Less is more in Lip Syncing

[ChiefWarrant]

After re-reading what Andy wrote about lip-syncing his pumpkins, I was wondering if anyone has suggestion on what the "perfect/least" number of channels would be. I am assuming that this would be 3-4 channels, based on Frame Delight's designs.

If this is the case, then which sounds should I map to each of the 3-4 channels?


I am thinking four channels for lips.

Top Lip (T)
Mid open (M)
Full Open(B)
Oooo (O)

Mapped to sounds:
T = MBP
T&M = Etc,FV,E
T&B = AI,L
O = O,U,WQ
B = Rest


Getting back to the less is more, is there a hard fast rule I can use to know what transitions to drop? Example, if the transition lasts less than 2 event periods then ignor?

Thank you

[maffeirw]

I usually sequence for all ten channels then combine as I drop channels (which I haven't had to yet). I also don't drop transitions that are one or more event periods, I think they add a lot to the look.

I've attached a flattened version of my monster mash .vix file for you to take a look at. You need to add the Monster Mash audio file (I don't believe it's edited in any way). If you want to see the video of the sequence it's at:

http://vimeo.com/21189001

[dmoore]

You might want to check this sequence where Bob used a program to auto-sequence the lips:

http://forums.lightorama.com/view_topic.php?id=26663

[budude]

You might want to check this sequence where Bob used a program to auto-sequence the lips:

http://forums.lightorama.com/view_topic.php?id=26663

This software is referenced in the OP here: http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?12249-Singing-Pumpkin-Lip-Sync&p=124351#post124351

[ChiefWarrant]

Reading the LOR forum. It looks like "ItsMeBob" has developed a tool to convert the Papagayo .dat file to an LOR sequence (available here (http://ItsMeBob.com/SD.htm))

I am not a LOR user nor am I computer programmer (the last time I played with programming was with Turbo-PASCAL), but it seems like an add-in (or plug-in) that just reads the .dat and assigns the mouth movements (on/of) to designated channels should be straight forward.

Given a .dat file structure:

MohoSwitch1
145 MBP
152 E
159 etc
166 AI
200 etc
242 rest
268 rest
269 AI

The add-in front end would allow the user to assign "MBP" & "etc" to channel 1; "E" to channel 2"; "rest" channel 3....so on. Then the user can define which channels he/she would like to use for which mouth movements.

The add-in would then translate channel 1 (MBP) "on" from time position 5.8 sec through 6.04 seconds. Then turn off channel 1 and turn on channel 2 (or "E") from 6.08 seconds through 6.36 seconds. Then back to channel 1 for "etc" So on, so on.

I can see limitations such as: Papagayo would have to be set to a certain fps to ensure that it aligns with a certain Vixen event period.

I will have some time in the near future to learn C+ (or other compiler), to tackle this for DIYC....think of it as repayment to the forum for all they have done for me. I will start a thread in Plug-in development soon to track it soon. First I need to figure the best route to take....plug-in (User interface) or add-in? Time to go back to school.

Thank you

Tony