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VFX Studio Transforms Virtual Production with iClone & Unreal

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Filmworks/FX, founded in 2001, specializes in virtual production, significantly speeding up the filmmaking process. Utilizing tools like iClone and Unreal Engine, the company can produce high-quality content rapidly, exemplified by a commercial featuring William Shatner, completed in just two hours. This technology revolutionizes filmmaking, making it more accessible and cost-effective for indie creators.

Revolutionizing Filmmaking: How Virtual Production with iClone and Unreal Engine Transforms Visual Effects Companies

Ken Locsmandi – Director, Producer, Visual Effects Supervisor, Writer

Ken Locsmandi – Owner/Founder of Filmworks/FX, Inc.

Founded in 2001 by Ken Locsmandi, Filmworks/FX, Inc. is a boutique visual effects company with a strong DIY ethos and a determined, underdog spirit. Their team of artists is known for a world-class work ethic, expertly handling diverse tasks while maintaining high standards for quality visual content.

Locsmandi’s career includes work on iconic films like The Matrix, Fight Club, and The Cell. Since its establishment, Filmworks/FX has delivered visual effects for major studios. They contributed to projects such as Geostorm, Gone Girl, Blue Bloods, and House of Cards. Originally, the company combined digital and analog workflows, including a Kodak-certified color film lab. With the rise of digital technology, they transitioned fully to digital VFX in 2007.

As Filmworks/FX evolved, it forged new partnerships and expanded into television production with a facility in New York. There, the team completed nearly 3,000 visual effects shots for major series like Blue Bloods and Hap and Leonard. The company has embraced virtual production to offer greater flexibility and efficiency, adapting to industry trends and client needs.

At the core of Filmworks/FX’s virtual production pipeline are Character Creator and iClone, which integrate seamlessly with Unreal Engine. These tools enable the team to produce high-quality, real-time animations and digital characters with remarkable speed and cost-effectiveness. Character Creator and iClone streamline production. They also elevate creative possibilities. This positions Filmworks/FX at the forefront of innovation in the visual effects industry.

“With Character Creator, iClone, and Unreal Engine, we create stunning visuals. These visuals would have taken us months. We are now doing them in hours sometimes. What would have cost $100,000 is now costing $10,000 or less. You actually get to be more creative. This is because you’re not spending all your time on laborious technical tasks.”

Ken Locsmandi – Director, Producer, Visual Effects Supervisor, Writer
https://www.filmworksfx.com/ourwork.html

Filmworks/FX, Inc., a boutique visual effects company

I started doing computer graphics in the late 1980s. I used software applications like 3D Studio (DOS), which became Max. I also used Wavefront, the precursor to Maya. At the same time, I concurrently did traditional darkroom film processing. In 1991, I completed my first CG animated commercial. From there I was hooked on the technology.

By 1995 I helped produce a full-length feature shot on 8 mm film. We employed the use of model miniatures and all the effects were achieved in-camera. The use of computers and computer graphics was still costly and cumbersome. However, I knew they would ultimately be the means to create the stories I wanted to tell.

In the late 1990s, the computer VFX industry began to take off. At that time, I ran a small company out of my apartment with home-built PCs. Massive, well-funded VFX companies dominated the industry using expensive SGI computers. Nevertheless, business growth provided opportunities. We were able to do visual effects on films such as The Matrix, Fight Club, and The Cell. Doing films of this caliber out of an apartment on PCs was unheard of at the time.

Leaving what was considered the “garage VFX shop” scenario, I formed Filmworks/FX, inc. in 2001. The name stemmed from Filmworks Laboratory, a cinema processing facility, from which we were renting space. A few years later Filmworks/FX, Inc. purchased Filmworks Laboratory. This was a unique scenario. It was one of the few places in the world. It handled photochemical processing, digital VFX, telecine, film scanning, and digital intermediate (color grading).

Filmworks/FX, Inc. eventually became producing partners on several feature films. They continued to generate VFX work on projects like Apocalypto, Terminal, Knight and Day, Star Trek: Picard, and Blue Bloods. They also contributed to hundreds of additional television episodes and films.

Recently the company has moved into virtual production workflows. We developed a virtual production system that is portable and versatile. We can move the system to any stage and are able to use it outdoors. We employed the system on the film, Flight Risk, directed by Mel Gibson.

Virtual production tools to redefine traditional filmmaking

Characters play an essential role in our work. This includes our in-house projects and service-based client work. iClone, Character Creator, and Unreal have become the core of our virtual production pipeline. The term virtual production will fade away soon, and will just be synonymous with production.

With these tools, Character Creator, iClone, and Unreal Engine, we create stunning visuals. These visuals would have taken us months. We are now able to create them in hours sometimes. What once cost one hundred thousand dollars is now ten thousand or less. You also get to be more creative because you’re not spending all your time on laborious technical tasks.

The Shatner Collection using Character Creator and iClone

The Egard Watch Company asked me to write, produce, and direct a commercial with William Shatner. The commercial featured a watch co-designed by Mr. Shatner.

The commercial would have cost over $120,000 dollars if done traditionally. It would have involved a 10 to 12-hour shooting day. Additionally, a month of post-production and 2 weeks of preparation would be needed. In this case, we did 3 days of “prep”. We shot a two-and-a-half minute interview and the thirty-second spot in 2 hours. Before wrapping, we had a rough edit of the commercial to view. This was remarkable.

“If done traditionally, the commercial would have cost over $120,000 dollars. It would require a 10 to 12-hour shooting day, a month of post, and 2 weeks of preparation. In this case, we did 3 days of “prep”. We shot a two-and-a-half minute interview and the thirty-second spot in 2 hours. Gus, the grey alien, was constructed in about 15 minutes using Character Creator in conjunction with ZBrush. “

Ken Locsmandi – Director, Producer, Visual Effects Supervisor, Writer

The spot involved a full CG warehouse with Shatner’s fictitious space collection. This included such items as The Space Shuttle, lunar rover, satellites, astronaut suits, and of course Gus, the grey alien.

Most VFX artists know how time-consuming it is to build, rig, texture, and animate a character. Gus, the grey alien, was constructed in about 15 minutes using Character Creator in conjunction with ZBrush.

Using a base human model in Character Creator. I simply used the procedural sliders to get Gus’s overall shape. Some minor adjustments couldn’t be done easily in Character Creator. Tasks such as completely smoothing the ears to the skull were done in ZBrush. The GoZ bridge function inside Character Creator enables quick modifications. You can modify the ears in ZBrush and send them back to Character Creator. This process completes in about a minute. The Base model in Character Creator is already rigged. You can modify the model in ZBrush without needing manual re-rigging or binding. The software just does it all behind the scenes. It is phenomenal!

To make Gus’s human skin tone grey, the hue saturation sliders inside Character Creator were used. The other amazing thing about the Character Creator model is that all the facial targets are already made. You can immediately bind mocap or use the iClone AccuLIPS text-to-speech function to the character.

We didn’t have the exact animation placement or dialogue for Gus while shooting. Once we had the final dialogue and staging it took about an hour to adjust it using iClone.

Bronson Beak – reducing costs with the right tools

Bronson Beak is a film project that I wrote many years ago. The project was optioned by three of the major studios in Hollywood. For those who don’t know, an option lets the studio hold onto your project for a minimal fee. They do this until they figure out if and how they want to make it.

This process can take years to iron itself out. In the case of Bronson Beak, it took years for the options to expire till the project rights reverted back to me. The film is an action-adventure comedy. Initially, the plan was to photograph real animals. Then, VFX would place them into the environment and make them speak. We did several tests this way, fairly successfully.

Doing the film this way though would cost about 60 million dollars. My desire was to do the film independently, at a 60 million dollar budget was gonna be a tall order. Any independent filmmaker will contest how hard it is to raise funds.

“Here comes the magic of Reallusion and Unreal. We did tests and it blew my mind. We were able to take CG animals and bound them through ActorCore AccuRIG. Then, we immediately applied motion capture to their bodies and face. Again, my head just exploded when I watched these tests.”

Ken Locsmandi – Director, Producer, Visual Effects Supervisor, Writer

Real-time body and facial capture was being applied to the characters with near real-time rendering. Using our virtual production system I could operate a camera just like filming in the physical world. This allowed us to have instant editorial versions. We just produced a month of work in 45 minutes to an hour. KAPOW! Did I happen to mention my head exploded?

“Because of the Reallusion tool sets and Unreal, we decided to go into production on the project. The company will self-fund initially and then bring on partners. This 60 million dollar film could now be done for less than 1/10th of that original budget, because of these tools. VFX studios not employing these tool sets will not be able to compete in the future. In the right circumstances, iClone and Character Creator will increase your productivity by ten to twenty fold. Time always boils down to dollars.”

Ken Locsmandi – Director, Producer, Visual Effects Supervisor, Writer

To all those filmmakers like me, with no connections or money to make a project, these tools may be just the thing to allow your vision to become a reality. Are there technical skills needed to work these applications? Yes, but they are exponentially easier to use than the industry standard software applications.

My career in filmmaking and VFX has been long. There were eras that were not enjoyable. It became a “grind” to make good stuff. Innovative applications like iClone and Unreal have made this now, the most exciting and fun time.

Follow Filmworks/FX, Inc.

Website:
https://www.filmworksfx.com/

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/filmworks-fx-inc./

Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/user6398229

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/filmworksfx

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Product Release

Empower Blender Character Creation with Enhanced Auto Setup

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Reallusion, a leader in 3D animation and character creation software, announces a powerful upgrade to its free Blender Auto Setup (BAS), now optimized for Blender 4.2. This update allows seamless integration between Character Creator (CC), iClone, and Blender, moving beyond the constraints of FBX file transfers. The new “Data Link” feature ensures reliable bidirectional data synchronization. The free Auto Setup also includes automatic assignment of CC digital human shaders, advanced character editing tools, scene tools, compatibility with Rigify control rigs, and support for both Eevee and Cycles render engines.

Data Link – Character & Prop Live Synching with Blender

The new Data Link feature streamlines the process of synchronizing characters, poses, morphs, motions, and live sequences between CC, iClone, and Blender with a single click. This eliminates the need for exporting and importing FBX files, making the workflow more efficient. It also allows lighting and camera setups to sync from CC and IClone to Blender, ensuring visual consistency across platforms.

For complex scenes like crowd simulations, the “Send All” option simplifies the process by transferring the entire scene—including props, characters, lighting, and cameras—to Blender with a single click. Mocap and motion director recordings from iClone can also be seamlessly synchronized into Blender.

Enhanced Character Editing Experience for Blender

Blender Auto Setup auto-configures sculpt mode and the multiresolution modifier, making character sculpting effortless. Once sculpting is done, the one-click “Bake & Apply” function finalizes the base shape and sends it back to Character Creator. The proportion editing feature allows direct adjustment of the character’s bone scale, offering precise customization options.

BAS integrates hair spring rigs and cloth physics, enabling adjustments to cloth collision, weight maps, and simulation baking. For hair, it supports bone spring rigs, allowing tweaks to bone parameters and hair binding for more dynamic, realistic movement.

Ultra-Realistic Digital Human Shader

The Blender Auto Setup takes full advantage of Character Creator‘s (CC) Digital Human Shader, automatically generating optimized Blender material graphs for photorealistic rendering. These shaders bring characters to life with ultra-realistic details, supporting customizable parameters for various features, such as skin tone, wrinkles, hair, eyes, and teeth.

Scene Tools and Support for Blender EEVEE and Cycles Rendering

To streamline the lighting and rendering process, Auto Setup includes 12 built-in scene light presets, enabling quick changes to different lighting environments. Additionally, with a one-click transition to Cycles render, users can optimize their workflow for both real-time previews in EEVEE and final high-quality renders in Cycles, boosting efficiency while maintaining visual fidelity.

Advanced Animation and Rigify Control Rig Integration

BAS ensures precise animation transfer from CC and iClone to Blender and generates a Rigify control rig. This feature allows fine-tuning of character movements with Inverse Kinematics (IK) and Forward Kinematics (FK), and automatically retargets motions. It enhances flexibility and control over animations in Blender and allows the rig to be sent back to CC or iClone for further editing.

This revolutionary tool is available for free and can be downloaded by registering as a member on the Reallusion website. This release reaffirms Reallusion’s commitment to enhancing the creative workflow for Blender users, making it easier than ever to bring characters and animations to life.

Related resources

Blender Auto Setup – Download for free

Character Creator – Enjoy a 30-day free trial

iClone – Enjoy a 30-day free trial

Featured Story

Winner Select: Building Characters Fast with CC and Perfecting with ZBrush GoZ

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Overview

Jeet Shah shares his creative journey with Character Creator 4 (CC4), crafting a stunning 3D character while discovering the efficiency and creative freedom that advanced tools provide. His success in the 2024 Reallusion Character Contest highlights both his dedication and CC4’s capabilities as a powerful tool for 3D artists.

Jeet Shah, From IT to 3D career

Jeet Shah’s story is one of passion and determination. Hailing from Rajkot in India, Despite Jeet’s IT academic background, his heart was set on an entirely different path — 3D art. 

“I’ve always been fascinated by the CG effects in movies and games”, Jeet shares. After completing his degree, he took a year off to teach himself 3D art and honed his skills using software like 3ds Max, Maya, and later ZBrush.

His efforts paid off, landing him his first job at a VR and mobile game company in 2016. Since then, Jeet has advanced through various roles. Once a team leader, and now as a technical artist, he combines love for character art with a deep appreciation for the technical aspects of rigging and animation.

Jeet Shah’s ArtStation

Discovering Character Creator

Jeet’s interest in Character Creator was sparked by the 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest, where he secured 3rd place in the realistic character category. Despite being a newcomer to the platform, he was impressed by its intuitive controls and non-destructive character creation process.

“Character Creator 4 introduced a refreshing approach to 3D character creation with hundreds of sliders for full-body modifications”, Jeet explains. “I could easily experiment with new proportions and ideas without worrying about losing the original version. This flexibility was a game-changer.”

“If you’re making large changes to body parts like the eyes or limbs, it’s best to do it within CC4, as it preserves the skeleton hierarchy better than ZBrush”. He continues to emphasize that the built-in GoZ pipeline for fine-tuning, combined with the strengths of both platforms, enabled intricate detailing.

CC GoZ for detailing

Notable was the integration of ZBrush with the GoZ pipeline, which allowed him to send models back and forth between Character Creator 4 and ZBrush, leveraging the unique strengths of each tool.

“I must have transferred the model between ZBrush and CC4 at least 10 to 15 times”, he says. “CC4’s built-in facial and body rigging enabled me to refine the primary shapes quickly, while ZBrush helped me achieve the detailed sculpting that CC4’s sliders couldn’t”.

Jeet found the roundtrip process fast and effortless, as he also utilized CC4’s powerful facial rigging and morphs for detailed expressions. He would further refine these expressions in Maya for precise control over the final look.

AccuRigging armor and clothing

For his Reallusion contest entry, Jeet transformed a concept by George Redry into a lifelike 3D character. Starting with Marvelous Designer, he crafted the base clothing before moving the model to ZBrush to add burnt, battle-worn details. For the arm, he sculpted individual pieces using DynaMesh.

Jeet then rigged the character’s clothing and armor with AccuRig, CC4’s automatic rigging plugin. “It was incredible how quickly AccuRig rigged my character. What would normally take me a few days of manual skin weight painting was done in just a few seconds”, he recalls. As stated, the tool provided a “90%” usable rig, which he refined in Maya, adding custom bones and adjusting skin weights for complex areas like the shoulder pads and skirt.

A great learning opportunity

Participating in the 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest provided Jeet with an opportunity to learn new tools and techniques. “After the competition, I feel like my art skills have leveled up,” Jeet reflects. “CC4 was an eye-opener for me, and I’m excited to include it in my skill set moving forward.”

He is grateful to Reallusion for organizing the contest and for making advanced tools like CC4 accessible through trial subscriptions, which allowed him to explore its full potential. “It was a fantastic opportunity, and I encourage other artists to take part in such contests. It’s a great way to push yourself, expand your portfolio, and grow as an artist”.

Learn more

Character Creator – Enjoy a 30-day Free Trial

GoZ Plus

Jeet’s Full WIP of “Hard Battle”

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Click through to learn more about the winners’ portfolios and judge comments
Product Release

Advanced Motion Technology Reinvents 3D Animation

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Experience Prop-Paired Animations and Motion with Facial Expressions, Exclusively on ActorCore.

ActorCore, the premium online content store for 3D productions, releases new types of mocap animations: Prop-Paired Animations and Motions with Facial Expressions. With over 3,600 professional motion assets, many of which stand out in the market, such as Hollywood action sequences and hand-keyed cartoon animations, ActorCore’s latest offerings demonstrate its strength in delivering unique content. This expansion continues to simplify workflows and boost productivity for game, film, simulation, and visualization productions.

World’s First: Prop-Paired Animations & Motion with Facial Expressions

ActorCore is renowned for its expertise in 3D motion, offering a vast array of high-quality assets that cover a wide range of themes, all while leveraging advanced technology in the digital content market. The latest release includes:

Prop-Paired Animations

This mocap animation synchronizes human motion with animated props, enhancing visual fidelity and simplifying data handling. It allows characters to interact seamlessly with props without the need for separate loading, animation, or manual alignment. Users can experience this firsthand with the Skateboard motion pack, which features professional skateboarding moves that automatically synchronize the skateboard with the character’s animations. Additional motion packs featuring animated props, such as biking, will be released in 2025.

Motion with Facial Expressions

ActorCore provides motions that incorporate facial expressions, enhancing interactions by maintaining eye contact during conversations, expressing excitement while watching sports, and conveying situational awareness. This type of motion adds depth and authenticity to scenes, bringing them to life with expressive, lifelike movements. Explore how digital actors are enhanced with natural facial and body motions in the Group Sit & Chat, Group Stand & Chat, and Idle Sit and Stand motion packs.

Evolving 3D Motion Technology

From the outset, ActorCore has provided high-quality mocap motion while offering professional hand-keyed motion. Initially focused on single-character performances, ActorCore also delivers dual and multi-character interactions, further enriched with facial expression and animated prop integration. The solid advancement in motion technology is designed to simplify 3D production for users while enhancing precision and realism in their projects.

In addition to Prop-Paired Animations and Motion with Facial Expressions, special content can be found in the ActorCore 3D motion store:

  • Hollywood-caliber Mocap Animation: Collaborating with top stunt actors and leading mocap studios to deliver incredible performances, ActorCore provides top-notch mocap animations in a wide range of themes for action-film productions, game design, and scene simulations.
  • Handkey Animation: Tailored hand-keyed animations breathe life into diverse 3D cartoon characters, showcasing unique body types and vibrant personalities. Existing projects can be elevated with dynamic, fluid movements that capture the essence of each character.
  • Group Animation: Paired motions for two or more characters illustrate interpersonal relationships or communication, such as those between a parent and child, friends, lovers, and co-workers.

Perfectly Matched Motions and Props

Virtual actors no longer perform empty-handed! Hundreds of 3D props and accessories are now available on ActorCore. With the Related Content feature, it is easy to locate the most suitable props to complement selected motions, or vice versa, and preview them alongside the actor. This intelligent matching process allows for convenient access to relevant content, saving significant time on searching and verification.

Additionally, Related Content allows for the application of different props to either hand. Furthermore, the same or different props can be applied to each hand of a group of characters, effortlessly creating variety for crowd scenes, such as street protestors, concert audiences, and sports spectators.

Custom Download

In addition to downloading individual content, it is possible to combine the selected character, motion, and prop from the inventory to create a single FBX file. This allows the character to directly interact with the needed prop in motion after importing to different platforms, eliminating the hassle of manually combining assets in 3D animation software.

Easy Crowd Simulation Facilitated by iClone

With a large bank of lightweight characters, 3D motions, and props from ActorCore, crowd simulations can be easily achieved by implementing the powerful crowd generation features of iClone.

  • Dynamic crowds of any size can be effortlessly generated, engaged in a range of activities such as sitting, standing, conversing, walking, or jogging, all animated to reflect appropriate styles for different genders and age groups. 
  • ActorCore motions and props are accessible directly inside iClone, allowing for the pairing of accessories through motions or vice versa, using ActorCore’s Related Content feature.
  • Motions are auto-loaded with animated props, such as a skateboarding motion that includes the skateboard inside iClone. 
  • Motion and prop animations can be exported from iClone to all major 3D production tools.

Find Any Motion in ActorCore

ActorCore currently offers over 3,600 motions, all compatible with major 3D programs including Unreal Engine, Unity, Maya, MotionBuilder, Blender, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Omniverse, and iClone. Step-by-step guides and tutorials are available for each program, along with optimized Auto Setup plugins and Import Presets to streamline workflow. Visit ActorCore today to access a large selection of premium 3D motions.

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Featured Story

Winner Select: Mastering Mysterious Character with ZBrush Face Tools

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Overview

The 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest was a major success, attracting 267 creative and skillful submissions. The contest featured three main categories with Artist Konrad Hetko securing first place in the “Character Design” category with his submission called “The Last Entry”. Just what inspired his intriguing character concept and what gave him the edge in this competition? Take a deep dive into his masterpiece and discover how he leveraged Character Creator, GoZ, and ZBrush Face Tools to win the contest.

Character Artist – Konrad Hetko

Hailing from Poland, Konrad Hetko is a character artist who has spent over 15 years working with different areas of digital art — from photo bashing and painting to video editing and animation. While he originally set out to become an animator, a university project sparked his love for 3D character design, completely shifting his focus. Now, he is putting his skills to work at Teyon, a Polish game studio, where he was part of major projects like Robocop: Rogue City.

Driven by his passion for both the craft and cutting-edge tech, Konrad constantly pushes boundaries, experimenting with new workflows and tools like Character Creator 4 (CC4). Lately, he’s been hooked on the GoZ pipeline, which seamlessly connects CC4 with ZBrush, allowing him to bring characters to life faster than ever.

Konrad’s ArtStation

The Concept of “The Last Entry”

Konrad’s entry, “The Last Entry”, for the 2024 Reallusion 3D Contest drew inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft. His character, an old investigator, has uncovered terrifying truths about ancient, mythical creatures — knowledge that slowly drives him mad. He documents these horrors in a journal marked with the Elder Sign, a mystical symbol meant to shield his writings from the lurking dangers of the unknown.

H.P. Lovecraft.


Konrad intentionally moved away from realism in this piece, explaining “I wanted to focus on a more intriguing stylization”. His inspiration for this shift came from the “Bad Travelling” episode of Love, Death & Robots; Fascinated by the stylized character designs, he sought to evoke a similar feel, blending the dark, psychological atmosphere of Lovecraft with a distinctive and captivating visual style.

Benefits of Character Creator x ZBrush GoZ pipeline 

A key part of Konrad’s workflow was the smooth integration between Character Creator 4 and ZBrush, thanks to the GoZ feature. This made it easy for him to transfer his character model back and forth between the two programs for ongoing refinement. 

Body sculpture progress
Hand progression

“Reallusion’s tools were a game changer, especially the ease of switching between Character Creator and ZBrush using GoZ,” he explains. With GoZ, he sculpted intricate details in ZBrush and could instantly bring them back into Character Creator for further tweaks. This seamless interaction allowed him to efficiently achieve the stylization he envisioned while maintaining detail and precision.

ZBrush Face Tools – Empower the Character Expressions

For “The Last Entry”, Konrad dedicated most of his effort to designing the character’s face and expressions. This entailed creating several variations, with each iteration bringing him closer to the visuals he envisioned.

Face Concepts
Mix of number 1 and 4 gave me the final base.

All the versions were stored in layers, allowing him to mix and match different elements to refine the face. Once satisfied with the results, he transferred the head back into ZBrush and used Face Tools to sculpt the necessary expressions and dynamic wrinkles.

All of the sculpted expression layers

“That’s probably my favorite tool in Character Creator,” Konrad stated, “Face Tools handle the most tedious aspects of working with morphs and dynamic normals by automating everything with just one click,” he shared during the creation process of expression morphs and conducting dynamic wrinkles tests in CC.

Instead of manually creating and baking wrinkles, Face Tools streamlined the process, giving Konrad more time to focus on the creative aspects of the project. Then he was able to refine the expressions and overall look, enhancing both its depth and realism.

Personal Aspirations

Konrad’s journey doesn’t end with the contest. He’s eager to explore more of what Reallusion’s suite of tools, including iClone and Unreal Engine, has to offer. “I’m already planning a personal project where I’ll integrate the best aspects of Character Creator with MetaHuman in Unreal Engine,” Konrad reveals. Though he remains tight-lipped about the details, his passion to push the boundaries of 3D character creation is palpable.

Skeletal mesh imported to UE5
Unreal Engine scene

Final Thoughts

Konrad’s thoughtful approach to character design, combined with his mastery of tools like Character Creator 4 and ZBrush, earned him first place in the realistic character category of the 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest. His ability to merge Lovecraftian themes with stylized art, while utilizing cutting-edge technology, made his entry truly stand out.

Reflecting on the contest, Konrad notes how it helped him grow as an artist. “I’m really happy I participated”, he says. “The contest motivated me to finish a project, learn new tools, and push my artistic boundaries”. Konrad’s work shows how Reallusion’s tools enable artists to create immersive characters while streamlining the technical side. With new projects ahead, we look forward to seeing more impressive creations from this talented artist.

Learn more

Character Creator – Enjoy a 30-day Free Trial

ZBrush Face Tools

Konrad’s Full WIP of “The Last Entry”

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Click through to learn more about the winners’ portfolios and judge comments
Product Release

AI SMART SEARCH : A Natural Way to Find Your Ideal Assets

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Introducing AI Smart Search, the latest in AI-powered features added to iClone, Character Creator, and Cartoon Animator. It’s a new way to find the perfect gems among countless models and motions on offer in the Reallusion Content Store, Marketplace, and ActorCore. 

Simply use natural language or input images to prompt the search model and discover ideal scenes, props, characters, or effects. It’s also an excellent tool for exploring content while supporting the discovery of up-and-coming developers from around the world.

With seamless in-app integration and access to both official and independent content across the Reallusion platform, Smart Search is an efficient, versatile gateway to choose, sample, and purchase the perfect content to bring your projects to life.

New Feature Highlights

DEEP SEARCH

Deep Search is crafted for ease of use, offering intuitive search functions with category-based filtering. Drag in images, describe what you’re seeking in natural language, or retrieve similar items — all powered by an AI model trained to catalog countless digital assets in the Reallusion ecosystem to deliver highly relevant, visually matching results.

Text Input

Natural language support lets you type in a brief description like “historical figure” or “modern high heels” and get precise results in seconds. Deep Search also understands more than a hundred different languages, so foreign language queries work just as well as their English counterparts!

Natural Language Support

100+ Languages

Image Input

Drag in or paste images from the clipboard to find visually matching results. It’s an easy way to find content that is relevant to pictures and graphics of props, characters, and backgrounds.

Drag and Drop

Copy and Paste

Find Similar Content

Deep Search allows for the quick discovery of closely related assets. It’s easier than ever to find alternatives that align with existing collections and projects, ensuring consistency for your workflow and organization.

By Search Results

From the Scene

Via Content Manager

Filter by Category

Filter search results by categories like cloth, hair, character, or motion. By narrowing the search results, you can find ideal matching assets with accuracy and speed. Refine your search results by using the “Exclude” feature to filter out any items that don’t meet your preferences.

Filter by Category

Exclude Unwanted Results

KEYWORD SEARCH

Other than Deep Search, Keyword Search is still available as a straightforward way to find reliable results. Just input text to match assets by name, description, tag, or author.

Name, Tag, or Description

Match by Author

Search Motions

How to Access AI Smart Search

Starting from November 4, AI Smart Search will be included with the latest software updates. Simply greenlight pending updates in Reallusion Hub to access the new Deep Search features from the toolbar or the plugin menu.

Upcoming Features

We are excited to announce more upcoming features, including:

  1. Deep Search For Custom Assets
    Locate your custom assets with the same intuitive Deep Search functionality.
  2. Deep Search For Motion Files
    Find motions by using natural language, pose references, or motion samples.
  3. Easy Purchase and Instant Download
    Acquire assets effortlessly across stores, with fast, convenient download.

Help Us to Make It Better

We invite you to share feedback on AI SMART SEARCH to help us enhance this beta tool. Your insights are key to refining features that better serve creators and developers. Click the link to share your thoughts!

>> Start The Survey

Empowering Developers with Greater Content Visibility

The Embedded Smart Search Engine provides an efficient pathway to address user needs throughout the creative process. Discover how content developers like you can gain exposure and remain competitive by following the best practices outlined in the Developer Guidelines.

>> Developer Guidelines

Supported Products

Digital Access for AI SMART SEARCH

Featured Story

Bringing ALHIQ’s Dragon Shield to Life with Animation Software

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Animating Ancient Fantasy: ALHIQ ‘The Dragon Shield’ with Character Creator, iClone, and ActorCore

Dom Fred – Director / Producer / Editor / 3D Animator

Dom Fred – 3D Maya Animator

Dom Fred has established a remarkable career in the television advertising industry. He has made significant strides in digital and 3D production tools using tools like Autodesk Maya.

Over the past two decades, he has expanded his expertise to include music videos. He also creates documentaries, catering to a global clientele. In 2007, Dom founded his own company, DOM ANIMATION STUDIO. He specializes in product and post-production. He seamlessly integrates 3D characters into real environments and special effects (SFX). He also creates martial arts and acrobatics action sequences for commercials.

The ALHIQ “The Dragon Shield” project is an ambitious animation endeavor set in a world of magic and fantasy. It blends ancient stories with modern cinematic techniques.

This project is led by the visionary Director, Producer, and Action Director Dom Fred. It aims to achieve a level of cinematographic quality that rivals high-end 3D animation productions. The team behind ALHIQ leveraged cutting-edge tools provided by Reallusion, including Character Creator, iClone 8, ActorCore, and Unreal Engine, to bring this fantasy to life with stunning detail and realism.

The Vision Behind ALHIQ “The Dragon Shield”

The ALHIQ project is deeply rooted in storytelling, taking inspiration from ancient tales of magic and mythical creatures. This world-building was carefully crafted to immerse viewers in an epic fantasy realm. Dom Fred’s goal was to create an animated film that not only entertains but also evokes emotional depth through powerful character performances and realistic environments. According to Fred, “Our vision was clear from the start—ALHIQ needed to be an epic project that pushes the boundaries of what independent 3D animation can achieve with the right tools and talent.”

Character Creation: The Power of Reallusion’s Character Creator

A critical aspect of ALHIQ’s production lies in the creation of characters that breathe life into the story. Using Character Creator, the team was able to design detailed and expressive 3D models that capture the essence of each character. The tool allowed them to customize facial expressions, body proportions, and clothing with impressive accuracy.

The characters were crafted using Dawyne Scan Reality, a high-fidelity model that served as the foundation for the entire cast. Dom Fred emphasized the importance of this tool, stating, “Thanks to Character Creator, our characters came to life with unparalleled detail, especially in facial expressions. It exceeded our expectations and allowed us to convey the depth of each character’s emotions.”

Character Creator not only streamlined the design process but also gave the team the ability to focus on storytelling, as they could easily tweak and modify the characters as the story evolved.

Animation Control with iClone 8

Once the characters were created, the focus shifted to animation. iClone 8 played a pivotal role in controlling and refining every movement and expression. This real-time 3D animation software allowed Dom Fred and his team to animate the characters while staying true to the dramatic narrative. Fred explained, “iClone 8 gave us the precision to retouch animations and faithfully respect the story. It allowed us to control every detail, from subtle movements to intense action scenes.”

One of the standout features of iClone 8 is its ability to create detailed facial expressions and body language through motion capture, allowing animators to bring out the emotional depth in characters. This fine-tuning was essential in ensuring that the fantasy world felt immersive and the characters resonated with audiences.

Enhancing Realism with ActorCore Motion Capture

The use of ActorCore provided the ALHIQ project with access to a vast library of high-quality motion capture animations. This tool became invaluable for adding realism to the characters’ movements, particularly when depicting dramatic or intense emotional moments. ActorCore’s extensive collection of animations allowed the team to focus on performance and save both time and money during production.

One such pack was Reallusion’s Wilderness Survival pack from its Studio Mocap series. This professionally capture motion capture pack features 43 dynamic motions meticulously crafted for crafting survival scenarios in the wild. The pack equips artists with motions for traversing rugged terrains like steep hills, rivers, and dense bushes. It also enables them to hunt crucial resources such as animals, fruit, and water.

ActorCore’s animations were integrated seamlessly into iClone and then transferred to Unreal Engine, allowing the team to preview scenes in real time and make quick adjustments as needed.

“The range of motion capture performances ActorCore provided was key to adding realism to our scenes. We could choose from pre-built animations like those found in the Wilderness Survival pack, which saved us hours of manual animation work while still giving us a cinematic level of quality.”

Dom Fred – Director / Producer / Editor / 3D Animator
https://actorcore.reallusion.com/3d-motion?orderBy=Relevance&keyword=WILDERNESS

Real-Time Rendering with Unreal Engine

Real-time rendering is a crucial part of ALHIQ’s production process, allowing the team to make rapid iterations on their animations and preview scenes in Unreal Engine before the final render. The iClone 8 to Unreal Engine Live Link played a significant role in ensuring that scenes could be reviewed in real-time, streamlining the overall workflow.

This real-time feedback loop enabled the production team to remain agile and responsive to changes, ensuring that the project stayed on schedule while maintaining high-quality output. Fred described the importance of this system, noting, “The Live Link between iClone 8 and Unreal Engine was instrumental in speeding up our workflow. It allowed us to monitor the progress of scenes in real-time, which is essential for a project of this scale.”

The ALHIQ Pipeline: A Proven Production Workflow

One of the key takeaways from the ALHIQ project is the solid pipeline established by Dom Fred and his team. By leveraging Reallusion’s suite of tools, including Character Creator, iClone 8, and ActorCore, they were able to create a comprehensive production workflow that met the project’s technical demands while remaining flexible enough for creative exploration.

Fred commented, “This epic animation project validated the production pipeline we’ve built. We now have a robust workflow that not only meets our technical needs but also allows us to tell the story we want to tell.”

The combination of real-time rendering, high-quality motion capture, and powerful character creation tools enabled the team to create a film that feels dynamic, immersive, and cinematically rich.

Saving Time and Money with Reallusion Tools

Studios and independent artists can take inspiration from ALHIQ’s use of Reallusion’s tools. They can maximize efficiency and quality in their animation projects. The integration of ActorCore’s motion capture animations allows teams to reduce the time spent on manual animation. Teams can still deliver high-quality results. Examples include those found in the Wilderness Survival pack.

Dom Fred emphasized how this approach benefits production teams, “By using high-quality motion capture from ActorCore, we were able to save a lot of time and resources. The quality of the animations gave us a cinematic feel without the need for expensive, time-consuming manual work.”

Conclusion

The ALHIQ “The Dragon Shield” project stands as a testament to what can be achieved when cutting-edge technology and creative vision come together. Through the use of Reallusion’s Character Creator, iClone 8, and ActorCore, Dom Fred and his team were able to bring an ancient fantasy world to life with incredible detail and realism. The project’s success highlights the importance of a solid production pipeline and the value of real-time rendering, motion capture, and character creation tools in modern animation.

For studios and artists seeking to produce high-quality content while saving time and resources, the ALHIQ project serves as a powerful example of how Reallusion’s tools can streamline the animation process and elevate storytelling.

Follow Dom Fred:

Website:
https://www.domfredfilm.com/accueil

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dom-fred-films-81904194/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaEVZPzkWUsg9Wti9Cao4Vw

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063571358642

Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/spaceagentsmysteriousax/videos

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Learning

MD Props – Upping Your Animation Game

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Sometimes some of the hardest things to animate are the everyday motions of life that we go through like taking a drink, sitting down or even opening a door. As mundane as these tasks are they are just as important as the main and supporting character animations as they will stand out if they are not animated well.

It has always been my opinion that these everyday motions are part of what makes a great animated story.  A strong storyline can suffer terribly from bad or weak animation as it can be distracting which takes the viewer’s focus off the story and puts it on the questionable animation.

Transversely great animation can, to some extent, uplift a poor story by providing good visuals to keep the audience involved enough to maybe even enjoy the video in the long run.

Bad animation is just that… bad animation. There is no way to sugarcoat this as it can stay with a project, producer, director or animator for a long time, maybe even for life.

We don’t want to be known as THAT kind of animator.  And I have to wonder how many of us have been tagged at least once in our life as sloppy animators due to paying too much attention to main characters and not enough to the background characters that make up a crowd, or a scene.

Now what does all of this have to do with the recent release of the Motion Director Props (MD Props) from Reallusion for iClone? Simple… Reallusion is doing the animation for us so we can move on with production and not have to sweat all the little details like using a vending machine or a simple thing such as using a trash can.

MD Props

(Scroll through the above images to learn more about Prop Interaction)

The animations are embedded in the MD system for fast and easy production. You don’t have to keyframe them or animate them… just click on an available choice and the motion will be loaded into the character then triggered.

MD Props are a feature in Reallusion’s iClone that allows users to create interactions between virtual actors and MD-enabled props. MD Props were introduced in version 8.5 and are extensions of the Motion Director system.

It isn’t just for background characters either as these same motions bring a more realistic look to camera-centric characters as well. We don’t want our background characters to be animated better than our main characters and MD Props takes care of this with an almost game-like interface that pops up over MD driven props for us to trigger a certain motion like sitting down.  These motions are handled by Motion Director and can be real time savers as well provide consistently good animation.

Adding a simple motion of taking a drink can enhance a scene with more activity. Activity is a word animators need to keep in mind. Some of you know of my dislike of near empty scenes, particularly in metro areas where empty streets and sidewalks are anything but normal. Motion Director solved this problem initially by allowing us to add motion to and control multiple characters at once instead of having to individually load or keyframe those movements.

With Motion Director we can have a lively street scene, a block party or just a busy downtown metro area. Now with MD Props we can add everyday motions to those crowd members beyond just moving around.

MD Templates for Customizing Interactive Props

ACTIONABLE | Tool 1

As the most prevalent template tool, an ACTIONABLE prop can be approached by any actor to trigger predefined interactions. This interface can offer a variety of performances and even prompt a reaction from the prop itself.

STATE SWITCH | Tool 2

STATE SWITCH transforms an actor’s animation state from one to another. Each state includes its own idle loop and triggerable animations, such as standing, sitting on a chair, leaning against the wall, or indoor cycling.

BI-DIRECTIONAL | Tool 3

The BI-DIRECTION focuses on scenarios requiring two-point mobility. A common application is for characters to move between two designated locations, such as entering or exiting automatic sliding doors, or traversing a crosswalk.

PORTABLE | Tool 4

The PORTABLE template supports the movement of items from one placement point to another. This includes picking up an object, carrying it around while using it, and placing it back down in the same or different location. 3D actors can be commanded to stow items in hand or attached to the body and fetch them back as needed using a handy radial menu. For example, a hungry character can approach a plate of leftovers, heat it in the microwave, eat, and then place the empty dish in the sink.

DOLLY | Tool 5

The DOLLY template allows 3D actors to maneuver a dolly, cart, or similar wheeled object. Once activated, a designated character will approach the dolly prop, grasp its handles, and navigate it along a customized path. Throughout the process, the actor maintains the appropriate gait and posture to counter the heft and size of the cargo. Dolly operations can be easily adjusted or exited using a convenient radial menu.

A Quick Overview

While I will be providing a more detailed Beginners Guide article in the future, I can give you a quick overview of the process. As it is with most Reallusion tools you can just jump right in. You do need to be familiar with Motion Director as it drives the animations and interactions.

The process involves placing a dummy like the “Sit on Chair” MD Prop dummy in the same location and orientation of the actual chair or sofa prop you want the character to sit on. This dummy will give you a visual target as to its orientation and to click with its hover menu and will not show in the final render.

The MD Prop dummies that are included in the update are Sit on Chair, Use Vending Machine, Throw into Trash, Pass Automated Door, Observe, Watering Plants Target. While these are listed as specific use you will soon see that you can use them for other purposes and don’t forget the customization aspects listed earlier.

The short video below goes through the process including demonstrating how the radial menus work and how you can choose several motions in a row for a single character. You can also jump between characters to trigger motions in a specific timing if needed. It’s a very flexible and easy to use system with the typical short learning curve we’ve come to expect from Reallusion tools.

Smart Accessory

Before I close this out please keep in mind that this only covers the MD Props, there is also a new Smart Accessory feature that greatly simplifies the use of accessories like MD Props does for props. For more information see this article.

The iClone Smart Accessory system simplifies the entire process of editing motions and loading accessories. It is now possible to spawn a crowd of characters with unique accessories for each individual, automatically associate mocap motions with prop animations like skateboarding, or trigger MD performances for held objects.

Summary

Just because it may seem like it’s a complicated tool doesn’t mean it is as Reallusion has a reputation for creating user-friendly animation tools and this fits that mold. As usual Reallusion has provided lots of tutorials and I’ll be adding my own take for the Beginners Guide to get new iClone users up to speed quickly.

MD Props is another big leap towards that animation “easy button” we’d all love to have. It does the work while we have the fun. In fact, it almost feels like cheating because it accomplishes so much in such a short time with a small learning curve.

iClone 8.5 Update Prop Interaction Webpage (More Details)

Reallusion Courses Motion Director and MD Props

MD Props General Directory of Courses

Getting Started with MD Prop

Radial Menu & Action List for Motion Director

Intro To MD Prop Behavior System

Manual

Using MD Props

Replacing Meshes

Replacing Motions

IMPORTANT – Tool Types & Structures – Actionable, State Switch, and Bi-Directional

Tool Types and MD Prop Structures – Portable

MD McCallum - WarLord

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

Create Game Characters with CC Auto Setup for 3ds Max and V-Ray

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Rafael Benedicto

Hi everyone, I’m Rafael Benedicto, a freelance 3D character artist. I’ve worked on indie game projects and small film productions, while also honing my skills through personal projects for my ArtStation portfolio. My passion for 3D art started in childhood and I began my career as a generalist, creating everything from props and vehicles to buildings and hard-surface models. Eventually, I found my niche in character creation, focusing on hyper-realistic portraits that often get mistaken for photographs. This led me to discover Character Creator and its potential in enhancing my workflow.

Rafael’s Artstation

In 2020, I won first place in Reallusion’s Digital Human contest with my piece, “Scout Annie”, a pivotal moment that elevated my standing as a 3D character artist.

Currently, I’m working with a startup game studio, Knightly Works, designing Dark Souls-inspired characters for their upcoming indie game, Skars: Rise of the Last Keeper.

In this article, I’ll demonstrate how I used Reallusion’s Auto-Setup plugin for 3ds Max to quickly import and set up a CC4 character for rendering with V-Ray. I’ll be showcasing the Last Keeper, the main character from the Skars project for the entire process.

Before diving into Auto-Setup, I’ll start with a quick overview of how I brought this character to life — transforming a concept illustration into a fully-realized real-time character in CC4, and ultimately preparing it for stunning V-Ray renders in 3ds Max.

Character Creation

I began by creating the base model in Character Creator 4, designing his face and body to match the concept art.

Next, I used GoZ Plus in Character Creator 4 to easily transfer the character to ZBrush, where the armor and clothing was subsequently modeled.

After modeling each armor group, I used Topogun along with ZBrush’s ZRemesher feature to create low-poly versions of the parts. Then, I utilized RizomUV for unwrapping before importing them back to Topogun to bake the normal and ambient occlusion maps. These maps became integral to the texturing process in Substance 3D.

Once the texturing was complete, the armor was imported into Character Creator and fitted onto the base character as an accessory or clothing piece. Below is a simplified flow chart, using the helmet as an example, illustrating the process from ZBrush to the final piece in Character Creator 4.

The garment pieces like the pants, cape, and loincloth were made in Marvelous Designer, and were also textured in Substances Painter and imported into Character Creator to dress the character.

The hair I used was the “Long Curls” hair from a hair pack, but I altered it a bit so that the hair would fit into the helmet.

Finally, I transferred the skin weights from the body to the armor and clothing parts, ensuring they were skinned to the bones and could move in sync with the body.

After everything was prepared, I exported the entire character as an FBX file, and made sure that “3ds Max” was selected for “Target Tool Preset”.

Auto Setup for 3ds Max

With the Auto-Setup plugin already installed in 3ds Max, the first thing I did was open the “CC Auto Setup” window and placed it alongside the “Command Panel” to the right. I then loaded the FBX file that was exported from Character Creator, selected “Vray GPU” as my renderer, and clicked on the import button.

After 2-3 minutes, the character was imported along with its skeleton rigging and skin weights from Character Creator 4. All the materials from Character Creator 4 were also converted into Vray materials. With the original rigging and materials transferred and intact, I was ready to set up for final rendering.

Effortless Lighting and Look Development

The first task is testing the Look Dev presets on the Auto-Setup panel’s first tab. This tab features 10 preset buttons that automatically generate comprehensive sets of lights, along with a camera and background for the scene. To enhance usability, a dummy helper object is included, enabling easy rotation of all the lights in the scene simultaneously.

I experimented with various light presets but ultimately chose the first one, as I prefer a more subtle approach for this particular character.

As shown in these initial test renders, the materials for the armor parts look excellent. The colors, reflectivity, roughness, metallicity, and normal bumps all appear just right.

I conducted another render, and the skin finally appears bumpy. While I resolved the issue with the normal maps, I had to disable the Auto-Setup wrinkle system that activates when I change his facial expressions, which is unfortunate. After that, I put his helmet back on and continued testing.

Simplified Material Adjustments

Then, I moved on to the next tab in the “CC Auto Setup” window. This interface allows me to conveniently adjust the properties of the materials without needing to access the Material Editor. For instance, there are handy sliders for modifying subsurface scattering (SSS) intensity, normal intensity, roughness, and more. When I click on the character’s hair, the sliders in the material tab change to display settings relevant to hair. Conversely, clicking on the head mesh switches the settings in the tab to skin properties, and the same applies to the eyes, teeth, and tongue.

Unfortunately, not everything can be adjusted using the Auto Setup material sliders. For instance, there are no options for glowing pupils. As a simple workaround, I had to open the Material Editor and add a texture map to the self-illumination node for both eye materials to achieve the glowing effect.

Now, the hair materials needed adjustment to eliminate those overly bright streaks. Fortunately, it was an easy fix with a simple setting of the roughness value to around 1.00 in the materials tab. The same adjustment was made to the facial hair.

Flexible Rigging with CAT System

Next, I wanted to focus on his pose; and to do this, I first needed to examine the character’s rigging and skinning. Because the character was pre-rigged in Character Creator, all I had to do was unhide all the objects to view the bones. 

However, I prefer to use 3ds Max’s CAT rigging system for my workflow. In the Auto Setup window, I navigate to the “Body Rig” tab to create a CAT rig that overlays the existing bones.

The CAT bones do not replace the regular bones; instead, the regular bones are linked to the CAT bones created on top of them. This means that when I manipulate the CAT bones, the regular bones follow, and consequently, the skinned parts follow as well. I just need to remember that if I want to adjust the skinning, the model is still skinned to the regular bones, not the CAT bones.

Here’s how I posed the character based on the game director’s input.

Facial Expressions Made Easy

Now that we have settled on a pose, the game director requested a facial expression. With the Auto Setup face rig controls, this process is straightforward. The import process for Auto Setup also includes all the facial morphs available in Character Creator. By navigating to the “Face Rig” tab, I can easily use the control panel to manipulate the individual regions of the character’s face and create the desired expression.

After conducting more test renders, I realized the hair quality was holding the entire piece back. Its awkward appearance was due to poor skinning, with excessive bending and various unappealing distortions. Afterall, there’s a limit to how realistic polygon-based hair can look in rendering.

When the skin looks this realistic, but the polygon-based hair cards don’t, it detracts from the overall realism of the rendered character. As much as I wanted to stick with the polygon-based hair cards to avoid extra work, I decided to replace them with Ornatrix hair for better results.

Finally, the cap and loincloth were remade with Marvelous Designer.

With the materials, pose, and expression finalized, I set up a dome light using HDRI lighting from PolyHaven.com. I also created the environment in 3ds Max and ZBrush, followed by additional test renders.

Once the game director approved the setup, I proceeded to render the final turntable and close-up shots.

Here are the final shots.

Final Thoughts

The Auto-Setup plugin was a huge time-saver for this project. While it doesn’t make everything perfect automatically or act as a complete solution for importing from CC4, it significantly streamlined the process. I still had to adjust parts of the CAT rig, like adding twist functions to the arm and leg bones, and I spent time tweaking materials in the editor to improve their look. In short, there was still plenty of work to be done.

What Auto-Setup excels at is handling the initial setup — materials, rigging, and other technical details — in just a few clicks. It saved me days of work, allowing me to jump quickly into the creative phase, like posing the character, adjusting expressions, and fine-tuning skin and hair materials.

In terms of reliability, Auto-Setup was stable throughout the project. I didn’t encounter any crashes caused by the plugin, which made the process even smoother. If you haven’t tried Auto-Setup yet and you are in the situation of spending days setting up everything manually in 3ds Max before getting to the creative part — like me in the past — I highly recommend it. It’s a free plugin available for download on Reallusion’s website or through the Reallusion Hub.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found this article helpful. A big thanks to Reallusion for sponsoring my showcase, and special thanks to my client at Knightly Works for allowing me to use their character for demonstration.

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