FINALLY! Done and a question

Interesting discussion. Thanks for sharing and congrats on getting to the finish line with this video!

DT

I like that approach! No need to fiddle around getting things to line up with timing - just export full video with nothing present (100% transparent) and it magically lines up. Much less error prone.

And if I need to trim some off the start due to hair bounce etc, just start the scene in CH a second or two earlier than needed. When you layer all the scenes in Prem Pro it will hide the unwanted bit at the start (no need to trim it). Just layer later scenes on behind existing ones. Kills two birds with one stone!

I am going to try this next music video! Hopefully 100% transparent frames compress well, so it should not waste too much disk etc.

Thank you. Sometimes I really doubted that I could do it. There were some days that everything went wrong. I still have trouble with the characters' arms. I know it's a bug, but I just don't know how to correct it and neither did the company that produced the puppets.

I really want them to be able(in another video) to put up their arms in a "so what" or "ignore it" gesture, but often it is not coming out correctly.

Nice! Glad you got there in the end! Some champagne popping I hope! ;-)

If I understand the screenshot, it looks like the whole video is one Character Animator scene? You mentioned "52 scenes" so I was confused. The following assumes that "52 scenes" means "one character animator scene with 52 time points where puppets appear disappear". Sorry if I got that wrong!

The following is what I do in case useful as a comparison.

As I said, it *looks* like your whole video is a single scene in Character Animator, or at least a very complex scene. The screenshot only shows one. My "style" is based on lots of short scenes of like 10 seconds each. I jump the camera angle around a lot. I then start a new scene per camera angle. (Have a look at episodes 1 and 2 video at https://extra-ordinary.tv/ if you want to see the final result.)

When I write a script, I have what I call "parts, scenes, and shots" - a three level hierarchy which I use to number my Character Animator scenes.  I then use "bins" in the character animator project to group the project a bit better. So 6-1-01 is part 6, scene 1, shot 01. I create top level bins for parts to avoid too much on the screen at once. With a smaller number of longer scenes it might not be needed. I also have bins for "backgrounds" and "puppets" etc.

I typically end up with 1 to 3 characters for a scene and a background image.

That is where I talk about "style". I use lots of closeups, not many full body shots.

Here is the most extreme example I could find with 5 characters (Hank, Liana, Elenor, Helen, Sam)

It includes two scene layers (one background, one mask) - see how they are standing behind desk etc? I make a copy of the original artwork and deleted lots of content. (Hank (red shirt) is in front of everything.)

But to your question, is it "better"? Organizationally I like having lots of smaller, less complex scenes.

I then render each scene individually and join the scenes together in Premier Pro. If I need to edit a scene, I just regenerate that video clip. Rendering is much faster as a result for minor edits. You however have the challenge of keeping the music in sync throughout. I do that final tweaking also in prem pro. (See also https://extra-ordinary.tv/2018/08/08/timing-music-with-character-animator-movements/ )

For your video, I would say there are points where everything changes on the screen (background and all characters). I personally would start a new CA scene (menu item "Scene" / "New Scene") at those points to avoid a "mega scene".

E.g. Scenes

#1: 0 to 7 secs (opening credits)

#2: 7 - 11 secs (boy in corridor)

#3: 11- hmmm - 36 is a possible transition, but you remove a character and desks but make the background transition - so I might keep that going as one scene until 44 sec where there is a clear transition

#4: 44 - 52 secs - you change the backgrounds a few times, but the characters are consistent through it. So make it all one scene.

Etc. Basically I look for times where EVERYTHING changes, and start a new scene at that time.

If I was to adjust your project, I would write down clear timepoints for new scenes (7s, 11s, 44s, 52s, etc), duplicate your current scene multiple times, then for each scene delete all the content outside the time span for that scene.  I would extend the scene by a few seconds and the start and end of each scene, and trim it with premier pro to get the timing exactly right. I would put the final music track in prem pro as well so there were not timing errors introduced.

This would reduce the problem of having the same puppet in a scene 20 times. It may be more like 3 or 4 times in a particular scene, which makes it easier (but not easy) to manager. The end video would be the same, but I think it would be easier to edit because each scene would be less complex.

But is it better? I think that is your call!

Oh, for the few cases I have done titling, I did that in prem pro as well to avoid a puppet per piece of text. However, it does make getting the timing more work - so your approach of a puppet per piece of text might be the better solution. Its just unfortunate you end up with so many puppets for subtitles.