Magic Control System

TM
Hands-Free Magic Control System

Making your own

MagicTrax & MotorMouth

FIRST…

1) Download the software “Audacity”

2) Download the mp3 converter and install.

2) Open Audacity and go to your Preferences on the Edit menu.

a) Audio I/O tab: choose your playback and recording device, either your computer audio card or an external audio interface. Channels: 2 stereo.

b) Quality tab: Default Sample rate: 44100Hz, 16bit sample format

c) Export format: WAV 16 bit PCM

d) Leave other tabs in default or customize to your liking, then save settings.

3) Familiarize yourself with the program. Read the help section and the website itself has tutorials:

CREATE YOUR OWN Motor-Mouth TM RECORDINGS.

MOTOR-MOUTH DEFINED: Motor-Mouth is a mode in MAGIC and VENT systems where recorded audio will cause the mouth of the puppet to move automatically without any programming of the movements. In the MAGIC System there is a Motor-Mouth switch on the front of the big transmitter. You flip it up to activate it, then play any Mp3 with audio on it, into the system. The audio on the left channel will cause the mouth to move. This is perfect for voice only stereo recordings. The audio on the left side will trigger the motor-mouth, and the audio on the right side will be what your audience hears when you attach the cable to your PA amplifier.

Auto-Alive will activate the rest of the characters movements (as defined by the Auto-Alive file you have selected in the set up menu. Auto-Alive files are made by Axtell and are stored on the SD Card. Whenever there is no “servo data” on the left mp3 channel, Auto-Alive will move the body servos, while Motor-Mouth only affects the mouth.

Just to clarify….our MagicTrax will NOT work as Motor-Mouth tracks because there is SERVO DATA on the left channel. Motor-Mouth will only respond correctly to audio. In addition, Auto-Alive will only activate when the system reads “no servo data” on the left channel. This is why auto-alive will always work when you use an audio only recording. It’s the perfect complement to a simple audio only recording where you want the audio to trigger Motor-Mouth to move the puppet’s mouth.

The VENT system Motor-Mouth operates the same way but without a Motor-Mouth switch, and without the wireless Transmitter. You would directly wire a CD, Microphone, Mp3 player as an audio source into the input jack. This will cause Motor-Mouth to move the VENT puppet’s mouth while Auto-Alive will operate the body.

There are several ways to create the MotorMouth recordings, depending on the quality and complexity of your recording.

BASIC Motor-Mouth TM RECORDING PROCEDURE

Simply use the mic on the Zen player and record directly into the Zen.

From the main menu on the Zen, move the joystick and scroll down to “Extras”, press the joystick. Scroll down to “microphone” and press the joystick. The meter on the right tells you how strong your voice is. Do not go into the red or you will distort. Press the record button on the right side of the Zen and begin your lines. When finished, press the record button again to stop the recording. Your clip defaults with the title “MIC (date)”. You can rename the file through your computer Zen software and place it in a playlist.

BETTER QUALITY Motor-Mouth TM

To create a track by recording your voice through the computer:

1) Attach your microphone to your recording device (set in Preferences, either in to the computer “mic in” or your external audio device).

2) Open Audacity. In the top right meter (showing L and R input levels, click anywhere in the meter. You will see a red level indicator. Speak into your mic and make sure your levels are not too weak or too strong (see Help menu).

3) When you are ready to record, press the red record button and a track will appear and you can begin your recording. You will see an audio wave forming as you record. When you are finished recording, press the square “Stop” button.

4) Using the tools in the menus and boxes, edit your recording, cutting out the mistakes or adding spaces. Save your work often.

5) Once your are satisfied with your editing, highlight your entire timeline

and select “Normalize” from the Effect menu. Your file is ready to export.

6) From your File menu, select “Export as MP3” (you must have the converter downloaded into your computer). Your MP3 is now ready to play as a Motor Mouth file in your Zen. Simply import the file via the Zen software. Don’t forget to backup your files!

ADD MUSIC AND SOUND FX

If you want to edit music or other pre-recorded tracks, under Project menu select Import, navigate to your desired file and select. A stereo timeline will be created with your audio waveform. (You can use the various tools in the upper left quadrant to change your timeline by cutting, deleting data, etc. There is also a Help section to give you details).

You must put your mouth movementaudio (vocals, speaking) on the LEFT channel only. All music and fx and the voice also go on the right Channel only. Therefore, for background music or sfx tracks (any audio you don’t want the character’s mouth to move to), move the L-R slider to the R. This will pan all the audio on that track to the right and not affect the mouth movement of the puppet. You can create several tracks of non-puppet speaking sounds you want, and as long as you pan these tracks to the right, the puppet will not move its mouth.

Now, you can listen to these tracks as you record your voice (Use headphones so the other tracks are not heard on your vocal track- no audio over your speakers).

Follow the above instructions recording your voice through the computer. A stereo file of your voice will be created. We want to leave this file “stereo” so that your voice is on both L and R channels. In the Zen, the voice will trigger the MotorMouth channel on the Left and the voice will play as well on the Right channel along with the music out to your sound system.

Don’t forget to mix the level of your “voice” to the rest of the background tracks so you are balanced (use the volume slider in each track box).

Once you are happy with the sound of your mix, under File select the “Export as MP3” and all your tracks will be mixed down to a stereo MP3 file, panned properly. Open your Audacity software and add your new file to your playlist. Don’t forget to backup!

IF YOU PURCHASED THE PROGRAMMING UPGRADE OPTION, YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN MagicTrax TM RECORDINGS.

1) Create an audio track of your voice and music or background effects. Pan all tracks to the Right side (All audio must be on one channel).

2) With the provided cabling, come out of your computer’s “line out” and connect to the red lead. Come out of your transmitter into the white lead. Plug the remaining lead into the Zen line in. Make sure all the connections are correct (See diagram).

(diagram)

3) On the Zen main menu, scroll down to “Extras” and press the joystick. Next, scroll down to “Line-in Recording”. Test your audio by playing and watching the meters. Do not go into the red or distortion will occur. Turn down your signal source if you are too loud.

4) Press and hold the back arrow and select “record”. Start your audio tracks and while they are playing, move the joysticks on the controller to animate your puppet and “mouth” the dialog. Press the record button to stop the recording. You can either delete this file if you don’t like your moves, or save it and add it to your Zen via the computer Zen software. The file is named “live-recording + date”, so you can rename it in the Zen software and export it to your Zen for your show.

Hands-Free Puppets, Motor-Mouth, MagicTrax, Auto-Alive and the configuration of the puppet characters are trademarks and copyrights of Axtell Expressions, Inc. All rights reserved. 2007 Axtell Expressions, Inc.