Thread: My 3 axis skull...in progress

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Okay so i went thru and did my min and max again for all channels now in the rage of 500-2500. My jaw as an example is set at a min of 1217 and max of 1780. I put the default at 1780. Sound about right?

I then go the the wavemotion and select the "Jaw" channel analyze "All" max is "1780" min is "1217" max error is "2%" scale is "100%" and event type is "Linear Bar"

I hit okay and it does its thing but when I play it back it barley moves the jaw??

One other thing.

I know HB may have mentioned this before (wwwwaaaaaayyyyyy earlier in this book) but sometimes the wav file you load may not analyze very well so it looks like your skull is mumbling. HB suggested recording your own voice and loading that and analyze it before you load your wave file. This way the jaws moves a lot better.

I'm gonna have to do that with Vincent when he recites the Raven.

Well that could be my problem, Im using a simple track I found under the "Music" section on this form of a simple voice laying down some ground rules for the haunt their about to enter, so no mucis or background music of any kind. I figured it would be an easy MP3 to start with for a beginner like my self. Maybe not?

Did all my setting sound about right to you?

No pics yet. The heads are all functional, but I have been working on Routines all this time, and not on the rest of the props (outfits, hair, etc.) I hope to get to a lot of that this week.

Yes.

You might want to download a wav recording program and try using your own voice for the rules. Then you can use that for the wave analysis and then have your skull lip sync the other sound file.

Originally Posted by indeva

Well that could be my problem, Im using a simple track I found under the "Music" section on this form of a simple voice laying down some ground rules for the haunt their about to enter, so no mucis or background music of any kind. I figured it would be an easy MP3 to start with for a beginner like my self. Maybe not?

Did all my setting sound about right to you?

Originally Posted by dionicia

I have to download a pirate translator.

I'm not sure if it works in reverse but here ya go. Home | Pirate Monkeyness

To answer some questions from before:

Hey Bob, Thanks for your response. Im not really sure what im doing here so please be patient if Im asking dumb questions.

Okay, to answer your questions I have the Mini SSc2 button selected in "Parlay"(even tho I have the lynxmotion ssc-32 board).

If I select the SSC-32 button I dont get any movements from my mouse or joystick (skull doesn't move). Not sure how to get it to move with the ssc-32 selected, maybe this is my problem.

Second you asked "You have to set all the channels you are using in VSA to the same type of device before you import the data" Im not sure what you are asking me? I have in the VSA program my channels set too 0 as Rotate, 1 as Nod, 2 as Tilt and 3 as Jaw. I had them set the way CaptnJack had listed on his web page but in Parlay I couldnt figure out how to change an axis to a different channel. So with CaptnJacks way of assign channels the microphone channel was my nod and is was all backwards and couldnt get any smooth movements, so I swaped the servos in the board to match the axis I though would work better in parlay. Im not but a few steps into this so if I need to change any of this let me know.

Lastly the audio file im using is an MP3 file, not a wave file. Not sure if that makes a difference. I haven't converted the mp3 to a wave to input into parlay cause i couldnt really get parlay to work for me. Second I dont know how to send you the MP3 file other than emailing it to you?

It seems that dionica straghtened you out on your settings in VSA. That was what I meant by having each channel set to the same type of device that you used in Parlay.

You can indeed email me the mp3. That should be fine, my email is in my profile.

I will explain why I use wav files instead of mp3s. It is a matter of synchronization.

If you have an mp3, it is a compressed format. Some of the code in that file is not audio information. It is code that tells the mp3 player when it starts, how long the file is, what level of compression is used, what bit rate it is at, etc.

That translates into a small blank spot that lasts a fraction of a second at the begining and end of the file.

If you open an mp3 in editing software, and resave it, the resulting file will be just a tiny bit longer than the original. The audio contant hasn't changed, but the small gap at the beginning and end have gotten larger.

So, if you have to create your own file with your own voice in order to synch up the servo to only the spoken section of a file and ignore sound effects and music as well as other voices, each time you edit and save the file, it gets a little more out of sync.

Wav file don't do this. Since they are not compressed, the information is all audio information and no matter how many copies you make or changes you make in a file, it will remain exactly the same size.

Hopefully, I have explained that well enough.

Back to the first part of your question. Select SSC-32 as the device type in Parlay before you start any recording.

Then, change the "Type" on all your used channels in VSA to SSC-32 servo before you import the data.

Then it should work fine.

We tested our 3 axis skull last night. It moved to the commands and it was great knowing that we are on the right path. BUT its obvious that the rod end that Pieter made is not good enough. We've looked and looked but can't find a rod end similiar to the one that HalloweenBob uses. That's why Pieter had to try to make an alternative. Its also not an option to buy one from the graveyard madness site as their store is closed for the season.

Anyone else have to make their own rod end and have any suggestions on what we can use to make it?

Thanks,
MsM

Lowes has rod ends the smallest being 4-40. Also, McMasterCarr has rod ends as well and they have fast shipping.

Do you mean "Rod End" or the center support rod.

Can you post a picture?

I don't see how someone would "make" a rod end.