Remarkably Easy Tools Let Users “Play to Create”
Animated Movies
SAN JOSE, CA – January 24, 2008 — Reallusion, Inc., a
pioneer in advancing 3D animation and imaging technology, today announced
Version 5 of CrazyTalk™, an innovative yet easy-to-use software application
known for the ability to make any photo or image talk. CrazyTalk 5 adds hands-on
movie animation interactivity with the power to puppet facial expressions and
animation in real-time. With the software, novices and experienced users can
turn photos into life-like digital puppet performances for films, web videos,
podcasts, blogs, machinima and classroom projects.
The technology in
CrazyTalk 5 is much like the tools used in Hollywood films, children’s
television and major brand commercials to create live, talking characters and
animals. With the software, users can transform their PC into a face-animating
movie studio for producing entertaining movies and videos for training,
e-learning and websites. Any digital photo or image can be used to create a
talking character that comes to life as an actor, automatically lip-synching to
the recorded audio and enlivened by a broad range of emotions.
Consumers
and professionals alike can enjoy the increased productivity enabled by new
CrazyTalk 5 features such as the ability to edit keys and the ability to
explore/save motion clips without having to purchase expensive extra equipment.
In addition, the character animation feature has been enhanced to add more
personality and emotive control. When combined with the CrazyTalk 5’s
revolutionary real-time puppeteering panel, these capabilities enable users to
perform character animation and record their mouse movements, resulting in
facial motion-capture control using any mouse or human interface device.
The ultimate facial animation solution, CrazyTalk 5 has also been
enhanced with the following new features and tools.
Create Live,
Talking Characters and Animals
By redesigning the fitting algorithm,
users can now make any image talk, not just humans. With the all-new CrazyTalk 5
facial profile wizard, users can select the type of face to match their desired
animation motion. Dogs will animate with doglike features and humans will
perform with natural human facial movement.
In addition to providing
face profiles for human characters and non-human characters, CrazyTalk 5 offers
an anti-distortion feature that can be used during face rotation and angle
enhancement. New tools have also been added to enable customization of stand-by
motions and customization of the characters’ eyes and teeth to make them more
realistic.
Real-time Puppetry Animation and Motion Capture
Now featuring a real-time puppeteering mode for live recording, the new
version of CrazyTalk goes beyond traditional key frame timeline editing. With
this feature, Reallusion introduces all- new interactive puppetry animation
control where the user can apply realistic facial expressions and face morph
effects simply by moving the mouse. Five default puppet profiles define instant
personality performance for puppeteering including, attractive, grumpy and
youthful. Six emotion styles are also included with an advanced select and
deselect layer editing capability to provide full control of the puppet’s facial
features, mouth opening, emotional expression and more. Even the camera movement
can be adjusted simply by selecting a camera type and dragging it freely to zoom
in/out and rotate.
Powerful Timeline Editing
CrazyTalk’s
innovative Timeline Editor provides users with easy drag-and-drop management of
motion clips and the ability to customize their Emotion Library with key mode
editing for specific character expression. Using the advanced select/deselect
features, specific sections can also be grouped and ungrouped. Two Special
Effects (SFX) tracks are also available on the timeline—one to swap the
foreground/background attributes and one to add text
messages.
Flexible Media Output
Offering an extended list of
media output options and expanded interactivity, CrazyTalk 5 now provides HD
video support to meet the growing demand of HD programming production and
interactive web media support with Flash™ video output enabled for adding
CrazyTalk to any Adobe Flash project or website.
With output options
ranging from HD-sized video to YouTube®-sized video and the new Flash video
option with a variety of quality settings, CrazyTalk users can share their
productions in the full-screen, DV video format for DVD projects and as
streaming videos for websites. Videos can also be produced for mobile handsets
and emails.
To accommodate the application needs and budget requirements
of a broad range of users, Reallusion offers two versions of CrazyTalk—both are
Windows® XP and Vista™ compatible:
• CrazyTalk 5 Pro is a complete solution for talking 3D facial
animation that includes all of the tools in the CrazyTalk arsenal along with HD
and Flash video output, real-time layered puppeteering animation with custom
facial feature selection control, custom puppeteering profile editing, fully
enabled timeline editing, audio voice morphing, and more.
• CrazyTalk
5 Standard creates talking characters from photos for use in emails and home
video projects. It includes basic emotional editing, additional SFX templates
and comic effects, some timeline editing capabilities and standard definition
video export.
Pricing and Availability
Box versions and
download versions of CrazyTalk are available from the Reallusion Online Store at
www.reallusion.com at the end of January
with prices starting at $49.95. Availability at leading retailers worldwide will
follow. Business site licenses, with prices based on volume requirements, and
educational discounts are available directly from www.reallusion.com. Free trials and
upgrades are also available at the Reallusion Web site.
About
Reallusion, Inc.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Reallusion is a leader
in the development of Hollywood-like 3D cinematic animation tools for PC and
mobile platforms. Recognized as an industry pioneer, the company provides
consumers with easy-to-use character animation, facial morphing and voice
lip-sync solutions for real-time 3D filmmaking and previsualization for
professional post-production. Reallusion's core technologies are widely used by
consumer and professional content developers and are embedded in leading
consumer devices worldwide. For more information, contact Reallusion, Inc. at
2033 Gateway Place, 5th Floor, San Jose CA 95110; phone: 408.573.6107. The
Taipei R&D Offices are located at 2F, No. 126, Lane 235, Pao-Chiao Rd.,
Hsintien, Taipei 231, Taiwan; phone: +886.2.8912.1028. Or, visit the web site at
www.reallusion.com.