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Smart Accessory: Easy Motion Editing and Automatic Accessory Attachment with iClone 8.5

September 5, 2024September 6, 2024 bridgettepanLeave a comment

iClone Smart Accessory is a revolutionary system for editing motions and integrating accessories in a streamlined process. Animators can now generate and simulate virtual crowds adorned with unique accessories and props that automatically sync to mocap animations. Handheld objects can also trigger realtime interactions for added dynamism.

MotionPlus – Pairing with Dynamic Accessories

The iClone MotionPlus format seamlessly integrates facial performance and accessory metadata for complex animations like cycling and skateboarding, where precision in motion and accessory alignment is essential. MotionPlus automates accessory attachment, randomizes models and materials, and ensures perfect synchronization between character movement and accessory interaction

Auto Load: Once a MotionPlus file is applied to an iClone character, accessories with matching tags will automatically snap to their appropriate positions.
Selected or Random: Specific accessory items can be picked when right-dragging a motion file to the actor, or the default accessory can be picked by left-dragging instead. These accessories can be further modified with custom models and materials.

Drag-n-Drop Replacement: Applied accessory models can be swapped and still retain their original positions and orientation.
Animated Accessories: MotionPlus files can store and sync human motion with accessory animations. This level of synchronization comes in handy for coordinated human-object performances such as biking and skateboarding. Animated accessories also dynamically adapt to the proportion and size of the character.
Animation Auto-Alignment: Human and accessory animation can be aligned for motion editing, making it easy to combine, rotate, or trim MotionPlus clips as one congruent animation.

Creating Smart Accessories

The Smart Accessory system offers robust features for creating and customizing accessories. With Motion-Accessory Pairing, animators can assign multiple accessories to specific motions, restoring default accessories or assigning new ones as needed. This flexibility allows for highly personalized animations, where characters can interact with various accessories in a lifelike manner.

Primary tools allow users to customize their own smart accessories:

Multiple Placement Points: One accessory item can store several placement points, for instance, a sword can be held with either one hand or both hands, and sheathed at any designated location on the body. Users can select where this accessory is attached while right-dragging it onto a character.
Motion-specific Placement: In the Motion-Accessory Pairing pane, the accessory attachment points can be defined for specific MotionPlus files. A motion-accessory relation, like holding a sword with both hands, can be directly stored in the MotionPlus file.
Accessory Visibility: MotionPlus supports visibility keys, allowing for quick repositioning of accessories during animation. For instance, the accessory can snap to the hands or relocate to other points on the body.

Downloadable Assets (coming soon): A large library of Smart Accessories that is available in ActorCore. These accessories are perfectly paired with motion files with platform-specific download options.

Creating Animated Accessories

The ability to synchronize human motion with accessory animations adds a new layer of realism to animated projects. The Smart Accessory system simplifies this process, allowing for seamless data handling and enhanced visual fidelity.

The several ways to create animated accessories:

Handkey Editing: Accessory animations can be produced via keyframes, curve editor, from imported FBX data. VFX made with particles, PopcornFX, material animation, and lighting effects are also supported.
Motion Capture: Human and prop mocap data can now be combined into a single, fluid MotionPlus sequence, benefiting teams and studios of all sizes by enabling seamless clip connection and unified animation editing.
Physics Simulation – iClone physics simulation is instrumental in creating lifelike accessory dynamics. Calculated rigidbody and soft-cloth animations can be baked into the base animation of a moving accessory and synced to a loaded motion file.

Flexible Motion Controls

One of the most powerful features of the Smart Accessory system is its support for a wide range of motion controls, which are essential for crowd simulation and interactive animations made by Motion Director.

ActorGroup – Automated accessory placement allows you to define the types of accessories that different Actor Groups can wear or carry. The distribution of these props can be deliberate, random, or a mix of both.

MD Motion Mixer – Mixer motions allow for dynamic blending of upper- and lower-body movement. Now, animation triggers can spawn corresponding accessories for 3D actors to interact with.
MD Push-and-Drag – 3D actors can move items around, such as pushing a cart or pulling a wheeled luggage.
MD Prop Interaction – Unique MotionPlus animations can be associated with specific MD props, and triggered using customized radial menus.

Crowd Gen – By adding MotionPlus files with predefined accessory pairings to ActorGen Motion Pool, large crowds can be effortlessly animated with corresponding accessories, significantly reducing the time and effort for manual prop assignment.

ActorCore Library of 3D Assets

Discover a vast collection of high-quality 3D content in ActorCore. From mocap animations and hand-keyed motion to fully rigged characters, accessories, and props—everything you need to enhance your scenes is in store. Why wait? Take your 3D simulations to the next level with Reallusion’s extensive content library today.

More about iClone 8.5: Prop Interaction

Product Release

Engaging Environments with Interactive MD Props and Intuitive Controls in iClone 8.5

September 5, 2024September 6, 2024 bridgettepanLeave a comment

MD Props is a significant leap forward in virtual actor-environment interactivity. As a new feature designed to complement iClone Crowd SIM, it lets artists breathe life into 3D environments, making simulations more immersive and dynamic than ever before.

Give Life to Props

MD Prop Tools give iClone characters the ability to interact with 3D environments. By replacing the proxy components with custom 3D models, MD props manifest into visceral objects that 3D actors engage with.

All manners of interactive behavior can be generated from just FIVE TEMPLATES representing the core of MD TOOLS.

ACTIONABLE: The most frequently-used interaction type that initiatives a behavior from the interacting actor while responding with an animation of its own.
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: 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: 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.
DOLLY: Allows 3D actors to maneuver a cart and drag a wheeled object like a luggage. Once activated, a designated character will approach the dolly prop, grasp its handels, and steer it along a custom path.

Intuitive Radial Menu

MD Prop takes user experience to the next level with its intuitive Radial Menu system. These menus are designed to be easily accessible, launched by a simple mouse-over or click. The radial menus offer a range of interactive options, all of which can be customized with multi-level command groups and assignable hotkeys for quick and efficient access.

This feature also introduces Self Interaction, where a 3D actor can be directed to perform personal actions like using a phone, looking around, or even smoking a cigarette. These actions are not only gender-specific but also adapt to the actor’s profile, ensuring realistic behavior.

Action List & Concurrent Behaviors

Action Lists support the chaining of multiple motions to extend action sequences. When the scene simulation is paused, individual Action Lists can be assigned to every character in the scene. Upon playback, all the appointed characters will move simultaneously according to their own set of instructions.

Action List allows animators to chain multiple actions together, creating seamless sequences that can be assigned to individual characters.
Concurrent Behaviors When the scene simulation is paused, individual Action Lists can be assigned to every character in the scene. Upon playback, all the appointed characters will move simultaneously according to their own set of instructions.

Prop Customization

Customizing an MD template tool is straightforward: simply replace the proxy objects with a 3D model of your choice. Once the prop appearance is finalized, you can assign new animations or adjust the actor’s associative movements with minimal tweaks. This includes repositioning reach target positions to account for hand placements and varying arm lengths, as well as adjusting the look-at point to focus the character on specific features of the prop.

Replace Mesh, Assign Custom Animations

Refine Entrance Position, Look-at Point, Reach Point

Object Animation

MD Prop offers robust tools for animating itself. Creators can freely move, rotate, and scale any 3D item, with additional options for object morphing and particle effects. Morph Animator in iClone allows for intricate morph animations, while PopcornFX enables particle effects for added realism. Additionally, texture UVs can be adjusted and scrolled to create dynamic visuals, and video textures can be used to mimic interactive slideshows or film sequences.

Reactive Crowd Behavior

Beyond just triggering interactive behavior from individual actors, the MD Prop system enables autonomous crowd behavior. Crowd characters no longer roam aimlessly; they can now gravitate toward points of interest and even explore various props around the scene. Groups or individuals can find a spot to sit, visit the vending machine, or gather around a busker show—unleashing endless possibilities for dynamic crowd interactions.

Simulation Modes – Characters moving along paths or spawning in a zone have a probability of engaging with the surrounding MD props.
Following Options – Groups can be instructed to wait on members engaged with MD props before proceeding to their next destination.
Random or Initial Occupants – Predefine multiple positions to attract passersby to stop and participate in an activity, or characters can be designated to occupy specific positions right from the start.
Enter and Exit Probability – Interaction with MD props can be regulated according to character types and probability scores. Engagement frequency for MD props can be specified. Common settings include random, never, or a finite number of interactions.

Smooth Motion Transitions

iClone “Turn to Stop” and “Multiple Entry” functionality simulate natural human behavior in approaching and engaging with a target prop. This includes slowing to a stop, making a turn, and approaching with measured pace, distance, and orientation. MD props take care of the rest with smooth and natural interactive motions that are tailored to the gender and characteristics of the interfacing actor.

Multi-Platform Export & Render

Exporting these creations is seamless, with iClone Auto Setup plugins available for 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, Unreal Engine, and Unity. Live Link support also allows for synchronization with Unreal Engine and NVIDIA Omniverse, providing a two-way workflow that’s essential for modern animation and game development pipelines.

ActorCore Library of 3D Assets

Learn More about iClone 8.5: Smart Accessory

Product Release

iClone 8.5 Free Update: SIM Builder with Prop Interaction & Smart Accessory

September 5, 2024September 30, 2025 bridgettepanLeave a comment

Digital Twin and Crowd Simulation with Smart Environment Interaction

The automation of animated crowds has been widely used in the movie and entertainment industries. As the demand for digital twin, machine learning, and AI training grows, a new industrial revolution is emerging, particularly in areas like autonomous driving, smart surveillance, factory automation, and intelligent consumer devices.

These fields require cameras not only to see but also to understand the world around them, especially in recognizing human behaviors. To achieve this, there is a growing need for applications that can generate realistic scenarios for camera training purposes, taking into account various angles, lighting conditions, and occlusions. This development is bringing the automation of 3D crowds to a new stage, with a higher level of interaction and realism.

As a leader in 3D character animation, Reallusion has combined its expertise in character generation and automated animation, transforming iClone into a simulation platform. With the latest release of iClone 8.5, users can rapidly build live environments, from crowd simulation to world interaction, with the ability to automatically load and manipulate accessories.

iClone 8.5 New Release

iClone 8.5 introduces two key innovations: World Interaction and the Smart Accessory system. Building on core features like Motion Director and Crowd Sim, these enhancements empower the creation of dynamic environments. In these interactive spaces, 3D characters can explore, operate props, and seamlessly load and manipulate accessories through interactive triggers or motion files.

WORLD INTERACTION >> Click to see the features

MD Props present advanced features designed to complement iClone Crowd SIM, marking a significant leap forward in ways that 3D actors interact with their virtual environments. Learn More

SMART ACCESSORY >> Click to see the features

Smart Accessory is a cutting-edge system that dramatically streamlines the process of editing motions and integrating accessories in animation projects. Learn More

MD Prop Expansion Packs: Indoor & Outdoor Interaction

The indoor and outdoor expansion packs provide numerous ways to showcase the versatility of MD Props. Each prop includes both male and female animation sets, offering unique gender-specific performances. Easily swap the MD Prop placeholders with your custom models or adjust the animations to fit different interactive scenarios.

STAYING AT HOME >> Click to see the features

The Staying At Home MD Prop pack infuses home settings with cozy, domestic charm, offering 14 interactive props and hundreds of home-inspired animations for male and female characters. Whether it’s lounging on the sofa, watching TV, leafing through a book, flipping light switches, enjoying a meal, or fitting in a home workout, this pack brings the nuances of everyday life to your scenes. Learn More

DOWN THE STREET >> Click to see the features

With 10 masterfully crafted MD Props, street-side interactions can be automated to achieve natural performances every time. Hundreds of trigger animations allow characters to sit, lean against walls or fences, or rest in chairs. Common actions, such as using a vending machine, ordering drinks, smoking, and gathering for street performances, are also seamlessly integrated for realistic behavior. Learn More

The iClone 8.5 Grand Release is a free update for all iClone 8 owners! New users can download the free trial to experience advanced virtual simulation with intuitive character controls, motion editing, and Smart Accessories.

Resource Links:

Read the Release Notes for the Full Updates of iClone 8.5.

iClone 8.5 Feature Pages:

Prop Interaction

Smart Accessory

MD Props Content Packs:

Staying at Home

Down the Street

How to:

iClone 8.5 Tutorials: MD Prop, Smart Accessory

iClone 8.5 User Manual

Learning

Libertas Review: Wilderness Survival Pack for Adventurous Assassins

September 3, 2024November 22, 2024 bridgettepanLeave a comment

Erik Larson (Libertas)

Hailing from Chicago, Libertas developed a passion for filmmaking early on. His love for the AAA game Assassin’s Creed led him to create videos about the game, which can be found on his channel, Libertas Video. He also produces a series of Assassin’s Creed-inspired micro-short films, such as “Modern Assassin Training Session”.

Despite his shoestring budget, Libertas enjoys crafting characters and costumes, bringing them to life in his YouTube short films. During the day, he is the Director of 3D of a production house and runs Libertas Video as a solo 3D generalist by night. He enjoys spending his free time creating characters, costumes, and props for his digital actors.

In this article, Erik takes a moment out of his precious time to introduce the “Wilderness Survival Pack”.

Inside the Wilderness Survival 3D Motion Pack

This pack offers 43 animations across four categories: “Explore,” “Hunt,” “Camp and Cook,” and “Idle”. Clearly inspired by survival shows like Naked and Afraid, these animations replicate realistic wilderness scenarios. But can they go beyond their original intent? After a deep dive, the answer is a resounding yes! Here are the several ways we can unlock the full potential of this motion pack.

A Closer Look at Interactive Animations

I appreciate this pack for its interactive animations. Whether it’s paddling a boat, foraging, or chopping wood, the Wilderness Survival Pack showcases detailed hand motions that engage with various props and environments. Given my familiarity with iClone, I can focus on these interaction details, especially how animations adapt to different terrains and objects.

However, some technical challenges may impede our progress. For example, aligning character movements with props often requires constraints and fine-tuning in iClone. To tackle these complexities, I recommend utilizing Reallusion’s Learn Portal, where tutorials offer step-by-step guidance for effective solutions and workarounds.

Crafting Storylines and Adapting 3D Motions

Although the pack is designed for survival scenarios, I adapted it by having my two assassins search for a lost temple. I crafted a narrative that extends beyond the wilderness survival theme by creatively repurposing animations like campfire setups and tracking prey. This demonstrates the pack’s versatility, showing that with a bit of creativity, animators can mold it to fit various storytelling contexts in iClone. Thinking outside the box when evaluating animation packs can lead to discovering new uses—especially where motions are repurposed for different projects.

Enhancing Realism 3D Motion with Facial Animations

Facial expressions are just as crucial in conveying emotions and engaging the audience. To infuse realism into my work, I used iClone’s Face Puppet and Face Key tools to create the basic expressions. I believe these animations could benefit even more from the AccuFACE Mocap. Having tested it before, I achieved impressive results and think it could elevate the emotional depth of the characters.

Overcoming Animation Challenges with Creative Solutions

Despite the overall positive user experience, I still encountered some challenges with specific animations, particularly those involving stream crossing and climbing. I found that these motions, inspired by the survival genre, often appeared too slow or cautious for my needs.

As a solution, I used camera angles and editing techniques to make the movements appear more dynamic and aligned with his characters’ seasoned assassin personas. This approach underscores the importance of creativity in overcoming limitations within pre-made animation packs, allowing animators to tailor the content to their specific storytelling needs.

Final Thoughts: Valuable 3D Motion for Versatile Storytelling

In conclusion, I endorse the Wilderness Survival Pack as a valuable resource for animators, even for projects beyond the survival genre. The pack’s detailed animations, along with its potential for customization and reuse, make it a versatile tool across various storytelling contexts.

When assessing an animation pack, consider not only its immediate applications but also its long-term value across a broader range of creative projects. For those looking to explore the possibilities of this pack, my Libertas Armory models and additional resources are available in the Reallusion Content Store, offering everything animators need to bring their stories to life.

Related Posts

Learning

Free Auto Setup for 3DS Max | iClone 8 & Character Creator 4

August 30, 2024September 30, 2025 WarLordLeave a comment

Most animators are looking for realistic cinematic renders. There is an industry devoted to third-party renderers that will attest to this. Reallusion once again extends the ease of use that comes with iClone to another blockbuster rendering tool that is also packed with many other features and could arguably be considered the granddaddy of 3D apps.

Autodesk’s 3DS Max is one of the most powerful 3D software tools available. It not only provides modeling and sculpting tools, but it also provides powerful animation tools, curve editors, dope sheets and many more professionally oriented tools that have been embraced by major studios and indie studios of all sizes. It has POST features and effects that were not always available from its competitors.

(Click on Image to Enlarge) A magazine mockup using a Sketchfab car model and Character Creator 4 character rendered with Arnold.
“Future Car” (https://skfb.ly/54ihge0) by 3DHaupt is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

3DS Max produces and renders some of the greatest-looking scenes in computer-generated animation with VRay and its built in renderer Arnold. With the right lighting and materials both renderers can produce near photo-realistic results. On the other hand, they can also produce great quality “Pixar” type toon renders.

It seems I have been married to Autodesk products in some form (3D Studio, Max, Maya) since the dawn of time, and it has been a great ride and very fruitful. Learning the software that many triple-A studios adopted afforded income opportunities for its users. 3DS Max is still used for movie and television production to this day which demonstrates its staying power as a modeling and animation application.

(Click on Image to Enlarge) The Sketchfab and Character Creator 4 model in 3DS Max with preset base lighting and the Auto Setup Menu docked to the side.

It only seemed natural to include 3DS Max into the “easy to animate” arena of iClone by producing a free plugin, Auto Setup for 3ds Max, that takes care of one of the most important parts of rendering a character, proper materials, and shaders. It also includes some lighting presets and other features. The importance of proper materials and shaders cannot be overstated as that directly affects how the render will look, particularly realism.

Installation

As usual, Reallusion has made the installation into 3DS Max very simple with a free download that contains a batch file and supporting files that will either install or uninstall the plugin with no other action required. Just a few clicks and you are on your way to using Auto Setup inside 3DS Max.

Go to the webpage to download the version or versions of 3DS Max applicable to your situation. Unzip the file and click on the installation batch file. It’s that simple.

Auto Setup Import Versus Standard FBX Import

Seeing is believing so let’s take a look at what happens when you import a character FBX directly into 3DS Max versus using the free Auto Setup plugin. In the image below the LEFT-SIDE character was imported into 3DS Max with the Auto Setup plugin. The RIGHT-SIDE character was imported via the standard import menu choice in 3DS Max bypassing the plugin.

As you can see the difference is day and night. I adjusted the skin roughness on the plugin-imported character to take out some shiny areas on the face and hands. This was easy as the plugin provides sliders under different tabs depending on the task you need to accomplish.

Left: Import Via Free Auto Setup. RIGHT: Standard FBX import.

The Auto Setup Menu, Tabs, and Sub-Tabs

The Auto Setup Menu is the heart of the plugin and can be docked or free-floating. As the following menu breakdown shows, it has a LOT of options to help you get that right look and much-improved render.

I will be focusing on the native Arnold renderer as it produces great results without a lot of interaction and comes with the application at no additional cost. Any images rendered using Auto Setup in this article use Arnold which you select in the first tab of the Auto Setup menu.

The plugin interface is self-explanatory as you will see in the following overview. There are a LOT of CHOICES so experimentation is highly recommended and might even help you develop a personal render style for characters. There is also an online manual available.

This is where you import your CC4 characters into 3DS Max. This is the Import tab, the first tab at the top of the menu.

First, we must choose our renderer which has to be compatible with Auto Setup. This dropdown list is populated by the renderers available to 3DS Max on your system.

In my case, I had only one compatible renderer which was the native Arnold renderer. Even though it is native to the system it is not a second-class renderer by any means.

As mentioned earlier, if you for any reason import a character into 3DS Max via the standard import menu you will not get a nice-looking character as the materials will not match the renderer. This is the big advantage to using the plugin as it sorts all that stuff out for us. Even though Kai’s tutorial said it exported from CC4 I exported from iClone which produces the needed JSON file too.

Now we move the Look Dev tab and the Look Dev sub-tab. This is where the facial body lighting presets are located.

These are one-click presets that can be chosen while the renderer is running depending on the complexity of the scene of course.

There is also a one-click button to remove the lighting solution completely. This includes any props or other items loaded by the preset.

The presets can also be a great starting point as they provide lights that you can duplicate and move around to get that “just right” lighting setup before the final render.

There is also a Macbeth Chart for color matching that can be added and removed with a click.

The HDR sub-tab gives you a choice of four HDR images or you can load your own.

There is also a rotational offset slider and a general strength slider.

If you check Global Exposure, you get access to the Exposure Value slider and the White Balance choices such as Illuminant, Temperature slider, or Custom color.

Illuminant gives you many options like Daylight, Sunlight, Shade, Overcast, Incandescent, fluorescent, and many other choices including Halogen, Xenon, and Sodium among others. As in iClone and Character Creator 4, HDR is an important part of the overall scene lighting scheme and will produce results from dull to vibrant depending on your needs.

Now we are moving over to the Material tab and the Skin sub-tab in particular. All of these sub-tabs are fine-tuning for the overall look of the skin in the render.

Experimentation is encouraged, particularly if you are not familiar with all of the sliders so you can see the visual impact of each one.

Sub Surface Scattering is an important part of gaining realism in the render. Too much and areas of the skin will appear to glow. Too little and the skin will look dull and lifeless depending on the skin color. There is also a Head or Body selector for the second section of this sub-tab. This includes Normal Strength, Roughness, Specular, Micro Normal Tiling, and Micro Normal Strength.

These two panels contain a multitude of advanced sliders that control the Roughness on the left and Sub Surface Scattering (SSS) on the right.

While not exactly glamorous these two sub-tabs show just how much detail you can drill down to for added realism. Both include sliders for further enhancements to the nose, mouth, ears, cheek, forehead, and chin areas.

The wrinkle sub-tab provides pre-defined areas via the dropdown menu:

Forehead Lines
Frown lines
Eyelid Crease
Tear Troughs
Bunny Lines
Crow’s Feet
Nasolabial Folds
Lip Lines
Smile Lines
Marionette Lines
Pebble Chin
Neck Lines
Neck Veins

Each selection has a slider for Strength and Rate of Appearance which is the speed in which a wrinkle appears.

According to Kai’s tutorial, the Wrinkle system is independent of the basic texture maps for an additional level of realism. Yet another area for experimentation even if you are familiar with the controls.

These two tabs control the facial expressions from the Face Rig tab (left) or create a custom body rig with the Body Rig tab (right).

Your character must have a facial profile to work with the Facial Rig and you can see this rig is quite extensive. It provided more than enough controls to create custom expressions for your characters inside 3DS Max. The Body Rig tab provides a one-click Biped or CAT rig if you prefer those control rig types.

Summary

I’ll admit to relegating 3DS Max to modeling and simulations since the advent of easier-to-use tools like iClone and Character Creator 4 became available. My 3DS rendering and rigging skills have suffered. With the preset lighting, it didn’t take long for this old Max veteran to start getting great renders. The presets provided a starting point to copy light and reflectors and then reposition them for additional lighting effects to further enhance the renders beyond the presets.

While there is a manual as I stated earlier, I think I only had to look at it briefly a couple of times as Auto Setup for 3DS Max is very easy to use with little to no learning curve like most Reallusion products. The extended facial rigging and ability to switch to Biped or CAT is another plus for Max veterans if that is the rig they are most proficient with.

The plugin is freely available for 3DS Max 2023, 2024 and 2025. Download your copy today!

Auto Setup for 3DS Max Manual

Getting Started with Auto Setup for 3DS Max and ActorCore

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

MAX BEYOND: Transfer iClone Expressions to Unreal Engine

August 30, 2024April 28, 2025 enocburgosLeave a comment

Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull

HaZ started his career in Video games before moving into Visual Effects, and then later transitioning over to Directing & Producing with his breakout feature film THE BEYOND, the indie sci-fi was released in 2018 and was number 2 in the iTunes Charts before being licensed on Netflix and turning into a profitable movie.

His second feature film – 2036 Origin Unknown, starring Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, The Mandalorian) earned a limited Theatrical release before landing on Netflix. He was then hired by Disney to helm the pilot for action comedy series Fast Layne, where he also served as EP / Creative Consultant on the entire series.

HaZ is the co-founder of production company HaZimation, producing the indie CG animated feature MAX BEYOND. This is a feature made with an array of real-time and virtual production tools, including Character Creator, iClone, ActorCore and Unreal Engine.

“iClone’s intuitive interface and powerful features allow animators to focus on creativity without getting bogged down by technical challenges. By using iClone, we can focus on perfecting the creative aspects of animation, while ensuring that technical elements are seamlessly integrated into Unreal Engine.”
Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull – Filmmaker / Director / Animator

Mastering Animations with Haz Dullul

In the ever-evolving world of digital animation, integrating tools and software to create lifelike characters is a crucial skill. A compelling video tutorial by Haz Dulull showcases how to seamlessly transfer stylized expressions from iClone to Unreal Engine. This detailed guide explains the step-by-step process of importing characters, crafting facial expressions, and refining animations for final rendering. The use of iClone in this workflow demonstrates its powerful capabilities in creating nuanced animations. This article highlights the key steps and insights shared by Haz Dulull, emphasizing the importance of proper setup, organization, and customization.

The Role of iClone in Animation

iClone is a real-time 3D animation software that simplifies the process of character creation, animation, and scene design. It provides animators with a wide array of tools for crafting detailed character animations. Haz Dulull uses iClone to develop stylized expressions, which are then transferred to Unreal Engine for further refinement and rendering.

Importing Characters from iClone to Unreal Engine

Synchronization and Control

The initial step in the animation process involves importing characters from iClone to Unreal Engine. Synchronizing and controlling character expressions manually is crucial for effective animation. Dulull emphasizes the importance of proper setup. He states that “correct synchronization ensures that characters are imported accurately. This allows for precise control over their expressions.”

Selecting the Right Avatar: Carefully choose the appropriate avatar from the iClone library. This ensures that the character’s movements and expressions are effectively transferred to Unreal Engine.
Manual Expression Control: iClone enables animators to manually control expressions, providing greater customization. This involves keyframing expressions for desired effects within the Unreal Engine sequencer.

iClone enables animators to manually control expressions

Exporting and Importing Settings

Exporting settings play a vital role in transferring animations from iClone to Unreal Engine. Adjusting specific settings, such as unchecking ’embed motion,’ helps streamline the export process. This step is essential for ensuring that animations are correctly imported and functional in Unreal Engine.

Understanding FBX Import Options: To maintain compatibility and functionality, users must uncheck the import mesh option. They must also select the correct skeleton during the import process in Unreal Engine.

Organization and Naming Conventions

Importance of Proper Organization

Proper organization and naming conventions are critical when exporting animations for visual effects. This practice ensures that all elements are easily identifiable and linked correctly throughout the project, facilitating smoother collaboration and production.

Creating Dedicated Folders: Organizing assets into dedicated folders for each character simplifies management and prevents confusion. This practice is especially important when handling multiple assets in a project.
Consistent Naming Conventions: Using consistent naming conventions for files allows for quick identification of specific shots and expressions. This aids in efficient collaboration among team members.

Setting Up Animation Scenes

Loading Levels and Shots

Importing settings and loading scenes are essential components of the animation workflow. Proper organization of levels and shots ensures a smoother process when working on character animations.

Loading the Level: Establishing the environment where characters will interact and perform is the first crucial step in animation.
Accessing Cinematic Folders: Access the correct cinematic folder related to the level. It contains all the shots necessary for the specific scene being animated.
Managing Shot Numbers: Identifying and managing shot numbers accurately prevents confusion. It ensures that the right expressions and animations are applied to characters.

Enhancing Animations for Realism

Adding Details for Expressiveness

Enhancing character animations from iClone to Unreal Engine involves focusing on adjustments like blinking and head movements for realism. This process includes keyframing techniques to add details that improve the final animation quality.

Blinking and Eye Movements: Adding detailed animations like blinking enhances character expressiveness. Keyframing different eye positions creates realistic effects that bring characters to life.
Head Movements: Animating head movements such as rotation and tilting adds realism to characters. iClone allows animators to keyframe these movements without compromising the original motion capture.
Adjusting Eyelines: Realistic character animations require accurate eyeline adjustments. This enables characters to interact authentically with their environment and other characters during scenes.

Rendering the Final Animation

After fine-tuning expressions and movements, the final step is rendering the animation in Unreal Engine. This process brings all the elements together, culminating in a polished and lifelike animation.

Key Takeaways

iClone’s Role: iClone plays a pivotal role in creating and transferring stylized expressions to Unreal Engine. This enables animators to craft detailed and expressive animations efficiently.
Workflow Efficiency: The integration of iClone and Unreal Engine streamlines the animation process. This allows for greater creativity and precision in character development.

Conclusions

The video by Haz Dulull provides valuable insights into the process of transferring stylized expressions from iClone to Unreal Engine. Dulull emphasizes the importance of proper setup, organization, and customization. He demonstrates how modern animation tools can be effectively integrated to create lifelike and engaging animations. This workflow not only enhances the quality of animations but also empowers animators to push the boundaries of creativity. For those looking to master the art of animation, iClone and Unreal Engine offer a powerful combination. These tools simplify the process while delivering exceptional results.

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Product Release

Cartoon Animator 5.3 Update: Powerful Puppet Performances and Live Camera Controls

August 29, 2024November 4, 2024 bridgettepanLeave a comment

Building on the success of Motion Pilot mouse-led animation, Cartoon Animator advances further with the introduction of Puppet Stage and Live Camera System in the 5.3 update. As the demand for short films, social media, and live streaming grows, Reallusion is addressing the emergent need for rapid animation production. This update delivers a game-changing trigger-based animation system that simplifies traditional keyframing by utilizing existing animation assets, seamlessly integrating facial tracking and voice lip sync. Designed for real-time, studio-grade live shows, all within a unified interface, this intuitive system sets a new standard in livestream animation.

New Feature Highlights

Puppet Stage – Live Stream Redefined

Puppet Stage combines trigger animations, voice lip-sync, and facial motion capture in one unified system. With Motion Pilot and Camera Switcher integration, artists can harness a full production process geared toward fast 2D production and responsive live streaming featuring original artwork and media.

The latest update introduces an array of powerful features designed to elevate animation and live streaming experiences:

Trigger Panel: Users can now fully customize a hotkey-triggered deck to control animation files, facial performances, FFD, VFX, props, and backgrounds, delivering seamless and responsive animation control.
Facial Mocap Integration: Effortlessly mix facial motion capture from a PC camera or iPhone to create dynamic facial expressions that blend naturally with other animation elements.
Voice Lip Sync: Enhance character performances with automatic lip-syncing to voice input, adding emotional depth while seamlessly integrating with expression triggers.
Head-driven Body Movements: Guide character eye movements with a simple mouse drag and automatically trigger natural body actions using motion-tracked head rotations.
Motion Pilot: Control character walks or runs with cursor movements, offering options to adjust movement range, tempo, amplitude, and direction for fluid motion.
Camera Switcher: Take control like a director with hotkey camera switching or automatic target tracking to keep fast-paced action in view.
Livestream Focused: Optimized for live streaming, the dedicated window mode for OBS and Twitch integrates with hotkey mapping for Stream Deck, Loupedeck, and other trigger devices.
Portable Data: Enjoy the flexibility to export and import trigger settings and asset files between computers, ensuring smooth transitions across different setups.

>> Explore full features from the product website

Engaging Realtime Camerawork

The Camera Control Panel is where visuals and storytelling are interwoven through a range of cinematographic tools. Directors can save their favorite shots, perform live previews, and set up camera cuts and triggers for Puppet Stage, achieving lifelike results that rival professional techniques.

The latest release introduces advanced camera control features designed to give creators more precision and flexibility in their animations and live streams:

Custom Camera List: Store camera angles, lens settings, and tracking targets within the camera control panel. Capture thumbnail images and assign hotkeys for quick retrieval of specific camera setups.
Live Preview: Seamlessly toggle between camera cuts during playback to direct the narrative in real-time, ensuring creative control as scenes unfold.
Switch Keys: Easily store and recall camera cuts using a streamlined hotkey setup. Once applied, these camera keys are organized within the Camera Switch Track for full keyframe adjustments in the timeline editor.
Camera Tracking & Toggle: Select a target for camera tracking to keep the focus on the action, with the ability to switch between tracking and roaming shots at any time. Fine-tune rough takes by adjusting camera keyframes in the timeline editor.
Mimicking Real Camerawork: Emulate real-world camera movements—track fast-paced sequences, zoom in on close-up dialogue, or use dolly zooms for dramatic effects. All camera actions can be created and managed effortlessly through the Camera Control Panel.

>> Explore full features from the product website

Camera cuts can be easily stored and recalled from a hotkey setup. Once applied, the camera keys are organized within the Camera Switch Track,

Simulate Real Camera Operation, any camera effect can be created and conveniently managed with the Camera Control Panel.

Puppet Stage Content Packs

To showcase the full potential of live puppet controls, two invaluable expansion packs have been created to help users quickly experience the power of Puppet Stage. These packs allow you to reuse pre-designed characters, animation trigger settings, and easily swap in your own characters, props, and animation assets, making it effortless to create your own dynamic live show.

CARTOON PUPPET

This universal virtual host template features 3 sets of distinctive animation performances for live show or interactive presentation. Choose from the Chill, Sweet, or Dramatic animation genre to fit your character styles. Additional amoeba animation templates can turn simple images or vector graphics into engaging actors.

>> Explore more virtual host performance templates

ANIME PUPPET

This illustrious Anime pack showcases the dynamic details and versatility of CTA anime characters. A must-have for fans of manga and anime culture, Anime Puppet allows you to instantly bring characters to life in a live show or dive into advanced techniques like smooth expressions and hand-keyed sprite sequences. Plus, you will uncover design secrets with the bonus 360-degree robo-pet “Digi Paws” included in the pack.

>> Explore more virtual host performance templates

Livestream Power Bundle

This virtual host bundle kit is available in both anime and cartoon styles, designed for live performances and interactive presentations with trigger-based animations.

>> Explore more virtual host performance templates

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Resource links

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Content Packs

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Cartoon Animator 5.3 Online Manual

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Featured Story

How to Effortlessly Pose a ZBrush Character Using Character Creator

August 26, 2024April 25, 2025 bridgettepan1 Comment

Jaaziah

Hi everyone! I’m Jaaziah, a 3D Character Artist. In this mini-tutorial, I’ll be showcasing the workflow for posing a ZBrush character I used for creating my Space Pirate creature from “The Extra Mile” tutorial course.

When I started the course, my goal was to create a character that could exist in the same universe as Kudu, The Clever Repairer, created by Pablo Munoz Gomez for the course. This meant achieving a realistic style by sculpting in ZBrush, texturing in Substance Painter, posing in Character Creator 4, and using ZBrush Pose Tools all of which I will showcase in this article.

Jaaziah’s ArtStation

Sculpting

Heavily referencing the 2D concept for my pirate, I started with a blockout in ZBrush, prioritizing the character’s silhouette. I used ZBrush sculpting tools to extract many of the clothes and accessories, and utilized ZRemesher and ZModeler to create clean details. Additionally, I enhanced my character’s costume with a variety of sci-fi kitbash assets.

Here’s the final result of my ZBrush sculpture. At this point, it is too high-poly for Character Creator 4 to handle, so we will need to do retopology.

Re-topology & ZRemesh

Before importing our character into CC4, we need to ensure the 3D model has proper topology for smooth animations. The model should have enough quads for smooth deformations but not so many that it becomes too intensive for CC4 to handle. I used ZRemesher to create low-poly subtools for my character, which I then imported into Maya. In Maya, I further reduced the quad count by deleting unnecessary edge loops and UV unwrapping the meshes.

Baking & Texturing

I used Marmoset Toolbag 4 for baking, as it allows me to manually paint the offset and skew the baking cage to eliminate baking errors. The more tedious step is manually renaming all of the baked maps to their corresponding UDIMs so that Substance Painter can recognize them properly.

To simplify the texturing phase, I assigned two materials to the character: one for the jacket and one for the rest of the character. This allowed me to hide the jacket layer and properly texture the materials underneath.

After this, I exported the model and baked maps into Substance Painter and began a PBR texturing workflow. To achieve a realistic look, I referenced real-life clothing and creature skin to replicate intricate details like dirt on clothing and wrinkles and scars on the skin.

To make the texturing phase a lot easier, I used many smart materials I’ve collected over the years from high-quality packs by various artists. For the skin, I used a “Creature Skin” smart material provided by Pablo in “The Extra Mile” course, which includes settings for veins, skin color variation, and bumps.

Posing in Character Creator 4 (CC4)

To efficiently transfer our retopologized model from ZBrush to CC4, we need two plugins: ZBrush Pose Link for CC4 and ZBrush Pose Tools in ZBrush.

Rigging in CC4 is a straightforward, step-by-step process. To simplify joint placement, I hid the jacket and set the leg joints to tip-toe. I then generated a three-fingered skeleton and placed the joints accordingly. Next, I selected the meshes that needed to deform during animation, leaving others as non-bending accessories. I pressed “Bind Skin,” which might take some time depending on mesh density. After just 10 minutes of work, I ended up with a fully rigged character, ready for posing.

For this character, I’ll be using the “Raging Orc” animation pack, as its barbaric style complements the Space Pirate’s personality.

I explored the animations and selected a frame, then further edited the pose to my liking. I pressed “Record New Pose” in the Pose Tools plugin before sending the mesh back to ZBrush. Since I didn’t import the armblade into CC4, I can adjust it in ZBrush.

Once back in ZBrush, I can easily correct any errors by pressing the “Edit Current Pose” button and using the move brush. This feature is very useful for correcting issues when weight painting becomes too tedious in CC4 or for exaggerating certain shapes of your character.

Thanks to CC4’s efficiency in creating new poses, I crafted five different poses to showcase the character’s sneaky yet aggressive personality. In ZBrush, I utilized the T-Pose mesh feature to edit multiple subtools simultaneously, which was especially useful for the jacket due to its multiple subtools. I also used facial references to add expressions to the character, such as anger, characterized by furrowed eyebrows, flared nostrils, and a clenched jaw.

What I appreciate about CC4 is its extensive library of hand signs and gestures, which is a massive time saver for me. Looking back, these five poses took about half a day to complete, even though I had to manually touch up some meshes that were deforming or overlapping incorrectly. Overall, CC4 is the best software for posing characters efficiently.

Once I was satisfied with the poses, I exported the entire model from ZBrush and imported it into Maya to assign unique materials to each UDIM, as Marmoset Toolbag 4 currently does not support UDIMs. After assigning the materials, I exported the model to Marmoset Toolbag 4 for lighting and rendering.

Lighting

The quickest yet most crucial part of the character creation workflow is lighting and rendering, as beauty shots significantly enhance the quality of your portfolio. The best method is 3-point lighting, achieved by combining HDRI with point lights. To easily adjust the point lights, I select them directly in the viewport, allowing me to move them as if they were a camera. I recommend using no more than 2 or 3 point lights in addition to your HDRI, as adding too many lights can quickly make the lighting appear artificial.

After that, I imported the raw renders into Photoshop, applied a High Pass filter, and used overlays to brighten key areas such as the character’s face. These adjustments help make your portfolio stand out among other character artist portfolios.

Conclusion

This concludes my showcase of the Space Pirate creature character. I’d like to thank Reallusion for recognizing this character and providing me the opportunity to share my workflow. I hope you found my process helpful for your own character creation journey.

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The original article was written by Jaaziah and is also featured on 80 Level.

Featured Story

Reviving Historical Figures with Character Creator and iClone

August 22, 2024April 28, 2025 enocburgosLeave a comment

Jose Andrés García – 3D ARTIST AND CREATIVE

Jose Andrés García is a 3D artist and creative professional from Málaga, Spain. He first developed an interest in 3D animation through his work in decoration. He also worked in architectural visualization.

He started with Daz Studio. He gradually mastered Character Creator and iClone. Eventually, he integrated these tools with Unreal Engine to tackle more advanced projects. His expertise has been instrumental in crafting stories about Spain’s history.

For several years, Jose has collaborated with The Legacy: El Legado Español. The organization is dedicated to promoting Spain’s legacy in North America. This collaboration has involved organizing traveling exhibitions in Spain and the USA. These exhibitions celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence and Spain’s support for the thirteen colonies.

Jose’s use of Character Creator and iClone in these exhibitions has gained significant media attention. It was notably featured on NBC during an exhibition in Washington D.C. that ran until April 12th, 2024. Among his notable works is the historical series “We The Spanish People.” This series received considerable recognition in both Spain and the United States.

“Creating and animating this kind of stories presented itself as a real challenge. After trying several programs, I discovered iClone and Character Creator. That’s when everything changed. The workflow and the ease of creating animations and characters surprised me a lot. I was also impressed by the possibility of transferring everything to Unreal Engine.”
Jose Andrés García – 3D Artist & Creative

Transitioning from Architecture to 3D Artist

Hello, my name is Jose Garcia. I have been working as a freelancer for several years. I want to share with you how I started in the field of 3D animation. I also want to discuss the creation of historical videos. I have always been passionate about drawing and painting.

I worked for many years as a decorator. However, my dream had always been to tell animated stories beyond infographics and architectural video presentations. I wanted to create stories where characters interact with each other and their environment. This was finally achievable when I discovered Reallusion tools.

Creating and animating this kind of stories presented itself as a real challenge. After trying several programs, I discovered iClone and Character Creator. That’s when everything changed. The workflow and the ease of creating animations and characters surprised me a lot. I was also impressed by the possibility of transferring everything to Unreal Engine. I spent some time learning and practicing both programs. Finally, I set out to create a project. Through this project, I can tell stories of my country using 3D animation. This method would reach a young and not-so-young audience in an entertaining way. Now, they could watch episodes of Spain’s history and its heroes, many of them forgotten.

“My dream had always been to tell animated stories beyond infographics and architectural video presentations. I wanted to create stories where characters interact with each other and their environment. This was finally achievable when I discovered Reallusion tools. “
Jose Andrés García – 3D Artist & Creative

Creative process of “We The Spanish People”

Thanks to this storytelling approach, my videos have been widely disseminated. They are exhibited in traveling exhibitions both inside and outside of Spain. One of the most notable works is the video “We the Spanish.” It was created for the presentation of the book “The Spanish Legacy; We the Spanish People.” The book was presented at the National Library of Spain in September 2023. The book was created by The Legacy association in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense. It is a journey through postcards that span three centuries of history. It showcases the cultural footprint that Spain left on what is now the United States.

Several of my videos are included in the book, viewable via QR codes. The creative process in this project has been very smooth. This is thanks to the integration of iClone, Character Creator, and Unreal Engine. The possibilities for creation and editing are almost endless. With Character Creator, I can even use AI enhanced plugins like Headshot. These plugins allow me to quickly generate a face and body animatable 3D character from a photo or portrait image.

For characters where we have paintings or images, like Admiral Luis de Córdova, I use those sources for their creation.

For those without documentation, like General Montiano from northern Spain, I create the characters based on facial features. These features are appropriate to their place of origin. I also consider the era. It’s incredible to see how a forgotten hero like General Montiano is now easily recognizable with his story. You can simply search for him on Google.

Character Animation with iClone and Unreal

In the case of the project “Nosotros los Españoles” (We the Spanish People), the main animations focus on three heroes: General Montiano, Admiral Luis de Córdoba, and the Corsair Olavarría. They are protagonists of previous videos. These heroes appear in the explanatory postcards included in the book and seen in the museum paintings.

“iClone is a fantastic program. In combination with Unreal Engine, it allows us to transfer our characters and animations with motion capture.”
Jose Andrés García – 3D Artist & Creative

Using the Museum Environment Kit from Unreal Engine, we created a realistic setting. In this Unreal Engine setting, we recorded everything as if it were a real movie.

We added secondary characters from ActorCore. It helped make digital people appear as if they were visitors to the Spanish Legacy Museum.

Experiencing the Spanish Legacy Exhibition

Thanks to associations like The Legacy: El Legado Español en los Estados Unidos de América, the history of our country has been widely disseminated. Our country’s crucial contribution to the development of what is now the USA has also been widely shared.

The Legacy has organized traveling exhibitions throughout Spain over the past few years. These exhibitions showcase Spain’s impact and the contributions of the Spanish Viceroyalty. This occurred during the 300 years our ancestors were in those lands. These exhibitions have been held in over 30 Spanish cities, where people have enjoyed the videos I’ve created. These videos tell mostly unknown chapters of this part of Spanish history.

Additionally, an exhibition was organized in Washington D.C. at the Spanish Cultural Center. Another was organized at the Army War College. The Army War College is the most advanced center of the US Army, which trains its future leaders.