The Field Notes have a narrator: a warm, nostalgic voice that tells each episode. On October 6 she got a body, and then a name: GlazyArray. I wanted the play button to stop being just a play button: a little robot rising out of the Listen bar, her head above it, her hands on a desk inside it, talking when the episode talks.
Parts and layers
Claude wrote the prompts and I rendered the parts: a torso at a desk on a green screen, with four loops of the hands, and a head as still images. The torso is video, keyed onto the bar's own teal. The first key took the glowing cyan tubes out with the green, so it got a narrower key that keeps them. The head is layers: the head itself, the jaw, and the closed eyelids. The jaw slides open with how loud the voice is at that moment, measured from the episode as it plays, and she blinks every few seconds.
One file, no gaps
The first version had a flaw I could see straight away: each move was its own video file, and switching files blanked the torso for a moment. Now all of it is one file in eight parts, and every part starts and ends in the same rest pose. She only ever jumps inside that one file, which keeps the picture on screen. Each gesture has a backwards copy, so she can stop part way through one and come back. When the voice stops, she heads for whichever rest pose is closer.
Cheeky by design
Then she got cheeky. Before anyone presses play, she taps her fingers, and every round or two she drops a hint toward the Play button: a "psst, over there", a "boop, boop" and a thumbs up, a little wave. Her head turns toward the button, she winks, and the bulb on her antenna glows.
Her face, her looks
The first head was a boy's, and the voice is a woman's, so I asked for hers: rose-gold brass, finger waves into curls, lashes on her eyelids, a clip with a cyan gem, and a flower bud for a bulb. Her talking and blinking carried straight over.
Then I wanted her to have fun with her hair. Claude made a template, a mask and a contact sheet that show what can change and what has to stay, and I made fourteen looks: six hair styles, an 80s perm among them, and eight holidays. Her eyes, jaw and neck always come from the original, so she still talks and blinks under a witch hat. She wears whichever holiday is coming up next. Click her head and she changes on the spot, with a little shake, and the pick stays in the link.
Her eyes, jaw and neck always come from the original, so she still talks and blinks under a witch hat.
Then her eyes. The glowing cyan lenses felt cold, so I asked for warmer ones: Lake Tahoe blue, with small pupils and two catchlights, under her brass lids and lashes. They glance toward the Play button when she hints.
A name
Her name came last: GlazyArray, for the glaze of the glowing glass tubes in her chest, her glossy brass and her glassy blue eyes, and the array of looks she swaps at a click. Her hair switcher is her Style Array, and the Listen bars now say "Narrated by GlazyArray". New looks are made in the Workshop, and she has her own card in the Parts Catalog.
What I learned: a character is mostly the little things done carefully: the rest pose that lets the clips meet, the wink at the right second. And she should look like the voice she's speaking with.
How it's built
- Render the parts
Claude wrote the prompts; Christian rendered a torso at a desk on a green screen, with loops of the hands, and the head as still images.
- Key the green
The torso video is keyed onto the bar's own teal. The first key took the glowing cyan tubes out too, so a narrower key keeps them.
- Layer the head
Three layers: the head itself, the jaw and the closed eyelids. The jaw opens with the loudness of the voice, measured from the episode as it plays via Web Audio, and she blinks every few seconds.
- One file, eight parts
Separate clips blanked the torso when switching, so every move became one file. Each part starts and ends in the same rest pose, each gesture has a backwards copy, and when the voice stops she heads for the closer rest pose.
- Hints to press play
Before play, she taps her fingers and drops a hint toward the Play button: psst, over there; boop, boop and a thumbs up; a little wave. Her head turns, she winks, the bulb glows.
- Her own head
The first head was a boy's and the voice is a woman's, so she got hers: rose-gold brass, finger waves into curls, lashes, a clip with a cyan gem and a flower bud for a bulb.
- The look kit
A template, a mask and a contact sheet set what can change and what has to stay. Her eyes, jaw and neck always come from the original, so she talks and blinks in every look. Click her head and she changes with a little shake.
- Warmer eyes
The cyan lenses felt cold, so they became Lake Tahoe blue with small pupils and two catchlights, glancing toward Play when she hints.
Build log
A warm woman narrator replaces the earlier voice, which Helena didn't like
Torso clips and head stills rendered from Claude's prompts; the counting clip is dropped
Green screen keyed onto the teal, keeping the cyan tubes; head cut into base, jaw and eyelid layers; jaw driven by loudness; blinks
Fixes: head seated on the collar, a colour line from untagged video, all moves in one file with backwards copies, desk across the bar, robot visible from load
Christian's idle hints to press play: point, boop-boop and thumbs up, wave; head turns, winks, bulb glows
A new head, because the robot looked male and the voice is female
Look kit, Workshop tool and Catalog Characters card; fourteen looks: six hair styles, eight holidays
Her name: GlazyArray, with a Style Array for her hair