Lesson 1: Creating Project by Applying Templates

CrazyTalk Animator provides enormous libraries of templates for you to build an animation by simply drag and dropping these items.

In this lesson, you will learn how to create a custom project by simply applying templates from the Content Manager without any further adjustments.

Goal:

To create an animation by simply applying templates.

Used Features:

Template-applying (via Content Manager).
Character composer.
Body-part-changing.
Path-creating.
Motion-applying.
Character-flipping.
Exporting.

Step 1: Building a Scene

Create a new project (Ctrl + N).
Open Content Manager (F4) and switch it to Scene Template >> Scene library.
Drag and drop Park_01 into the working area.

Select any object you do not want to have in the scene and press Delete key to remove it.


Objects selected	Objects deleted

Note:

With the Ctrl key pressed down, you may select multiple objects.

Switch the Content Manager to Scene Template >> Props.
Drag and drop Street_Lamp from the Park library into the working area (you may repeat the same steps many times to add more desired props).
Transform the objects on the scene to ideal appearances.

Step 2: Building a Character

Replacing Body Parts in Stage Mode

Switch the Content Manager to Actor Template >> Character.
Drag and drop Sandra into the working area.
Switch the Content Manager to Actor Template >> Head >> Sprite-based library.
Drag and drop the Head_04 onto the character to replace its head.

Replacing Body Parts in Composer Mode

Since you can only change the entire head or the entire body in the Stage mode, in order to change the individual body parts, you need to access the Composer Mode

Make sure the character is selected. Click the Character Composer button.
The character will enter the Composer Mode.
Switch the Content Manager to Body Template >> Upper.
Drag and drop the Upper_04 to replace the original one.
Switch the Content Manager to Body Template >> Lower.
Drag and drop the Lower_04 to replace the original one.
Switch the Content Manager to Body Template >> Shoes.

Drag and drop the Shoes_04 to replace the original ones.

Note:

You may use the same method to replace the facial features as well.

Click the Back to Stage button to send the character back to the stage mode.

Step 3: Setting Character's Path

In this case, the character is designed to walk from outside of the right edge of the safe area to the back of the tree. You may move the character at different times to do so.

Go to the start frame of the project by clicking the Stop button on the play bar.

Move the character out of the safe area.

Note:

Only the content within the safe area will be exported to the desired media.
The resolution of the safe area can be determined in the export panel.

Go to the time when the character is hiding behind the tree (in this case, 00:06:800 or the 205th time frame)
Move the character to the position in front of the tree. You will see the character's path is shown as a green straight line.
By scrolling the wheel, move the character behind the tree.
Go to any time frame in-between the start and end points of the path.
Drag the character to adjust the position of the character.
Repeat the same steps until the straight line is similar to a curved line.

Step 4: Applying Body Motions

Since the character is now sliding across the scene, you need to combine the moving path and the walking motion for the character.

Switch the Content Manager to Animation Template >> Motion >> 2D >> 01_Move.
Drag and drop the Walk_Female_Officer with a 270 angle profile at the top-left corner of the template on to the character (The motion is a flattened walking motion and can not be turned to another angle).
After the playback stops, apply the same motion repetitively until you want the character to change its direction.
At the turning point, apply the Walk_Female_Office with a 225 angle profile at the top-left corner of the template.
The character thus changes its walking direction.
Mix-apply the walking motions mentioned above until the character hides behind the tree.
Switch the Content Manager to Animation Template >> Motion >> 2D >> 02_Idle.
Apply the Normal_Female with a 0 angle profile at the top-left corner so that the character turns to face the front.
Afterward, transform the character to a lean so that it cranes its neck from behind the tree.
Go to the frame where the character performs a back-sliding motion.
Click the Flip button so that the character flips horizontally. Now the character will walk in a forward direction away from the camera.

Because the character does not have a flip key at the start frame of the project, the character moves backward because of the flip key you set in the previous step.

Go to the start frame to set another flip key to flip the character to the correct direction again.

Step 5: Export as Media

Click on the Export button to open the export panel.
Select the exporting media by switching to a different tab (video or image).
Use the Format drop-down list to determine the format of the media.
Adjust the settings in this panel accordingly.
Click the Export button to export the project.