Testing Character Animator

Goblin character animator test from Lachlan Creagh on Vimeo.

 Featuring the goblin from the Magic Word book!
Trying out adobe character animator.....
thoughts:-
Really hard trying to do separate passes and get it right- it needs some sort of onion skinning or something so you can anticipate the motion coming up that you are trying to coordinate with.......
Spent a day pulling my hair out yesterday- all the tut videos were of preview 4 version but my version- only updated a month ago looked nothing like it,
and nothing worked-ie  staple tool type stuff
Then I updated- lo and behold  its version 4 and works (well better.....)
 Face stuff and things like dangle are sort of cool- but not sure if its lip synch or voice analysis is so good. My visemes were a bit quick and need work but I have a feeling its chosen wrong shapes in some bits-
maybe it's tuned for an american accent?
The eyebrows and hands had different frames/key driven states on the goblin- just didn't record it- theres probably a bit you could do with their cycles- but then maybe you are better in AE itself with time remapped comps etc.....and use Character Animator as a 'reference sketch' for the animation?

Why doesn't it export as a layered comp to After effects?
Why is the character animator file 0kb and a whole crapload of bits in files in folders...
why can't you load and save like other programmes?
Anyway.....

Dodgy bit of sleight of hand walking- very very hard to have the hand coordination and the ability to concentrate  and keep up/not waver off....when trying to do it in passes as they suggest.
I guess that's why adobe examples are of  wibbly wobbly people doing nothing specific.
Probably trying this in a side on or three quarter view would be easier to do the legs-front on was hard...
[I watched their workaround for doing walk cycles-(their answer - do it somewhere else and use that as a cycle     :/   )   ]
As you can see I almost get it working and then it falls to bits...maybe if you practised....
but then if it takes that much performance practice you are better of just animating it and getting it right.
[tried doing 2 at once on the cintiq touchscreen but the feet kept freaking out..........]



Goblin character animator test2 from Lachlan Creagh on Vimeo.