Exclusive Developer Interview With Reallusion – Crazy Talk App
We’re currently reviewing this app and it’s such fun, we’ve already posted a preliminary video to our Facebook wall and many people are eagerly trying it out. As well as that we thought we’d find out a little more of the background of this app, how it came to be developed, the design, the marketplace and lots more. Don’t miss this exclusive interview with the developer, John C Martin, II
VP Product Marketing of Reallusion.
CrazyTalk is a free iOS app that you can download here – it does have in app purchases. The full edition of the desktop version retails for $112.40 and you can purchase that here.
How was your app conceived and what were your thoughts about how it would appeal in the marketplace, currently?
CrazyTalk brings a decade of facial animation technology development to the iPhone and iPad. The mobile app brings the best of our CrazyTalk desktop software now in it’s 7th version. CrazyTalk for iOS is designed for fun animation that is interactive, shareable and aimed for users, pranksters and kids of all ages. CrazyTalk app marks the beginning of a multi-platform animation ecosystem that allows users to create content on their desktops, upload to a cloud server, to later animate and share on their iDevices; making CrazyTalk one of the best paired applications today.
Can you tell us more about the design and how you came to choose the colors and themes used?
CrazyTalk is designed to match the existing desktop OSX version, CrazyTalk7. The iconography and color scheme are simplified for visual focus on your character and ease of find/use.
Who do you see as the main target market for this app in terms of age, genre and expenditure?
CrazyTalk is popular for many age ranges for various types of animation creativity. Students and Adults alike are users of CrazyTalk software for entertainment and serious applications. In the classroom students are creating talking historical figures and using their own illustrations to become talking science project. Pros, like the animators at Jimmy Kimmel Live are using CrazyTalk in the studio for instant comedy. The tools behind both are inside the CrazyTalk App giving anyone a chance to be an animator. The CrazyTalk app for iOS brings the animation anywhere and is FREE from the App Store. In-app purchases can enable premium content and tools.
How long did Crazy Talk take from the original planning to the production process?
It took around one and half years for the production, and we are still keeping updates. We did a lot of research to position the app and polish the features that we would like to present to consumers. In order to provide consumers the most natural and vivid facial animation, we put a lot of effort in integrating our Auto Motion technology and intuitive UI design into iDevice usage . This allows consumer to animate with their own voice, touch and movements.
How do you predict sales to be, is there a good solid market for this style of app?
Reallusion carried out much research into the app market prior to the app launch. Our customers have been asking for a CT app. We are embracing the app market with launch of CT app. Downloads have been in line with expectations and Reallusion are pleased with the customer feedback.
Image above taken from desktop version
What have you learnt from the App Store?
The App Store provides a great platform for developers, but only apps with creative and practical ideas can stand above the rest. This is always a healthy challenge for our developers and app designers, as we are always dedicated to providing apps with quality and value-added service.
Image above taken from desktop version
Have Apple supported you well with your App Development?
Apple provides a good support portal for developers. The developer program and our relations manager updates allows us to better know the features we should focus on including with the app release to be most helpful in consideration for possible opportunities to showcase our apps.
Image above taken from desktop version
What next? Are you developing another app? Would you go for the same genre again and if not, which would you choose?
Well the CrazyTalk app is not just an app. It’s a new way to enhance media communication and social interaction. The CrazyTalk app aims at being one of the most intuitive, simple, yet powerful companion in anyone’s pocket; delivering fun, form, functionality and fantastic life-life results every time. We will have future updates for both function and content to enhance the CrazyTalk mobile experience, even enhancements for future Siri voice recognition. We also do other types of apps, mainly for photo and image processing. You may have heard of Neon Motion and Big Lens which are some earlier apps that gave us valuable insights into how the iTunes app store operates, along with what kind of functions people search for in their apps. The future is bright, and our team is always grateful to receive feedback in order to better deliver on future applications.
Image above taken from desktop version
What do you think about theappwhisperer.com? Have we helped you? Would you recommend us? Love the site.
It’s great to have such a comprehensive resource. The success of the site is well deserved and reflects the hard work and commitment of Joanne and team.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
