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Tutorial_14.rad

This lesson demonstrates how to manipulate the animated character Baldi.

The Speech toolkit’s default animated character is Baldi. Using the Baldi editing window, you can configure his appearance for every prompt.

See the Baldi Configuration Menu for details about every controllable feature

 

 

Tutorial 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Objects Needed

1 Start Object

3 Generic Objects

1 Stop Object

Building the application

  1. Arrange the objects as seen above
  2. In order, enter the following prompts in the 3 Generic Objects.

    3. Generic Object 1

    Showing emotions can make human-computer dialogs more engaging.

    Generic Object 2

    And it’s fun to play with color.

    Generic Object 3

    I can go transparent to help teach speech production

  3. Open the Properties Window of the first Generic Object ( Double Click the Icon)
  4. Bring Baldi to the front of your display by clicking on his window.
  5. Open Baldi’s Preferences Editing Window
  1. Right Click over the image of baldi and select Preferences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This opens Baldi’s preferences editor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Increase Baldi’s happy emotion slider. (Note Baldi’s reaction.)

    2.  

     

     

     

  2. Decrease the Neutral Slider ( Bottom emotion slider and note Baldi’s reaction )

    3. This effectively amplifies or reduces the intensity of the emotion tags.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  3. Name and Save this face.
  1. In the Configuration Box, enter a new name and Hit the ADD Button.

This will save Baldi’s configuration exactly as he appears.

Adds the name

 

Type name here

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Close Baldi’s Preferences window. Hit OK
  2. Back in the Generic Object’s preferences window select the face you just created by finding it in the "faces" drop down menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lets repeat this process for the other Generic Objects but we’ll play with Color and Transparency. Open Baldi’s preferences Menu and we’ll create two additional faces.

Right Click on Baldi and select Preferences

Editing Baldi’s Color

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few hints.

  1. Baldi’s configuration will remain unchanged unless specifically changed.
  2. Control Zoom: Hold down Alt and move the mouse over Baldi
  3. Control the Lighting: Hold down Ctrl and Move the mouse over Baldi
  4. Even the location and size and zoom of baldi gets saved when you save a new face.
  5. Select the face named "CPU Friendly" to improve rendering appearance on slow CPUs
  6. Play around with Baldi’s preference controls to learn the possibilities
  7. Use Facial emotions to enhance spoken dialogs

 

Check out the baldi configuration menu for more details

 

 

Baldi Configuration menu

Tabs

Each tabbed menu controls unique aspects of Baldi’s animation. Available tabs include:

Face: Adjusting Baldi’s basic appearance.

General: General default settings, window management and video driver workarounds.

 

 

 

 

 

Configuration

 

 

Use the drop down entry box to select the name of previously saved face configuration.

Selecting Change, will apply the configuration to the name shown in the entry box

Add a new face name by Typing a new name in the entry box and select Add. The Add button becomes active only after a new name is typed in the entry box.

Back to face tab

 

Show

 

 

 

Use the checkboxes to engage the indicated feature. For example, uncheck the skin to remove Baldi’s skin. This may be useful in language training to reveal the movements of the tongue.

Back to face tab

Colors Both the color and brightness bars apply changes to the facial feature indicated in the selection box. Click and drag the black dot on the color wheel to change the color. Click and drag the black bar on the brightness bar to apply brightness changes. Use the RGB numbers to specify an exact color. (Red, Green, Black)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to face tab

 

 

Models

 

 

 

Alternate tongue and teeth models are available so you can select the appropriate level of detail and accuracy. The simple models have less detail, require less memory and improve animation speed for processor limited computers. What’s the checkbox for?????????

Back to face tab

 

Effects

 

 

 

In addition to performing correct lip and facial movements when animating speech, Baldi can perform other human like behaviors to enhance the interactive experience. Periodic blinking, mouth and eye movements, and eye tracking make the face more lifelike, especially when baldi is not speaking. Use the checkboxes to engage the indicated feature.

Back to face tab

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rendering

 

 

 

 

Solidness: A small number produces translucent skin. A high number produces solid skin.

Use the show options to completely remove the skin.

Sagittal section: Displays only the left half of the face

Texture Map: Select from several different photos to overlay onto Baldi face.

Target frame rate: Based on your processor’s speed, the system will attempt to animate Baldi at this frame rate. A high setting produces smooth video but will slow down other processes.

Back to face tab

Emotions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to face tab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Tab

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tabs

Each tabbed menu controls unique aspects of Baldi’s animation. Available tabs include:

Face: Adjusting Baldi’s basic appearance.

General: General default settings, window management and video driver workarounds.

 

 

 

 

Defaults

 

Select the from the available face names to determine the default face. The default face appears when opening a new RAD canvas or when no specific face is selected in a dialogue.

Back to General Tab

 

 

Display

 

Vertex Array Workaround: Select this if Baldi is missing his teeth. It is an OpenGL video driver workaround for certain video cards.

Iconify when idle: Minimize Baldi when not speaking. This removes Baldi from view.

Grab focus when active: Raises Baldi to the top of the window stack when speaking. This will place Baldi over any obstructing window that originates from RAD. Obstructions such as other Windows programs may still interfere.