Page 10 – Reallusion Magazine

WarLord’s Workshop – Beginners Guide: Soft Cloth & Volumetric Lighting

October 26, 2023October 26, 2023 WarLordLeave a comment

One of the most important skills you learn as an animator is lighting and this cannot be overstated. It is a make-or-break factor that can make a so-so story look great while poor lighting can make a great story look bad. There can never be enough tutorials viewed regarding lighting as there are a lot of different tricks, tips, and viewpoints from different authors that, when combined, may lead to great lighting techniques that set up apart from the crowd.

OVERVIEW

This article is an introduction to how Volumetric Lighting, combined with Soft Cloth physics and character interaction adds depth to a scene but like all eye candy can be overplayed. I will be combining a few concepts:

Animating a character with a simple motion.
Using that motion with the character to interact and pull open windows curtains.
Using dummies attached to the hands to make it easier to move the curtains with physics.
Use a volumetric spotlight to silhouette a character standing outside the windows looking in.

Short Demonstration of Soft Cloth and Volumetric Lighting

THE CHARACTER AND THE MOTION

The character I used is Camilla, one of the characters that comes with iClone, and the motion, Open Curtains, can be found in the MOTION->HUMAN FEMALE->PERFORM folder. Both of these should be available unless you haven’t downloaded the extra free resources that come with iClone. Look under the FREE RESOURCES folder in Smart Gallery.

THE SETUP

A woman in front of a set of closed curtains covering a large picture window in a rural living room. There is a strange blue light coming from the window and she uses her hand to grab the curtains and open them to the point that she can look out only to see the silhouette of a strange-looking creature looking back through the window just a few feet away.

The room is dimly lit so the rays of the blue light pass through the window silhouetting the creature in front of the window.

THE ROOM

This is a very simple setup with two characters, the woman and the creature on each side of a living room window. The drapes are Soft Cloth props that can be found in PROPS->PHYSICS PROPS->CLOTH TEMPLATE PIN-> Pin4_4Points. I duplicated the cloth for the other curtain and left their settings at default.

There are multiple light sources within the room including a point light that is near the character so I could keep the overall lighting down but still be able to see the character. I also increased the IBL lighting for this article so we could see what was going on. Experiment with different IBL lighting images and strengths to enhance the image visually without blowing out the more subtle lighting.

The Hand Dummies

The hand dummies are not necessary as the character comes set up and ready to interact with the curtain via collision dummies. This, however, requires a more pinpoint placement of the character to get the curtains to move properly. The dummies have more contact area, but they can be resized too.

These dummies are blocks found in PROPS->3D BLOCKS->BOX_001, resized to better fit the hands and they can be resized independently if needed as was the case here. The right-hand dummy was longer than the left-hand dummy to get the desired effect on the curtains. Since the blocks are invisible, if Set as Dummy, they will not render. Be sure to ATTACH the dummies to the hands.

A better view of the Hand Dummies with Physics turned on and set to Kinematic.

If you look closely enough at different camera angles, you will see that there is a bit of space between the character’s arm/hand and the curtain. The lighting of this scene will hide that. It could be tweaked, if necessary, by decreasing the dummy size and the collision dummies in the arms and hands of the character.

Activate the physics box. Leave the physics setting at default and the mode to Kinematic. This is very important as this will hold the dummies’ place while maintaining the collision physics necessary for this animation to work.

ANIMATING THE CHARACTER

This is the easy part since we are only using one, supplied motion. No tweaking will be necessary unless you just want to do so. Place the character near the center of the Soft Cloth curtains. Next drag and drop the Open Curtains motion onto the character.

The final movement and interaction between character and curtains.

If she runs into the wall or past the curtains, don’t panic, just adjust her starting position until you get the expected results. This will take a bit of back and forth while you find the optimal position that will keep the character from running into the wall while interacting with the curtains.

CURTAIN INTERACTION IS CONTROLLED BY PHYSICS

While we can adjust the properties of the curtains the interaction itself will be controlled by the motion clip added earlier. The physical contact between the character and the curtain can be controlled by the size of the dummies we attached earlier.

If you need to, make the hand dummies large enough to easily see until you see what is going on, then you can scale them down to decrease the gap between the character and the curtain cloth If needed.

SETTING UP THE SPOTLIGHT

The spotlight is used to project the lighting through the window. The placement of the spotlight in terms of distance from and height are arbitrary with direct or close placement yielding more light while being above and angled down yields a better silhouette and will not wash out the scene with too much light.

Check the Volumetric Light box about halfway down the modify menu with the spotlight selected. Also, check the Unlink Light Intensity box so the slider becomes available, and then you can experiment with different looks.

CREATURE PLACEMENT AND ANIMATION

In this example, I used an alien model that I rigged through Character Creator 4 which I then animated with an idle motion using the motion puppet. This was “motion for effect” so I just needed movement so it wouldn’t look like a statue planted in front of the window.

The creature was placed directly in front of the window with the spotlight up and behind. Experiment with the placement of both.

Run the animation, which since it involves Soft Cloth is also a physics simulation. The difference is that the character is animated and the curtains are simulated. Tweak, position, re-position, experiment, relight, or whatever at this point as the scene is now ready to render.

SUMMARY

Volumetric lighting can be overplayed so keep it dramatic when it needs to be, like this test scene, more subtle at other times. While lighting is very important, you do not want it to detract from the purpose of the scene which is to tell a story.

A bright, ray-filled scene is cool, but it doesn’t and shouldn’t be in every scene unless the lighting is more subtle. A more judicious use of volumetric lighting will go a long way towards a more cinematic result.

Before I close, I’d like to add the first time I saw this volumetric light and curtain effect in iClone was a masterful test created by a pioneer of iClone Mark Pleasant of Small Wonder Studios. The test was brilliantly executed and at the time, stunning, as volumetric lighting was new to iClone. Any tutorial by Mark is worth watching as he is an experienced cinematographer and an excellent animator.

REALLUSION VISUAL & LIGHTING TUTORIALS

Creating Interior Visuals with Volumetric Lighting

Global Illumination (GI) Basics Part 1

Global Illumination (GI) Basics Part 2

Getting Started Tutorials

ICLONE MANUAL

How to Use Volumetric Lighting Effect

Ambient Light

Applying Lights

The Comparison of Lights

MD McCallum – WarLord

Digital Artist MD “Mike” McCallum, aka WarLord, is a longtime iClone user. Having authored free tutorials for iClone in its early years and selected to write the iClone Beginners Guide from Packt Publishing in 2011, he was fortunate enough to meet and exchange tricks and tips with users from all over the world and loves to share this information with other users. He has authored hundreds of articles on iClone and digital art in general while reviewing some of the most popular software and hardware in the world. He has been published in many of the leading 3D online and print magazines while staying true to his biggest passion, 3D animation. For more information click here.

WarLord’s Workshop

Featured Story

Iconic Super Mario Princess Peach Made With Character Creator and Blender

October 26, 2023November 7, 2023 ericchangreallusionLeave a comment

Ping Chi Kuo (Big Tree)

Hello everyone, I am Ping Chi Kuo, often referred to as “Big Tree”. Presently, I hold the position of Art Director and Manager at Chinesegamer International Corp (CIC). It is with great privilege that I take this opportunity to impart my insights and experiences garnered from working in the 3D character art industry.

During my academic journey, I developed a strong passion for the realm of 3D art. I’m convinced that 3D art serves as a boundless canvas for infusing creativity and imagination into visual creations, thereby offering unique and immersive experiences to viewers. For this reason, I remain dedicated to expanding my expertise across various aspects of production, encompassing everything from crafting 3D models and materials to perfecting animation and artistic design. Today, I am very pleased to introduce how I made this Princess Peach character starting from the CC base model after discovering the Character Creator to Blender workflow.

My Experience with iClone and Character Creator

A few years ago, our company embarked on a journey to harness the power of PBR shader technologies for our new game. Our team eagerly embraced the challenge, even though the creation of a PBR character demanded significantly more time and effort than our conventional approaches. In my role overseeing both art direction and management, I keenly felt the pressure from all angles, necessitating a delicate balancing act.

Through a stroke of fortune, we stumbled upon Character Creator as a potential panacea for our ordeal. This software not only slashed production time by half but also enabled us to uphold exemplary quality standards. With Character Creator, we were able to craft dozens of distinctive and captivating characters, effortlessly achieving the majority of our objectives.

During that period, the capabilities of Character Creator were already impressive. We could swiftly generate a diverse range of martial arts characters while effortlessly fulfilling the need for an extensive array of weapons, apparel, and accessories. These components could be seamlessly combined and customized to achieve various visual styles. This streamlined approach not only facilitated the creation of fresh characters but also enabled us to meet stylistic demands swiftly and easily. Notably, our production efficiency experienced a substantial boost when it came to the creation of NPCs (non-player characters), which simply required the skillful combination of distinct elements.

Stylized Characters Made with Character Creator

As I continue my search for tools that can enhance our content creation pipeline, I’ve noticed that beyond Character Creator’s powerful versatility, Reallusion offers a range of other tools that greatly improve efficiency. Drawing from my own experiences, integrating characters into iClone while infusing them with visual appeal solely through imagination and creativity is truly unparalleled.

Notably, Character Creator excels in developing realistic characters and handling stylistic ones, significantly expanding the scope for introducing stylistic variety. A notable example from last year involves my use of Character Creator 3 to craft an adorable adaptation of Super Mario. If this catches your interest, feel free to explore the link below — just remember to enable English subtitles if Chinese isn’t your forte!

Making Princess Peach with Character Creator and Blender

The advent of Character Creator 4 (CC4) has ushered in a new level of simplicity in crafting stylized 3D characters, to the extent that virtually anyone can accomplish it with ease. On the back of this opportunity, I’m thrilled to present my entire creation process of another iconic character in the Mario universe: Princess Peach! The workflow for bringing Miss Toadstool to life can be summarized into the following key steps. (Please turn on the CC subtitles and select auto-translate for English subtitles)

Export the base mesh proxy from Character Creator 4 into Blender for shape modeling

Design Princess Peach’s hairstyle in Blender, and turn curve lines into hair meshes

Create outfits and accessories using Blend’s powerful mesh editing tools, and make their corresponding texture UVs.

Assigning PBR materials for the outfit via Blender’s material node tools

Send my custom character shape, hairstyle, and outfit design with skin weight, and material settings to CC4, and be able to further adjust materials and refine skin weights in CC4. Apply some motions to test the physics settings for her skirt and export to Blender to adjust the test motions.

Use the talking animations in CC4 to refine the details of the facial expressions.

Use the Reach tool in iClone 8 to create seamless interactive motions between Princess and Mario.

Final Thoughts

Integrating Reallusion tools into my Character Creator to Blender workflow has consistently brought me joy and satisfaction at every turn of the process. While their solutions are powerful and versatile, they still provide a stimulating environment for me to express my creativity.

Regarding CIC, the inclusion of Reallusion tools marks a revolutionary turning point in our 3D content creation process. They not only enable us to match our rapid turnaround pace but also uphold our morale and creative enthusiasm. By simplifying intricate processes and injecting excitement into routine tasks, Reallusion software empowers us to embrace more substantial challenges and attain new heights.

Ultimately, I firmly believe that technological advancements bring forth even more opportunities. Through the utilization of newer and more advanced tools and techniques, we can broaden the horizons of our creativity, delivering rich and stunning gameplay experiences like never before.

Learn More

Learning

Making Realistic Emotive Characters using VFace & Headshot 2

October 24, 2023November 1, 2023 sylviapaoLeave a comment

Reallusion, the proud creator of iClone, Character Creator, and corresponding ZBrush plugins unveils the remarkable synergy between VFace and Headshot 2.0, demonstrating how they harmoniously converge to craft an impeccably rigged character, brimming with personality and versatility.

Usually, transforming static character sculpts into animatable figures demanded substantial time and effort from character artists — a process that also necessitated extensive training, knowledge, and skill sets to execute proficiently. The challenges are alleviated with the arrival of Headshot 2.0, offering a quick and seamless pathway for conversion of 3D mesh to 3D animatable head. Continue reading to discover how this groundbreaking workflow accelerates production schedules, navigates around technical intricacies, and grants you the freedom to channel your energies into the creative aspects of your project.

Preparation of Source Assets

For this demonstration, we will be using the “Mykhaylo #115” VFace asset.

VFace asset “Mykhaylo #115”

In Zbrush, open the VFace file and export it as a “XYZ_head” Subtool for ZBrush.

For a better user experience, we’ll also need to export a low-poly version of the VFace for use with Headshot 2.0. Here, I am reducing the model to SDiv3, which lets me strip away some of the taxing details while keeping the contours of the mesh intact. Next, we’ll need to export a high-poly of the VFace as a reference model for the baking process by upping the model to SDiv6.

*Opting for greater subdivisions will result in more intricate details within the baked texture maps. However, it’s important to note that this choice will significantly extend the time required to bake the textures. Additionally, bear in mind that the ultimate resolution is constrained by the chosen texture resolution.

Using Headshot 2

Importing the Mesh

Drag the SDiv3 mesh into the Character Creator viewport, and then access the material texture channels (‘Modify > Textures’). From there, simply drag and drop the texture files into their respective channel slots.

We now proceed to open the Headshot 2 panel in order to utilize the newly introduced ‘Mesh to CC’ feature. To do this, simply click on the ‘MESH’ button located near the upper part of the interface and then follow the instructions provided below (indicated in red in the following illustration). Once you have properly configured the mesh accordingly, click the ‘Start Head Generation’ button to begin the procedure.

Deploying Alignment Points

In the initial phase, the left viewport displays the CC base model, adorned with multiple marker points, each marked with its unique identification number. On the opposing right side, the prior imported source model is displayed. For the model fitting procedure, HeadShot 2 will analyze the alignment points between these two models.

To ensure precise outcomes, it is essential to apply corresponding alignment points on the VFace model, aligning them with those on the CC base model on the left. Utilizing the auto-deployment feature is advisable, allowing HeadShot 2 to determine the initial placement of the 24 foundational points. Subsequently, manual adjustments can be made to swiftly establish the matching feature landmarks.

Next, manual point deployment will be needed to complete other features like the ears, neck, etc.

Model Selection

In stage two of the process, you can discard areas of the source mesh that shouldn’t be factored into the model fitting process using ‘Effective Area’. Essentially, we are allowed to hide mesh faces at this step and let HeadShot 2 compensate for the missing parts with auto-generated geometry.

During the second stage of the process, you have the option to exclude specific regions of the source mesh that are not relevant to the model fitting process. In essence, you can conceal mesh faces at this juncture, and HeadShot 2 will intelligently generate geometry to fill in the gaps caused by the hidden portions. This capacity to intelligently fill the absent portions of the geometry proves invaluable when dealing with fractured or flawed source meshes.

There are three preset options for ‘Effective Area’ in HeadShot 2, which allow for the swift concealment of geometry intended for removal, each tailored to a different scenario. Given that we began with intact source mesh that had no discernible flaws, we will opt for the comprehensive area selection located at the far right.

Using the Projection Brush

At this stage of the process, HeadShot 2 has already transformed the VFace source model into a CC model. Our next step involves utilizing the 3D paint brush located in the right panel to enhance the appearance of the new CC model, ensuring a closer resemblance to the original VFace character. Simultaneously, we will address any mesh imperfections and problematic edge loops that may be present.

Usually, the mesh surrounding the eyes requires adjustments, similar to the current situation where the alignment of the eyelids with the VFace model is not optimal. It is advisable to deactivate the ‘Keep Border’ and ‘Projection’ settings to facilitate geometry adjustments without being overly constrained by the underlying topology. Subsequently, we employ the ‘Move’ brush to nudge the eyelids into proper shapes and positions. After the corrections have been made, remember to reactivate the ‘Keep Border’ and ‘Projection’ options.

Similar techniques can also be applied to address other areas of imperfection. In instances where the contours of facial features significantly diverge from the source model, the ‘Projection’ brush comes in handy to nudge the mesh back to likeness.

Optimize face topology for the best facial animation

Achieving enhanced character expressions in facial animations relies on ensuring that the primary edge loops closely mirror the structure of the CC3+ base topology. As a result, it becomes imperative to prioritize the accuracy of these primary edge loops. To gain insight into the desired form of proper edge loops, refer to the official topology guide available on Reallusion’s website.

With the finer details and corrections now addressed, we can advance to the actual character production phase. In the case of this VFace model, I will activate the ‘Keep Neck Shape’ option to ensure that the generated head seamlessly integrates with the subsequent base body, all while preserving the authentic neck shape of the source model.

Character Creation

In the ‘Texture Bake Options’ section, I opted for ‘From Source Mesh’ since the source model includes its own diffuse texture. As for the ‘Normal’ setting, I selected ‘From High Poly Mesh’ and designated the high-poly geometry exported earlier from ZBrush. In terms of the geometry, I chose the ‘Male’ preset for body type, and ‘No Mask,’ as the original textures adequately fulfill all the requirements. To finish the process, I clicked on the ‘Generate’ button to kick off the creation of the complete character. Please note that, Character Creator morph sliders can also be used to adjust the body shape.

In the following illustration, the result speaks for itself: The HeadShot generated character on the left, and the source VFace model on the right.

Polishing the Model

Refining the Textures

To rectify color imperfections around the mouth, we can opt to launch the texture maps into Photoshop for small adjustments.

Repositioning the Eyes and Teeth

Morph sliders are also available for readjusting the positioning of the eyes and teeth.

Modifying Facial Expressions

While HeadShot 2 offers comprehensive facial expression data, there might be instances where these expressions display minor imperfections. In such cases, utilizing the ‘Facial Profile Editor’ is recommended to rectify and refine the facial expressions.

The two most frequently encountered expression morphs that require adjustment are closed eyes and an open mouth. The steps to address these issues are outlined below:

Locate the specific morph slider requiring correction within the ‘Facial Profile Editor’.
Utilize GoZ to export the affected morph shape to ZBrush, where you can rectify it using a selection of ZBrush’s brushes.
Upon completing the necessary corrections, bring the refined morph shape back into ZBrush to finalize the adjustments.

Applying Different Styles

Another significant advantage of utilizing Character Creator is the speed with which you can don different attires, hairstyles, and accessories. Simply access the ‘Content Manager,’ search for the hairstyles and clothing that appeal to you, and effortlessly apply the assets by either double-clicking on them or dragging them onto the avatar.

Character Performance & Unreal Render

Once the character is dressed and prepared, we can start to make it perform. Through the utilization of Unreal Live Link, we can transfer the character to Unreal for look dev. This allows us to apply animations to the character within iClone and observe the same outcomes in the Unreal environment.

For this character, we employed Live Link to capture facial performances and utilized timeline tools for making minor refinements to the animation.

In Closing

TextureXYZ’s VFace provides 3D artists with the opportunity to operate from meticulously detailed scanned models featuring highly intricate diffuse textures. By synergizing the capabilities of VFace with the advancements offered by HeadShot 2, we are able to rapidly craft a fully developed 3D character that approaches lifelike realism. We appreciate your dedication in reading this article to its conclusion and trust that you’ve garnered valuable insights for your upcoming artistic pursuits.

Explore the Vface content pack in Reallusion website

Headshot 2.0: AI 3D Head Generator

Know more:

Character Creator: 3D Character Design Software

FREE for 30 days & get 2,000+ ready-made assets:

3D Character Generator Free Download | Character Creator

Explore the Vface content pack in Reallusion website

Learning

BAD TO THE BONE Tutorial – Making 2D and 3D dance together with Cartoon Animator and iClone

October 19, 2023November 6, 2023 enocburgosLeave a comment

Tom Jantol

Tom Jantol, a filmmaker and animator who has been a professional animator for more than 15 years.

He first started with game engines as part of the Machinima movement, then further delved into software such as iClone, Cartoon Animator for 3D and 2D animation, Unreal and Unity game engines, and After Effects for post-production.

The main purpose of making this video was to attempt to make a new breed of tutorials. A movie that is a “self-making off”, a hybrid of an animated story, and a tutorial about making that story at the same time. Or, to put it simply, to bring “behind the scene” to the front of the scene.

To make it happen, first I needed 3D environment in which I could import animated 2D materials and make them behave as 3D materials.

iClone is a perfect tool for this 3D part of needs. Cartoon Animator for 2D. Together, they are merging into a best of all dimensions, one that doesn’t have a number because it is infinite – a dimension limited just by imagination.

3D environments of the retro-futuristic laboratory were made in parts, so I could move walls and objects for easier camera management.

The main object is a corkboard, an animatable plate that will hold inner tutorial graphics.

The main character, the skeleton, had to be made in a couple of different versions. One as 3D model plus several 2D renderings of the same model for use in Cartoon Animator.

Renderings made in iClone, of course.

In Cartoon Animator skeleton is rigged as G3 human character. That job was done in a couple of minutes, thanks to the dummy character included in Cartoon Animator. It was enough to bring that dummy to Photoshop and replace dummy parts with skeleton parts.

And… with that, preparations for a movie are complete. All that’s left is to combine footage from two software, as seamlessly as possible.

What was much easier to achieve than it sounds. Mainly because of the excellent MotionLive plug-in. With MotionLive, dance animation made in 3D iClone can be assigned to 2D skeleton, so motion is consistent between two dimensions.

One of the main features of the movie is the use of the extremely useful Spring Bones option in Cartoon Animator.

For some scenes, I animated just a hands in Cartoon Animator with a spring effect and then attached that 2D sequence to 3D iClone skeleton. After hiding “real” hands of iClone skeleton.

Again, much easier than it sounds. For importing of 2D videos into iClone I used PopVideo, a very efficient tool for making videos with alpha channel. Path can’t be much simpler; rendering video with hands and transparent background in Cartoon Animator and assigning that video as a texture to a plane in 3D environment of iClone. That plane is then a 3D object and as such, it can be additionally animated, attached to other objects, etc…

That way we can achieve the best of both worlds.

This is, actually, all.

With careful planning of the camera moves and timings of imported 2D animation, both software is becoming one tool. If we upgrade that tool with our creative minds, possibilities are endless.

Follow Tom Jantol:

https://www.youtube.com/@TomJantol/videos

Learning

WarLord’s Workshop: Hands-On Review Business Crowd Set Vol 1

October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 WarLordLeave a comment

One of the major flaws to a lot of animated scenes is the lack of people present in the scene. While this is improving there are still a lot of good scenes out there that have less than a half dozen actors in them with some only having one or two characters. While this works for some setups it does not work for creating a busy office or hotel lobby, restaurant, or other public place.

A hotel lobby may be mostly empty at certain times of the day and night but not all the time. In a lot of cases, it comes down to a lack of resources to make a crowd. Even a small one. Crowd solutions are not cheap and low poly characters, while becoming more plentiful are still not widely available.

It’s difficult to give a sense of a busy office or lobby without a lot of people but one thing to remember in animation is that a few can look can a lot in the right situation with the right character assets. That being said, it still takes upwards of twenty to thirty or more characters to make a convincing outdoor scene in a busy public area.

The demonstration video of this pack is at the bottom of this article including details on the project used for review testing.

This can be different in an office-type situation, or part of a hotel lobby like the main desk or elevator area. They don’t need a huge crowd, but they do need people. Even if you only look at a half dozen to a dozen people you are still talking about having to create or acquire significant resources so paying attention to the versatility of those resources becomes very important.

If you lay out some hard-earned dollars on ten to twelve or more characters, then they need to be able to be easily duplicated and colors changed from hair and skin down to the clothing and shoes so you can use them in a lot of situations going forward, not just the project in hand.

Reallusion has provided just such a pack with its Business Crowd Set. This set is not only low poly with pro-grade clothing and 3D scans but also contains some very important maps like an RGB mask for skin, hair, and teeth and a Color ID Mask for outfits, accessories, and eyes.

As you can see from the image above these maps cover specific areas like the skin, clothing, and other parts of the character. There is one hitch though: you must drag and drop a tool, proved by Reallusion, onto the character to access the Substance texture layers. It’s just a simple drag and drop then, by the digital magic of the Reallusion engineers, you have sliders available within the texture menu that were not visible previously.

DRAG AND DROP TOOL

The drag and drop tool will activate the Substance tool allowing us to alter the newly available sliders for Color, Roughness, Metallic, Ambient Occlusion, Glow, and Mask.

This modifier is supplied by Reallusion and must be dragged and dropped onto the character directly otherwise you will not see the sliders necessary to make easy edits like color changes. If iClone is up to date this modifier should already be in your Substance folder in the materials section.

actorSCAN CHARACTERS

This is a great feature of these actorSCAN characters. The Substance tool can be a time saver in diversifying the characters into a much larger crowd with different color clothing and skin tones. If, like this pack, you use fifteen characters, you can drag and drop the material modifier on the first set of characters and duplicate them for additional crowd or background characters quickly creating a larger crowd than just the initial set of characters.

DRAG AND DROP PROCESS

Initially, you notice the Substance section of the Modify Material Menu is blank and inaccessible. After activation with the modifier, the section will become active, and the sliders will be available after checking the appropriate boxes to make them visible.

Drag and Drop Material Modifier — Drag and Drop PBR Material Modifer – Necessary for Quick Changes

DRILLING DOWN TO THE SLIDERS

Clicking the available checkboxes will bring up the RGB Mask and Color ID Mask making their subsections available, and you can click your way down through the Tweak RGB and Tweak Color ID menu.

Experimentation is highly encouraged in this area. If you are not sure what each slider does, then use them, as you can always reload the character if it gets away from you. Experimenting is part of 3D animation. No matter how many tools we are given there always be something not covered by an available tool or method that you must solve by other means.

It can also lead to undocumented methods never envisioned by the development team which might even lead to further development of the discovery. Such was the case many years ago when I first brought destructible props into iClone after physics was introduced. They would run, for a bit, then crash. Before long a Reallusion dev had stabilized the procedure and Reallusion issued a patch.

This is just one example of how Reallusion pays attention to its user base. Don’t get “married” to a few or a certain set of sliders in iClone or Character Creator. When time allows, experiment, play around, and push iClone to the limits of what can and cannot be done.

HUE AND OTHER SLIDERS

I like the Hue slider as it is a time-saving tool just like the Adjust Color popup. It gives you many color variations in a short time. While there are input boxes, it is very quick to go through the sliders just to see their effects.

Using the Hue Slider for Quick Color Changes

HAIR COLOR EXAMPLE

In this case, I just wanted an older-looking man and extras like these are usually not in close-ups. A simple hair desaturation and lightning would do the trick quickly and painlessly and, in this case, would pass in a closeup as well.

Easy Graying of the Hair with Saturation and Luminosity

It only takes a few times using the modifying sliders to see what they can do and how they can help save you a lot of work in building up a business crowd or even a bar crowd after work.

TEST PROJECT

The test scene was set up in a high poly design studio environment with simple lighting that utilizes HDR, Tone, and IBL lighting. This project had 25 avatars that can be used from closeup on out with good results in a final render. This, of course, depends on the lighting like any render.

Project Stats:

As you can see the scene contains 25 avatars and 149 props as the major assets. I built this scene on an older 2017 Intel i7 HP Omen instead of my newer XPS i9 to see how it would handle it.

It was a pleasant scene build without any thought given to the fact that it was a five-plus-year-old HP system. It did start to react a little sluggishly towards the end but could have held more avatars if needed.

I worked in the minimal view mode when it started to drag a bit and had no problem working with the test scene in either minimal or full mode.

This type of scene would have been very hard to work with just a few years ago but the old Omen breezed through building out the scene, animating, and testing the characters.

To be honest, my Intel i9 is not that much faster or quicker to respond than the older Intel i7 and this scene presented no issues. I could work in full mode at any time.

TIP: You can use Depth of Field (DOF) to blur characters into the background to further disguise the usage of duplicated characters.

Demonstration Video of Characters in Use.

SUMMARY

These characters are lower poly than most standard characters, so they won’t tax the engine as much and are multitudes lower than many competing character solutions. While a high poly character makes for a great image render, running several low poly characters in the same poly budget is a real plus for animated renders.

Oh, by the way, I got this far and haven’t even mentioned another great feature. You can edit these characters in Character Creator. Since they are actorSCAN the morph sliders are not available but other tools like Optimize and Decimate, Edit Mesh, Adjust Bones and Proportion are available.

The next time you need a business crowd, the Business–Crowd Set – Vol. 1 can go a long way towards filling out a conference room, staff meeting or even a small auditorium.

MD McCallum – WarLord

WarLord’s Workshop

Product Release

ZBrush Face Tools Help Character Artists Bridge the Skill Gap to Achieve Expressive Animations

October 16, 2023November 6, 2023 sylviapaoLeave a comment

Reallusion remains steadfast in its commitment to advancing interoperability within its character production ecosystem and third-party platforms. This dedication extends beyond mere interoperability, striving to establish inventive ways to bridge products and enhance the overall user experience. In pursuit of this vision, Reallusion is proud to unveil a revolutionary pipeline tool called Face Tools, facilitating seamless integration between Character Creator (CC) and ZBrush. This solution marks a significant leap forward in interlinking these two powerful tools and underscores Reallusion’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of creative possibilities.

Embracing an artist-centric design philosophy, Face Tools is a liberation of ZBrush artists from their technical limitations. This newfound empowerment is made possible by condensing an entire studio pipeline, that typically requires a seasoned team of modelers, sculptors, riggers, and animators, into one seamless workflow that is both straightforward and efficient. The resulting 3D characters are not only ready for iClone facial mocap, facial animation editing, and lip-syncing but also fully compatible with industry-leading platforms such as Unreal, Unity, Blender, Maya, and more.

Groundbreaking Design Solutions

The power trio of Character Creator, ZBrush, and Face Tools opens new creative avenues beyond existing possibilities by crossing the traditional divide between artistic and technical disciplines.

From 3D Concepting to Final Animation: Character artists, who were previously confined to sculpting concepts and producing static models, can now handle the entire character production process from modeling to animation, regardless of their skill levels.

From 3D Scans to Digital Doubles: Crafting digital doubles with lifelike resemblance and precise facial expressions was once confined to high-budget game and film studios. Now, any ZBrush artist, regardless of skill level, can effortlessly create custom expressions using FACS scans.

Create Memorable Cartoon Performances: Comic, cartoon, or stylized characters exhibit distinct expressive qualities compared to photoreal digital humans. Face Tools empower you to explore this diverse range of expressions, enabling you to bring your imagination to life and craft original animation styles and character designs.

Express Pipeline

Face Tools provides artists with a comprehensive set of tools designed to enhance productivity and achieve previously unattainable results. Among its features is the capability to leverage ZBrush for sculpting 3D scans or utilizing premade models, seamlessly converting them into CC characters for real-time animation. This remarkable functionality is enabled by the extensive depth of the Reallusion tool stack, which encompasses iClone for keyframe and mocap animation, along with Headshot 2.0 for converting 3D heads from both models and photographs.

Rapid Iterations using Pre-rigged Base Meshes: Utilize CC morphs to quickly approximate the character’s appearance. With just one click, send it to ZBrush for detailed sculpting and polypainting. Easily update the sculpting details back to the CC model, complete with baked diffuse, normal, and cavity maps.
Make Unique expressions: Face Tools detailing capabilities can make character personalities shine! Transfer a set of 13 core expression morphs to ZBrush for further customization and selectively update them to Character Creator for brisk turnarounds.
Generate Lifelike Wrinkles: Effortlessly transform your high-poly details into intricate wrinkle patterns. Crafted using a blend of diffuse, normal, ambient occlusion, and redness textures, CC wrinkle effects are imbued with a lifelike vitality, bringing your creations to a new level of realism.
Animation-Ready for Game, Filme, VR and AR: ZBrush Face Tools can export characters perfectly suited for any medium, whether it’s games, films, or extended reality experiences. Easily infuse your characters with life via a power combo of advanced facial controls and motion capture technology.
3D Scans to Realtime Models: Transform a neutral 3D scanned head model into an animation-ready facial model effortlessly. Utilize Headshot 2.0 to seamlessly convert a high-resolution mesh into CC base topology and efficiently translate intricate details from millions of polygons into texture maps optimized for real-time performance.
Mesh & Texture Projection for True Expressions: For achieving the utmost likeness from FACS expression scans, designers can employ ZBrush to project intricate model details and coloring from a high-subdivision mesh onto CC core expressions. Additional feature deformations and transformations are also supported for the eyes, teeth and tongue to correspond with each core morph shape.
Exaggerated Styles: ZBrush Face Tools empower artists to craft stylized characters with heightened expressiveness, unlocking the creative potential for shaping distinctive morphs and wrinkles that define their unique looks.
Wrinkle Stencils: Brush up your polypaint techniques and delve into the fun of adding drawn-on wrinkles! By using ZBrush polypaint, you can also explore the art of “manpu”, a Japanese manga symbology designed to express movement and emotions.

Core Technology

Face Tools is backed by a powerful feature set that distinguishes it from the standard fare of ZBrush plugins. These features facilitate greater interaction between CC and ZBrush subtools and polygroups, while also providing conversion techniques to optimize the use of ZBrush’s native displacement and polypaint channels. Ultimately, these underlying technologies focus on delivering the best user experience by intertwining the strengths of CC and ZBrush.

Subtool Support: Experience the convenience of breaking down your character into ZBrush subtools, benefitting from identical model structures that effortlessly facilitate character transfers between ZBrush and Character Creator.
Polygroup Support: Predefined ZBrush polygroups streamline the design process by allowing designers to concentrate on specific mesh sections during editing. Polygroups play a crucial role in preventing brush overspills, particularly when working on border regions of the lips, eyelids, eyelashes, and more.
Expression Layers: The 13 core expressions are intricately linked with ZBrush layers to facilitate rapid sculpting. Upon selecting a particular expression, it is automatically applied to the character and associated with the corresponding ZBrush layer for recording.
Normal to Displacement Conversion: Face Tools proprietary feature turns CC normal maps into ZBrush mesh details. These finely detailed layers can serve as a foundation for sculpting micro-skin textures.
Displacement to Normal Conversion:The Face Tools detail layer represents a finely detailed mesh displacement that facilitates cross-layer recording in ZBrush. Upon import into Character Creator, it undergoes conversion into a normal map for realtime rendering.
Polypaint to Diffuse: Enhance your character’s skin with nuanced blood vessels, scars, tribal tattoos, and more. Overlay these elements onto CC’s original diffuse map, and seamlessly bake and optimize them for real-time presentation.
Cavity to Blend & Roughness: Face Tools can effortlessly transform deep shading within the recesses of high-mesh models into cavity maps. When blended with subtle ambient occlusion maps, artists can leverage it to enhance skin details or accentuate nuances in the roughness texture.

For further production information

Learning

Creating a Digital Double with Character Creator Headshot 2.0 for Blender Fantasy Film

October 16, 2023October 27, 2023 enocburgosLeave a comment

Onur Erdurak – Director / 3D Generalist

Onur Erdurak

I’m Onur Erdurak, a director, writer, and 3D artist from Turkey and I love telling stories.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Cinema from Izmir University of Economics. While studying in Izmir, I applied and got accepted to the Erasmus Student Exchange Program and studied Cinema in Slovenia for a year.

While studying I made my first short film with no budget, one location, and one actor – which was with my uncle. Luckily my uncle Kemal Erdurak was already a professional actor so I put my skills in VFX, writing, and everything in between to the test, and with the help of a great team we made; my debut short film “STRANDED”. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner in 2018. You can watch it for free on YouTube.

Currently, I am a Fulbright grantee, and I am pursuing an MFA degree at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. After a few failed attempts over the years trying to learn Blender. I finally got started after watching Ian Hubert’s “World Building in Blender” video. This was when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, I viewed this as a chance to enhance my skills and knowledge.
After a couple of months of learning, I started @blendreams to share my creations.

“Blendreams” got started as and still is my passion project. I share my renders and animations over there and share what I’ve learned during my journey on my YouTube channel as tutorials. I am incredibly grateful that this passion project now has over 100,000 followers on Instagram.

About a month ago I was testing Character Creator (CC4) for my short animation The Apple Thief, which caught Reallusion’s eye and contacted me to see what I could do with their AI Headshot plugin for Character Creator. So I used Headshot with a scan of my head I did with Polycam to recreate myself as a medieval warrior in Blender. The results were amazing as they allowed me to live my childhood cream of staring in my own action movie!

“Character Creator and iClone have truly streamlined the character creation and animation process for me. With these remarkable tools, I can craft and animate characters within mere minutes, a fact that continues to amaze me. What’s equally impressive is the level of customization and quality they offer for character creation. Now, I can feature lead actors in my renders, a level of versatility that’s immensely valuable to me.”
Onur Erdurak – Director / 3D Generalist

Featured Story

From Plastic Action Figures to Kinetic 3D Animation with iClone & Blender

October 11, 2023November 15, 2023 reallusionblogLeave a comment

About Make It Move Media

Hello everyone! I’m the face behind Make It Move Media. Over the past decade, my journey into 3D scanning and animation has been nothing short of exhilarating. It’s been an adventure that transformed my Instagram channel, where I showcase 3D-scanned action figures brought to life. I’ve immersed these characters into dynamic scenarios, and yes, many, many fight scenes.

To breathe life into my creations, I’ve used a myriad of software. One suite that stands out in my toolkit is Reallusion; Their 3D animation software, iClone, is truly game-changing.

Today, I’m diving deep into the specifics of how I use iClone 8 to enhance my animations.

Why Reallusion, You Ask? Here’s My Take

User-Friendly Interface: For beginners and seasoned animators alike, Reallusion presents an interface that is both intuitive and powerful. This combination accelerates the learning curve and enhances productivity.

Streamlined Workflow: My process, from scanning to animating, is significantly more efficient thanks to Reallusion. The integration capabilities of their tools, like ActorCore for rigging, save me countless hours.

Vast Library of Assets: No need to start from scratch! With Reallusion, I’ve access to a plethora of templates, mocap motions, and 3D assets. This is a boon when working on tight deadlines or seeking inspiration.

Seamless Integration: Importing animations from other platforms, like Mixamo, is a breeze with iClone 8. It truly bridges the gap between different animation tools.

High-Quality Results: The proof is in the pudding, or in my case, the animation. The realism, smoothness, and dynamic range I achieve with Reallusion are testimony to its prowess.

My Workflow with Reallusion Software

Rigging and Animating: Once my action figure is 3D scanned, I upload the file to start the rigging. Tools like AccuRIG are instrumental in this phase, helping me rig right from the hands to the entire body.

Motions and Movements: Next, I head to ActorCore to source high-quality motion capture files compatible with iClone 8. After rigging, I can easily import these animations and witness the magic unfold.

Using iClone 8, I bring my Spider-Man character to life. This software enables me to select from templates, custom packs, or even create from scratch. With a few clicks, my character is animated and moving seamlessly.

Merging Animations and Custom Motion Capture Files: The motion blending function of iClone 8 ensures smooth transitions between various motions, making the character’s movements appear natural.

One unique feature of iClone 8 is its ability to merge animations from different sources. For instance, I can import animations from Mixamo, retarget them, and blend them into my existing animation.

Perfecting the Movements: With iClone 8, I can refine my animation, ensuring details like hand positions remain accurate.

The Edit Reach Target tool is particularly useful for this, ensuring Spider-Man’s hands remain fixed on a cylinder during a swing sequence.

Blender Render and VFX

A mesmerizing animation ready for export. Taking it to Blender for final touches is as easy as exporting the animation optimized for Blender in FBX format.

In conclusion, the capabilities of iClone 8 and other tools in my arsenal have enabled me to create compelling, realistic animations. Whether you’re an animator, a fan, or someone intrigued by the world of 3D, I hope this behind-the-scenes look offers you insights and inspiration.

Keep moving, and keep creating!

Learn More

Check out this Spider-Man Instagram Reel created from Reallusion’s Tools.
Edit accurate 3D motion with iClone
Get mocap motions from ActorCore

Learning

WarLord’s Workshop: Unique Characters with Hide Body Mesh Tool

October 10, 2023October 10, 2023 WarLordLeave a comment

One of the great things about Character Creator 4 is its ability to reuse assets from previously built characters to make new characters. Since CC4 clothing is interchangeable with other CC4 characters it allows us to mix and match previously made or purchased assets for an entirely different character. This is a boon for filling scenes with extras and works for leading characters as well.

An example would be a Jack Lantern character I recently made while experimenting with ZBrush and the new CC4 head mesh wrapper in Headshot 2. This incredibly powerful plug-in now allows us to use either an image or a head mesh to create a compatible CC4 character and I took advantage of that to create the pumpkin head.

It became apparent after this that I could also make a Headless Horseman type of character for Halloween using two characters. One character for the body and one for the head. This has long been an experimental way to combine character parts when iClone was less powerful. As you can imagine, it requires the Head to be attached to the Neck of the second character. A proper attachment point is important for motion if you are mimicking one character.

THE FIRST CHARACTER – JACK LANTERN

My Jack Lantern Test Character using Headshot 2 mesh.

The Jack Lantern character is one of my experimental characters that has evolved over the years. I use it for experimentation since it’s kind of a benchmark as the clothing and accessories are low poly, so they don’t tax the engine and will work for stylized or cartoon-type characters. It’s my go-to model for this sort of thing.

I used ZBrush to make the pumpkin head, but you can use a head mesh of your choice. ZBrush was easy because it let me use GoZ to jump back and forth between Character Creator 4 and ZBrush with no importing or exporting.

Hiding the Body

I removed the clothing from the character except for the Tie which was originally an accessory but I skinned it with the Transfer Skin Weights tool so I could use it as a cloth to hide the rest of the body. As an accessory, the Hide Body Mesh tool is not available.

*Left: The full character with only the bowtie. Middle and Right: Using the tie to hide the body parts with the Hide Body Mesh tool.*

Why the tie? Because it looks good and can be used with the head if needed. It became a convenient cloth to use for hiding the mesh that is available should the need arise.

Leave the upper part of the neck. Do not hide this or you will have to deal with the big slit in the bottom of the head mesh this leaves. It is much easier to scale it down and radically shorten the neck (with sliders). Manually input the negative numbers to go past the 100 percent stop if needed.

Now all I had to do was turn the opacity of the bowtie down to zero or use a black texture in the opacity channel to make the tie disappear. Out of sight, out of mind… until you need it.

Working with the Head only:

Scale the neck to very thin and very short to pull it up into the head mesh. Otherwise, you will have a large open spot where the neck attaches that goes across the bottom of the head or a neck sticking out from the head mesh.
Character Creator 4

Scaling Down the Remaining Neck

Scale down the circumference of the neck to very thin and short with the CC4 sliders. Input the numbers manually in the box to go past the one hundred percent limit. If done properly the neck should be up inside the head mesh leaving a small hole. You could use the Mesh tool to select the neck at the vertices level then scale down and/or push it up into the head mesh but this risks topology distortion in the mesh if you aren’t careful.

*Left: Original shape with neck scaled down and pushed up into the mesh. Middle: Shaped more like a pumpkin*
*instead of the back of a skull in ZBrush with GoZ. Right: Bottom of head showing small hole after scaling down neck.*

OPTIONAL: Reshape the Back of the Head

If you have a 3D program capable of sculpting, then you can alter the skull-like pumpkin head mesh to look more like a pumpkin. If no other tool is available, then the original mesh will work just fine. You can always hide the skull shape with lighting, props, camera angle, or a cloth if it bothers you. I used the original skull shape in the final image render.

How to make the eyes black:

Select eye parts with Digital Human Skin and change their shaders to PBR.

Select all eye properties and load a solid black image in the diffuse channel (note: you will not see the final all-black result until you set the shader to PBR.

Character Creator 4

The Headless Body Character

My favorite and easiest part is making up the body of the character. I already had a premade character in mind. My budget character set, the Masked Swordsman. The clothing could fit the period in question, and it was already black. From reference pictures, it ticked off a lot of the important parts like boots, bell sleeves, tucked-in pants, and many other aspects of those times.

Plus, it had a mask that I could use just like I used the bowtie earlier. The mask would be my on/off switch for the body and lower neck. This was convenient just like the Jack Lantern bowtie.

I was going to use a muffler or scarf to cover the top of the character’s neck so the big hole wouldn’t show where the head is supposed to be. While there are neck mufflers and scarves available, I decided to jump into Marvelous Designer and just throw a single piece of cloth over it and see how it draped. I was lucky as it did just what I needed it to do on the first attempt.

*Left: Original Character. Right: New cloth draped, and mask with hide head mesh invoked. Right: Mask hidden with its opacity setting.*

HIDING THE HEAD

Using the same method as I did earlier with the Pumpkinhead, I used the mask as the cloth that hides the head and upper neck. After this, I hid the mask with opacity which can be one with the slider or using a black image in the opacity channel.

Next, I added, skinned, and textured the shoulder wrap I made in Marvelous Designer to cover the open neck. If you don’t have any kind of wrap that works, then alter a muffler with the mesh tool as all I was trying to do was cover the bare flesh of the original character’s chest. You could also resort to texturing the character’s chest black since it wouldn’t affect the character any further.

Headless Horseman Pesade Image

I was working with two characters for the Horseman and another for the horse. To do the Pesade with the horse I loaded the Pesade motion from the Horse and Tack Theme Pack into the horse while using the corresponding Rider Pesade for the headless body. In this case, I can go a step further and add the Rider Pesade to the head, or I can use another motion, keyframing, or puppetry.

This makes three distinct characters that can be animated in a scene. The horse is the Farm Horse from the Horse and Tack Theme Pack and is actually an avatar instead of a prop. There is a lot more going on in this scene than it looks like at first glance.

The background is AI-generated so there are only the three characters and the background image plus the camera and a blue image overlay to cut down on the contrast between the background image and the 3D characters.

Versatile Setup

If you are using something like this for a video, then the head will talk, and it also has dynamic expressions since I activated the wrinkle system so it can have a fiery conversation or tell a Halloween tale with enthusiasm and passion.

As I mentioned earlier you can also link the two characters together but be careful to link to the proper neck bone on the body character for motions to work properly if you are mimicking the actual full character. In this scene the head is linked to the hand.

Also, keep in mind that the linked “character” is in reality two characters that will require two different actions for loading or creating motions. If you want the head to use the same motion as the body, then you will have to load that motion into each character.

It can and does get a bit confusing when you first work with a combined character like which character am I on, wait… I loaded that… oh, not for this character but it also creates a character with a lot of possibilities.

Using AccuRIG to Mask Unused Bones

On a closing note, and I tested this, you can run the characterized head character through AccuRIG, being sure to preserve the existing facial bone structure when asked, and then use the masking tool to completely mask out the body or head so no motion will be accepted. This does replace the characterized skeleton and I haven’t tested it enough to know of any pros and cons. It seems to work fine and completely immobilize the unused, hidden parts of the character.

Keep an Open Mind

One thing about this animation journey is to always think outside the box when it comes to problem-solving or innovation in animation. While this sounds like corporate speak it is true because as easy as animation is getting there is still not an easy button for everything. Don’t let the lack of a documented method keep you from experimenting to see what can be done.

MD McCallum – WarLord

WarLord’s Workshop