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artist's way: week 9
November 11, 2006
superNOVember - 8
by sven at 11:59 pm
Today's stopmo progress:
- downloaded and playtested AnimAide XT (a framegrabber for Macs)
- researched lipsync software options
- downloaded and playtested Papagayo (lipsync)
- did more playtesting of Magpie (lipsync)
- took notes comparing Magpie and Papagayo point-for-point
I think the next step for the Q&D project is going to be recording a scratch track. I'm feeling ready to choose my lipsync software.
AnimAide XT (1.0.3) has some clever and unique features as a framegrabber. In terms of doing any kind of serious lipsync work, however, I think I'd find it pretty useless. (Thanks for the tip, though, Mike!)
I tried this software earlier this year, when it was just "AnimAide". It's pretty good, and I recommend that Mac users give it a whirl. For me, though, it has a few quirks that I find irritating -- I'll probably stick with FrameThief for the time being. Considered doing a formal review of the product; but that'd take me a little too far afield from the projects that I'm really pursuing right now.
I recalled that LIO has a page about stopmo software, and found it again. LIO references three lipsync aps for Macs: Magpie, Papagayo, and JLipSync. Judging from the website, JLipSync doesn't look like reliable programming, so I haven't bothered to download it and give it a real test. Magpie and Papagayo are the serious contenders, and I'm leaning toward Magpie.
Papagayo is FREE, and very good. Jeffrey, if you're listening: Take a look -- I think you could do great things with this software!!
(Incidentally, Chris Boyers just put up another vlog "making of" entry today where he talks about using Papagayo. I found it useful to see how it fits into his workflow. Worth watching.)
Magpie is not necessarily all that different from Papagayo, but it costs $250. (Youch.) The extra bells and whistles may be worth it to me, though. I'm still sorting out exactly what Magpie has that Papagayo doesn't... Here's a partial list:
- ability to scrub back and forth on a selection of the sound clip, instead of having to play through the entire thing every time
- ability to slow the clip's playback, to help you find the beginnings of words
- ability to print out complete X sheets; Papagayo only outputs a list of keyframes
- ability to create different "actors" in PhotoShop, so you'd be doing lipsync with images of the actual puppet you're using
- ability to animate LightWave characters from within Magpie, using sliders (I use LightWave, but I'm not sure if/when I'll need this capability)
The job can get done with Papagayo -- but I think I'd have a smoother, more enjoyable experience with Magpie... This may be how I use birthday money I received this year.
Another factor weighing on my mind: Magpie is what they use at a particular animation company where I'd like to work. There's a test that they give you: A puppet, an X sheet -- go! No particular timeline on this ambition... But I do have a reason to be interested in what software gets used at the professional level.
In life news: This evening Gretchin and I finally had a chance to go have a social night with friends. We've been trying to get around to this for weeks... We watched the Classic Trek episode "Space Seed" followed immediately by "The Wrath of Khan."
Y'all already knew that we're geeks, right?
posted by sven | November 11, 2006 11:59 PM | categories: stopmo