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Home ? Tech Help ? Problem with lip synch and audio recording

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29/06/2015 21:21:41

MovieFrog
MovieFrog
Posts: 10
Hey guys, I'm trying to make a movie on Muvizu, but every time I record my audio for a character, the sound doesn't work. I mean, the wavelength is there, but when I press play on the sound I can't hear anything. Initially, I thought it was just that, but when I added the dialogue to the character, he wouldn't lip synch to it. I've tried everything, I trouble shooted the audio playback and the audio recording on my computer, I turned my mic on and off, and nothing happens. My character is just still standing there, grinning at me and wouldn't say anything.

http://prntscr.com/7mu73m here is a picture of the wavelength, which shows that it recorded my voice but won't play any sound or let my character lip synch to it.

http://prntscr.com/7mu7r3 here is the dialogue set to initial talking that shows how the character is supposed to talk, but won't.

http://prntscr.com/7mu8vm and this is what happens when I try to play or record the audio.
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30/06/2015 06:15:49

ukBertyMuvizu mogulExperimental user
ukBerty
Posts: 975
Yes - Muvizu seem to have destabilised the dialogue tracks with the latest release, but there are ways round it.

Firstly I would add a second anudiofile - just import the same one again.
Go into the timeline and make sure the two waveforms line up exactly.
Then change your characters dialogue track to this second version.

This normally gets round the "character refuses to talk" issue.
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30/06/2015 17:17:51

MovieFrog
MovieFrog
Posts: 10
ukBerty wrote:
Yes - Muvizu seem to have destabilised the dialogue tracks with the latest release, but there are ways round it.

Firstly I would add a second anudiofile - just import the same one again.
Go into the timeline and make sure the two waveforms line up exactly.
Then change your characters dialogue track to this second version.

This normally gets round the "character refuses to talk" issue.


Worked! Thank you.
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27/10/2016 20:37:42

jane-doe
jane-doe
Posts: 13
WTF
I feel as though I have been ripped-off by Muvizu.
I bought the product not realizing it was a bad beta version.
Endless trouble with the dialogue and I am on the verge of abandoning this software altogether.
Too bad because when it works, it is not bad.
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27/10/2016 21:48:37

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738
There are tricks to getting lip-synch to work. There are so many differences in dialect , pronunciation, accent, mumbling, etc that the lip-synch algorithm (in virtually all programs that have one) ends up being a prime target of complaints.

These algorithms tend to look for harsh consonants and soft vowels... sometime I make a dummy track with the right number of syllables, that consists of nothing but DA-DA_DOO_DA BEE ,.... (hard consonants using primary phonemes)

The algorithm will synch to that pretty well. Then in post production you can replace the DAAAs with your real dialog. For what its worth, this problem isn't unique to Muvizu. Good luck finding any software that does a perfect job of lip synching.

Sometimes when using software that's geared toward creative people you have to get creative. ;-)
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28/10/2016 00:52:56

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738
are you having a specific problem that maybe more experience users can help with? It's not a perfect system, but it works well enough to have kept a bunch of us using it enthusiastically for years.

As far as feeling ripped off is concerned: they offer a free version in which the dialog works the same as the paid version. A rip off is a planned trick to cheat somebody (pretty strong words unless you can justify them) ...

but Muvizu's offer of a free version shows their willingness to let people see if the software meets their needs before they pay for the full version. Anybody who does due diligence to try before they buy has everything they need to make an informed purchase decision.
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28/10/2016 15:39:21

jane-doe
jane-doe
Posts: 13
Beg Pardon,

A moment of frustration.

Please excuse my outburst.
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28/10/2016 15:47:38

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738
jane-doe wrote:
Beg Pardon,

A moment of frustration.

Please excuse my outburst.


we all understand... I think we've all posted the classic frustrated message. ;-)

Please don't take my response as judgemental... my only intent was to add perspective for the sake of newbies reading the forum.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. I look forward to seeing some of your animations... and I hope you join in the forum banter. We're just a bunch of friends who have never met, but who share a common hobby.
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28/10/2016 15:50:23

jane-doe
jane-doe
Posts: 13
Thanks for that.

Like an over-excited child with a super new exciting toy that wouldn't work right.

By the way, where do I put the batteries?
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03/12/2016 22:48:19

unguardedshelf
unguardedshelf
Posts: 1
I was thinking of purchasing this, but after i spent hours messing about with the dialogue, i'm not going to bother, the .wav file i imported (created with audacity) shows a wave length when you import it, but doesn't do anything when lip syncing.

I've tried shush, speech and shush again. It shows the director actions on the timeline, but when played back the character is just staring.

I've gone through, re uploaded the file, changed the file, still the same, closed down the set and reloaded it, still nothing. I had trouble with it glitching and it crashes a lot, luckily i found this out before purchasing.

It's a shame, because it seems easy to use, and reminds me of an old 1995 animation software - microsoft 3D movie maker, but better, i like how you can customize the characters and the vast actions you can do. I walked a character (on the park scene) and sat him on the bench, seem pretty easy and smooth, only took about 10 minutes (after getting used to the controls) then spent HOURS messing about with the lip sync.

I've read that this has always been a problem, and tried everything I've read in the forums. If this was sorted out i would happily pay for the software, but sorry guys, i think i'm going to have to give it a miss, thanks for offering a free trial version.
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06/12/2016 11:19:58

jane-doe
jane-doe
Posts: 13
Lip synch is definitely a challenge. It does not seem to work as per the instructions but it will work. One thing I found is that it is often necessary to go into the timeline and slide the prepared audio to the place on the timeline where you want the lip synch to happen and then direct the lip synch. So far, this has worked for me for single audio files. Still a challenge with multiple audio files as one lip synch disappears when another audio file is loaded and synched. Ended up making multiple movies and then a video program for splicing. Had to split the audio and video in the video editing software and import the audio separately as the audio was garbled in the video editing software.

I have a sense that if one hangs in long enough that Muvizu will improve, at least that is my hope, because it has huge potential.

My big challenge now is figuring out importing video so that it actually works.
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06/12/2016 15:49:17

ritsmer
ritsmer
Posts: 110
Using quite some lip-sync here - and it works well and easy:

After recording I take the dialogues into my editor (Sony Vegas) and Compress them to avoid too silent parts.
Then I amplify them to max (0 db)
Then I render them as .mp3 192 kbps
- and then import them to Muvizu...
where I run the direct dialogue character by character...

...then I output this as .mp4 at some 13 Mbps and import it to Sony Vegas where I delete the Muvizu audio part and add the original speak and sounds and music and .... (using a nearly 0 db signal seems to get distorted in Muvizu) ...

...and the Potatoheads happily talk and talk and talk :- )

My conclusion: Keep the speak dialogues clean and well separated for each character.
edited by ritsmer on 06/12/2016
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14/12/2016 16:56:14

soldlocal
soldlocal
Posts: 6
Hello,

After performing the update today, i am having a problem, the audio wont lipsync, when i direct dialogue (prepare mode) the character is set to lypsinc, however when i switch to direct mode and the timelink appears, the talking state option option turns to silence and the char wont lipsync although I can hear the audio,

Have tried to add a 2nd audo track but that does not seem to work any ideas

Carlton.
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14/12/2016 17:48:12

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738
Hi Soldlocal... I can reproduce that problem here after the latest update.

With a clean set, lip synch works as usual... but as soon as SHUSH has been activated one time, it will never switch back to TALK.
(well, it does switch in the PREPARE dialog, but as soon as I switch to DIRECT, it immediately reverts back to SHUSH)

Problem persists until I exit Muvizu and reload it.

I also notice that the SHUSH and TALK events aren't being saved to the time line. I don't usually use TALK or SHUSH, so I don't have any prior knowledge about whether they normally create timeline markers... but it seems like they should.
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15/12/2016 12:27:33

soldlocal
soldlocal
Posts: 6
Hello,

Yes the problem is only happening to my exisiting sets, I will message support, thanks eveyone.

SoldLocal
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15/12/2016 14:00:05

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738
in the meantime, you can keep your animation momentum going by recreating your scene and avoiding the use of SHUSH. I find it useful to work in short scenes anyway, because that gives me more opportunity to combine a bunch of shots at different camera angles
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Home ? Tech Help ? Problem with lip synch and audio recording