"dumb effect inquiry"

Ken_K wrote on 10/16/2004, 7:47 AM

OKay, so I've got these young nephews...
How might I create the effect (video perspective) of my dog talking? -Mr. Ed style?
Thanks for enduring this post, and yes I do have a lot of time on my hands.

p.s.
"If we live in fear of the Banjos, then the Banjos have won"

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 10/16/2004, 8:00 AM

Put Peanut butter in the dog's mouth between his gums and inside of his mouth.
That's how they did Mr. Ed.
You could more painfully record images of your dog opening and closing his mouth while sitting in a key, build a library of that, and then use Bezier masking to cut out the moving mouth and overlay it onto a regular shot as well.
I like the peanut butter idea better.

goshep wrote on 10/16/2004, 8:09 AM

I agree with Spot. "Young" nephews will never know the difference between 2 weeks of keying/masking or a scoop of Skippy. Besides, your "actor" will love you for it!

MichaelS wrote on 10/16/2004, 7:43 PM

There's a neat little program called "Living Picture Maker" that makes still pictures appear animated. It adds pseudo movement to a head, including blinking eyes and moving mouth. The mouth movements automatically sync with a voice file you record. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work with an animal, too. It's not full motion video, but it's easy, quick, and pretty darn cute.

The down side is that it outputs to a proprietary file and requires the "Living Picture Maker" player for playback. I understand that it is primary designed for the web.

Just for fun, you could use a screen grabber to capture the clip or just point your camera at a screen.

Take a look.

http://www.scenemachines.com/

farss wrote on 10/16/2004, 7:50 PM

Well IF you've got LOTS of time and MONEY, you could build the doggy in Maya, the fur option in Maya will break the bank for sure.
Nah, only kidding, peanut butter sounds a lot cheaper.
Then again keep in mind what W.C. Fields used to say.

A friend of mine always complains that those talking animals don't look natural but I could never figure out just what a dog or horse would look like if it really could talk.

Bob.

MichaelS wrote on 10/16/2004, 7:56 PM

I just tried the "Living Picture Maker" on a picture of my golden retriever and its quite amazing...and amusing.

NaperRick wrote on 10/16/2004, 10:01 PM

For around $50 USD there is a product called Crazy Talk that will do what you want. Check it out here:
http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/default.asp

Rick