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Inventsable
Legend
September 30, 2017
Answered

Love the software but hitting a few technical bumps

  • September 30, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 708 views

Hey Dave and team, love the software and have been using it non-stop since I discovered it! It's pretty incredible in both concept and execution, love how user-friendly it is--but I feel that I may be running into certain limitations because of that user-friendliness, to be honest, and the lack of Advanced boxes in certain contexts or fatter toolbar menus/preferences. For example:

  1. I want to "group" triggers with a single hotkey--say I want both eyebrows to achieve a certain pose or mirror in certain instances, for that I'd need a single "parent" key that would activate numerous triggers but each of those having their own respective "child" keys for the flexibility of individual control when need be. Initially I solved this by duplicating artwork but that was a bit tedious, currently my solution is scripting through AutoHotKey for any amount of overlapping groups but I don't know if there's a native solution or one in planning.
  2. Is there a technical limitation/ceiling to the number of triggers possible? Can it be extended beyond the keys I'm physically able to input? My current limit is 65 but I really need it to be higher than that and I can't always use Digital Puppet's Latch trick for certain components because they need to be simultaneously active or available, plus I'll be using *more* than just Ch at once so I need some of those single keys for other purposes--realistically I'm down to something like 50 max over here. Can I enter the virtual key value to assign a trigger rather than physically pressing it? If not that, modifiers like shift, ctrl or alt or combinations between would make a world of difference though I understand they conflict with program hotkeys -- I already know I can't use modifiers but I'd like to at least echo that request because I really really really need more than 65 without latching. I can use AutoHotKey again to bandage this through scripting but I can't yet get my artificial key input to register within the trigger's text box. Will/Should/Can artificial input register? That's all I'd actually need, but it'd be really nice to enter a virtual key or scan code for advanced precision, and ideal to have some Ch-specific modifier key or something like master latches to multiply the trigger possibilities exponentially.
  3. Am I able to record more than one Camera Input on the face, in the instance that I want to record the general movement and the eyebrows individually? I feel like I've seen it done before, can't find it again, and keep being forced to record eyebrows along with head tilt in the same take otherwise they overwrite one-another, unless I'm arming things incorrectly?
    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer oksamurai

    1 and 2: The next release completely overhauls the trigger system and might be more along the lines of what you're looking for here. Stay tuned to the future tutorials about it when it launches. You'll also be able to make triggers without a key, or assign them to midi, or other options. I made one puppet with 72 triggers the other day.

    3. Unfortunately eyebrows and face are currently connected during recording. We've talked about separating them in the future.

    1 reply

    oksamurai
    oksamuraiCorrect answer
    Legend
    October 2, 2017

    1 and 2: The next release completely overhauls the trigger system and might be more along the lines of what you're looking for here. Stay tuned to the future tutorials about it when it launches. You'll also be able to make triggers without a key, or assign them to midi, or other options. I made one puppet with 72 triggers the other day.

    3. Unfortunately eyebrows and face are currently connected during recording. We've talked about separating them in the future.

    Inventsable
    Legend
    October 4, 2017

    That's sounds perfect for what I'm trying, and I'll just have to practice the performance aspect more. Can't thank you and every one else enough for making this kind of program, I had more questions but you actually answered them in today's video lol, so thank you very much again! You do an amazing job, love the monthly videos.

    Have time to check out my test puppet? I'm using a PS3 controller where each trigger (R2, L2) changes the layout of the entire controller and I have it mapped out like this​. XPadder maps the controller buttons to keys, and AutoHotKey allows me to define combinations as new different keys or new stacks/combinations--so I can mirror the face or timed sequences of keys that play, even easily record my computer input and use that as a layer of automation while doing all of the above. I'll have to show you what I mean!

    Looking forward to the updates!

    oksamurai
    Legend
    October 4, 2017

    Wow - that's really awesome! So is it conceivable that anyone with a controller + Xpadder + AutoHotKey could do the same? If so and you can record or write out a tutorial, I'd love to feature this in next month's video.