird with those characters that only move their mouths. What do you think?
The example is great Nick! Would you be able to provide a tutorial on how you accomplished your example?
Thanks.
If you have the budget (under $200), there is Crazy Talk software that can animate a flat image including lip syncing, emotions and head or body movements.
Similar to Linda's suggestion, Anime Studio Debut also supports lip sync (chug in your audio and line up your phonemes and the program does the rest). I picked it up for $39 on the Apple App Store. You can find it cheap boxed on Amazon.
http://anime.smithmicro.com/
A few quick, dirty, and silent videos of this in action:
//www.screenr.com/user/xpconcept
As Linda mentioned I use CrazyTalk for flat images with lip sync, xtranormal for full motion animated characters and iClone for motion capture.
Hey, Nick -
iClone exports to a variety of movie formats. So you'd basically export to something like WMV or AVI and import into SL. iClone is really keen if you have the patience for the learning curve and don't mind purchasing extra content. It's essentially a game engine. You can even control your avatars using standard WASD game keyboard controls.
The latest version is pretty cool. With the addition of Kinect support you can even use it like a poor man's motion capture studio.
If you have a relatively modern machine, it'll work. They are using DirectX, so most modern GPU's should do the trick. They sell some software toolkits for converting objects. Access to the Google SketchUp Warehouse and ability to use Sketchup to build out environments really expands the opportunities offered by the tool.
Hi Vahid,
I've never had good results in creating talking avatars, and I don't think it may even be worth the work. After all, how seriously is your audience going to take a talking drawing?
Focusing more on informative aspects of the course, you can use animated characters sparingly to highlight important points in the material through bubbles. Most would recommend this as a best practice.
There are a lot of eLearning vendors that supply the resources for creating effective storylines and courses with relatable characters, live or animated. The best I've encountered is elearningstock.com. Everything there is high-quality and royalty-free. You can even get a freebie once a week on their blog. I highly suggest checking it out!
Best!
Mike
My team and I regularly insert talking avatars in our Storyline content using AlterEgo http://www.alteregos.com/. License costs 50$ and the software allows you to choose from a variety of avatars and import a recorded narration or use text to speech. You can sync the lips with a simple click or two. You can output to different video formats then import to Storyline slide. Ta-daaa!
I can not seem to get the Storyline Source working from your post above.
Hi Isa
Can you tell me more about Alteregos????
thx
N
Is there a tutorial to do the Conan style lipsync. When I click I just see the example but I think this is exactly what I am looking for.
Hi Anna - I've been meaning to put one together for a while now I tell you what. If no one creates a tutorial between today and Friday , I'll record one when I return home Saturday.
I have used Flash and a little bit of ActionScript 3 programming to turn several of Storyline's illustrated characters into animated versions. The ActionScript automatically synchs the mouth movements based on the volume of the audio file being played (spoken). I export the Flash movie as a QuicktIme file and then import that into Storyline. The result works well, and is quick and easy to do (once I had built the library of characters), and the output works on IOS devices, despite being built in Flash
Hi Ian and welcome to E-Learning Heroes! Thanks for sharing!
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