understanding audio tracksi

[medic5678]

Let's say I've got 6 characters to lip sync. Let's assume this animation is 10 minutes long. Would each character have a separate audio track (and only one audio track) used to change the switch layers for their mouths? I see the examples with a short lip sync video, but wondering how this all fits together as you produce something longer.

[3deeguy]

I don't know if there is a limit with Papagayo. It is just as easy to lip-sync manually. I use a lot of short audio clips. I move them around with the Sequencer and I keep them in a group folder (or folders).

[negroclarito]

Use short clips. Cut that long track in short clips and every character separately.
If you need to change the animation is better to use short clips so that you can move them freely in the timeline

[medic5678]

How long is a short clip? 20-30 seconds? And what video editors are you guys using? Trying to get an idea of the best type of work flow. Thanks.

[Greenlaw]

After cutting my animatic, I output short scene specific audio with only the dialog and with each character isolated in its own track. This way, after animating the scene, I can simply overcut the animatic footage in the edit with the animated footage, and the audio track should sync up perfectly. Even if all your character dialog tracks have been merged or was originally recorded to a single tracked, you should save out scene specific audio clips. If you use a video editor like Vegas or Premiere, you should be able to break out the audio clips easily if you mark your scenes on the timeline.

A few random tips to consider:
- Be sure your frame rate in ASP matches the frame rate from the animatic.
- Keep a small mirror on your desk for 'interactive reference' material.
- Give yourself at least 4 frames of handle, just in case you need to slip the animation a frame or two in the edit--trust me, there will be times when have a few extra frames to work with in edit will pay off. For example, with lip-synced footage, sometimes the animation can look more 'in sync' if you nudge it a frame from where you originally keyframed it.

Hope this helps.

G.