A Light Intro to Adobe Character Animator 2022
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The document provides an introduction to Adobe Character Animator, detailing its features that allow for creating animated characters using webcam inputs and audio files. It discusses pedagogical uses of the software, including enhancing learner engagement and motivation, and offers insights into character design, rigging, and animation processes. Additionally, it outlines technical requirements and resources available for users to get started with the tool.
![Elements of a Digital Puppet
Appearance (all editable)
Gestures (varying levels of puppet body motion)
Voice (pre-recorded, live)
◦ Built-in visemes [mouth shapes used to form particular sounds (in animation); speech sounds that look
the same in terms of the mouth form]
In-world physics (designed behaviors and various parameter settings)
10](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/lightintroadobecharacteranimator-220512164053-26d1b3ad/85/A-Light-Intro-to-Adobe-Character-Animator-2022-10-320.jpg)
A Light Intro to Adobe Character Animator 2022
- 1. A Light Intro to Adobe Character Animator SHALIN HAI-JEW SIDLIT 2022 JULY 27 – 29, 2022
- 2. Presentation Overview If it has seemed difficult to make talking characters for videos, the Adobe Character Animator might be just the software app for you. This tool offers a variety of rigged puppet characters— animal, human, object—that can be animated through movements of a webcam…and can emulate mouth motions linked to speech (visemes, sound). These are glorious “shallow fakes,” but they are eye-catching and lots of fun. The various motions and sounds may be exported as individual keyframes for usage in video sequences and other applications (including live- streaming in character). Adobe Character Animator originally came out in 2015. 2
- 3. Pedagogical Uses of Character Animations 3
- 4. Pedagogical Uses of Character Animations Learner attention capture and maintenance Learner entertainment Stress relief (such as through humor) Learner motivation (such as through expression of encouragement) Aesthetic design for digital learning object (DLO), slideshow, module, or course Pedagogical agentry and learning supports (cognitive scaffolding) Direct teaching and learning Information sharing Demo-ing 4
- 5. Basic Elements of Animated Character Storytelling 5
- 6. Basic Elements of a Performed Scene Adobe Character Animator Terms Everyday Terms Performance capture characters (rigged digital puppets) Actors, personas, characters Backgrounds (also known as “puppets” in software app) Locations, contexts, physical spaces (in 2d) Recorded audio speech / dialogue / sound effects Interactions, event descriptions Action Sound effects, narration, dialogue, puppet movement, and location (including movement) Story, narration Beginning, middle, end; rising action, climax, resolution; others Sequence of events, episodes, stories Series 6
- 7. A Gallery of Performance Capture Characters 7
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- 9. Digital Puppet Types Puppets are royalty-free ones, including some made by third-party sources There are various types of puppets: ◦ Cartoons ◦ Anime-style puppets ◦ Clay animation puppets A generic “placeholder” puppet with the various labeled elements that are editable in Photoshop or Illustrator PuppetMaker options You on camera…come to life 9
- 10. Elements of a Digital Puppet Appearance (all editable) Gestures (varying levels of puppet body motion) Voice (pre-recorded, live) ◦ Built-in visemes [mouth shapes used to form particular sounds (in animation); speech sounds that look the same in terms of the mouth form] In-world physics (designed behaviors and various parameter settings) 10
- 11. Rig View of the .puppet 11
- 12. Properties Panel to the Right 12
- 13. Puppet Controls in Layers Puppets with various built-in body motions Autonomic eye blinks Walk sequences Jumping, dancing, running, punching and kicking, and others Props like “poofs of smoke” “grabbable crystal ball” (unique to respective characters) 13
- 15. Using Body Position to Move the Digital Puppet 15
- 16. Data Collection via Different Inputs A core driver of the puppet’s animations and speech is through the in-computer camera and microphone, for real-time animation (facial expressions, body movements, arm and hand gestures, and others) and real-time voicing ◦ “Body tracking” enables even full-body capture if standing sufficiently far from the camera to capture whole body ◦ “Body tracking” enables top torso movements, too ◦ The camera has to be calibrated, so the person is in a central starting position (rest) or the 0-0 position on the x and y axes ◦ Apparently should turn off Zoom or other apps that might also need the camera Other inputs are via mouse and touchpad Another input medium is through the keyboard 16
- 17. Setting up a Lip-Sync from an Audio File People may pre-record audio and then set the digital puppet to lip sync the visemes from this audio file. Import an audio file (.mp3, .aiff, or .wav, and others) Drag the audio file from the project panel into the scene or the timeline Select the character to activate it. In the menu above, select the timeline. Then select “Compute Lip Sync Take from Scene Audio.” One can click on the puppet and re-record new movements. For any changes, one can smooth the intro and the outro to each new added piece. The visemes timeline can be edited with different sounds input…and / or silence (in chunks) may be introduced. 17
- 18. Editing the Timeline As long as something has been recorded once, one can right-click in that timeline and add variations. One can also edit anything that has already been laid down. 18
- 19. Rolling your Own W/ PUPPETMAKER 19
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- 21. PuppetMaker Visual design (in Photoshop or Illustrator) Rigging (in Adobe Character Animator) Can click a “randomize” button for a “random” character 21
- 22. Triggers and Controls Puppets can come with or be empowered with various triggers and controls A “swap set” is a group of gestures that may be selected for a particular hand or eye or other object ◦ Only one of the gestures is shown at a time (not a combination in most cases) Secondary animations show how various parts of the character interact with the environment, such as how hair moves as the head moves…as a form of in-world physics. One puppet is a “ninja” and has some katas in the stances. 22
- 23. Latched vs. Unlatched Triggers A latched trigger is indicated by the filled-in icon to the left. This type of trigger is a toggle (on or off). For faster actions, one can go with a no-latch trigger. Here the effect occurs only as long as the button is held. 23
- 24. Non-Humanoid / Non-Animal Characters There are also non-sentient and non- human / non-animal characters. One involves dangling balloons with inverted gravity. Another is “chicken blaster.” This is depicted to the right. 24
- 25. Staging 25
- 26. Placement of Background and Characters The background can be zoomed in or out It can be moved along the x and y axes Characters can also be moved along those same tracks 26
- 27. Multiple Characters on Stage It is possible to have two or several characters on stage simultaneously. They can be recorded separately and piecemeal. Timing is a challenge. 27
- 28. Scenes Scenes may be added from the character view by clicking on the clapboard icon at the bottom of the character window. The frame rate and such may be set here. 28
- 29. History The history of the project is automatically saved and versioned. This can be deleted if desired. 29
- 31. Designing the Meta What message do you want to convey? How do you want to convey that message? (meta) What contexts will the video be used in, and what does that mean for technological outputs? (meta) ◦ Will there be an informational “wrap” around the snippet? If so, what? ◦ Will the video still work as a stand-alone file if the wrap is not consumed? How long or short should the video be time-wise? (editing) How should accessibility be designed into the video? (editing, legal requirements) 31
- 32. A Character What character do you want to speak through? What is that character’s personality? Style? Attitude? (script) ◦ How do you design the character to be memorable and of-a-piece? (novelty) ◦ How do you avoid stereotyping in any negative way? (social cautions) What sort of spokesperson would this character be? (representing) 32
- 33. A Scenario or Scene What scene do you want to speak through? (background) What (simple) action do you want to communicate? (character + scene + action + dialogue + sound) What special sound effect(s) would enhance the scene? (sound) What genre would this be building off of? (cultural context, cultural practice) 33
- 34. “Paper” Prototyping Creating light elements of the designed (approved?) plan Building the wrap-around to the video (if relevant) 34
- 35. User Testing Testing the prototype with users and acquiring systematized feedback 35
- 36. Refinement Re-recording and refining the final video Finalizing Going live ◦ Videos may be exported with frames exported as keyframes. ◦ The animations may also be exported to Premiere Pro and AfterAffects. Continuing assessing 36
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- 39. Some Downloadable Resources to Get Started See more https://pages.adobe.com/character/en/characters Free downloadable characters https://pages.adobe.com/character/en/third-party Mouth pack https://pages.adobe.com/character/en/resources Blank Templates, Mouth Pack, Background Pack, Audio Pack 39
- 40. How to Create a Story USING ADOBE CHARACTER ANIMATOR 40
- 41. A Character-Driven Very Short Animation Fast trust of character and scene (through recognition) Simple several-line talk maximum A few gestures Something witty Something exciting Something surprising 41
- 43. Required Technologies HARDWARE For a basic recording, it helps to have a laptop with an in-computer camera and microphone. The equipment can be improved with wired or wireless equipment. SOFTWARE There are add-ons and plug-ins that enable additional capabilities. 43
- 44. Contact Dr. Shalin Hai-Jew ◦ ITS ◦ Kansas State University ◦ shalin@ksu.edu ◦ 785-532-5262 44