Page 3 – Reallusion Magazine

Ostrich in Space – AutoRigging a Blender Model with Character Creator 4 and iClone 8

April 19, 2023April 19, 2023 fionnfanLeave a comment

Introducing Custom Bones and Animated Accessories

Tom Breuer

Hello, I’m Tom Breuer. I’ve worked as a freelance 3D designer since 2014, specializing in character and game-based applications. To realize my artistic visions, I mostly use Blender and Unity. I began my journey into 3D art in 2010 when I had to create a digital model of an excavation site for my presentations. What started out as an extracurricular activity quickly became my way of telling stories. The following year, I began my studies in communication design.

After graduation, I taught courses in Blender and character design as an adjunct professor and worked for an events company as a lead artist guiding and coordinating an internal and external team of 3D experts. I also work freelance, producing 3D printable digital cosplay costumes based on popular video game characters. Nevertheless, my true fascination is with animated characters and the stories they represent. Staying true to my mantra, “Little worlds of our own”, I started making 3D creatures and telling their stories with brief animations a few years ago. You can view my characters in their natural habitats here.

Character Concept

When creating a new character, I think about:

What would this character want most in life and what would drive this character?

For example, a turtle that wants to get from point A to point B quickly. Or an ostrich that really wants to fly even when it naturally can’t. My next step is to brainstorm what this character needs to do or have in order to achieve its goal.

Modeling Process

I usually only use Blender and Substance Painter for my workflow, but for this project I will also integrate Reallusion Character Creator (CC) and iClone to grasp their benefits.

In Blender, I start with the line tool and begin building the silhouette of the real animal. This way I can play with actual shapes and not lose sight of the reference drawing. I keep on rearranging the body parts until I like the overall shape.

There aren’t any fixed rules for my modeling process. I just pay close attention to the silhouette and go from there. I keep the mass of the ostrich body resembling a triangle pointing upwards and the only element that disrupts this flow is the backpack it is carrying.

Texturing

Immediately after the character is modeled, I export it to Substance Painter. I start by creating different regions on the model by assigning different materials: metal, plastic, fabric, etc. Then I switch to the Diffuse layer to focus on the coloring.

For each color, I add three layers with a main, highlight, and shadow color. I blend these three layers using masks starting from the ambient occlusion, edges, and normal direction of the surface. Here I work mostly with soft gradients.

Rigging

When I’m happy with the model and textures, I proceed with the animation process. I start by using the AccuRig module inside the Character Creator.

Once rigged, I check the automatic skin-weights using example animations provided by Character Creator. And I use the skin weight tools to blur and refine wherever needed.

AccuRig Body

Adding Custom Bones

In the next step, I import the rigged ostrich into Blender. Here, I adjust the bones and add new custom bones. I do this, so I can animate the facial animation with these added bones. I also add new more bones in the neck to allow for smoother movement. Finally, I rework the skin-weights of my character and adjust it to the new custom bones.

Skin Weight Transfer

With the skin-weights completed, I still need to process the spacesuit accordingly. For this, I use the Data Transfer modifier which allows me to transfer skin weight data from the neck model to the space suit.

Adding More Bones

After importing the ostrich with its custom bones via the Blender plugin into Character Creator, I start to edit the facial expressions. To do this, I first have to mark the character as “Humanoid” by clicking on Modify > Characterization. There, I add the extra bones that were appended in Blender. Once I have added all the bones I need, I can activate the HumanIK system to have them accessible to Character Creator and iClone.

Making Facial Expressions

I export the figure from Character Creator to Blender as FBX again, but I select the Blender with Face Expression option to have it generate morphs for facial animation.

The morphs are conveniently named and keyframed, so it’s easy to see which facial expression is being activated in Blender. With this, I can adjust the facial expressions of the ostrich frame by frame while conserving keyframes. Since I placed several bones on the face in advance, I can now use them quickly to adjust facial expressions and create all the expressions I need to make my character talk and emote.

In the last step, I export the animated model again as FBX and switch back to Character Creator. Inside the Facial Expression window, I import the created FBX frame sequence (If this is not done, only the morphs will be used and bone animation will be ignored). After this, the facial expressions can be tested with sliders and different animations provided in the Content Manager.

Animating Dynamic Accessories

At this point, I will add the Spring bones and Cloth elements in Character Creator. For this, I select my model and click the Modifier > Spring Bones button. With the window open, I mark the bones I want as Spring bones and set the weight, strength, and bounce attributes accordingly (the wings and the flag on the backpack for example).

For the neck, I use cloth simulation to enhance the animations with the use of a texture based on the UV of the cloth object (in black and white) that marks areas for simulation. This texture is added via the Edit Weight Map window.

With this setup, I can concentrate on the main animation and let iClone handle the dynamic simulations.

Animation

Now I switch to iClone to work on the first clip where I usually start with the main idle animation. But, what kind of continuous animation does the character actually need? For me, it’s not so much about one specific animation that reveals everything about our character, rather it’s about getting a feel for the character’s personality and way of moving.

Starting from the first frame, I pose the character with Edit Motion Layer, and copy this frame to the end of the clip. In the middle of the clip I add a contrapose that should maximize the counter motion. In between the keyframes, I’ll add more and more “interference keys” that distort the direct path between the start and middle key.

For the following animations, I copy the finished idle animation and add an Animation layer so that the idle animation still plays while I move the character to new positions. This saves me a lot of time because I only have to animate the extra movements. Here, you can see the different animations all based on the idle animation:

Animated Accessories

Initially I had wanted to animate the front shield using spring bones, but due to the strong movements, I decided to use bone animation instead. But before moving the front shield, I had to animate the figure to see how it would adapt to the movements of the body. Then I looked for the extreme movements within the animation sequence and rotated the front shield accordingly. For this, I use the Edit Motion Layer window as I did before for the body animation, but this time in FK mode, because I want to access non-humanoid bones.

Animation Clips & AccuLips

I thought of the inner monologue of the ostrich character and how it would be along the lines of “Why did I become an astronaut?”. First, I use AccuLips to get the timing down for the animation. For those who aren’t familiar, AccuLips is a powerful animation tool that can map spoken or written words onto an animated face. Individual faces can display emotions by using a plethora of available options.

I use the sound recording from Vincent Fallow who lended a voice to the ostrich, giving him a wonderful personality. AccuLips converts this audio track and adds a Viseme layer that shows the spoken words and lip animations inside the timeline window. This allows the audio recording to playback during animation. For the base motion I use the “Emote” pack from iClone’s embedded library, which is then refined and customized with my own animations. I put four clips in a row and play with the timing by cutting, stretching, and mixing the clips together until they match to the audio track.

Once I’m happy with the main movements I start to refine the animation by adding a layer to each clip and adding more animation to emphasize the character’s personality. Finally, I add an Expression layer where Face Puppet can be used to go beyond just using AccuLips.

When I’m happy with the animations, I export the whole file to Blender, render the scene with Eevee, and export to Sketchfab.

Wrapping Up

Reallusion Character Creator and iClone provide supportive features and make for wonderful additions to my workflow. Lastly, I have become especially fond of the AccuLips system as it allows direct conversion of text and sound recordings into editable lip-sync animations.

Free Download :

• Blender-Character Animation Pipeline

▪ CC/iC Blender Tools (addon installed in Blender) https://github.com/soupday/cc_blender_tools

▪ CC4 Blender Pipeline Tool Plugin (addon installed in Character Creator 4) https://github.com/soupday/CC4-Blender-Tools-Plugin

• Character Creator

▪ CC AccuRIG (the auto-rig tool is included in Character Creator 4) https://www.reallusion.com/character-creator/auto-rig.html

Learn more :

• Tom Breuer

▪ Sketchfab: https://sketchfab.com/TomBreuer
▪ ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/flyingillustration
▪ Twitter: https://twitter.com/flyingillu
▪ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flyingillustration/

• Vincent Fallow

▪ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vincentfallow
▪ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vincentfallow/

• Reallusion https://www.reallusion.com/

Pitch & Produce

Developer Studio leverages Character Creator for Transmedia Assets in Unity Game

April 17, 2023April 28, 2023 enocburgos1 Comment

Michela Rimensberger – CEO, Producer, Co-founder

Michela is the CEO and co-founder of Sycoforge, a Swiss game dev studio working on a transmedia universe called ‘Arafinn’. Her affinity for stories and video games started at an early age, and by the time she first set foot on the hyrule fields in ‘Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’, she knew that one day she was going to create her own fantasy world in a video game. As a logical consequence, she studied Computer Science at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and added a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Business Administration to her degree. At Sycoforge, she wears many hats and works in different fields.

The studio’s first video game instalment set in the Arafinn universe is called “Return to Nangrim”, a dwarven adventure – and a highly ambitious production for a small indie team. To stem the workload of such a big project with few resources at hand, the team has gotten creative and developed streamlined workflows and pipelines using Reallusion’s ecosystem including Character Creator, iClone, AccuRIG and ActorCore assets.

“We stumbled upon Reallusion’s Character Creator and iClone and let me tell you, it was a game changer! At first, we were a little sceptical – could it really be that easy? Was it truly possible to simplify a workflow that much? It just seemed too good to be true, so we downloaded the test versions and deep-dived into them. By the end of our evaluation, we were amazed to find that it can be done!“
Michela Rimensberger – CEO, Producer, Co-founder at Sycoforge

Product Release

CC-to-MetaHuman Pipeline Available Now

April 11, 2023May 5, 2023 fionnfanLeave a comment

Reallusion is proud to announce that the long-awaited CC-to-MetaHuman pipeline is finally available. Now, you can effortlessly transfer your Character Creator (CC) faces and 4K hi-res textures to MetaHuman Creator, complete with all the texture details of the entire body. Finally say hello to a faithful representation of your unique head model and texture designs along with the original dynamic wrinkles.

With the Auto Setup tool for Unreal Engine, creating personalized MetaHuman characters is a breeze. Simply customize your character’s face with dynamic wrinkles, lifelike attributes such as moles, scars, and makeup, and transform them into a MetaHuman character with just one click. No coding required.

And there is more — The latest version of the iClone MetaHuman Live Link Kit allows for seamless expression control with facial nuances, body movements, and lip-syncing. Even if you’re new to iClone, you can still animate your UE characters with the MetaHuman control rigs. Download these essential tools now and experience the ease and fun of creating true-to-life MetaHumans.

Free Download:

>> Auto Setup for Unreal Engine

>> iClone MetaHuman Live Link Kit

>> Character Creator 4

>> iClone 8

Release note | Fully Controllable MetaHuman Creation | Fast Create and Animate MetaHumans (Portal page)

See the latest update in CC-to-MetaHuman pipeline:

Customized MetaHumans with True Likeness

▪ Seamless transfer of head shapes, skin textures, and dynamic wrinkles.

CC Customized MetaHuman Faces

▪ Delivering a true-to-life look with one simple click in Character Creator.

Hi-Fi Textures for the Head & Body

▪ Giving MetaHumans a striking resemblance to your original design, including skin effects and dynamic wrinkles.

Full Ownership over Unmatched Likeness

▪ Turning CC avatars into MetaHumans in Unreal while indulging in cross-platform compatibility.

Enriched Animations with iClone & CC

▪ Featuring Data Link for enhanced FPS performance and MetaHumans that can talk, emote, and perform with Live Link.

1. Customized MetaHumans with True Likeness

Create unique digital actors with ease using the Character Creator asset ecosystem. From shaping, skin layer editing, hairstyling, outfiting, to adding accessories, designers can effortlessly bring their vision to life. With CC 4.2, the new CC-to-Metahuman pipeline allows for seamless transfer of head shape, skin textures, and dynamic wrinkles, delivering ultra-realistic results in Unreal engine.

2. Character Creator Customized MetaHuman Faces

Creating your MetaHuman avatars with realistic features has never been easier, thanks to CC’s latest Head Export feature. With just a push of a button, you can effortlessly transfer CC head shapes and 4K head and body textures. Elevate your MetaHumans to a new level of authenticity with CC’s unparalleled true-to-life features.

3. Hi-Fi Textures for the Head & Body

Head & Body Texture

Transferring textures from CC to Unreal allows you to create MetaHumans that have striking resemblance to your original character design. It also supplements skin details to MetaHuman body and hands.

Skin Effects & Dynamic Wrinkles

We provide advanced tools that surpass the basic MetaHuman skin editor, including the powerful SkinGen utility that effectively integrates Realistic Human Skin into the face, such as scars, acne, moles, face paint, and Makeup & SFX. The Dynamic Wrinkle System complements these utilities, making it effortless to create digital actors that are truly lifelike.

4. Full Ownership over Unmatched Likeness

MetaHumans that have evolved from CC avatars are completely compatible with face and body control rigs in Unreal. In addition to enjoying cross-platform compatibility, characters generated in this manner are solely owned by you.

5. Enrich Animations with iClone & Character Creator

Live Link

Having MetaHumans talk, emote, and perform on command remains a roadblock for most animators. Fortunately, iClone MetaHuman Live Link offers a comprehensive solution to animate bodies, faces, and lips within a single application.

>> Learn more

Data Link

iClone motions can be applied to both UE characters and MetaHumans through the standard IK rig-and-retargeting process. The Data Link function eliminates the need for time-consuming FBX export and import, thereby accelerating the process of updating Unreal animations with CC.

>> Learn more

The difference between Cahracter Creator and MetaHuman Creator

Reallusion has expended significant efforts to create the most accurate CC-to-MetaHuman conversion pipeline, aiming to provide the best of both worlds for MetaHuman and Character Creator. Nevertheless, differences may still persist due to variations in structure and the mechanics of animation between the two systems.

MetaHumans have limited support for body shapes, resulting in differences in neck thickness, body size, or height when converting CC characters to MetaHumans.

Wearing CC Smart Hair on MetaHumans is not possible at this time, as the highest LOD of MetaHumans are limited to Groom Hair.

Currently, MetaHumans have their own outfit system and cannot wear conformable CC outfits.

The CC head is optimized for real-time performance at 4,000 polygons in an effort to support subdivision levels for the Unreal Engine. The native highest LOD for the MetaHuman head has 80,000 polygons, allowing for improved mesh-level definition in certain facial expressions, particularly around the eyes. This may result in noticeable differences in some cases.

After the MetaHuman conversion, facial expressions are controlled by MetaHumans’ facial control curves, potentially resulting in subtle differences in expression nuances.

>> Learn more in-depth details of these two systems.

Website: Fully Controllable MetaHuman Creation | Fast Create and Animate MetaHumans

Forum: CC to MetaHuman Pipeline Discussion

Learning

How to Auto Rig Cyborgs with Character Creator AccuRIG – Part 1

April 10, 2023April 21, 2023 fionnfanLeave a comment

The Smart Way to Auto Rig Soft, Rigid, & Mixed Armor Pieces

José Antonio Tijerín

José Tijerín is a digital illustrator, 3D sculptor, and creator of video games such as “Dear Althea” available on Steam. His content pack “We’re Besties” and “We’re Homies” are currently for sale in the Reallusion content store.

CC4 with AccuRIG: a gateway to new possibilities

AccuRIG in Character Creator 4 is the most important tool we’ll be using for this tutorial. This tool is designed to rig characters quickly and easily and lets us skip a lot of manual processing in 3D programs like Maya. To create this tutorial, I have divided the character into three categories: rigid armor, mixed structure, and rigid system. This makes it easy to understand and analyze the common mistakes for each category.

Type I: The rigid armor

Let’s explore several ways to correctly integrate different parts to make a suit of armor. For this tutorial, I’ll be working with the “Polish Hussar Armor” that can be found on the Tijerin Art Studio Sketchfab page. Let’s start with the simple minor parts of the armor, such as the tassets and vambraces.

First go to the Create to access the Accessories menu and import these armor parts. Since the armor is divided into parts, we will have to select them one by one to convert them into accessories using the namesake button. Now, we have to go to the lower part of the Modify window to find the Attach section and link the armor parts with their corresponding bones.

This method is the most optimal for attaching rigid parts to the character, but it is not always recommended. I suggest individually importing the armor parts so that each part can be given the necessary attention and independent problems can be corrected as they arise.

Thanks to the improvements in Character Creator, we can check for problems while the character moves without having to leave the program. There will be times when the armor pieces intersect with other models and in those instances you will need to edit the geometries right away so it doesn’t continue to happen.

Rigid elements, like the ones applied here, are widely used to complement cloth and leather clothing and give a striking touch of variety to our character. Let’s talk about the armor elements that are more complicated, so much so that they require rigging such as the helmet for this particular character.

1. Helmet armor

Helmets are usually composed of one or two pieces, but this particular helmet has several pieces at the back. This is an opportunity to take advantage of because the lower part collides with the armor that we have not yet placed. We can handle this problem by rigging this part in a third party 3D application. This time, we are going to import it not as an accessory but as a 3D prop so that we can introduce the bone system without a hitch.

The rest of the process is the same as those used for previous armor parts. As you can see, we now have full control over the helmet and can prevent it from intercepting other armor pieces. We are going to further develop this solution for the animation phase so that it goes beyond just fixing problems and takes us a step further in the animation of the character.

2. Chest armor

Now is the time to place the chest armor, which presents a delicate challenge. In this case, we have a one-piece breastplate that will be placed in the same fashion as the first amor parts. This type of armor is very constrictive on the body, so we must refrain from animating the bones of the upper spine and raise the arms more than 180 degrees. The most popular method, due to its versatility, is to separate an upper part to protect the thorax and a lower part for the stomach.

3. Shoulder armor

For the shoulder pads, I attached the lower part of the arm in the same way I did the first parts of the armor. For the upper part, I added a couple of bones like I did for the helmet. The mobile parts of a traditional armor are usually joined together with leather straps, and normally, they are covered by metal. This armor, however, features straps that are visible and I’ll need to be careful to confine the flexible areas to the shoulders.

It’s worth mentioning that futuristic armor found in video games often contain rigid parts that are sewn onto flexible parts. This type of design can save on polygons and eliminate many of the problems mentioned before, but we will explore this later.

By attaching the bones to the armor, we get several possibilities for animation. We can correct the position of the shoulder pads as was done for the helmet. In addition, we can have those pieces jump while he is riding on his mount. It should be obvious by now that adding bones to the armor requires some forethought, especially about the character’s range of motions and how the armor will react in kind.

4. Scabbard of the sword and accessories

Let’s now examine the scabbard, which is usually a prop for decoration, but we can do more with it by rigging it to make it functional. To accomplish this, I add bones along the length of the leather scabbard to have it curve with the sword. Once set up, the sword, despite its curvature, can smoothly slide in and out of the sheath.

In the act of sheathing a sword, one hand holds the scabbard and the other hand inserts the sword. So we should consider adding a bone to attach with the hand. If we want to get fancy, we can export the props in FBX format along with its animation into Character Creator. On top of this, we can also add a spring effect so that the soldier can sway while he walks and have that momentum transfer to the sword while it is sheathed. Once completed, I continue to make some corrections and add the rest of the armor, accessories, and textures to make it ready for animation in iClone.

Now that we have seen what this system can do for us, I’ll explore two more techniques that mix rigid with soft elements in the second part of this tutorial series. Do visit the YouTube channel to continue watching and please subscribe for more great tutorials.

Read on ‘How to Auto Rig Cyborgs with Character Creator AccuRIG – Part 2‘

Learn more :

• Tijerín Art (José Antonio Tijerín) https://www.artstation.com/tijerinart

• Tijerín Art Studio on Steam (video games) https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058230/The_Evil_Furry/

• Character Creator https://www.reallusion.com/character-creator/download.html

• iClone https://www.reallusion.com/iclone/download.html

• Reallusion https://www.reallusion.com/

Learning

How to Auto Rig Cyborgs with Character Creator AccuRIG – Part 2

April 10, 2023April 10, 2023 fionnfanLeave a comment

The Smart Way to Auto Rig Soft, Rigid, & Mixed Armor Pieces

José Antonio Tijerín

José Tijerín is a digital illustrator, 3D sculptor, and creator of video games such as “Dear Althea” and ” The Evil Furry” available on Steam. His content pack “We’re Besties” and “We’re Homies” are currently for sale in the Reallusion content store.

Type II: Mixed structure

In this tutorial, I’ll explore what I call a mixed structure for making a suit of armor with Reallusion‘s toolset. This type of structure is very suitable for making robots and cyborgs because it has a more modern or even futuristic aesthetic. We’ll be using the “Neo Robot” character which comes with this exact system of mixing rigid and flexible structures. You can download this character from Sketchfab.

How to use AcuRIG in Character Creator 4.1

First, import the character directly into an empty project in Character Creator. If you haven’t done so already, proceed to rename all the parts of the robot to make it easier to work with later. After that, we can ready to use a new tool that Reallusion has added into Character Creator.

AccuRIG is a tool that has opened new horizons for Reallusion products. Now, Character Creator is no longer a program entirely focused on realistic or stylized characters, it can actually load all types of characters. With this improvement, Character Creator is no longer limited to certain types of projects and has become an essential tool for any project that involves 3D models.

I’m going to select some of the rigid components and click on the AccuRIG button on the right. In the AccuRIG menu click on the Create Guides button. The system will proceed to place the joints in an arrangement that it deems best based on its algorithm.

Can we confirm if these are the best positions for the joints and modify it to better fit our model. Character Creator makes this easy by displaying a small help window every time a joint is selected. The system is usually pretty good at placing the joints into correct positions.

When we have verified the joint positions, click on the Generate Skeleton button. This is where the magic happens. In other programs, creating and adjusting a skeleton would undoubtedly take hours of your time.

The skeleton that the Character Creator generates is perfectly adjusted to fit the character’s anatomy. Yet, we can still adjust some parts that we are not satisfied with and use the Bind Skin button. As you can see in this example, the results are fantastic. It is even perfect for the fingers which are usually prone to errors due to their close proximity with one another.

Even the rigid parts of the model deform so slightly that it is almost imperceptible. That’s why for cases like these, it’s better to leave the rigid pieces as parts of the model rather than separating them into individual pieces.

Models with a lot of overlapping parts will likely encounter mesh penetration, but you can use the Skin Weights tool to quickly check the skinning. Another thing you have to take into account is that you can’t use the Transfer Skin Weights button to fix mistakes in your rigged characters, instead you will need to go back to the AccuRIG menu and use the Bind Skin button.

Animated add-ons in iClone 8

When dealing with robots in iClone, there is one factor that you should take into account, that is animated components. Electronic components are often tacked onto futuristic characters and they may even have their own motions.

Adding these elements is really easy in iClone. We simply need to import the pre-rigged components and position them in the right places. When they are all positioned, we have to use the Link option on the nearest bone of our character and we can animate this element independently without separating it from the body.

Furthermore, we can explore the use of robotic extensions as part of the character’s body.

The classic example is the articulated arm that is fully animated. Creating this setup is much easier than you might think, thanks to AccuRIG. We can simply import the mechanical arms into Character Creator and press the AccuRIG button to start the rigging process, just like before.

In this case, not all bones will be needed for this model, such as the leg bones. AccuRIG provides a practical solution to mask out these bones so that they don’t interfere with the rigging process. As mentioned a moment ago, we can just import the model into iClone and use the Link option to attach it to our character.

Type III: The rigid system

The rigid system is one traditionally used for classic robots. It is the most complicated system because we cannot use elastic elements and deformations, forcing us to think very carefully about the structure that makes up the character.

Use of spheres in the joints

As you can see, the whole system is based on using spheres as joints, but we also have some hydraulic parts that will need to be integrated into the rig.

Now check how well the sphere system works in Character Creator and let’s see just how useful it can be to incorporate the hydraulic tubes. These tubes have polygons at the top and bottom. In this way, the lower polygons can bind to the hips and the upper polygons can bind to the chest. When the character moves it gives the impression of the hydraulic tubes sliding to smoothly expand and contract. This method was used in practical production for my upcoming video game “The Evil Furry” on Steam.

In this version, I wanted the robot to be more friendly, so I added light bulbs on the sides of the spheres that can move independently. I also added two antennae with spring effects to make the head more dynamic.

Facial expressions on a deadpan robot

I also wanted this robot to possess facial expressions and the ability to talk, despite it being a rigid robot. It occurred to me that the way to do this is to use a base character in Character Creator with all the expressions and lip-sync systems already set up with what the program has to offer.

To have all these features, I needed to work off of the base character and add the rest of the armor as clothes. It is a slower process, but it’s worth it for all the animations and expressions that the face has to offer.

That is all! I hope you like the final result and that the tutorial has helped you.

Read on ‘How to Auto Rig Cyborgs with Character Creator AccuRIG – Part 1‘

Learn more :

• Tijerín Art Studio (José Antonio Tijerín) https://sketchfab.com/tijerin_art

• Tijerín Art Studio on Steam (video games) https://store.steampowered.com/app/2058230/The_Evil_Furry/

• Character Creator https://www.reallusion.com/character-creator/download.html

• iClone https://www.reallusion.com/iclone/download.html

• Reallusion https://www.reallusion.com/

News

Revolutionary Mocap Animation Editing: Why iClone 8 is the Best Alternative to Maya and MotionBuilder

April 7, 2023April 14, 2023 reallusionblogLeave a comment

iClone 8 Becomes a Tour de Force for Mocap Animation Editing

Featuring Trailblazing Mocap Animation Workflow

Mocap animation editing is an essential skill in digital entertainment, regardless of how the motion data is sourced. Although natural performances can be obtained via optical tracking, mocap suits, AI generation, or pre-made motion files, studios still struggle to refine animation data for their precise requirements.

iClone has been used in major mocap productions for decades, proving itself as a top-tier solution for mocap animation editing. With the release of iClone 8, this cutting-edge software offers professional-grade animations at a fraction of the cost, time, and effort required by other applications. Know More >

Overview of the iClone Mocap Animation Workflow

Thanks to iClone 8’s new features, most of the previous tedious processes are now fun and streamlined.
– Nildo Essá, Founder of FX Animation Studios.

Direct Support for Industry-Leading Motion Formats

iClone 8 is compatible with all industry-leading mocap formats. With a simple drag-and-drop application, anyone can import mocap data and retarget motions to different body shapes and sizes. It’s finally time to leave tedious bone mapping and characterization in the rear-view mirror.

Round-Trip Pipeline for Connecting with MotionBuilder and Maya

Thanks to iClone 8’s powerful round-trip FBX workflow, MotionBuilder and Maya productions can seamlessly integrate iClone and take advantage of its powerful native features. This translates to precise poses and finger gestures with motion transfer, making collaboration across different software solutions effortless and even enjoyable.

View the iClone-to-MotionBuilder and iClone-to-Maya workflow videos below:

See the benefits of iClone compared to MotionBuilder and Maya: Feature Comparison >

Unlock the Untold Secrets of Mocap Animation with Over 35 Battle-Tested Courses – All for Free!

Until now, there has never been a comprehensive and well-planned mocap animation course available. Reallusion takes up the challenge, offering 35 courses that cover every aspect of mocap production, from cleanup and editing to accurate interactions. These courses draw from decades of work on mocap projects with world-class studios featured in the ActorCore motion library, which is filled with difficult-to-capture motion sequences that range from paired interactions, parkour, and combat moves, to prop and accessory manipulation.

View the tutorials>

iClone does everything MOST people are using MotionBuilder to do, with a fast workflow and even a faster learning curve.
– Jeff Scheetz, Motion Capture Orlando

Conclusion

For iClone users, exploring the courses can help reinforce existing knowledge while also offering new tricks to enhance your animation skills. If you are new to iClone but have experience with Maya and MotionBuilder, give iClone a try to discover how the same quality results can be achieved with unmatched speed and convenience. And there’s more! Users of Maya and MotionBuilder can take advantage of our exclusive Welcome Offer to jump in and explore the possibilities.

Whether you’re an experienced pro or a newcomer to mocap animation, get ready to take your skills to the next level with iClone. Reallusion is dedicated to creating the next generation of animation solutions, making mocap work easier and more effective than ever before. We value your input and would love to hear your feedback as we continue to innovate and improve.

Check For more information on iClone and mocap animation editing: https://www.reallusion.com/iclone/maya-motionbuilder-alternative/default.html

Learn battle-tested mocap animation courses free now: https://www.reallusion.com/iclone/maya-motionbuilder-alternative/courses.html

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Featured Story

Creating Hollywood-inspired Action Sequences for ActorCore

April 5, 2023March 28, 2023 bridgettepan1 Comment

Industry Veteran’s Professional Making of 3D Motions for Action Films and Games

Hollywood disaster movies have always topped the box office, from Independence Day in the ’90s to The Wandering Earth II this year. These blockbusters center on ordinary people dealing with catastrophic events, giving avid moviegoers like us the adrenaline rush we crave. Time after time, we are thrilled by apocalyptic scenes of airplane crashes, massive explosions, rampaging monsters, and, of course, people running amok on the big screen.

Creating chaotic scenes for disaster movies with real people and props on actual sites is extremely complicated and costly to produce, and many studios across the globe are turning to CGI for this very reason. Unfortunately, CGI isn’t a magic bullet as it presents its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to generating a large crowd of realistic digital actors in varying shapes and sizes. Animators must ensure that each character has a distinct personality while in action so that they don’t end up with repetitive animations that are a telltale sign of computer-generated rendering.

ActorCore was created specifically to address these issues in production. In fact, animating 3D characters in disaster scenes has never been easier, thanks to the latest 3D motion content pack, “Run for Your Life“. This pack consists of 68 motion-captured animation clips, including surprised encounters, panicked responses, dynamic runs, jumps, climbs, falls, and even heated interactions during moments of chaos. Combined with ActorCore’s collection of fully-rigged 3D characters, this pack can expand the cinematic scope of any project in Maya, Max, iClone, and Blender. It is even fully compatible with game engines like Unity and Unreal.

Behind the Scenes: Run for Your Life

Monkey Chow Animation Studios, a company based in Orlando with extensive experience in 3D motion capture and a wealth of creative ideas, developed the “Run for Your Life” 3D motion pack. The content pack underwent a rigorous design process to ensure the highest quality of motion and accessibility, making it suitable for any project theme while exceeding all expectations.

Take a look at the process behind creating these incredible 3D motions.

AAA Studio Production

Monkey Chow Animation Studios, with its sister company, Motion Capture Orlando, was founded by Jeff Scheetz, a veteran in 3D animations and the co-founder of The Digital Animation & Visual Effects (DAVE) School at Universal Studios Orlando in Florida. Monkey Chow offers a full service for animation and VFX production. Over the years the company has been involved with many projects for Universal Studios, Walt Disney World, and theme parks around the world. They recently wrapped work on a new movie for Netflix and Season 2 of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones.

Action-Oriented Content Inspired by Hollywood

As a fan of big-budget disaster movies, Jeff came up with an idea for an “action movie” series to sell on the ActorCore 3D store. The pack’s goal is to help users create chaotic scenes that match the style and production value of Hollywood’s most thrilling disaster flicks. These scenes typically feature hordes of people scrambling to escape malevolent robots, monsters, or catastrophic asteroids. The pack is also very versatile because it complements ActorCore’s diverse selection of 3D characters from all walks of life.

*ActorCore 3D Motions “Run for Your Life”*

Eye-Catching Killer Stunts

To enhance the realism of mocap animations for crowded and chaotic scenes, Monkey Chow enlisted the expertise of veteran stunt choreographer Joop Kanata from The Stunt Collective. With a track record of collaborating with top companies in the film, TV, and live broadcast industries, including Aascar Films, Renaissance Entertainment, Innovative Entertainment Services (IES), Resorts World, and CRU, The Stunt Collective is a highly renowned team. Joop works closely with his crew of professional stunt performers to capture runs, tumbles, falls, and near-misses, which are sure to keep audiences engaged and on the edge of their seats.

*Motion captured with* stunt choreographer Joop Kanata

Creating this ‘Run for Your Life’ motion pack was a great opportunity to test out our newest motion capture system while paying homage to Hollywood’s disaster movies. It is such a pleasure to partner with Reallusion on themed content creation.
Jeff Scheetz, CEO of Monkey Chow Animation Studios

Motion Data Optimization with iClone

Having become familiar with its powerful features, Monkey Chow chose iClone as their primary tool for refining raw mocap data due to its impressive capabilities in 3D real-time animation. The studio’s motion data optimization team was particularly impressed by the software’s user-friendly interface, which streamlined the process of applying motions to characters without the need for complex, multi-step procedures common in other programs. And, unlike these other programs, which often involve convoluted processes like importing data, matching poses, linking joints, characterizing target characters, and making intricate adjustments, iClone simplifies the process by providing high-speed real-time animations with fast motion correction, animation editing, smooth blending, and accurate interactions between the actor’s body and objects in the scene.

*Achieve natural character interactions with the environment using iClone*

*Enhance the drama and excitement of your animations with iClone’s Time Warp*

iClone won’t do everything Motion Builder does, but it does everything MOST people are using Motion Builder to do, with a fast workflow and even a faster learning curve.
Jeff Scheetz

More Action Motions to Come for Quick Previz and Game

ActorCore offers a variety of motion packs for different scenarios, including daily life, common conversations, combat, historical reenactments, and fun-filled cartoons. And now with the “Run for Your Life” content pack, you can also create Hollywood-inspired blockbuster action scenes. There are more content packs in the works by Monkey Chow Animation Studios which are perfectly suited to other popular themes like “Bank Heist” and “Street Riot”, and for users to create projects for game trailers, previsualization, or even big-budget movies.

Visit ActorCore 3D Store and check them out.

Learning

Animating Pixel Art with Vector Graphics Editor and Cartoon Animator 5

March 31, 2023May 24, 2023 sylviapaoLeave a comment

Katherine Dallimore – KDSKETCH

Katherine, known as KD or KDSKETCH online, is a 2D digital animator from the UK making animated videos and tutorials on YouTube. With a focus on creating 2D animations, she talks about the production process including character design, storyboards, and various tips for making animation.

This is not the first time that Katherine has made a 2D animation with Cartoon Animator (CTA), after having experimented with CTA4 in 2019. She published two tutorial videos on YouTube, one introducing Cartoon Animator’s new features – with lip-sync being one of her favorites – and the other demonstrating motion capture animation with mocap plugins.

Vector Graphic Animation

In KD’s video, she introduces the benefits of vector animation as one of the most attractive features of Cartoon Animator 5, which supports the infinite resolution of artwork. Users can also choose their preferred vector tools for animation background creation or 2D character design, exporting SVG files into CTA for making animated videos; KD chose Affinity Designer as the vector tool for the scene design, which was inspired by platform games with a Pixel Art Style.

(Color adjustment tool for vector character design)

Moreover, the video shows that Cartoon Animator provides pre-made 2D characters and 2D assets that enable users to change the colors of skin tones, hair, clothes, and others. The Free Form Deformation effects and embedded motions are very useful for users who like to make an efficient and high-quality 2D animation in minutes.

(Easily create 3D layering of the scene)

In order to present the layering of the animated scene, the 3D Camera System is the most accurate function to experience realistic 3D camera movements. The tutorial demonstrates detailed workflows when making a high-quality animated video with more CTA features and tips.

The upcoming tutorial videos will be related to Spring Dynamics and Free Form Deformation effects. Stay tuned for more tutorials!

Know more:

2D Animation Software for Cartoon Maker | Cartoon Animator

FREE for 30 days and get 1,700+ ready-made assets:

2D Animation Software Download | Cartoon Animator

Product Release

Reallusion Releases ActorCore AccuRIG Share (Beta)

March 28, 2023April 14, 2023 bridgettepanLeave a comment

Share Animated 3D Characters on PC and Mobile with the Best Viewing Experience

Reallusion announces brand-new features for ActorCore AccuRIG following its popular inauguration as a premium tool that is completely free of charge. In addition to uploading rigged characters to ActorCore, users can now share them on various social media platforms. The newly introduced Share feature, which is currently in its Beta phase, lets users share their rigged 3D models in a quick and effortless manner for personal and professional purposes.

What’s New with AccuRIG Share (Beta)

ActorCore AccuRIG is quickly gaining traction in the 3D community due to its user-friendly interface and ability to provide precise character rigging for 3D models at no cost. Rigged models can be exported to all major 3D platforms and uploaded to the ActorCore 3D store. The asset store contains a vast library of professionally produced mocap animations that guarantee excellent quality for practical purchases.

In the latest version, users can upload and share their 3D characters via social media and email. Those who receive the models can explore them in ActorCore’s interactive 3D viewport, experiment with over 2,000 mocap animations, and directly download or re-share the model assets. AccuRIG Share is the perfect way to showcase creative work to family and friends, collaborate on projects, or review and deliver products.

Best Virtual Presentation with AccuRIG Share

Whether you’re part of a production or scan studio, content creator or marketing professional, AccuRIG Share allows you to effortlessly share your rigged models with others in remote locations. With an interactive 3D viewport and matching 3D motions, you can showcase your complete portfolio on ActorCore, enabling others to view and appreciate your work. For marketing professionals, this tool is ideal for spreading product and brand awareness by sharing 3D avatars on various websites and mobile devices, ultimately boosting potential sales.

We Want Your Feedback!

ActorCore AccuRIG Share is now in beta and comes with an array of new features. We invite all users to try out the program and give their valuable feedback through our beta survey. Your comments are crucial in helping Reallusion improve AccuRIG to meet your expectations. Additionally, if you use the software in a professional capacity, we urge you to fill in your professional information to qualify for project collaboration with Reallusion. This will give you access to additional free character upload slots and promotional opportunities. Don’t wait, take the survey now and let us know what you think. AccuRIG Share Beta Survey