[BETA] Babble Buds- A Virtual Puppet Show Program

Cloud · January 2018

I'm not sure if this was already made, but if not, someone should totally make a tutorial on creating a puppet for this software generously made by thepaperpilot

would be helpful for me and others I'm sure.

JackOfTheFlames · January 2018

@Cloud I made one last year

. I am not directly drawing in there, but I am showing how I lay out for my assets, make them, and put together the puppets.

Cloud · January 2018

Ah thanks man. Gonna bookmark it for later.

thepaperpilot · February 2018

Small update, with some bug fixes and updated electron and babble.js.

The bug fixes, specifically, were:
- Side panel disappearing in "editor" view
- When creating a new asset list, the old asset list's assets stayed on screen
- Program would fail silently when trying to add an asset when there weren't any asset lists to add them to
- Fixed some?? issues with thumbnails not appearing (I swear this is my most recurring problem ;_;)

- Fixed zoom levels just, like, always being either too big or too small (they also respect your project's Puppet Scale settings now)

You can download it here. As a reminder, most of you are going to want the 64-bit Windows build, which is the one that ends with "win32-x64".

I mentioned before that I wouldn't be coming out with a major update for awhile because I have some other projects to work on, and also that one of them was related to Babble Buds - Babble Movie Maker. Its not ready to be released yet, but here's some screenshots.

That last one is of the user dragging a puppet from the puppet drawer into a puppet slot in the inspector. (inb4 Unity did it first)

This program can be used to make gifs of your puppets moving around on the stage, or, using babble.js (or babble.cs, which is a version written in C# for use with Unity, which I'll be publishing onto the Unity Asset Store - for free, ofc - alongside the release of Babble Movie Maker), you can add cutscenes to your game. As shown in the second screenshot, you can even add in any custom commands you've implemented in your game - for example, you can add a command to start a combat, or to give the player some gold, or to play a sound effect. tbh I don't know how many game devs there are in the URealms fan base, but wouldn't it be cool to start seeing fan games with puppet pals-esque cutscenes? I know I'd love to play it!

MasterDJV · February 2018

@thepaperpilot I don't know about cutscenes, but I know I've been excited for a while to host a game or 2 using Babble Buds (I've played a few using it), just been stuck with school and planning the campaign. Awesome job you've done here! I can't tell if it's been accounted for yet, but it seems that (at least as of the last update) every time you enabled an emotion, the program sent you back to the default screen, so you had to keep clicking the menu button for every emotion.

Great job though, absolutely fantastic what you're doing!

CaptainThorn · February 2018

@thepaperpilot this program is great! Can you recommend a size for each body part, and I also can't seem to get OBS to record the screen. (I've had this problem before) It will capture my mouse, however nothing else it picked up. I've tried launching OBS and Babblebuds in Administrator, still nothing. Good luck with the Movie Maker!

thepaperpilot · February 2018

The program can handle any sized images, and you can use the "puppet scale" value in the project settings if you want your puppets bigger or smaller. There is also a new feature in the currently available release - the initial zoom level in your editor is also based on the puppet scale value. All that said, a good reference point would be that Marionette Mates was based around puppets that were 400px by 400px (although they tended to never actually be that wide), and the Gravy's sample puppet was made with the same dimensions.

I haven't used OBS in a long time, and I've never used it more than say 5 times, so I'm not sure how to help. Running Babble Buds as an administrator should never be necessary.

And thanks! Progress has been phenomenal, I can't wait to show off all I've done at the end of the semester!

thepaperpilot · February 2018

Another bug fix release!

Changelog:

Fixed deleted puppets not being removed from puppet list
Changed enabling emotes so that it doesn't close emotes panel
Fixed zoom get totally broken when I "improved" it in the last release >.>
Snapping to grid is now relative to zoom level
Fixed error when attempting to connect to server via the button in project settings

Download it here!

Cloud · February 2018

Will you be releasing more puppets, or do you know if any community members have released some of their own to use in this client?

CongenialVirus · February 2018

@Cloud
Not to answer your question definitively, But, I'm working on an asset bundle for the community. I'm only doing it in my spare time, but eventually, I'd like to have a fleshed out puppet or two released. As well as a written guide on how I "cheat" them into looking okay. It's slow going, but I'll probably have something to share with others in late spring or early summer.*

*Don't ever hold me to anything I ever say

ButtSmacko · February 2018

will it be able to work with ios?

thepaperpilot · February 2018

@Cloud A couple projects I've worked on have involved making puppets, and I plan on releasing all of them, pending the original creators' consent, along with the 1.0 release. To my knowledge, the Gravy puppet is the only one that's been released for anyone to use at the moment. Along with the 1.0 release, I hope to have a gallery where people can share puppets they've made with the community. That said, 1.0 is definitely months away, maybe even a year.

@ButtSmacko I don't own an apple device, so I can't even sign the versions for OS X, and I have no idea if Mac users can even install unsigned apps. I also am pretty sure mac apps and ios apps are separate things, and if that's the case then unfortunately I can't make an iOS build because the tool I'm using to make it work across operating systems (electron) doesn't support it.

JackOfTheFlames · February 2018

I made a new tutorial for Babble Buds, both how to draw a puppet and assemble it... While the puppet I made in the end didn't look great, the video should still help newbies and those that are curious out^^

kylemoores · May 2018

I have a small question about the project. Older versions seemed to have a tick box, that allowed the pop out screen to turn transparent. In the most recent version, I haven't seen this box. Plus the pop out screen is just green, and the puppets don't even appear.
Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable when it comes to programming. I do not know if this is an issue relating to the myself, the software, or something I'm just not understanding. It could be intentional, but it might not be.
Just thought I'd message to get an answer as I wish to be able to use this live, and my research into this problem didn't turn anything up.
Great software though, hope you can continue the good work.

thepaperpilot · May 2018

That tick box never really worked, so I removed it. If I can get it to work I'll put it back in. The puppets should be appearing, though. I'll take a look to see if I can reproduce the issue, and if so fix it. In the meantime... if you have a multiple monitor setup, you could record a part of the screen instead of choosing a window. Then you can set the layout to "stage" (in the view menu) to get the stage as large as possible.

JackOfTheFlames · May 2018

When I used it in streamsI've just changed the background color to get the greenscreen effect, which have worked fairly well(A bit of positioning syncing being weird at times, but happens).
As for using it just for a non-streamed group, you cannot really get it to look like in the show atm. you will have to jump between using babble buds and tabletop. That is at least my observation

Charzard4261 · June 2018

What tools did you use to compile it? I'd like to alter something for a friend, but I can't figure out how to install some of the modules you have as electron just complains i'm missing some.

thepaperpilot · June 2018

@Charzard4261 To compile from source you'll need to have npm installed - instructions vary depending on your operating system, but there's plenty of guides out there. Then just navigate into the 'client' folder and run `npm install` to install all the dependencies, and `npm start` to run the program.

Edit: also you can actually edit the program using the zip file you download. The Babble Buds code is actually in the `resources/app` folder. This will not require running any commands or installing npm, but is really only practical for making small changes.

It's not a requirement, but something to consider is "forking" the project on github so other people can see your changes, and you can even request your changes to be merged with the official version.

NeatoBurrito · August 2018

hey man, I love this program and I've spent all weekend making puppets for it! I really want to use it with friends but i cant connect to the default server and i don't know how to host my own. I'd love some help on this

thepaperpilot · August 2018

Sorry about that, server needed a quick kick. You should be all set again. (and I went ahead and told the server to kick itself whenever it needs to)

NeatoBurrito · August 2018

awesome! thanks man!

kylemoores · October 2018

Is it possible to get Babble Buds working in OBS Studio? I don't really have a multiple monitor set-up, simply because I don't have the room for one. OBS Studio however has allowed me to record different windows on different layers, which is handy for things like external stamina bars. However, every time I try to get Babble Buds to appear using the window capture, it just shows a black screen.
I would try to get this working myself, but I don't have a clue on how coding works, Or how the compatibility between different software work.
If there isn't a way to make it work, I ask if you can recommend a recording software that does. Babble Buds really brings to life a tabletop game, that goes on for hours. I would hate not being able to use it.
P.S.
I know a comment already mentioned this, I was just wondering if the situation has had any changes since then. Or if someone could recommend an alternative software.
Again, keep up the good work.

JackOfTheFlames · December 2018

I been running into two problems lately. First of, copy/pasting assets will sometimes cause the pasted asset to not be able to move at all, until then randomly be completly interactable with again.
And while I am not sure it is a correlation more than timing, I have have several project getting stuck on the "Loading puppets..." phase and not going beyond that. This happens not only when i copy files of a project into a fresh one, but also from an entirely fresh project. I can move the first puppet loaded around..
While I was writing this, I realized I can still use my puppets if I reselect them to the numbered slots, but I cannot use the the puppet editor to any capacity.

Godbrothers · February 2019

Hey I been having a problem with connecting every time I try to connect to the server babblebuds.xyz it says reconnecting then disconnected, I thought it was just me but my whole group has been having this problem. I appreciate any help Thanks!

IonPickaxe · March 2019

I've been messing with this for the last few days and I LOVE it! @thepaperpilot you're a god/dess for making this; I've made a few puppets already that are just amazing. Thank you for this and I can't wait to see what it'll be outside the Beta.

Cloud · March 2019

So is there a public library chalk full of assets created by the community out and about for use? I haven't kept up with the project.

IonPickaxe · March 2019

I don't know about anyone else here but I have a .zip file full of the assets I've made. I used the advice of 400px by 400px to have a good size for the torsos, heads, etc. Where would you prefer I upload the .zip?
@cloud

Cloud · March 2019

@IonPickaxe Oh nice! If you're willing to share I'd love that. Anywhere would be fine tbh. Whatever works for you.

IonPickaxe · March 2019

https://drive.google.com/open?id=15bwjKFtBFokvzHnVgQh6CPqFHw2CzAZk

I think that should work. I've made up 3 ear styles, a main set of eyebrows (plush bushy ones!), 18 eye styles, 19 facial hair styles, 20 hair styles, 40~ items/hats, 9 heads, 32 mouths, 10 noses, and 36 torsos.

Some have gold coloring which looks ($$$LIT$$$) and I threw in the outline just in case you needed it. Enjoy @cloud!

Cloud · March 2019

@IonPickaxe Thank you! I wish we had a thread or something with hauls of great assets like these, so everyone could be downloading and creating a bunch of assets to use in their campaigns.

[BETA] Babble Buds- A Virtual Puppet Show Program

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