Master Singing Busts Thread!

[Mr Grimsley]

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Ok all. I noticed there are several threads on the "singing busts" or "grim grinning ghosts" topics. I thought I'd maybe pull them all together into this one if nobody minds?

Calling all CGI / Flash experts... Singing Busts?

GGG Singing Busts MP3

singing busts

Grim Grinning Ghost Busts

GGG Bust projection

grin grinning ghost

More to come on my own progress with Crazytalk 6 Pro and the singing busts...

[bobzilla]

Good idea !
RE: More to come on my own progress with Crazytalk 6 Pro and the singing busts... (Can't wait to see what you're up to !!!!! )

[Mr Grimsley]

OK, so I've found some images that may work for the singing busts. I managed to find (off the internet) images from a "lifecast" company that I think will work great because they are already "statues" of sorts.



The 3rd bust over (Ned Nub) has his head cut off to allow for projection onto a bust wearing a bowler hat as in the real Haunted Mansion.

For reference, the following is the most detailed image of the busts at WDW & DL I've found on the net taken by Tom Bricker (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombricker/).



Now... in case you have this funny sense that the faces actually look like Clark Gable, Anthony Hopkins, Basil Rathbone and Willam Shatner... uhm... er... think nothing of it! LOL! Seriously, that is in fact who these life masks are really of. I got them into photoshop and darkened the hair and increased the contrast to help the faces show up better in projection.

Incidently, Crazytalk only allows for 4 seperate animated characters in one project/video so hence the omission of the fifth bust (1 less bust to make and animate... makes it easier). I also plan on doing a 3 Bust version for those who have already set up their's as such.

Now... As I've mentioned before, If anyone was able to create really good looking CGI versions of the REAL DL singing busts, that would be quite preferable.

Will try to keep everyone posted.

[Mr Grimsley]

Here is my very first DRAFT of the singing busts via Crazytalk 6 Pro. Please note, this is a very early draft of only one of the busts to illustrate a basic idea of where I'm going with this. The facial animation you see is from the program's default settings automatically asigned to this particular song and they leave much to be desired! The finished product will have far more elaborate animation layers particularily for the mouth and eyes.

Anyhow, without further adieu:

YouTube- Singing Bust Animation Sample 01

Oh, and BTW, with this animation, you only really hear the solo part sung by Thurl Ravenscroft (aka. Uncle Theodore) because I managed to find a version of Grim Grinning Ghosts that had Thurl split to one channel and the rest of the Phantom Five split to the other. Most versions have them all mixed together so I kind of lucked out. It's made it much easier to Animate between Theodore and the remaining 3 busts!

[Mr Grimsley]

And... if anyone wants this particular version of GGG with the split vocal channels, send me a PM with an email address and I'll be glad to send it to you!

[mp2526]

I just happened to be working with CrazyTalk as well, and conveniently came across this post.

Mine is very similiar, 'cept I wanted my busts to look more like statues come to life rather than real looking faces. I snagged a few statue images from google images and here is a very rough cut of what I have.

I plan on running each face individually. I have several of those cheapo projectors for each face. I used them last year with the YouTube videos and they worked out pretty well. I'll sync the video using a combination of software and some high end Pioneer DVD players I have that have the ability to sync.

Again this sample is very rough, I need to sharpen the image and work on giving the face some more expressions right now it's just lip syncing.

You'll need to go to about 1:57 to see the face start singing.

YouTube- Grimm Grinning Ghosts Test

[bobzilla]

Very cool ! What are you guys using for busts to project on ?

[mp2526]

I used styrofoam wig heads.

I used clay to give them more detail and make there faces a little more flat to project the image on. The picture below is a bit burry but it show me trying to set them up and get the images aligned. They look pretty decent in my opinion, and with the new CrazyTalk video I think they will look much better than using the old blurry, hard to align YouTube videos.

[Mr Grimsley]

WOW mp2526, LOL... who knew! I went with the faces I could find that most closely resembled that actual busts, but obviously that's not really necessary.

I like how yours turned out in that it does indeed look like a statue. THe images I used are also statues but obviously of actual people. I'd love to find someone who's capable of creating actual CGI versions of the original people; Thurl, Jay etc. There's very few if any images of them aside from the busts themselves.

BTW, any idea how to soften the edges of the mouth and eyes? As it is, they don't realy match the texture of the image of the face.

Bobzilla, I haven't forgotten about you! I'm going to be using male foam heads but will be adding them to styrofoam shoulders to create more of the "bust" look something like yours. Then I'll coat them with a light grey outdoor paint.

[bobzilla]

Looking good guys ! Keep up the good work