Love the software but hitting a few technical bumps

[Inventsable]

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?

[oksamurai · Accepted solution]

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]

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]

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.

[Inventsable]

Yep! Totally conceivable, and Xpadder should map out any kind of controller, Playstation or Xbox 360 or whatever you're most comfortable with otherwise etc. Can't recommend looking into AutoHotKey enough too, I have little to no coding/programming experience but have picked it up in the last few days without much trouble. Only downside is that this way is optimized for streaming/live performance (at least until the update if I can find a way around the following problem) because Ch's native recorder will override my corresponding button presses--for instance, pressing X on layout 1 will change her right eyebrow, but while holding R2 and pressing X it will control her mouth (layout 2). But Ch will override the eyebrowX with the mouthX because it isn't defined separately. Just a minor issue I haven't had time to find a workaround to! I have my computer audio routed through a virtual audio cable so that I could potentially have a voice actor in a Discord chat controlling the speaking and voice while I control the animation through the controller and my webcam, so two people puppeteering the same character simultaneously, that's the intent with this method.

I've only just started using Ch the last two weeks, and have had to pick up the rest of these programs too--I'd be more than happy to share everything, including direct files and a tutorial, but as of now this is all real rough draft and placeholder (even the artwork, it'll be vector instead of raster) but I'll be sure to get ahold of you in a few weeks! It'd be an honor to be in your video but I can do way better than this with a couple weeks once I get out of the beginner's learning curve for everything.

P.S. - I'll upload all the files I'm using for these programs along with the puppet in a Google Drive if you're curious enough to look inside. If you're not coding savvy, all you need is to download AutoHotKey then get Pulover's Macro Creator (which itself is an AutoHotKey script, but has a GUI that makes AutoHotKey act as if a normal program, and can record all mouse, key and computer input in real time by hitting a record button. Makes coding as easy as knowing what you want to do and clicking buttons with corresponding icons. Super easy and user-friendly, can export to direct code)

[oksamurai]

Sounds awesome - keep me posted!