A overview of a wonderful software programs meant for animating images

by jamtea

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but just imagine how that number would rise if that picture could talk. By that I do not mean capturing a real person talking on video but rather an inanimate object, image, cartoon or an avatar created for a website. Offering to provide the tools for creating this type of functionality is CrazyTalk 6 from Reallusion. For those not familiar with Reallusion, this is a company, with headquarters in Silicon Valley, concentrating on the development of leading-edge software designed to provide 3D cinematic tools for the Windows platform.

Two versions of CrazyTalk 6 are available. These are the Standard and Professional products. As you might suppose the Professional version has additional features aimed more at the serious user of the product. This review is based on the entry level Standard title.
Reviews : Graphic software

My first attempts at installing CrazyTalk 6 proved to be less than successful as the software failed to progress passed the Welcome screen. Re-inserting the CD into the optical drive solved the problem and the installation proceeded smoothly once the 26-character serial number had been authenticated on-line. Starting the program is not the quickest tasks but you are not kept waiting too long. However you will be asked to create a member account. The basic version of this account is free and requires you to provide an email address and password. Until an account is created you will be reminded to carry this task whenever you run this software.

CrazyTalk 6 operates on a project basis. Each project will contain settings and related files for models and scripts. A model can be one of the supplied examples, which have been classified as Animal, Anime, Cartoon, Drawing and Human, or one that you have created yourself. When opting for the latter you can use your own image or a picture of a family member, friend, colleague or even a pet. There is even an option to grab an image using a webcam but whenever I tried this feature CrazyTalk 6 refused to co-operate and stopped working. Fortunately no such problem occurred when importing an already existing image.

Before you can actually use one of your own pictures you will need to apply face fitting settings. This involves the positioning of four key points indicating the eyes and mouth. The software provides tools to crop an image, adjust colours and select from various face orientation models. A range of settings are available for adjusting the eyes, mouth and model motion. The latter option includes a specific mood setting such as sad, angry or friendly and user-designated head motion strength. You can also adjust a basic or detailed facial outline that is generated by the software.

Having set up your model, and this version of CrazyTalk allows you to use up to four models in a scene, you then need to consider adding a script. As with any good script, you can combine various elements. Based on a timeline concept, you can introduce a pre-recording message; record a live message or opt to have typed text converted into speech. You can add an appropriate expression to be displayed by the model for various sections of the dialogue. Several examples are provided and these can be interspersed into your own dialogue. A second audio track can be used to add accompanying background music or sound effects.


When saving your work, CrazyTalk 6 gives you a choice of options. You can select the type of destination from media, flash, HTMK or YouTube. Appropriate settings, including resolution and background colour, are under the control of the user.

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Animating for Video Games

by Kleinz1

The venerable art of animating still images has existed in some form or another since the 1800s. Today, however, new evolutionary offshoots of the artform make the industry more diverse than ever. Video Games in particular, offer a variety of opportunities and restrictions not found in previous forms of animation.

Regardless of the platform, video games offer a cornucopia of rich animation, be it in the Full Motion Video cut-scenes or the abundant in-game engine animations. FMV can be either hand drawn or CG, and is generated in much the same way one would produce content for film or video. With limited or non-existent user input, FMV sequences are mostly employed for narrative purposes. The in-game engine animations are the real source of the mediums' potential. It is here that a talented artist is able to tell a story using body language and limited graphics. "How a character walks (e.g. slouching sadly or bouncing happily) is telling the character's story," points out Sam Yip.

Sam Yip is a senior animator at Disney Interactive. His portfolio includes such games as "Pirates of the Caribbean Online," "Saints Row," and "Golden Eye: Rogue Agent." A fan of both traditional animation and recent interactive mediums, he believes the major distinction between games and film lies within the mediums' objectives. "The goal of [film] animation is to serve a story/narrative, and in video games, the animation's goal is to serve the game play, so the game player can create his own story."

While voice over and scripted story sequences are common place in today's games, the artist's task is to inject as much personality into the player's avatar as possible.

Yip reminds us that "Video game animations will have a lot of body movements such as running, walking, swinging a sword, and a lot of them will be cycled." This is where many genre restrictions come into play. Since a player commands the character, an artist is given the task of creating believable movements that can be transitioned to at a moment's notice. Much of this affects how anticipation is handled.

Anticipation, in both traditional and interactive animation, is how a character physically prepares for a movement. This is a simple process in film and television, since the animator has the storyboard and can prepare accordingly. In games, an animator will be asked to strike a fine balance between instantaneous character response and believable movement.

Technological limitations further challenge this process, such as an engine's frame-rate. "The anticipations in video game animations could be just a few frames," reiterates Yip, "if the frame rate is low and those few frames are skipped, then the player will not see the anticipation at all, which lessens the impact and believability of the animation." This can be overcome by creative planning, and the abbreviation of movements.

Modern games use diverse animation techniques and styles, though the majority achieve 3D animation through Maya and 3DS Max software. This opens up new considerations. In traditional animation, the focus is placed on the action within the frame, yet video games allow us to view the events from nearly any angle, thus requiring a universal approach and wider attention to detail.

As with theatrical CG, the choice between MoCap and Keyframe exists. Some games require a cartoony style that only time-consuming keyed animation can reproduce, while others benefit from the tangible realism of MoCap, though an extensive cleanup process may be necessary.

Video game animation offers a plethora of exciting opportunities and hurtles. For those involved, this digital playground offers a rich and rewarding experience, creating animation that connects to the audience on a more personal level then ever before. (Most sudios also mostly hire full time, rather than by contract!) For those interested in pursuing a career in this field, Sam recommends, "Find your passion, and just do it."

Mark Garabedian has been an animation aficionado from a young age, having worked his first job mowing lawns in Massachusetts to buy cels. An Emerson College alum, Mark is now a freelance animation writer and member of the Animation Guild, residing in Burbank, California.

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