Animation '@' length

[CrystalA]

Hi everyone! Sorry if this is a silly question / a rubbish explanation.
When you use @ with an animation (e.g @CHAR is think_rubchin), how long do they last in terms of ‘beats’? I have a character changing eye colours in the middle of an animation, but I don’t want the animation to last longer than it normally does if I were to just use @.
Any responses would be appreciated!!

[sirens]

Use @character starts (animation) then pause for …

[EccleSiaste_BookPage]

I’m not sure exactly, but you can just change their animation when you would’ve wanted it to stop. Also, instead of is always just use starts, trust me. It gives you more control at the end of the day… By example:

@CHAR starts think_rubchin
@pause for 0.5
@CHAR starts idle_loop

This way, you cancel the ‘think_rubchin’ animation after half a second.

[CrystalA]

Thank you for the response! This is my code:

It’s not the same length of time as if I had just typed @CHARACTER is deepbreath. I’m being picky, but I can’t seem to get it to the exact time.

I did @pause for 0.6 so his eye colour changes when his eyes shut in the animation … I don’t know if that makes sense.

[ColeCatalyst]

@CHAR starts think_rubchin and pause for 1.3
@CHAR previews eyesColor color
&CHARACTER starts idle_loop

I have tried timing out some of the animations to see how long it takes for them to ‘finish’ the animation without looking stuck in the animation. 1.3 seems to be around the timing spot as it give the character time to move through the whole hand-to-chin-then-head-tilt.

Some animations take longer than a ‘beat’ to complete so I always add “and pause for 1” then adjust by .1 increments until I get it to the exact pause length I need for x_animation_name.

[CrystalA]

Oooh, thank you so much!! I’ll give it a go.
I had no idea about the ‘previews’ code. Is it different from the changes one?

[ColeCatalyst]

A bit. It’s less a permanent change - only lasting one chapter/episode–if you were going to be switching their eye color throughout an episode, I’d just use previews - if it’s meant to be a permanent change, use changes into
(website: www.dara-amarie.com)

Dara's code list

@CHARACTER previews outfit outfit_name

@CHARACTER unpreviews outfit outfit_name

@CHARACTER changes into outfit_name

@CHARACTER changes bodyColor into Color

@CHARACTER changes eyebrows into Shape

@CHARACTER changes eyebrowsColor into Color

@CHARACTER changes hair into Hairstyle

@CHARACTER changes hairColor into Color

@CHARACTER changes eyes into Shape

@CHARACTER changes eyesColor into Color

@CHARACTER changes face into Shape

@CHARACTER changes nose into Shape

@CHARACTER changes mouth into Shape

@CHARACTER changes mouthColor into Color

@CHARACTER previews feature Color/Shape/Hairstyle

@CHARACTER unpreviews feature Color/Shape/Hairstyle

[CrystalA]

Oh my god, thank you SO much!! This works for outfits too?! That would be so much easier for flashback scenes etc. My MC changes her eye colour into Violet when she uses magic and I had to make a separate character to be able to keep her customised details. This preview and unpreview makes my life sooo much easier omg thank you <33

[ColeCatalyst]

No problem - I felt the same way when I finally discovered the command. It’s great for previewing traits/clothes for flashbacks or if you have events that you want to give the reader the option to pick their hairstyle for the event but want to change it back afterward. It’s pretty versatile

[CherryPicked]

No wait so if I let the readers choose MC’s hair and hair color and I had to change it for one scene, I can use unpreivews to make it go back to the reader’s OG choice?

[CrystalA]

I think so!

[CherryPicked]

This is magic for me.

[ColeCatalyst]

I’ve not tested it to know but I think most script templates use ‘changes into’ which is a permanent change – so using previews/unpreviews should just go back to whatever the reader chose – but to be safe, definitely do a test-read/ beta-test to make sure it don’t do anything weird in app.

A thing I’ve learned: always preview in the app. – the portal is great for setting up code etc but staring at the preview for hours and seeing it in a different medium-- in this case, seeing what the reader sees, will help you spot small errors (like frozen character or wonky zooms etc.)lol

[jar_output_error]

Changes into is permanent and lasts between episodes.
The previews command is a bit like putting an overlay overtop of your character that can easily be removed to reveal it’s permanent features.