I think this should be a very easy thing to do but I am having a few difficulties. I want to have a slide with no user input but I want to change the states of two characters that are having a conversation. Their states need to change based on who is talking and who is listening and these state changes need to be synced to the audio track. When they are talking I will use one expression and when listening I might use 2 or three expressions. What is the easiest way to do this. Should I use layers or can I just use states? How do I trigger a state change based on the timeline?
So I just read a post that made me think I don't want to use character states rather I could just insert separate poses and just have them appear or disappear on the timeline. I might have to insert the same character pose several times but then I can just change their appearance/disappearance within the timeline. Is their a more elegant solution? I hate to insert the same image multiple times...it seems like I would be adding to the the project file size...
There are several ways to achieve what you are looking for. I found if you add a simple shape outside of the main slide area (not seen when published), you can adjust the duration for this shape and use it to trigger the built-in state of a character. Since any shape added to a slide will have its own timeline, you have some flexibility as to when the timeline starts and ends by dragging the shape timeline to the left or right. Finally, adding a trigger to the shape you can simply change the state of a character when the timeline starts or ends. See example screenshot below.
You might notice in the image above, there are cue markers on the timeline. I added these by playing the audio from the timeline and selecting the "C" key on the keyboard during key audio points. This way I could scale and position the duplicated Rectangle shape to use as my trigger points. This example project can be downloaded here.
David, This is exactly what I needed. And I suppose that if you have two characters you can add another trigger to each shape to change the second characters states as well! Thanks so much for posting.
Thanks so much for this post. When I duplicate, I noticed that my characters pose never changes and your characters pose does change. In the trigger box it only appears you get the expression option to change not the pose, so how did you get the pose to change as well?
I have used the character tools design tab before, but I want my character to change states (poses) on one slide and Bret seemed to do that in his example without having many characters placed on top of each other. I haven't used the built in states tab.
Can you recommend a good tutorial for learning to use states? It seems so odd that in Bret's example poses change, but I don't see where he had any states set.
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So I just read a post that made me think I don't want to use character states rather I could just insert separate poses and just have them appear or disappear on the timeline. I might have to insert the same character pose several times but then I can just change their appearance/disappearance within the timeline. Is their a more elegant solution? I hate to insert the same image multiple times...it seems like I would be adding to the the project file size...
Bret,
There are several ways to achieve what you are looking for. I found if you add a simple shape outside of the main slide area (not seen when published), you can adjust the duration for this shape and use it to trigger the built-in state of a character. Since any shape added to a slide will have its own timeline, you have some flexibility as to when the timeline starts and ends by dragging the shape timeline to the left or right. Finally, adding a trigger to the shape you can simply change the state of a character when the timeline starts or ends. See example screenshot below.
You might notice in the image above, there are cue markers on the timeline. I added these by playing the audio from the timeline and selecting the "C" key on the keyboard during key audio points. This way I could scale and position the duplicated Rectangle shape to use as my trigger points. This example project can be downloaded here.
I hope this helps!
David, This is exactly what I needed. And I suppose that if you have two characters you can add another trigger to each shape to change the second characters states as well! Thanks so much for posting.
Bret,
That's correct. Simply add triggers and associate with different characters.
Thanks David. I tried it and it works exactly like I need it to. Pretty easy to adjust the timing and states as well!!
Bret,
That's great! Thanks for posting back.
Great tip, it worked wonderfully!
Thanks for this posting it helped solve my problem too!
Exactly what I needed! Thanks
Wonderful tip & example file!
Thank you!
Hi S. Isaac!
Thanks for letting us know that this thread was able to assist you. Love when people can find value in previous threads :)
Thanks so much for this post. When I duplicate, I noticed that my characters pose never changes and your characters pose does change. In the trigger box it only appears you get the expression option to change not the pose, so how did you get the pose to change as well?
Hi Holly!
Are you utilizing the built in states? Or the character tools design tab? See image:
I have used the character tools design tab before, but I want my character to change states (poses) on one slide and Bret seemed to do that in his example without having many characters placed on top of each other. I haven't used the built in states tab.
Yes, states is the way to do that :) I only have one image on my slide.
Can you recommend a good tutorial for learning to use states? It seems so odd that in Bret's example poses change, but I don't see where he had any states set.
I meant David's example!
The states tab in his image isn't open which is what may be possibly causing you confusion Holly.
We do have a great tutorial here that should be able to assist you though.
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