How to have characters walk into a scene at the same time?

Creator's Corner Directing Help & Tips
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I want four characters to enter into a scene at the same time and not sure how to code to accomplish this.

This is the code I currently have but they each walk into the scene one by one which takes a while.
Can someone help and advise on how to better code this so they can all walk at the same time?

@cut to zone 1

@ARON spot 0.825 -105 262 in zone 1
@ARON moves to layer 0

@ARON walks to spot 0.825 256 260 in zone 1 in 2 AND ARON does it while walk_neutral

@JAY spot 0.855 -60 240 in zone 1
@JAY moves to layer 0

@JAY walks to spot 0.855 116 238 in zone 1 in 2 AND JAY does it while walk_neutral

@VUK spot 1.311 -110 -48 in zone 1
@VUK moves to layer 3

@VUK walks to spot 1.311 183 -47 in zone 1 in 2 AND VUK does it while walk_neutral

@NICHOLAS spot 1.280 -131 14 in zone 1
@NICHOLAS moves to layer 2

@NICHOLAS walks to spot 1.280 19 15 in zone 1 in 2 AND NICHOLAS does it while walk_talk_phone_neutral_loop
@NICHOLAS is listen_phone_happy_loop

@VUK is primp_neutral

@zoom on ARON to 300% in 1

@ARON is idle_armscrossed_neutral_loop

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&ARON spot 0.825 -105 262 in zone 1
&ARON moves to layer 0
&JAY spot 0.855 -60 240 in zone 1
&JAY moves to layer 0
&VUK spot 1.311 -110 -48 in zone 1
&VUK moves to layer 3
&NICHOLAS spot 1.280 -131 14 in zone 1
&NICHOLAS moves to layer 2

@cut to zone 1

@ARON walks to spot 0.825 256 260 in zone 1 in 2 AND ARON does it while walk_neutral and JAY walks to spot 0.855 116 238 in zone 1 in 2 AND JAY does it while walk_neutral and VUK walks to spot 1.311 183 -47 in zone 1 in 2 AND VUK does it while walk_neutral and NICHOLAS walks to spot 1.280 19 15 in zone 1 in 2 AND NICHOLAS does it while walk_talk_phone_neutral_loop

@NICHOLAS is listen_phone_happy_loop
@VUK is primp_neutral

@zoom on ARON to 300% in 1

@ARON is idle_armscrossed_neutral_loop

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Thank you, I really appreciate this! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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No problem :slight_smile:

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You can use AND/and but to keep track of everything more smoothly, I’d recommend using & for all of the characters and @ for the last time (& and @ happen at the same time)

&ARON walks to spot 0.825 256 260 in zone 1 in 2 AND ARON does it while walk_neutral
&JAY walks to spot 0.855 116 238 in zone 1 in 2 AND JAY does it while walk_neutral
&VUK walks to spot 1.311 183 -47 in zone 1 in 2 AND VUK does it while walk_neutral
@NICHOLAS walks to spot 1.280 19 15 in zone 1 in 2 AND NICHOLAS does it while walk_talk_phone_neutral_loop

Guide: HOW TO: Stage Direction - Creator’s Corner / Directing Help & Tips - Episode Forums (episodeinteractive.com)

Symbols:
Script Symbols & Commands | Dara Amarie (dara-amarie.com)

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Ok! Sorry, what do you mean by use @ for the last time?

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In this case the cut command is the @ :slight_smile:

Basically if you want things to happen simultaneously, you can arrange them like this:

&command1
&command2
&command3
@command4

If you don’t want to use the “and” command!

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Oh I see, so use the &commands and the last command use @. Got it!! This helps so much!! Thank you!!

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I mean, you’d use & for all of them walking and for the last character that walks, you’d use @

So because & happens at the same time, all of the characters will enter in 2 seconds (your example uses 2 seconds as the walking speed) and NICHOLAS, the last character to enter, will also come in 2 seconds at the same time as the other characters, but with @
meaning that no other command will play below this line of code because since you used @, it needs to play through and finish first (so Nicholas and the previous & commands would happen before the next line of code below Nicholas walking starts, thanks to the @).

If you were to use & for NICHOLAS and then say, below you wrote @NICHOLAS is talk_greet_neutral then the previous & command would be cancelled out by Nicholas’ next action which uses @.

Always important when having characters come in, using & for all above and @ for last one because & and @ happen together. Or you could use & for all characters but below, you would write something like @pause for 2 because you need to give them time to finish the action using the @ command

& has no pauses, beats while @ does in most cases (it will play through) so you don’t want the script to skip over the & command.

The guide on symbols I linked explains it in detail, the difference between & and @

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I see what you’re saying and that makes sense. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
I didn’t see the guide love, let me check again …

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Ok, I see the guide. Thank you!!

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