Character Animator (April 2018) – Detailed Changes

[Jeff Almasol]

New and changed features

Projects and the Project panel

• Long names for project items in the Project panel and layer names in the Puppet panel now appear in tooltips over the truncated versions of those names.

Scenes

• Scene snapshots: take a snapshot (Scene > Take Snapshot) of a reference pose to compare against, hide/show the snapshot, and increase/decrease snapshot opacity.
• Export the current frame of a scene (File > Export > Frame).
• Default scene frame rate is now 24 fps.
• Narrow Scene panel now shows the Refresh, Show Mesh, Stream Live, and Background Color buttons in a pop-up window opened by clicking the "<<" button.

Artwork and Assets

• JPEG (*.jpg or *.jpeg) support for puppets and cycles.
• Illustrator (vector artwork) rasterization control: new Resolution property (in the Puppet section of the Properties panel) for controlling the maximum quality of the vector artwork when it is rasterized.

Puppets and the Puppet panel

• New and updated template puppets in the Start workspace; use the arrow buttons to scroll through them:
  • new: Bongo, Dr. Applesmith, Wizard, and Chicken Blaster.
  • updated: Blank Face and Chloe have improved mouth shapes (Ah, Uh, and W-Oo as cycles; Ee lower lip moved higher to differentiate from Uh; Uh tongue moved lower) and Chloe’s draggable handles given Left Hand and Right Hand names to identify recorded takes for them.
• Hide mesh outline and Auto handles: new Show Mesh Outline and Auto Handles button (next to Show Mesh).
• Replace a puppet track's source puppet: Update or replace a puppet in a timeline, even if it has recorded takes, by doing either of the following:
  • Select the puppet track in the timeline. Then, hold down Option (Mac) or Alt (Win) as you drag that puppet onto the selected puppet track in the Timeline panel.
  • Select the replacement puppet in the Project panel. Then, right-click in the track header (left-side) area of the puppet track, and choose Replace with Selected Puppet in Project Panel.
• Independent groups no longer scale or shear when the mesh they’re attached to is warped, such as via Dragger.
  The independent groups will still move and rotate based on the warped mesh. Scaling using the Transform behavior on the parent mesh still scales the independent groups.
• The Add Cycle button in the Puppet panel has been moved as a command in the Puppet menu.
• Renamed the Puppet > Add to Puppet menu command to include the name of the project item being added, and the puppet into which it will be added.
  If there are multiple project items selected, it will show as “Project Selection”. The entry in the Keyboard Shortcuts editor is now called “Add Project Selection to Puppet”.
• Template puppets imported from the Start workspace now also open as well in the Puppet panel.
• Making a renamed group a shareable puppet now names the shared puppet based on the current name, not the group’s original name.
• Selected origin handles retain their dotted-circle appearance, instead of appearing with a solid-lined circle.
• The toolbar is now disabled when no puppet is open in the Puppet panel.

Behaviors

• Copy/paste behaviors (Edit > Copy Behaviors, Edit > Paste) between puppets and projects.
• Add behaviors from the Puppet panel: hover over the behavior icon or in the behavior column, then click the "+" icon; hover over the "+" icon to view the applied behaviors in a tooltip.
• Remove all behaviors from a puppet or at a group: use the Puppet > Remove All Behaviors command or the "+" > Remove All Behaviors command to remove either all behaviors or only those at a specific group.
• When editing the behaviors for a puppet or puppet track, modified behavior parameters now show the parameter name in white (brighter color), in addition to the reset (“x”) button.
• Breathe: The Breaths per Minute parameter now defaults to 15, and Max Scale to 150%.
• Cycle Layers: When triggering cycles of different lengths, if a longer cycle is hidden while triggered, it no longer causes blank frames in the visible cycle.
• Dragger: The default After Move setting is now “Hold in place”, and default Return to Rest duration (for “Return to rest”) is now 0.2 seconds.
• Dragger: Increased the maximum Return Duration to 9999 seconds.
• Eye Gaze: Improved support for non-centered pupils. Each pupil will move within its eyeball (tagged pupil range), taking into account the original location of each pupil.
  Also, it should be easier for pupils to snap left/right compared to up/down or diagonal directions.
• Particles: Various improvements:
  • Collidable particles, using the new Collide parameter
  • Gravity, Bounce, and Wind parameters moved to the Physics behavior, as described in the following table:
    

    Old parameter in Particles	New parameter
    Gravity Strength	Physics > Gravity Strength
    Gravity Direction	Physics > Gravity Direction
    Bounce Off Scene Sides	Physics > Collide > Bounce Off Scene Sides
    Bounciness	Physics > Collide > Bounciness
    Squash and Stretch	not available at this time
    Wind Strength	Physics > Wind Strength
    Drag	similar to Physics > Wind Direction
    no previous equivalent	Physics > Wind Variation

  • Particles move faster by default than in Version 1.1 so you will need to lower particle speed or gravity strength, as needed. Also, for colliding particles, you can increase the Weight (in Physics > Collide) to offset the effects of wind strength.
  • The emitter (puppet itself) is now hidden, so the old Emitter Opacity parameter is no longer available.
  • Added touchscreen support (arm the Mouse & Touch Input parameter) as an alternative to the existing mouse support, for manually emitting particles.
  • Increased the maximum Particle Spread from 100% to 1000%.
• Physics: Various improvements:
  • Wind Strength, Wind Direction, and Wind Variation have moved out of the Particles behavior and the Dangle category of the Physics behavior into Physics.
  • (Dangle): Improved performance, especially when applied in deep puppet hierarchies.
  • (Dangle): Renamed the “Spring Stiffness” parameter to “Stiffness”.

• (Collision) Easier setup of layers tagged Dynamic:

  • The Collide tag will also be applied. You can, of course, untag Collide, if you did not need collisions.

  • If a layer is selected, its containing group will be made independent. If a group is selected, it will be made independent, if needed.

  • The containing or selected group, if previously set to a Weld attach style, will be changed to Free so that the layer can move.

• (Collision) Return Strength no longer has a maximum percentage value.

Triggers and the Triggers panel

• Drop zones in the Triggers panel for dragged puppet groups, to create either a trigger or swap set for the group.
• Click the name of a layer for a selected trigger to reveal the layer in the Puppet panel.
• Bottom section of the Triggers panel is now resizable, to view more of the triggers list or layers list.
• Orange (warning) color for trigger and swap set names when triggers in a swap set conflict (e.g., same key or MIDI note assigned), or if a trigger has no assigned layers, or if a swap set has no layers assigned to any of its triggers. Hover over the orange text to view a description of the conflict in a tooltip.
• Copy/paste triggers or swap sets between puppets, to allow future recordings for those triggers to be compatible.
• Rearrangeable trigger bars in the timeline.

Controls and the Controls panel

• Custom button artwork: Drag any layer of a puppet onto a trigger button control to customize its artwork.
• Arm for Record buttons for behavior parameter controls (sliders, knobs), so you don't need to go to the Properties panel to arm/disarm them.
• Pan the contents of the Controls panel (scrollbars, Option/Alt-drag in the panel, or spin the mouse wheel for vertical scrolling or Shift-spin it for horizontal scrolling).
• In Layout mode, double-click away from any control to quickly switch to Perform mode.
• Toggle between Layout and Perform modes via keyboard shortcut that you can assign in the Keyboard Shortcut editor (Window category for the Toggle Controls Panel Layout Mode command).
• You can now use the Tab key to move between the minimum and maximum values for a slider control.
• In Layout mode, you can press Command+Shift+A (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+A (Win) to deselect all controls.

Recording, Playback, and the Timeline panel

• Countdown to recording: 3-second countdown timer to prepare a puppet before recording starts (Timeline > Countdown Before Recording option).
• Hold takes: Duplicate the value of a selected take at the current time as a new take (Timeline > New Hold Take), to extend the take and hold the value for a given time.
• Copy/copy/paste all types of takes between puppets and projects; previously only Lip Sync takes could be reused.
• Rearrange trigger bars horizontally in time: clicking the bar now selects the entire bar (like selecting a take or track) to easily move it earlier or later in time.
• Hide trigger and viseme take bars (deselect Timeline > Show Trigger and Viseme Take Bars) for a more compact timeline.
• Changing parameter values while rehearsing (live-controlling) a puppet: When a puppet track is selected and the playhead is parked on a frame in the scene – that is, you are controlling a character live or a rehearsal state – changing the value for behavior parameters that are armed no longer retains that change or shows a reset (“x”) button. That means, if you move in time or deselect the puppet track, that change in value is reverted to the previously stored value. This is like how the Dragger behavior works – to retain dragged handles, you need to record a 1- or 2-frame take for them.
  If you need to retain a new value, disarm the parameter, then change the value.
  Also, if a behavior or puppet track is not armed, you will no longer be able to rehearse those behavior’s parameters because they are not considered live.
• The initial color for puppet tracks (in new scenes) is now purple, for improved contrast between selected and unselected tracks and takes.
• The Trim In/Out to Playhead commands can now also extend (lengthen) the selection to the playhead, not just trim (shorten).
• Dragging a take’s blend handle now updates all other selected takes’ corresponding blend handles in the same way.
• Creating 1-/2-frame takes now scrolls the timeline to show the created takes.
• Moving a selected trigger or viseme bar via Up/Down Arrow keys is now correct – Up Arrow moves it earlier in time, Down Arrow moves it later in time.
• When editing a scene’s timeline, the “Preparing scene” message in the Scene panel now appears above the previous image displayed in the panel, instead of above a black backdrop, to be less distracting.

Miscellaneous

• Visual user interface refresh (visuals for controls and the user interface font now use the same theme as other Adobe video and audio applications).
• Keyboard Shortcut editor: customize keyboard shortcuts for menu commands, tools, and other application functionality (Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts).
• Application preferences automatically migrated from Version 1.1.
• In the Start workspace, renamed the “Open Interactive Tutorial” link back to “Start Here!”.
• In the Properties panel, angle properties such as Transform’s Rotation now show the angle value next to the dial control.
• The color used to identify a missing file (in the Properties panel), low scene frame rate (in the Scene panel), and conflicting triggers (in the Triggers panel) has changed from yellow to orange.
• You can assign shortcuts to zooming the Scene or Puppet panel to Fit or 100%. Look in the Keyboard Shortcut editor, under the View category, for the Zoom to Fit and Zoom to 100% commands.
• You can zoom the Scene or Puppet panel to Fit by holding down Option+Shift or Alt+Shift while double-clicking in the panel. (Zooming to 100% was already possible by Option/Alt-double-clicking in the panel.)
• A File > Export > Adobe Dynamic Link menu command has been added that points to more information about exporting a scene via Dynamic Link.
• The File > Close Panel menu command has been renamed as Close.

Fixed issues

Projects and the Project panel

• (Windows) Renaming or moving a project in Windows Explorer that was previously open in the current Character Animator session now works.
• Deleted layers from an imported PNG cycle are no longer copied when using the File > Copy Media Files into Project Folder menu command.
• Projects with a missing Ch Data/repo.noindex/objects folder due to bad archiving/synching can now be opened.
• Improved handling of projects created in earlier versions (e.g., Preview 4).
• Folders in the Project panel should no longer twirl open or close unexpectedly when selecting other project items or renaming an item in a folder.
• Partially deleting a project folder’s contents while the project is currently open, especially on Windows, no longer produces a libgit2 error. A new project will be created automatically.
• (Mac) Project items with Arabic characters in their names no longer display incorrectly, and no longer cause sluggish updates of the user interface.
• Project items named with Arabic characters now appear correctly in the Project panel when the full name can’t be displayed.

Scenes and the Scene panel

• The  Show Mesh button in the Scene panel no longer shows the wrong state if it was enabled when a new template puppet was selected from the Start workspace.
• Creating multiple scenes from multiple project items no longer shows an extra undoable event in the History panel.

Artwork and Assets

• Importing AI files containing linked EPS/TIFF/SVG files no longer shows an “Error opening Illustrator file.” error.
• Semitransparent layers in PSD files that are not color-managed (i.e., no ICC profile saved with the file) now appear with the correct opacity.
• Importing or opening files containing some special GB18030 characters no longer causes errors.
• Invalid Photoshop files now show a more user-friendly error message.
• Relinking or replacing the source artwork or audio file with an invalid file no longer causes the project to be in an odd state.
• Updating artwork for a puppet with shared content no longer resets the shared puppet’s Auto attachment to its parent origin.

Puppets and the Puppet panel

• Changing a layer’s scale to a very large value no longer shows a “std::bad_alloc” error.
• Opening a puppet that might have a deleted handle that was previously selected no longer causes an error.
• Using the Group command when a handle was selected no longer causes a “Couldn’t find required item” error.
• Importing a puppet with shareable parts a second time after its first imported puppet was renamed in the Project panel no longer causes an error.
• Improved the error message that appears if you import an invalid puppet file.
• The Convert Obsolete Trigger Keys menu command is no longer enabled if you open an unshared puppet group.
• If a handle is selected, clicking the layer (group) containing the handle now properly updates the Properties panel to show the layer’s properties.
• If while dragging a stick you switch out of the application, stop dragging, then switch back to the application, undo then works as expected.
• The Chloe (Illustrator) template puppet no longer has pupils that disappear when Render as Vector is unchecked.
• The worried and angry eyebrow layers in the Chloe template puppets are now the same color as the normal/default eyebrow (brown), instead of black.
• Importing a second template puppet now increments the puppet name properly.
• Grouping layers now retain attach points and get set to Auto attachment correctly.
• Sharing a layer when the Puppet panel is showing an unshared puppet no longer causes an “Internal error code: (1735971442:1528+1) attempt to index a nil value” error.
• Sharing a group with a forward slash (“/”) in its name no longer causes an “Internal error code: (1564513505:274+26) assertion failed!” error.
• A puppet handle getting selected after undoing the creation of a trigger no longer causes an “Internal error code: (155556185:4413+16) assertion failed” error.
• Dragging a layer in a group that has been opened in the Puppet panel no longer shows an “Internal error code: (155556185:5104+24) attempt to index field ‘mainSubview’ (a nil value)” error.
• Dragging a layer of a group when a handle is currently selected in that group no longer causes a “SpatialSelectionElement: illegal attempt to read key getTriggerOwnerPPath” error.
• Independent groups now scale properly when the top-level (root) Transform is adjusted.
• Independent groups no longer scale if the parent mesh is deformed.
• Shared puppets that are added from the Project panel into a puppet in the Puppet panel now get matching tags applied.
• Importing a puppet or project into a large project is now faster.
• Grouping a single layer now sets Attach To to Auto instead of a blank value.
• Grouping or resetting layers when Attach To is Auto and the parent mesh’s origin has been modified no longer causes the layers to move.
• Grouping layers no longer causes the application to hang or show an “Internal error code: (1381505263:1082+2) stack overflow” error.
• Deleting source artwork in the Project panel for a puppet that uses clipping masks no longer causes errors.
• Adding a shared puppet that has no artwork to another puppet no longer causes a “couldn’t find required item at project path” error.
• Making a custom-named group shareable no longer shows it as custom (i.e., no more vertical bar and the same name after it).
• Dragging layers in an unshared puppet (e.g., double-click an unshared group in a puppet) no longer causes an “Internal error code: (155556185:5210+3) attempt to index field ‘footerOverlayView’ (a nil value)” error.
• Making multiple groups shareable now selects all shared puppets in the Project panel.
• Replacing artwork for a puppet no longer shows a “TypeError: Cannot read property ‘0’ of undefined” error.
• (Windows) When the Puppet panel is focused, tapping the Alt key now shows the menu accelerator (underlined) letters in the menu bar.
• Rare warp-related crash now shows an error message instead of crashing.

Behaviors

• Continuously running behaviors like Walk and Particles no longer stops working if you delete and re-add the behavior, then switch workspaces (e.g., re-add the behavior in the Rig workspace, then switch back to the Record workspace).
• Renamed behaviors are now identified properly in the tooltips above behaviors in the Properties panel and on takes in the Timeline panel.
• Trying to add a behavior from an empty Puppet panel no longer causes an “Internal error code: (1230934027:161+40) attempt to index a nil value” error.
• Cycle Layers: Cycles that are triggered by more than one trigger no longer allow one trigger to hold open another (along with its other triggered layers).
• Cycle Layers: Behavior applied to a group with no layers no longer causes a “TypeError: Cannot read property 'trigger' of undefined Error code: (Adobe.CycleLayers.js:83)”.
• Cycle Layers: Improved the performance of puppets with a lot of Cycle Layers behaviors applied.
• Cycle Layers: The Forward and Reverse option on a one-layered cycle no longer shows a “TypeError: Cannot read property ‘trigger’ of undefined. Error code: (Adobe.CycleLayer.js:83)” error.
• Physics (Collision): Contour-shared layers that only have a single handle now have the correct bounds.
• Physics (Collision): Fast-shaped layers that are rotated now have more accurate bounds.
• Physics (Collision): Switching between When Triggered to Immediately now works correctly.
• Walk: Moving left or right can now be based on the existence of Left Profile and Right Profile tags, instead of needing to tag both toe and heel to work correctly.

Triggers and the Triggers panel

• Deleting triggers in a large project is now faster.
• Moving a default trigger into another swap set that doesn't have a default now preserves the default state of the dropped trigger.
• Merging swap sets now retains and displays the target swap set’s priority setting.
• Recording a 1-/2-frame take when the Triggers panel is focused no longer creates takes for armed behavior parameters. Also, if a selected swap set has a single, nondefault trigger, a take for that trigger will be recorded.
• Added a Rename context menu command for triggers and swap sets in the Triggers panel.
• Merging trigger names is now case-insensitive.
• Entering decimal characters in the MIDI Note field no longer causes an “Internal error code: (985788066:278+31) bad argument #1 to ‘gsub’ (string expected, got nil)” error.
• Dragging triggers with “/” in their name no longer causes “attempt to index a nil value” errors.
• Undoing/redoing triggers for layers that had the same name but in different groups of a puppet no longer show incorrect results.
• Dragging a combination of groups and layers into the Triggers panel no longer causes an error.

Controls panel

• MIDI events received when opening an unshared puppet group that has no triggers (Triggers panel is blank) no longer shows an “Internal error code: (155556185:4201+3) attempt to index field 'midiText' (a nil value)” error.
• Parameter controls (sliders and knobs) now work, even if takes or trigger or viseme bars are selected.
• You can now assign MIDI CC #6, 98, 99, 100, or 101 to slider and knob controls.
• Selecting alternate layer artwork for buttons associated with triggers in shareable puppets now works reliably.
• Artwork updates for button controls is more reliable.
• Triggered buttons no longer stay triggered if while dragging a slider or knob control you release the trigger key first.
• Pressing multiple MIDI keys to assign to a control no longer causes an “Unexpected setDirty while handling ‘Set to …’” error.
• Invoking buttons via trigger key now highlight the button control even when the Controls panel isn’t focused.
• Improved support for multiple MIDI devices that send Non-Registered Parameter Number (NRPN) / Registered Parameter Number (RPN) and Continuous Controller (CC) messages at the same time.

Timeline panel

• Moving and trimming takes and trigger/viseme bars beyond take bounds now works as expected.
• Reduced the visual “jiggle” of the ends of tracks, takes, and trigger/viseme bars while trimming or dragging them.
• Trimming a 1-/2-frame take now properly trims the recorded value.
• Recording a 1-/2-frame take now correctly extends the scene duration.
• Changing the take blend via menu commands now properly updates the shadowed region shown in the Timeline panel.
• Creating a 1-/2-frame take from the Triggers panel no longer changes what’s being shown in the panel.
• Changing directions while trimming or dragging tracks should now move more smoothly.
• Improved responsiveness when editing trigger or viseme bars for puppets with deeply nested groups and lots of behaviors applied throughout the puppet hierarchy.
• Replacing an untrimmed audio track’s source with a file of a different duration now updates the track’s duration in the Timeline panel.
• Moving the rightmost edge of the last trigger or viseme bar now works correctly.
• Trigger and viseme bars overlapped by additional takes are now drawn properly in the Timeline panel if the takes are moved away from the start of the scene.
• Switching out of the application while it is processing edited triggers or visemes no longer causes a crash.
• Default values for behaviors are no longer ignored if they have been changed after recording them.
• Disallow pasting of Face tracking data if a panel other than Project or Puppet is focused.
• (German) The keyboard shortcut for the Split Trigger or Viseme command has changed to . (period).
• Dragging tracks and visemes no longer causes an “attempt to perform arithmetic on local ‘keyframeMin’ (a nil value)” error.

Playback and Recording

• Extending a 2-frame take in a 1 fps scene now works as intended.
• Dragging in an unfocused Scene panel while holding a trigger key no longer loses the trigger state.
• Fixed a rare crash when audio is played back at slower speeds.
• Reduced lag when repeatedly undoing/redoing operations while the microphone is enabled.
• Playing a just-recorded performance should no longer show incorrect results at the start of playback.
• Audio tracks should no longer be created if the Microphone Input is disabled.

Dynamic Link

• Dragging a scene from Character Animator into Adobe Media Encoder should no longer show a “source is empty” error.

Live Output

• Semitransparent puppets no longer appear darker on external monitors via Mercury Transmit.

Miscellaneous

• Resolved crashes related to the existence of corrupt fonts installed on the machine.
• Avoid crashing if the face tracking process cannot be initialized.
• (Windows) In Windows 10 Creators Update and Fall Creators Update, slowly two-finger swiping vertically on a trackpad no longer causes stutter or reversed scrolling.
• Undoing a operation that also selects an object (e.g., dragging an unselected viseme bar) now properly leaves the object selected.
• Zooming in via keyboard shortcut when currently zoomed to fit no longer skips a zoom level.
• When the mouse pointer is hovered over a dropdownlist (e.g., Blending Mode), spinning the mouse wheel or swiping vertically on a trackpad now changes the value immediately.
• If the user documents folder cannot be accessed (e.g., Controlled folder access is enabled in Windows Defender), the error message is no longer garbled when the application is running in non-English.
• Parameter values in the Properties panel can no longer be focused (blue underline/outline). This avoids an issue of accidentally affecting Eye Gaze or Walk when you wanted to adjust the value of the parameter, or vice versa. You can still click in the value’s control to use the Up/Down Arrow keys.
• Changing a parameter’s value via Up/Down Arrow keys, mouse wheel, or trackpad no longer causes the History panel to show two entries for the action, one of which having an incorrect value.
• Reduced CPU usage when switching to a different application when the Pause Camera & Microphone When Application in Background is enabled.
• The preferred audio hardware Latency preference value (for MME device class) is now used.
• (Spanish) Changed the Zoom In and Zoom Out shortcuts for the Scene and Puppet panels to Ctrl+. (period) and Ctrl+, (comma); on Mac, that is the Ctrl modifier key, not Command.

Known issues

• If a scene doesn’t render (i.e., Scene panel shows only the current background color), try clicking the Refresh Scene button at the bottom of the Scene panel. If that still doesn’t work, try Option-clicking (Mac) / Alt-clicking (Windows) the Refresh Scene button. If the scene still does not render correctly, please file a bug report and attach a project or artwork file.
• In an Illustrator file, layers and groups with “Guide” in their name will not be interpreted as guides/handles, and their content still render even if muted in the artwork file. Only paths are supported at this time.
• Applying the Draggable handle tag to the top-level origin handle for a puppet won’t allow the puppet to be dragged in the scene.

Workaround: If the puppet’s layers are enclosed in a single top-level group, apply the Draggable tag to that group’s origin.

• Background syncing, backup, or virus checking programs might cause error messages in Character Animator if the current project’s files are being synced, backed up, or scanned at the same time. Avoid creating projects in these background-synced locations, or at least avoid working in a project while syncing is enabled.

Workaround: Exclude the folder containing your Character Animator projects (by default, located in your user Documents/Adobe/Character Animator (Mac) or Documents\Adobe\Character Animator (Win) folder) and its subfolders from virus scanning, or at least for write operations.

• Adobe Media Encoder (AME) can render a stale (non-current) version of a scene if it was added via the Add Source button and the scene was subsequently modified while Character Animator was connected to AME.

• Face, Keyboard Triggers, and Lip Sync behaviors in projects and puppet files created in earlier (Beta) versions of Character Animator might appear as obsolete (with “(obsolete)” after their names) when opened in the latest Character Animator CC, but will still work. However, they will not benefit from improvements made in newer versions.

Workaround: If you wish to update the obsolete behaviors to the latest versions, and do not have any recordings for them, or if you don't mind losing the recordings, select the puppet in the Project panel, remove the obsolete behaviors, and add the newer versions of the behaviors. For the obsolete Keyboard Triggers, replace with Triggers.
If you update the behaviors for a puppet imported from a .puppet file, be sure to export a new .puppet file to share with other users that have a similar version of Character Animator CC; they cannot be imported into earlier versions of Character Animator once re-exported.