Known issues in Character Animator

DYNAMIC LINK COMPATIBILITY ISSUES (WINDOWS ONLY) also applies to version 23.0 and 23.1

Issue: Using Dynamic Link between different app versions can cause rendering issues in Windows.

Resolution: 

• If you use Character Animator 23.0 or 23.1, you can use Dynamic Link with other apps at version 23.0 through 23.4 or use Quick Export.
  
• If you use Ch 23.6, you can use Dynamic Link with other apps at version 23.5 or 23.6 or use Quick Export.
  
• The easiest solution is to update all apps to version 23.6 or newer.
  

Motion Library: Root positioning in “Reset at loop” and “Continuous” modes animation differs from the previous position.

Limitation: Root positioning in the “Reset at loop” and “Continuous” modes work by accumulating the difference from the previous position. Because of this, during playback, puppets can offset to an unexpected place if the timeline is clicked at random locations.

Workaround: To accurately reproduce the created animation, play the animation from the beginning sequentially. If puppets offset unexpectedly, use the “Reset Position” button. 

Exported images and videos with semi-transparency appear darker than expected.

Issue: In Character Animator 22.3, when rendering video with alpha or as a PNG sequence, the output has premultiplied color but is labeled as having straight color. This leads to darkened transparent areas and edges.

Workaround: Import the footage into After Effects or Premiere Pro, re-interpreting the imported alpha as premultiplied, or use Character Animator (Beta) 22.4, where the problem has already been fixed.

Puppet Maker: Play selections reset after non-color Customize changes

Issue: The selections in the Play section are reset when changing selections other than colors in the Customize section.

SVG files when using the Apple silicon version of Character Animator.

Issue: SVG files saved using the SVG Tiny 1.1 profile appear as color bars (missing footage) or blank when imported using the Apple silicon version of Character Animator.

Workaround: Save the SVG file using a different SVG Profile, or launch Character Animator using the Open using Rosetta option.

Scene appears with a Red tint in the program panel or in exported files from Premiere Pro 14.6

Issue: A Character Animator scene imported into a Premiere Pro 14.6 project via Dynamic Link and then opened in the Program panel appears with a red tint. The sequence exported from Premiere Pro also has this red tint. Character Animator does not need to be open for this issue to occur.

Workaround: Either switch to the software renderer (in Project Settings, set the Renderer to Mercury Playback Engine Software Only) or use the latest version of Premiere Pro (14.7 or later). If you are using Premiere Pro (Beta), make sure you also install Character Animator (Beta).

Suppose you only need to export a movie of your Character Animator scene. In that case, you can export it directly to Adobe Media Encoder or import the scene from the Character Animator project (.chproj) file instead.

Scene does not appear when using the AJA T-TAP® video device on macOS Big Sur (11.0).

Issue: On macOS Big Sur (11.0), the Character Animator scene does not appear when using the AJA T-TAP video device (in the Live Output preferences).

Workaround: Contact AJA Video Systems for additional macOS Big Sur compatibility information.

January 2020 Release (version 3.1)

Error when importing a Character Animator project's scene when Adobe Media Encoder 14.0.1 or After Effects 17.0.2 is launched first (Windows only).

Issue: If Adobe Media Encoder Version 14.0.1 or After Effects 17.0.2 is launched first, and then a Character Animator project (.chproj) file's scene is selected for import into Adobe Media Encoder, After Effects, or Premiere Pro, an Entry Point Not Found error message referencing dvascripting.dll can appear a few times.

Workaround: This message is harmless, and you can select OK to dismiss the error. To avoid getting this error message, launch Character Animator first.

November 2019 Release (version 3.0) 

Crash upon clicking OK in the preferences dialog box

Issue: Crash when clicking OK in the Preferences dialog box if you previously viewed an open scene in one workspace and switched to a workspace without the Scene panel just before you opened the Preferences dialog box. No project data or changes to application preferences are lost.

Workaround: Ensure you're in a workspace containing the Scene panel before opening the Preferences dialog box. Alternatively, upgrade to Character Animator version 3.1.

Error during import of illustrator (.ai) files

Issue:  "Error opening Illustrator file. (64)" error message appears -- if the file was saved from Illustrator 2020 (Version 24.0) in the Illustrator 2020 format (Version is set to Illustrator 2020 in the Illustrator Options dialog box).

Workaround: In Illustrator, choose File > Save As, specify the file name, and click Save. Set Version to Illustrator CC (Legacy) in the Illustrator Options dialog box. Alternatively, upgrade to Character Animator version 3.1.

Puppet Maker: Play selections might stop working after using Randomize

Issue: Replay triggers (such as the “E” trigger for the Watts style) in the Play section stop working after clicking Randomize.

Workaround: Click Refresh or switch to a different style and then back to the previous style.