SlideCast Studio v3.3 SYNC Update (3 Character Asset Methods, ZIP/Folder Loading, Speech Bubble Tracking)

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Hello.
I have updated SlideCast Studio to v3.3 "SYNC".

This time, almost everything is related to Character Settings. I have slightly redesigned how character icons are registered and how they move.

If you are not using the character features, you can skip this update.

❶ "Icon Images" have become "Character Assets"

Previously, images that could be registered to a character were essentially treated as a single group.

In reality, various types of icon assets could already be uploaded, but it felt like that wasn't communicated well, so I have organized it to be easier to understand.

In v3.3, it is divided into 3 methods, allowing you to choose according to your purpose.

■ Registration Order
What to register: Multiple still images
How it moves: Switches in the order registered while speaking
→ Can be used with just one image. The easiest method.

■ Animated Image
What to register: One file of GIF / Animated WebP / APNG
How it moves: The animation loops while speaking
→ For those who already have animation assets
※ Can be generated with the Gemini Canvas app explained later

■ Audio Sync
What to register: 6 still images (fixed number)
How it moves: The mouth moves according to the volume of the narration
→ The most natural. The highlight of this update
※ Can be generated with the Gemini Canvas app explained later

These three tabs are lined up at the top of the settings screen, and you can switch between them by clicking.

❷ Switching methods does not delete previous assets

This is a subtly important point.

Assets for the 3 methods are saved separately.

"Registered 3 images in order" → "Try Audio Sync" → "Go back to Registration Order"

In this case, the original 3 images remain as they are. You can try things out and go back easily.

❸ You can read how to use it on the spot with the "?" button

I added a small "?" button to the right of the 3-method tabs.

Clicking this will only open the explanation for the currently selected method below. You won't be forced to read all the explanations at once, so you only need to open it when you're unsure.

❹ Importing assets has become much easier

We have increased the registration methods. You can use any of them.

• Select multiple files (as before)

• Select by folder ← New

• Drag & Drop (works for both files and folders) ← Enhanced

• ZIP file ← New

ZIP files can be used for "Registration Order" and "Audio Sync" (not used for single-file animation). The contents of the ZIP are loaded in alphabetical order, so if you number them like 01.png to 06.png, they will be imported in that exact order.

Just in case, we have also set limits: up to 50MB for the ZIP file itself / up to 200 images / up to 100MB total after extraction. If these are exceeded, a message will appear and the process will stop.

❺ You can reorder by "dragging"

Registered images are displayed as cards. You can now drag the cards directly to change their order.

While dragging, a pink vertical line will appear at the insertion point.

The traditional "←/→" arrow buttons are still available, so please use them if you want to move items one by one precisely or if you are in an environment where dragging is difficult.

❻ About "Audio Sync" (6-frame lip-sync)

This is the highlight of this update. It switches between 6 still images according to the volume of the narration.

The roles for the 6 images are fixed, and their names are displayed on the cards.

1. Eyes Open, Mouth Closed (Idle)

2. Eyes Open, Mouth Half-Open

3. Eyes Open, Mouth Open

4. Eyes Closed, Mouth Closed

5. Eyes closed, mouth half-open

6. Eyes closed, mouth open

Please insert them in this order. When loading from a ZIP file, it is safest to name the files 01 through 06 so they are in this order.

You can replace them one by one

If you feel that "only the 4th image is not quite right," you can replace just that one image using the "Replace" button that appears when you hover your mouse over the image. There is no need to redo everything.

Lip-sync interval is recommended to be set to "Auto"

The speed at which the mouth moves is set to "Auto" by default. For each line of dialogue, it estimates the speaking speed based on the audio length and the amount of subtitle text to match it.

Try it with the automatic setting first, and only if you feel it doesn't match, switch to "Manual" and adjust it with the slider.

❼ When you move the character, the speech bubble follows

Previously, when you moved the horizontal position of the character icon, only the speech bubble would be left behind. Every time you changed the position, you had to manually realign the speech bubble.

From v3.3 onwards, when you move the horizontal position of the icon, the speech bubble moves along with it by the same amount.

Since the interval (relative positional relationship) between the icon and the speech bubble is maintained, once you have arranged them nicely, you can move the whole thing together. Of course, you can still adjust the speech bubble individually as before.

❽ Connected to the Gemini Canvas app for asset creation, "MouthLoop"

"How am I supposed to prepare 6 lip-sync images?"

……Since that is a common question, I have prepared a separate app for creating assets.

MouthLoop is a standalone app that runs on Google Gemini Canvas. It automatically creates lip-sync assets from a single image.

• 6 PNGs (ZIP) → Can be inserted directly into SlideCast Studio's "Audio Sync"

• Animated WebP → Can be inserted directly into "Animated Image"

A link that says "Create assets with MouthLoop" is embedded in the SlideCast Studio character settings screen, so you can open it directly from there. Just download the created assets and drag them in.

For information on how to use MouthLoop itself (how to generate images, cropping, precautions, etc.), please refer to the following article.

How to update

If you have already purchased SlideCast Studio, please copy v3.3 from the same paid note shared link you have been using.

If you want to carry over existing projects, libraries, and settings, you can use either of the following methods.

1. Export the backup JSON in your current environment and restore it in v3.3

2. Replace "Untitled.html" and "AppBundle.html" in your existing GAS project with the contents of v3.3 and redeploy

For more details on method 2, please see below.

If you are using the local HTML version, please download "SlideCast Studio v3.3 [Local Version].html" and double-click to open it.

If your previous projects do not appear in the new environment, please restore them from the backup JSON.

Conclusion

This update should be useful for the following people:

• Those who make videos where characters speak and want to make the mouth movements more natural

• Those who have many character images and found it tedious to register them one by one

• Those who found it annoying to have to fix speech bubbles every time they changed a character's position

I intended to create a tiered approach where "registration order" is sufficient for practical use, and you can move on to "audio synchronization" if you want to be more particular. I have made it so that it works with just two images, so you don't have to prepare six right away.

And the hidden theme of this update was to offload the effort of preparing those six images to a separate app. While increasing the number of tools is generally not ideal, I decided that since "creating images" and "assembling videos" require different mindsets, separating them would be faster in the end.

If you find any bugs or points that are difficult to understand, it would be helpful if you could let me know in the comments. Thank you as always.

If you like SlideCast Studio, please spread the word!