Stuck at the beginning with code

Creator's Corner
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Hello everyone,

I’m still learning everything about coding and how to all put it together and I’m stuck on one thing. How do I code a character to be with another character in the same room at the same time? I mean they don’t come there, but they’ve been standing there for a long time together and then one of them walks away and they just stand there together from the beginning. Not that there is one and when you click, another one jumps in there.

Thank you for your time, I couldn’t find it anywhere on the internet :confused:

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Hey, If you’d like to PM me, I could go over a lot of this with you. I have a lot of experience with complicated code.

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I usually start with simple coding like:

INT. BACKGROUND NAME
@cut to zone 1
&CHARACTER1 stands back right and CHARACTER1 faces right and CHARACTER1 moves to layer 1 and CHARACTER1 is animation and CHARACTER2 stands back right and CHARACTER2 faces left and CHARACTER2 moves to layer 2 and CHARACTER2 is animation

→ animation you need to fill ofc with the right what they do
→ CHARACTER1 and CHARACTER2 - replace with names of your characters
→ INT. BACKGROUND NAME - your background
→ cut to zone 1/2/3 - pick the zone of the background you want to have your focus on

then, as you can see, you have 2 characters somewhere on your background, and you just need to place them by dragging them in the right spot and coping spot placement to your script, so it would be for example like: CHARACTER1 spot 0.674 372 188 in zone 1

The & sign causes them to stay in place; they will not appear at random, and they will do so simultaneously by adding AND between Character 1 and Character 2.

I close the opening scene with
@transition fade in 1
then I make a pause for animation to go as long as I want and then I add more action or dialogue :slight_smile:

so it would be like:
INT. BACKGROUND NAME
@cut to zone 1
&CHARACTER1 stands back right and CHARACTER1 faces right and CHARACTER1 moves to layer 1 and CHARACTER1 is animation and CHARACTER2 stands back right and CHARACTER2 faces left and CHARACTER2 moves to layer 2 and CHARACTER2 is animation
@transition fade in 1
@pause for 1
@CHARACTER1 is talkanimation and CHARACTER2 is animation
etc etc as your script goes

Let me know if you have other questions or I should give you more info.
You can also use Dara’s page, she has a lot of tutorials and guides: https://www.dara-amarie.com/

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You can also separate out your character/animation codes so that each character has a code line of their own— this, for new coders, makes it easier if you need to adjust one character; instead of squinting to find them in a paragraph (which trust me, it can easily be a paragraph of "and CHAR#"s lol)

Joseph Evans has a youtube playlist of great tutorials that show you the code, the portal and the preview. He also has a couple vids in there about making backgrounds and the programs he uses etc) He also runs www.episodelife.com << another good resource for new writers :slight_smile:

Dara’s site, www.dara-amarie.com, has a lot of great tips/tricks and templates. She also has a list of all code commands and examples inside each tip/trick section.

To make a character walk into a scene: spot direct them off screen (into the negative if you move left from zone 1 or to the right (which places them in zone 2). Either side, they won’t be visible. then the code:
@ OR &CHARACTER walks to spot 1.094 150 138 in zone 1 in 2

^^ The & allows whatever is under that code to happen simultaneously with the characters entrance. If that next thing is the walking character speaking, change the & to @. The system reads @ symbols as kind of a pause or stopper. Everything after the @ will happen before the system moves on.

A couple examples for visual learners like me:

example

INT. OFFICE - DAY with DESK at layer 1 with CHAIR at layer -1
&zoom reset and COLE spot 1.280 -23 150 in zone 1 and COLE moves to layer 2 and COLE faces right (here, I’ve left off “and COLE starts animation_name” because she’s off screen and faced correctly) and JILL spot 1.265 and JILL moves to layer 0 and JILL faces left and JILL starts type_sit_neutral_loop
@transition fade in black in 1
@pause for a beat
&COLE walks to spot 1.280 125 150 in zone 1 in 2 then COLE faces left and COLE starts idle_loop_rear

JILL (talk_sit_armcrossed_neutral_loop)
Hey there, Cole, how are you today?
I have a list of calls for you to return.
&JILL starts idle_sit_neutral_loop

Example 2:
INT. OFFICE - DAY with DESK at layer 1 with CHAIR at layer -1
&zoom reset and COLE spot 1.280 -23 150 in zone 1 and COLE moves to layer 2 and COLE faces rightand JILL spot 1.265 and JILL moves to layer 0 and JILL faces left and JILL starts type_sit_neutral_loop
@transition fade in black in 1
@pause for a beat
@COLE walks to spot 1.280 125 150 in zone 1 in 2

COLE (talk_handsonhips_neutral_loop)
Hey, Jill, have you seen Corina?
She should’ve been here an hour ago.
&COLE starts idle_handsonhips_neutral_loop

^^ If I had put & in my 2nd example, “COLE” would have slid to her spot doing either “handsonhips” or idle because the system reads “&” and lets the script continue to “play”. Since I put the @ symbol, “COLE” will walk to her spot then talk.

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@ColeCatalyst Thank both of you! Honestly, now that you’ve written it down, it makes my head spin. :slightly_smiling_face: :exploding_head:. I know about joseph and Dara, I already studied the videos and the site, but to use it in my script when English is not my mother tongue and so much coding and rules on them is very difficult. And also i thought, it would be better to ask directly here. I’ll try to see if it’s what I needed.
Have a nice evening♥

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6

This code is how you make a character walk into a scene, and out of a scene, depending on the spot numbers.
To have multiple people in a scene, you have to repeat the same steps: Character spot direction (the numbers when you place the character where you want them), the layer number, whether they are facing the left or right in the scene and what you want them to be doing when your scene starts. You do that for every character.

@ is read like a pause by the system, meaning that anything on that line (i.e.: @.CHARACTER walks to spot 1.280 340 130 in zone 2 THEN CHARACTER starts idle_shiftweight_neutral_loop) the scene preview will not progress until “character” walks then does the animation. If I put &CHARACTER instead of @, the system will do that line of code while letting the next bit of code play through to the next dialogue or pause.

All scenes have 4 basics at the start: Your background name, overlays, characters, zooms. How you choose to separate these out is up to you. Some people prefer using “and” to save space, others find it easier to give everyone their own line. Do what works best for you. Just try to remember the rule about the @ and & symbols.

This will place both characters on scene at the same time at the start of the scene. One will be shifting weight from one foot to the other and the other will be crossed arms. Obviously pick your own facing/animation/layer based off your own scene.

Copy/paste then use the “spot direction” helper tool to size and place your characters where you want them. Once you have them where you want them, Copy the @NAME spot # # # in zone # that shows under the previewer and replace CHAR1 stands screen left / CHAR2 stands screen center.

INT. BACKGROUND NAME HERE - DAY (REPLACE THIS WITH YOUR OWN BG NAME)
&zoom reset (REPLACE WITH YOUR ZOOM #s
&CHAR1 stands screen left and CHAR1 faces right and CHAR1 moves to layer 0 and CHAR1 starts idle_shiftweight_neutral_loop
&CHAR2 stands screen center and CHAR2 faces left and CHAR2 moves to layer 0 and CHAR2 starts idle_armscrossed_neutral_loop
@transition fade in black in 1

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