Goofy questions (because I'm lazy)

Sep 12, 2013

So, I have this course, and I'm using the Articulate character pack. As characters speak to each other, I have them change their poses to reflect that they're listening or are reacting emotionally to what's being said. Sometimes I just do it because it's boring looking at static pictures.

I don't use any animations when I do this, but my boss doesn't like the snap changes and would prefer a smoother transition between poses.

I was, therefore, wondering two things:

  • If you use the characters in the character packs (really, I'm speaking about the photographic images, but I suppose I could apply the same reasoning to the cartoon characters), do you use animations when they switch poses or do you just do animation-less pose changes?
  • If you use animations, do the timings in the animations correlate to the timing of the animations in PowerPoint? In other words, PPT uses the following default timing values:

    Very fast = 0.5 seconds
    Fast = 1 second
    Medium = 2 seconds
    Slow = 3 seconds
    Very slow = 5 seconds

    Are the timings for Storyline animations the same?

Thanks.

13 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Chris,

Those default timings look to be the same as I just test in Storyline (I've never seen them listed anywhere) but there are less options to animate within Storyline than PPT, so I'm not sure which one you would use to make a smoother transition between poses - looks like some trial and error? 

Hopefully the community will let you know what they've done in similar situations! 

Chris Wall

I'm figuring on this as my approach:

  • Overlay the two images so they align as closely as possible.
  • Have the second image come in 0.5 seconds before the first image drops off the timeline
  • Use a fast fade (presuming it's a one second duration) on the second image fading in and a fast fade out on the first image fading out

Then I'll work it from there.

Thanks.

CW

Heather Horner

I'm doing that in the course I'm developing now - I have the characters change as they talk because, as you said, it's boring & unnatural to hold the same pose the entire time. I have them animated to fade fast out/in. In the timeline I overlay the 2nd pose just slightly over the first so that as the fade out/in animation plays, there's not a split second with no character on the screen.

Chris Wall

The other thing I'm experimenting with on this is which image should be in front... The original image or the second image. Right now, I'm leaning toward the original image being in front, but, really, I think what it'll end up being is something I decide on each transition.

Frankly, I'm not really excited about fading character photos in and out this way. I think it works better when you time the appearance of a character's new pose with a change in the audio, either because another person's speaking or because the tone has changed (to me, it seems as if the sudden tweak in the speaker's image draws attention to the speaker, underscoring what's being said).

But that's just me.

Gordon UBS Lam

One piece of advice I can offer, as I am working on a project with the very same thing, using the very fast in and out /tiny overlap that Heather mentions, is not to change more than one thing in a character.  Either change from one expression to another, or one pose to another.  If you change both the expression and the pose at the same time it seems to distract from the narration and other onscreen content.

You can also, adjust the background as well to zoom closer in as the conversation progresses. Somewhere in this website (I don’t remember where but I know someone else can post the link) there is onfo about using different camera angles and medium and close-up shots, and combining all of those makes for a much more interesting and realistic conversation.

Nancy Woinoski

Chris Wall said:

So, I have this course, and I'm using the Articulate character pack. As characters speak to each other, I have them change their poses to reflect that they're listening or are reacting emotionally to what's being said. Sometimes I just do it because it's boring looking at static pictures.

I don't use any animations when I do this, but my boss doesn't like the snap changes and would prefer a smoother transition between poses.

I was, therefore, wondering two things:

  • If you use the characters in the character packs (really, I'm speaking about the photographic images, but I suppose I could apply the same reasoning to the cartoon characters), do you use animations when they switch poses or do you just do animation-less pose changes?
  • If you use animations, do the timings in the animations correlate to the timing of the animations in PowerPoint? In other words, PPT uses the following default timing values:

    Very fast = 0.5 seconds
    Fast = 1 second
    Medium = 2 seconds
    Slow = 3 seconds
    Very slow = 5 seconds

    Are the timings for Storyline animations the same?

Thanks.


Timings in Storyline are as follows:

very slow = 5 seconds

slow = 2 seconds

medium = 1.75 seconds

fast = 1.75 seconds

very fast 1.25 sec seconds

Michael Fimian

Hi Chris,

had you thought of changing the backgrounds in sync with the characters?  Character One may be in front of a bookcase, while Character Two might be standing in a hall with the wall behind him or her.  

Then you can use Very Fast to step from scene to scene.  Almost like it occurs in TV shows.  

The difficult part would be finding an opening or establishing shot (or image) which has elements of both backgrounds in the same image.  In this shot too, you can have the characters standing looking at each other.  This shot need  only be a second or two long.  If you have access to Shutterstock, you could look up "Office" in the search field, then choose "by same photographer" so you'd see what other shots of the same office that photog may have taken...

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.