I've Been Replaced by a Robot!

Oh no.

I've been replaced by a robot.

My latest SOP video has just been posted. Of course I welcome your feedback on the content (Is it worthwhile to do a lengthy monthly maintenance?).

But more importantly, I would like your feedback on my new robot. Right now he doesn't have a name. That seems to be a bone of contention.

Anyway . . .

I held a design contest and picked this guy because he has lots of joints. So, theoretically, we can make him walk, dance, climb stairs, or whatever we choose to do. I handed the Adobe Illustrator files over to my assistant Kara and said, "See what you can do with this."

I posted her first trial video on Facebook. It was very cool.

Then I started wondering what else we could do with him. I've calling him a him for no reason.

Here's the latest SOP Video:

(also see all my other videos on my YouTube channel)

I really want your feedback.

Does the robot "work" for videos like this?

Do you think it would be better for shorter content (60 seconds or less)?

Do you like it? Do you hate it? Is it just a distraction?

Does he need a name?

Creating a video like this takes a lot more time than just having me stand in front of my mural, of course. Kara hasn't told me the total time so far. But it's not zero, so it also costs money.

Please send me any thoughts you have.

- - - - -

How Kara Did This

This video was made with a program in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite called Character Animator CC.

It’s actually way cooler than it looks. When you bring it up, it uses the camera to identify your features. Then you associate actions (smile, frown, raise eyebrows, etc.) with graphic components. If you look left, it looks left. If you move your head, it moves it’s head.

The lip sync on this would be much better if I had recorded it with a camera in the program. But I just gave Kara an audio file and she did this.

The program comes with a sample character you can animate in order to learn the program. . . . Just playing around to see if it works for marketing. 

More info at https://www.adobe.com/products/character-animator.html

If you have the Adobe cloud suite, you already have the right to install this program.

. . . Just don't blame me if you waste a bunch of time on it.

:-)