Video Editing: Bouncing Ball for Lyrics

[a917917]

Hi Guys,

Well im starting to plan panto and ive come across a directors idea but of course I cant find anything to help me.

What I need is a program that can help me create lyrics on the screen and then using a bouncing balls or something similar show the audience when to sing.

The sort of thing you used to see in sesame street. Like in this video:

 

Does anyone have any software preferably free that I could use or download from software to do this.

 

Thanks in advance :)

[bruce]

don't know about the "bouncing ball" effect, but there are several "karaoke creator" programs which will allow you to do something similar, usually using a colour change of the text.

[a917917]

Hi bruce,

do you have any examples of the programs that I could download and trial?

I'm up for any effect really, the director mentioned bouncing ball so if I could get that then I would be really happy.

Thanks.

[bruce]

http://tinyurl.com/396356u

[themadhippy]

Cant the follow spot op do it?

[Unfathomable]

Cant the follow spot op do it?

 

 

follow spot ops can read?

[peternewman]

I was going to reply with a fairly negative post, as we considered it once for a VT a while ago, and when you sit down and think about all the keyframing you'd need to do, it seems a huge task. We then considered (although didn't do in the end) the text colour changing effect. Use the text as a matte, then just have a rectangle per line, which at a simple level expands behind it to reveal the letters. You can start with a linear expansion and then spend the next two months keyframing to suit to try and improve it. Which is what this all comes down to; whatever method you use, entering keyframe data to match the song is going to be the time consuming bit, and I guess the bit the karaoke software can't really automate, although may simplify a bit.

 

On the slightly positive side, it strikes me with some stuff I've been doing recently, from a programming point of view, if you had the keyframe data for which syllable it had to hit at each point in time, it wouldn't be a huge challenge to use that to generate XY coordinates onscreen, and from that generate a path and do the actual bouncing ball. But I think its still going to be very time consuming, at least the appearing/colour changing text trick will be a bit more forgiving if you run out of time/patience.

[mrjammy83]

just a thought.

 

does it have to be video. you could create this effect using powerpoint or something similar and have the ball bounce to each word on a key press or time trigger.

 

just my 2p and something to expand upon as an alternate avenue

[peternewman]

IIRC you can export a PowerPoint as a video, or you could run a screen capture on it, however the challenge is still doing the ball bouncing bits, although I guess with a key press you could use that to not have to enter the time data, just the motion stuff.

[dbuckley]

The question is whether the video sets the timing or the band.

 

If you can either have playback or sync the band to the video, then Maya has a 30 day free trial and should do this, and enable you to produce a video with a bouncy ball (that is even physics correct!) over the lyrics. You'll save a shedload of time if you can find a Maya artist who will do this for you. They'll probably also have a purchased licenced Maya and a good rendering engine, and it'll be all set up and ready to go. Import the music track, draw the lyrics, and animate a ball.

 

If you need the image to work alongside the band who have no constraints on their timing, then that's harder. I have no better suggestion than those above, unless, of course, you're using a RMS Sinfonia in the pit!

[JazzAV]

or do it live. Have the Lyrics on Powerpoint and just change your mouse cursor to something big and round (you can download 100s of different cursors). Then just have someone bounce the mouse around as required. I know it means having someone to do it but maybe a lot less hassle that trying to do something in pre-prod.

 

.....or do as above but use some kind of screen capture just to record what you are doing on screen. Then you have it as a video.

[goldeneye]

I did this using Apple Motion.

 

Have a check

[kitlane]

Again, why can't the spot op do it? Assuming your audience includes fairly young children I think the color changing technique is less than ideal. Think about how kids learn to read; they begin by following the words with their finger. I'm not sure they will follow colour changes so easily.

 

Another tip, think about the font you use. That chinese style writing looks fun for Aladdin but bears little relationship to the typeface used in schools.

 

I miss those 10am schools matinees and the cry of "Can we have the words please, Uncle Kit?"

[revbobuk]

Just to add - these days, many primary schools already use recorded music for singing - school assemblies and the like - which uses the colour change method. So the kids will be used to it. 'Out of the Ark' productions supply a lot of stuff for this.