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CrazyTalk Animator Review
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CrazyTalk Animator (CTA) is the world's easiest 2D animation software that enables all levels of users to create professional 2D animations with the least amount of effort. With CTA3, anyone can instantly bring an image, logo, or prop to life by applying bouncy Elastic Motion effects, or one of many motion templates available. For the character part, CTA3 is built with 2D character templates, valuable motion libraries, a powerful 2D bone rig editor, facial puppets, and audio lip-syncing tools to give users unparalleled control when animating 2D talking characters for videos, web, games, apps, and presentations.

CrazyTalk Animator now provides a fully functional PSD in-and-out solution to not only help 2D Animators, but also Graphic Designers by saving lots of time on character creation and animated content development. Thanks to the round-trip PSD pipeline, Graphic Designers can bring their artwork to life, and animators can instantly edit their source animation files with Photoshop’s powerful editing features.

Homepage:
https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-animator/

Current version: v3.22.2426.1

Release date: January 4th, 2018

Download link:

https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...nload.html

Pipeline version users need to login and download the complete resource pack from their member account.

Size:  657 Mb

System requirements:

Windows 10 /Windows 8 /Windows 7 (Both 32-bit and 64-bit operating system). Dual core CPU or higher, 2 GB RAM, 5 GB free HDD, Display Resolution of 1024 x 768, Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or higher /ATI Radeon HD 3850 or higher, 512MB RAM Video Memory

Additional Requirements:

3-button mouse, DirectX 9 and WMEncoder 9 are required for WMV exporting in x86 version of CrazyTalk Animator, Internet connection required for online activation. Stereo devices and player are required for viewing contents with stereo vision.

Installation:

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This is very easy, just double click on the installer you have downloaded then follow simple on screen instructions till the program installation is complete

Installation of the resource Pack:

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Free trial:

You will enjoy 15 days free trial of the pipeline version. G3 Character PSD Template for Trial Users:  G3 Character human template and 3 x fully functional PSD project are provided for trial users to test the CTA 3 PSD import & export feature.

Check for updates:

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User Interface:

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Menus:

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Purchase Options and compare editions:

The program is available in three editions; standard, Pro and Pipeline in addition to the trial version

https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...comparison

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Now let’s ask do you need the program?

The answer is yes if you are one of the following groups then you will need it

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What are the Character types you need to know?

G1 (generation 1) characters can be found in CrazyTalk Animator Version 1 and are designed facing either front or side views (implied by the directions of the left feet of the character). There is no way to change the direction of this type of character in CTA Version 1. If you apply this type of characters to CTA v2 or above, then the character will be put into all 10 different slot angles.

G2 Characters with Multiple Angles: created by CTA Version 2 or above. It is designed to have 10 angles in order to have the character face to different direction when you turn the character. The thumbnails of this type of heads will be marked with G2 at the corner.

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The G3 characters embedded in CTA v3.  They are built with fixed regulated bone structures and are divided into four categories; G3 Human, G3 Animals, G3 Spine, and G3 Wings.

Free Bone Character:

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These can be created with CTA 3, or above. It is built with free structures of bones and can be human or non-human.

Mix-match Composite Characters from Library:

By mixing up the bodies and heads from the Content library, you can create various types of characters that are suitable for your projects.

New features and changes:

https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...tml#update

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Features:

Create 2D Characters:

With this one-for-all 2D animation software, anyone can easily turn any image into an animated character by using the free bone tools or character templates.

The 2D Bone Editor has all the tools to structure sophisticated bone rigs. Users can use pins to constrain areas to selected bones, and optimize subdivision topology for smoother bending effects.

The easiest way to create a 2D character is by simply aligning bones along an image shape.

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When creating a complex humanoid sprite character, use the Mask Editor to cutout images into separate sprite layers. Change the sprite layer order in the Layer Manager to determine their display priority (e.g. move one hand in front or behind body). The Sprite Editor allows you to manage multiple sprites in a target body part such as; various hand gestures and mouth shapes for animation. You can easily import new image sprites, or replace existing sprites.

G3 Character Template:
 
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To save effort on custom bone-rigging and key frame animation, the app has full facial and body rigged character templates to allow users to utilize shared bones structures while enjoying a huge library of cartoon motions. There is a vast motion library for any designs so that you can directly drag motion to animate your character

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Custom Templates for Free Bone Actors:

Now you can create new bone structures for unique creature species, and allow them to share the same structured motion assets

Animated Accessory Systems:

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With this powerful accessory system, you can apply a chosen item directly to the target body part like a hat to the head, or a watch to the arm. You can also freely compose an accessory using several prop items. This will enable you to use the Right-click menu to trigger animations from the selected accessory, or play them all together if they are under the same named group.

Quick Perform List:

Simply right-click to open the Action Menu for a entire list a frequently used Perform motions. The menu can contain voice, facial expressions, and body movements that can be custom designed by you.

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Animate 2D Characters

Access to a vast professional motion library for humans, quadrupeds, winged and spinal creatures inside this 2D animation software. Discover a Timeline with IK/FK motion editing and sprite layer controls.

Animate body motions with up to 16 individual body segment tracks, with facial motion tracks that are divided into voice scripts, morphs and sprite-based categories. Loop or extend motion clips to repeat animation and control speed

Import 3D Animations for multi-dimensional characters: 3D motions contain data for multi-dimensional movements that can only be applied to multi-dimensional G2 characters. 3D motions make your 2D characters turn around and change angles by automatically switching and stretching their body sprites.

Human IK  3D Motion Editing: 3D motion control and universal skeleton lets users turn 2D characters in multiple angles, giving them total control over perspectives and 3D movements. You can manually move character limbs in a three-dimensional space, allowing you to use the Human IK system to drag and balance connecting limbs.

Curve-based Motion Key Editor for G3 Characters: FK and IK pose editing for all G3 bone-based characters. By combining pose keys with motion curves, you can instantly create professional cartoon animation results in seconds.

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Body Puppeteering: Use a mouse or any other handheld device to create a character's body animation. Simply select the body parts and puppet behavior, and control the animation as you playback or record in real-time.

Facial Puppeteering:



10 default profiles instantly define a character's facial animation.

Puppeteer with personality thanks to embedded profiles including; Dog, Cat, Horse, Elastic Folks, and other 5 human types.
Six emotion styles - neutral, delightful, sad, angry, happy, and surprised; each with advanced select and de-select layer editing capabilities. 

Facial Key Editor enhanced with Free Form Deformation:

Select individual or multiple facial features, and puppet their behaviors by dragging the mouse cursor around the editing area.
Full control over facial features, mouth openings, eye rolling, emotional expressions, and more.

Use sliders to precisely blend unique feature shapes from the Detailed Face Key Settings.

Audio Scrubbing:

Now you can hear the audio at the playhead position as you drag the playhead so that you can quickly find a particular sound in the audio file.

Audio Lip-syncing:

Import a WAV file or record your own voice with the built-in audio capture feature. Enjoy a vast phoneme databank that automatically lip-syncs to your image. Text-to-Speech offers better quality for all end-users, plus additional solutions for text-driven voice performances.

Animate Props

Key frame editing for opacity, transform, visibility, link, path animation, deformation, sprite switching, and flipping with blending effects.

PSD Import & Export:

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With the launch of CrazyTalk Animator 3.2, character designers and Photoshop users will find their work process become five times faster than if they didn’t use the software. This is because they’ll have access to the software’s new PSD character modification and PSD graphic design tools.

CTA 3 now provides a fully functional PSD in-and-out solution to not only help 2D Animators, but also Graphic Designers by saving lots of time on character creation, photo animation and animated content development. Thanks to the round-trip PSD pipeline, Graphic Designers can bring their artwork to life, and animators can instantly edit their source Photoshop animation files with Photoshop’s powerful editing features.

With the CrazyTalk Animator 3.2 Pipeline; you can convert your 2D artworks or photos to G3 Characters through PSD Templates. This will allow you to easily auto-rig your new characters from PSD files for easy avatar and Photoshop animation, thanks to hundreds of professional motion libraries.

Turn Animations into Graphic Illustrations: With the PSD export capabilities, CTA3 is now your go-to animation tool that helps you freely pose illustrated characters, quickly swap outfits & accessories, and create custom facial expressions. After combing all your custom creations, you can then export them in layers for re-editing and compositing - saving you lots of effort and time for comic creations, magazine covers, infographics, banner designs, and much much more.

Customize your own graphic design: Send props or characters to Photoshop in PSD layers for further custom editing. You can prepare your character, use photoshop tools for image editing and graphics design, create facial expressions and animate it

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui493bHbOHE&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Quickly Create Animated Content

With the capability to launch Photoshop and synchronize updates, CTA3 can send props or characters to Photoshop in layers for further custom editing. You can easily design clothes, alter color shading, or apply filter effects to your animatable assets.
Once you setup one character, then you can quickly add new assets in Photoshop to generate abundant styles. These assets can be reused, and characters are free to posed and animated.

Compatible Tools

The PSD import feature is compatible with popular graphic tools that support full PSD compatibility for layering, grouping, aligning, and masking.

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How to Create an Animated Character with Photoshop and CrazyTalk Animator 3?

As a graphic designer, you may be very familiar with working in Adobe Photoshop. But Photoshop, though very powerful, isn't good for everything—just try to animate something more advanced than a bouncing ball! Luckily, there are other programs you can use to animate a character created directly in Photoshop, so that you can design in the software meant for designing, and animate in the software meant for animating.

This tutorial will show you how to use CTA 3, to animate a character created in Photoshop. You need to know how to prepare the character for editing, how to add the bones, import it to CTA, and then how to animate its body and facial features using both simple and advanced techniques.

You can read more information about this here:

https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/cr...-cms-30056

Production Environment:

COMPLETE 2D ANIMATION ENVIRONMENT:

Categorized movie elements: Actor, Animation, Scene, Prop Dynamics, and Special Effects.
In-screen object editing Gizmo (select, transform, opacity, link, flip) and Navigation (camera zoom, pan, rotate) tools.
Two Editing Engines: Composer Mode for character and prop setup, and Stage Mode for animation editing.
Timeline editor for sequencing animation control.

Content Management System:

Full editing environment for Actor, Animation, Scene and Special Effects; each with its corresponding content libraries.
Drag and drop stage compositing.
Drag to replace existing motion clips, or drop directly to timeline destination.

3D Camera System

Use the Preview Camera to review scenes, and the Live Camera to animate camera positions with key frames.
Customize camera views with pan, rotate, and zoom tools.
Quickly switch between Perspective and Orthographic views for a 2D or 3D sensations.
Navigate scenes in Perspective mode to experience realistic 3D camera movements.

[video=youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MawSfG9...e=youtu.be[/video]

Smoothly Animate Along a Path

Create path anchors in different time frames for character and object motions.
Customize path anchors with position adjustments and speed control.
Freely control facing, and fade In/Out by using the Flip and Transparency features.
Attach and move subsidiary elements with the Link/Unlink features.

Prepare your Scene with the Safe Zone

Quickly adjust your project’s output size/fram
e and aspect ratio before rendering and final export.
Easily manage presence, and movements of characters and props.
Current frame render button helps users instantly preview their output quality settings.

Render Style for Vector-based Content

Instantly change scene styles to match different project scenarios.
Find various color profiles and quickly change color groups to match the tone of the environment.
Apply render style to multiple selections at once.

Multiple-track Selection and Editing

Select an object and its subsidiary tracks for fast group editing.
Copy & paste, Time Shift, and Time Scale adjustment over multiple element tracks.

Simulate Cartoon Physics with Motion Curves

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Create cartoon-style animations by applying Transition Curves to Transform Keys, and Time Warp to Motion Clips.
Simulate real-world physics like slowing down, speeding up, free falling, bouncing, floating, or accelerating a linear motion clip.

Create 2D Talking Heads:

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Enhanced Sprite-based Head System for Talking Character:

The Generation 3 (G3) head system can finally be applied to both human and animals. It allows you to do much more with fewer sprites. The FFD tool (Free-Form Deformation) gives smooth transitions between expressions, and the Transform tool provides continuous sprite movement.

Multi-angle 2D Head System:

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The Generation 2 (G2) Head is made by 10 angle heads. You can customize them with unique personalities from a ton of facial templates, using fully interchangeable facial parts to set up a character. G2+ has further enhanced G2 heads, giving smoother animated results by using Free Form Deformation between expressions, requiring a minimal amount of sprites.

Basic Sprite-Based 2D Head System (Single Angle):

G1 head systems are composed of different facial features. These features are Eyes, Eyebrows, Face, Mouth, Ear, Nose and Hair, there are a full list of variants for mouth and eyes so that your character can blink and talk. You can also adjust position, and size of each feature.

Morph-based Head System:

With the classical CrazyTalk face-fitting technology, Morph-based characters are created from 2D photos, allowing users to create smooth facial animations and talking expressions by morphing the images.

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Add a Face and Make Them Talk:

Turn any photo, sketch, or image into talking character. Put Lips on any object to employ the lip-sync talking animation feature. Create hybrid actors by combining morph-based heads with vector-based cartoon bodies.

Project settings:

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Preferences:

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To get started with your FIRST Project:



Important Links for you:

Tutorial resources:
https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...orial.html

For full tutorial list of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...gOmEQmOmPJ

Online manual:
http://manual.reallusion.com/CrazyTalk_A...efault.htm

Import PSD files to create cartoon characters:
https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...l#tutorial

Export PSD for character illustration and photoshop creation:
https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...l#tutorial

A COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP COURSE FOR CREATING 2D ANIMATIONS:
https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...video.html

Support home:
https://www.reallusion.com/CustomerSuppo...QList.html

Bonus content:
https://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk-ani...bonus.html

Pros:

The best 2d animations software
Suitable for all user levels
2D character templates,
Valuable motion libraries,
Powerful 2D bone rig editor
Facial puppets, and audio lip-syncing tools
And many more

Cons:

The program is expensive and needs training before starting to use specially if you are a new user

Conclusion:

CrazyTalk Animator 3 is a professional animation software that made it easy to create your own characters. You will be able to import in your custom design via a Photoshop PSD file. The program has an intuitive and powerful character animation tools for the face and the body. You will have yourself an excellent production pipeline to bring your character designs to life in no time at all. You will enjoy and have a lot of fun
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#2
Well done very informative product review.
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#3
thanks for detailed review very hard software both use and for review Thumb Heart

Heart Heart Heart
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#4
Great software and nice review! Thank you for this!  Thumb
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#5
Excellent review & presentation of a very professional grade animation maker software that require good efficiency to operate. Great work tarekma7.
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#6
Thanks for the nice description, as always a detailed review.
Reply
#7
An excellent software and review.
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#8
Tarekma7

Great review, thanks.
Reply
#9
Thank you for the detailed review, tarekma7!
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