Talking Points - Our Standard For Connecting Talking Props

We decided that our haunt for 2004 will be the year of the talking and singing creatures. Yes, we have had talking and singing creatures in the past. But this year we want to have a large number of creatures, singing elaborate songs in multiple parts.

In order to make our lives easier, we have decided to implement a standard interface for all such props. Do you have some Douglas Fir talking trees? Hook them up with Talking Points. Do you have some talking Boris skulls? Hook them up with Talking Points. When all the props hook up via Talking Points, we can mix and match at will.

NOTE - This project is under development for Halloween 2004. We will post updates as available, but until we build it we can't be sure of any details.

Overview
Interface
Sound sources to drive props based on Talking Points
- Driver For Two Bantering Boris Skulls
- Driver For One Precise Boris Skull
Props that hook up based on Talking Points
- Boris
- Singing Pumpkins
Related Pages

Overview

Whenever possible, we like to build our haunt equipment to clear standards that affords us mass-production and interchangability of components. But we want to do more than just use identical components to create different props. We want to interface to all those props in the same way, so that a singing pumpkin hooks up the same way as a talking skull.

"Talking Points" is our name for both this interface (used for all of our talking and singing props) and for a distribution system that allows us to hook up several props and have them sing in unison and/or harmony.

It is assumed that we can just send the sounds to the prop, and the prop is capable of presenting sounds to the audience and moving its mouth in time with the words.

Interface

The Talking Points interface revolves around the 5-pin DIN connector. We chose this connector because it provides plenty of circuits and is inexpensive.

The Talking Points interface provides to a talking prop power, as well as material to perform. The interface makes the distinction between "animation audio" and "speaker audio", Speaker audio is of good quakity and can be amplified and played through a speaker in the prop. Animation audio is a sound track that is intended to drive a sound-activated mouth mechanism. In some cases, it may be specially constructed for animation and may sound terrible. In other cases, the animation audio may be identical to the speaker audio.

Talking Points does not make any provisions for external speakers. It is assumed that one of the following is true:

the talking prop has a speaker and can present to the audience the sound for singing and talking
props without speakers make other arrangements for the sound to be heard (e.g. the prop passes the sound on to other speakers)
the sound is being presented through another interface, like a big amplifier with big honking speakers covering a large area

pin number wire color use

1 black first +12V, 1A max total

2 brown first ground

3 red second +12V, 1A max total

4 orange speaker audio, speaker-level

5 yellow animation audio, speaker-level

shield drain bare wire second ground

pin number	wire color	use
1	black	first +12V, 1A max total
2	brown	first ground
3	red	second +12V, 1A max total
4	orange	speaker audio, speaker-level
5	yellow	animation audio, speaker-level
shield drain	bare wire	second ground

Note:

Each talking device is limited to 1A of current drawn from the +12V supply. Ideally, this is a worst-case spike figure, and average consumption is assumed to be lower.

There are two connections each for +12 and ground. These are not two separate circuits, where you can draw 1A from each. These are two carriers for the same source, because the wire in these cables tends to be thin. Connect both +12 in parallel and both ground in parallel.

The wire colors correspond to the colors used in a large lot of 5-pin DIN 6' M/F extension cables that I bought from All Electronics. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they match the resistor color code. Your color codes may differ.
The male plug is attached to the talking prop; the female socket is attached to the sound source.

Talking gadgets:

The male plug is attached to the talking prop.
"Animation audio" must not be amplified and played through speakers! In some cases it might sound OK, but in others it will be just plain noise!
If you are converting a prop that uses a single sound source for speaker and animation, use the "speaker audio" as your source. If you really want to use "animation audio" for a prop with a speaker, you must disable the prop's speaker.

Sound sources:

The female socket is attached to the sound source.
Animation audio must not be amplified and played through speakers! In some cases it might sound OK, but in others it will be just plain noise!
If you only have one source of audio, it should be of listening quality. Feed it to the prop through both "speaker audio" and "animation audio", because you don't know if the prop will use to one, the other, or both.

Sound sources to drive props based on Talking Points

Driver For Two Bantering Boris Skulls

"Two Bantering Boris Skulls" is a setup based on Talking Points that operates two talking props, feeding each one a different channel of a stereo recording. This is best used for two props having a conversation or other verbal exchange. You can also use this rig to drive a single talking prop, such as a skeleton making a speech.

Parts:

stereo 1/8 Inch = 3.5mm plug. I used a 3.5mm M/M patch cable, cut in two.
12 VDC wall wart power supply, 1A minimum, 2A is better.
(2) 5-pin DIN F sockets. I used 5-pin DIN 6' M/F extension cables, cut in two.

The 3.5mm plug and cable we used was wired as follows:

connector position wire color use

tip white left channel

ring red right channel

sleeve green ground

connector position	wire color	use
tip	white	left channel
ring	red	right channel
sleeve	green	ground

The wall wart power supply we used was wired as follows:

wire color use

solid black ground

black with white stripe +12VDC

wire color	use
solid black	ground
black with white stripe	+12VDC

Please see interface for the 5-pin DIN connector.

Talking Points driver for two bantering Boris skulls.

Note: Two Bantering Boris Skulls and One Precise Boris Skull both implement the Talking Points interface, but do so in different ways. Talking props equipped with Talking Points can be used interchangeably with either of these, and they can be anything (Boris is just an example). Due to the different intent and electrical connections, you will have to use a different sound source for Two Bantering Boris Skulls and One Precise Boris Skull.

The sound source for Two Bantering Boris Skulls is stereo, with: