Voice Recording and Lip-Sync
Voice Recording and Lip-Sync
The next step in the animation process was to record all of the voice tracks. I will need to have all of the sound recorded before I can animate any shots that has "Bubbles" talking. In order to make the process of lip-sync easier I am using a program called Papagayo. Papagayo is a free program that works in sync with Moho. You use it to line up sounds with word sounds or phonemes.
The process of Lip-Sync began with my script. I used Microsoft word to type and edit my script. Once I was happy with the script I began recording.
Screen shot of Microsoft Word.
I used Apple's Garage Band to record my voice overs. I then exported the sound tracks as MP3 files.
Screen Shot of GarageBand.
I then opened the sound files in Papagayo and lined up the phonemes with the actual sounds.
Screen shot of Papagyo.
I then exported the DAT file from Papagayo. This is a data file that Moho will use to line up mouth movements in the animation. Basically it uses 10 different mouth shapes to represent the mouth shapes needed for all possible phonemes. The mouth shapes used in my animation are the default mouths that come with Papagayo. The mouth shapes they use are based on the models by Preston Blair. Moho does of course allow you to draw your own mouth shapes if you desire. I will not go into great detail about the technical aspects of using Papagayo as it is included in the documentation found with the software and on the web at www.lostmarble.com.
Once the mouth data and sound track had been imported into Moho, I rendered the animation and took a look at the result. Once I was happy with the lip-sync, I could move on to animating the rest of the shot.
I like Moho because I can start by animating the mouth movements, then go back and animate the character movements and the mouth moves with the character!