HOW TO: Use Thought Bubbles + Have Characters talk while doing an animation

Welcome! This is a very simple tutorial ^^

This will be starring @FlowerGriefer aka Brandi :tulip: and two other victims-I mean people :sweat_smile:

Let’s begin!

Talking while doing an animation (shows up as a speechbubble):

Code:

CHAR (animation)
Dialogue.

*replace CHAR with your character’s name, replace animation with one that exists and replace dialogue with what you want the character to say.

Example:

BRANDI (talk_deny_neutral)
No way, I will never lose a war.

Another example:

KITTY (talk_repulsed)
I don’t want to be a vampire.

Thought Bubble:

Code:

CHAR (animation)
(Thought goes here.)

For thoughts, you need to place () around the sentence(s).

Example:

BRANDI (think_rubchin)
(Should I enter this haunted house or not?)

Another example:

KITTY (think)
(Toys are for babies.)

Using NARRATOR (or NARR for short):

Example:

NARR
Once upon a time…

Using NARRATOR/NARR + the script name of the character:

Example:

NARR (BRANDI)
I’m a vampire queen, dudes.

*If you go to your library (which is located on the right side of your script in Writer’s Portal) you will see Animations by character. Check that out to see which animations exist and can be used (under the character). You can also type in key words to filter for specific animations. Also note that some animations are only available for females while others are only available for males.

When you use a looping animation:

Example:

BRANDI (talk_phone_neutral_loop)
Hello.
&BRANDI is listen_phone_neutral_loop
NARR (BUFF GUY)
Hey, I heard you like tulips.

Explaining using a looping animation:

When you use a looping animation, the character will keep doing it. To make them stop you need to make them do another animation. In the looping animation example above, if you don’t type Brandi doing another animation, like listening on the phone, she’ll keep talking. It’ll seem like she’s talking over Buff Guy and even though Buff Guy is just an episode character, we know he’ll lose it (it’s a good thing Brandi is a vampire :smiling_imp:) So, just to repeat, when you have a character doing a looping animation, you’ll need to make them do another animation to stop the action of the continuous looping animation.

Having a character do an animation while another one speaks:

Example:

&JEM is listen
BRANDI (talk_angry)
Let’s bite every single human in this room!

OR

@JEM starts listen
BRANDI (talk_angry)
Let’s bite every single human in this room!

This is because:
&JEM is listen = @JEM starts listen
when it comes to animations

Having a character do two animations while they speak:

Example:

&BRANDI is talk_excited_happy THEN BRANDI is talk_repulsed

BRANDI
I like vegetables…not!

While we can’t time how long animations will last, you can do this, switching to another animation after a specific number of seconds:

Example:
&CHAR is animation
@pause for S
@CHAR starts second_animation

Example:

&BRANDI is scream
@pause for 0.5
@BRANDI starts eyeroll

One last thing!

What if you get the error “You can’t have one character immediately follow another”? What to do:

In your script, you might spot something like this (example):

BRANDI
I LOVE VAMPIRES

When you write dialogue in all capitals like I LOVE VAMPIRES the script confuses this for a character.

Solution:
Either put it in lowercase like this:

BRANDI
I love vampires

OR add punctuation to it like a period or an exclaimation mark, so:

BRANDI
I LOVE VAMPIRES!

Anyways, that’s all for this tutorial, thanks for checking it out! :hibiscus:

Other threads/bonuses to check out:

You can read more about speechbubbles here: 💭 HOW TO: Spot direct Speech Bubble
Simple choices here: HOW TO: Simple Choices
Script commands here: https://www.dara-amarie.com/script-symbols-commands
Pausing a scene here: HOW TO: Pause A Scene
Other resources to check out:

  1. "List" of Helpful Threads
  2. Beginner Coding with Neptune 🌿

Getting the end of an animation: HOW TO: Get The End of An Animation
You can also check out my ig warrior.gem for more tutorials ^^

Have a great day/night :blob_sun: :fish: :cherry_blossom:

16 Likes

Best HOW TO ever! :joy: I love you so much @JemU776 you just made my day :heart: :tulip:

2 Likes

i love you so much too :heart_eyes: :kissing_heart: :blob_hearts:

2 Likes

Bookmarking. :heart:

1 Like

your HOW TO’s are so helpful! also thank you for linking my topic. :revolving_hearts::pleading_face:

2 Likes

Bump :disco:

Bump :right_anger_bubble:

Thank you for this, especially the ‘timing two animations’ hack. Makes bumps and falls look more natural

1 Like

Bump :unicorn:

Bump :gem: :heart:

Bump :heart: :blob_sun:

Bump :sparkling_heart:

1 Like

Bump <3

1 Like

Bump :chef:

1 Like

Bump :four_leaf_clover:

Bump :gift_heart:

1 Like

Bump

Bump :musical_score:

Bump :thinking:

Bump <3