After installing Storyline on my system at work, I began working with the static image characters. They're very easy to use but I wish Articulate had come out with a way to make these characters come to life. I managed to use a couple of cost effective programs to convert these static characters to animated characters. After several attempts at using different applications, I managed to simplify the process and now I can animate all the Storyline characters with ease.
Hi Stefano, great example and thanks for your help!
I'm just wondering how exactly did you get the transparency effect on the video? I gather you used Dell Avatar Creator - of which i guessed you saved as avi (?) but obv this comes with background!
What software did you use to convert the file to flv with a transparent bg?
Judith - No you're not missing anything. The files were never posted. I'm glad this topic has been revived as it will be a great feature once we all figure out how to do it.
Is there a tutorial that goes along with this? I have been sitting in a room with a group and we have been trying to figure out how to animate the bodies of the characters, such as arms, legs etc. If you could post something that would be great!
I feel a litlle guilty 'cause I should have worked at a Tutorial, since I kind of promised that, but I have never had the chance to...
I meant to show the production process using Storyline, Reallusion CrazyTalk or CrazyTalk Animator2 (if you need full body animation rather than face lipsyncing...), and then a suitable video editing software to create an Alpha transparent flash video file.
One important thing to consider, at present, is that Articulate Authoring tools now convert all video files to .mp4 files, if I'm not wrong, so that transparent videos cannot be displayed in the slides anymore.
In regards to how Storyline converts the videos, here's how movies are encoded when you insert them into your courses, based on the file format of the videos and the publishing options you choose:
Imported File Type
Flash Player
Mobile Player
HTML5 Player
MP4
Re-encoded to MP4
Re-encoded to MP4
Re-encoded to MP4
FLV (no alpha channel)
Encoded to MP4
Encoded to MP4
Encoded to MP4
FLV (alpha channel)
No change
No change
Encoded to MP4
SWF
No change
Not supported
Not supported
All other file types *
Encoded to MP4
Encoded to MP4
Encoded to MP4
* For a list of supported video file formats, click here.
It makes me sadfaced that we never got any followup to this. Having the Storyline characters in Crazytalk Animator, or Goanimate, would be HUGE for me.
I'm not sure which follow up you're looking for - but using the characters outside of Storyline would not be something we'd support as technically they're licensed for use with Articulate products as indicated here. If there was a particular community member here who you were looking for follow up from, you may want to send them a private message.
I have the worst luck getting things to play nice together Crazytalk Animator 2 now supports making a .png screenshot, or a animated GIF. Both paste perfectly into Powerpoint, but neither work in storyline. And of course, Presenter '09 won't work with the GIF either. '13 probably does, but I just talked my boss into getting Storyline pretty recently, so not gonna get anything else now. I can't win! Lol.
ie. can you have the character overlaid on a Storyline background?
The video does not support transparent backgrounds, but if you keep your SL background fairly simple you can make it look like the video is integrated with the background. Take a look at the example I created for Studio 13. I used Crazytalk and either inserted a copy of my SL background into the video or used a solid colour from the SL background and then when importing the video into Studio just sized the video so that it was sitting on the same colour in SL.
Nancy - This is a nice workaround! Can this be done without having Studio in the mix and just make it work between PPT and Storyline? I don't know that many Storyline users have Studio as well...Thanks!
Nancy - This is a nice workaround! Can this be done without having Studio in the mix and just make it work between PPT and Storyline? I don't know that many Storyline users have Studio as well...Thanks!
You can definitely do this in Storyline. I have not tried inserting the video in PPT first and then importing into SL because I tend to build from scratch in SL but I can't see why it would not work.
This looks great - thanks so much for sharing. Do you know if this also works fully on iPad through the Articulate Mobile Player as well? I would love to use Crazy Talk with Storyline though my users also need to access my courses on the iPad so just want to make sure it's compatible before I purchase it.
I have the worst luck getting things to play nice together Crazytalk Animator 2 now supports making a .png screenshot, or a animated GIF. Both paste perfectly into Powerpoint, but neither work in storyline. And of course, Presenter '09 won't work with the GIF either. '13 probably does, but I just talked my boss into getting Storyline pretty recently, so not gonna get anything else now. I can't win! Lol.
Hi Brian, Sorry if I'm about to tell you something you already know but I use animated GIFs in Storyline all the time. When you publish choose 'Custom optimization' under Quality and then move the video quality slider up to 9.
This thread is a bit older, so I'm not certain that Paul is subscribed. You may want to look at reaching out to him using the "contact me" button on his profile to see if he's able to share some additional information or specifics with you. In the meantime, here is another thread where a few users mentioned having characters that talk - so perhaps those ides will help you as well.
47 Replies
Hi Stefano, great example and thanks for your help!
I'm just wondering how exactly did you get the transparency effect on the video? I gather you used Dell Avatar Creator - of which i guessed you saved as avi (?) but obv this comes with background!
What software did you use to convert the file to flv with a transparent bg?
Stefano...glad this topic has finally picked back up again...thanks for your efforts!
To Mike's point, would you mind creating a Screenr to show us how you got the transparency effect on the video?
Thanks!
I have CrazyTalk 6 and the inability to do a transparent background makes me CRAZY!
I've looked through this thread but don't see where Paul (or anonymous) posted a file or tutorial.
Am I missing something (besides the animated examples)?
Judith - No you're not missing anything. The files were never posted. I'm glad this topic has been revived as it will be a great feature once we all figure out how to do it.
Is there a tutorial that goes along with this? I have been sitting in a room with a group and we have been trying to figure out how to animate the bodies of the characters, such as arms, legs etc. If you could post something that would be great!
Thanks!!!
Hello there,
I feel a litlle guilty 'cause I should have worked at a Tutorial, since I kind of promised that, but I have never had the chance to...
I meant to show the production process using Storyline, Reallusion CrazyTalk or CrazyTalk Animator2 (if you need full body animation rather than face lipsyncing...), and then a suitable video editing software to create an Alpha transparent flash video file.
One important thing to consider, at present, is that Articulate Authoring tools now convert all video files to .mp4 files, if I'm not wrong, so that transparent videos cannot be displayed in the slides anymore.
I'll see if I can work on this next week.
Stefano
Hi Stefano,
In regards to how Storyline converts the videos, here's how movies are encoded when you insert them into your courses, based on the file format of the videos and the publishing options you choose:
* For a list of supported video file formats, click here.
It makes me sadfaced that we never got any followup to this. Having the Storyline characters in Crazytalk Animator, or Goanimate, would be HUGE for me.
Hi Brian,
I'm not sure which follow up you're looking for - but using the characters outside of Storyline would not be something we'd support as technically they're licensed for use with Articulate products as indicated here. If there was a particular community member here who you were looking for follow up from, you may want to send them a private message.
I have the worst luck getting things to play nice together
Crazytalk Animator 2 now supports making a .png screenshot, or a animated GIF. Both paste perfectly into Powerpoint, but neither work in storyline. And of course, Presenter '09 won't work with the GIF either. '13 probably does, but I just talked my boss into getting Storyline pretty recently, so not gonna get anything else now. I can't win! Lol.
Why don't you export Crazytalk as a video - the videos work in Storyline
But do they work with a transparent background?
ie. can you have the character overlaid on a Storyline background?
Exporting as a video will not let you do a lot of stuff. With Powerpoint, look what you can do now with the newest update to Crazytalk Animator 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toNZtC9SFiY
They work fine in Powerpoint, but in Storyline neither work (white background on .png files, no animation in the GIF files.
The video does not support transparent backgrounds, but if you keep your SL background fairly simple you can make it look like the video is integrated with the background. Take a look at the example I created for Studio 13. I used Crazytalk and either inserted a copy of my SL background into the video or used a solid colour from the SL background and then when importing the video into Studio just sized the video so that it was sitting on the same colour in SL.
http://demos.articulate.com/showcase/studio/SunSafetyGame-PinchedHead/presentation.html
Nancy - This is a nice workaround! Can this be done without having Studio in the mix and just make it work between PPT and Storyline? I don't know that many Storyline users have Studio as well...Thanks!
Hi Nancy
This looks great - thanks so much for sharing. Do you know if this also works fully on iPad through the Articulate Mobile Player as well? I would love to use Crazy Talk with Storyline though my users also need to access my courses on the iPad so just want to make sure it's compatible before I purchase it.
Thanks
Gem
Hi Brian, Sorry if I'm about to tell you something you already know but I use animated GIFs in Storyline all the time. When you publish choose 'Custom optimization' under Quality and then move the video quality slider up to 9.
I hope this helps,
Tony
Well done Paul!
Which program did you used to convert the static characters into animated characters?
Do you know any free download programs for that?
Greetings,
Catherina
Hi Catherina,
This thread is a bit older, so I'm not certain that Paul is subscribed. You may want to look at reaching out to him using the "contact me" button on his profile to see if he's able to share some additional information or specifics with you. In the meantime, here is another thread where a few users mentioned having characters that talk - so perhaps those ides will help you as well.
Best of luck with your project!
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