Reallusion Magazine

Mastering Stylized Characters with Character Creator 5 Headshot 3

August 31, 2026August 31, 2026 enocburgosLeave a comment

TL;DR:

Antony Evans of Digital Puppets streamlines stylized 3D character creation using Character Creator 5 with Headshot 3.
The workflow integrates AI image generation for concept art and precise Headshot 3 refinement tools for non-realistic proportions.
Characters are automatically rigged with advanced HD Facial Profiles, ready for animation in iClone 8.
Leverage AccuFACE 2 and iClone Video Mocap for efficient facial and full-body motion capture directly from video input.

This article details a professional workflow for generating animation-ready, stylized 3D characters using Headshot 3, an AI plugin for Reallusion’s Character Creator 5 (CC5). It explores how Antony Evans of Digital Puppets transforms AI-generated concepts into fully rigged models, ready for real-time animation with iClone 8, demonstrating a complete, efficient pipeline for indie developers, freelancers, and studios.

“Even though Headshot 3 was trained on realistic human features, it can still work with stylized characters. You can push out bigger eyes, bigger features, and those kinds of proportions.”
ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

Introduction

My name is Antony Evans, Co-founder of Digital Puppets, a UK-based animation studio specialising in character design, animation, and virtual avatars. We work across a variety of projects, from games and real-time experiences to television and virtual production, so having a flexible character creation workflow is really important for us.

Over the years, Character Creator has become the foundation of our character pipeline. I’ve used a lot of different tools and workflows during my career, but what keeps bringing me back to Character Creator is the balance between speed and creative control. It allows me to get a character up and running quickly, but still gives me the flexibility to push the design further when I need to.

For this project, I wanted to explore the latest updates to Headshot 3, Character Creator 5, and AccuFACE 2, and see how they could fit into the type of work we do at Digital Puppets. Rather than creating a realistic digital human, I wanted to focus on a stylised character. This is much closer to the kind of work we normally produce, but it also presents a different challenge. Stylised characters often don’t follow realistic anatomy—they have exaggerated proportions, unique shapes, and a lot more personality built into their design.

“That’s probably one of the things I like most about Reallusion tools and ecosystem—you can adapt the tools around the project rather than having to adapt the project around the tools.”
ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

The question I wanted to answer was:
How well can Headshot 3 workflow handle that type of stylized character?

The results were really interesting. The new AI tools helped me quickly generate reference images and explore ideas, the updated refinement tools gave me much more control over the final shape, and once the character was complete, the new HD facial profile meant it was ready for animation almost immediately.

Character Creator 5’s Headshot 3 AI tools helps quickly generate reference images and explore ideas, to build fully-rigged 3D character creations that are ready for animation almost immediately.

Combined with iClone Video Mocap, and the new AccuFACE 2 update, I was able to take the character from an initial concept idea through to a fully animated performance while staying almost entirely within the Reallusion ecosystem.

AI-Assisted Character Generation

AI-generated concept designs have become a regular part of my workflow, but probably not in the way people often think.I don’t use AI as a one-click character creation solution. For me, it’s much more of a creative tool that helps me explore ideas quickly. If I have a character in my head, being able to generate different variations in minutes is incredibly useful. I can test different styles, proportions, clothing ideas, and personalities before committing time to the modelling process. The biggest advantage is speed.

Previously, if I had an idea for a character, I might spend a lot of time sketching variations or trying to explain the idea to someone else. Now I can create several visual references very quickly and use those as a starting point.Of course, the generated image is only the beginning. The important part is what happens afterwards—taking that idea and turning it into a properly designed, rigged, and animated character.

For Headshot 3, having good reference images is really important. The better the input, the better the result. Front and side profile images give Headshot much more information to work with, which helps create a more accurate base model. One of the things I really like about the new AI generation tools is that they are designed with this workflow in mind. They don’t just create an image; they also help optimise it for character creation. Removing elements such as hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes prevents unwanted information being transferred into the generated textures.

This might seem like a small detail, but these are exactly the types of things that can slow down a production later. Spending less time cleaning up textures means more time can be spent on the creative side.

I also found the ability to generate multiple reference variations really useful. Character design is often about exploring possibilities, and being able to quickly compare different directions helped me make better decisions before moving into 3D. For me, that’s where AI fits into the workflow. It doesn’t replace the artist’s decisions, it simply removes some of the slower early stages and allows you to get to the creative problem-solving much faster.

Character Refinement and Customization

This was the area I was most interested in testing because, while Headshot has always been very impressive for realistic characters, most of the work we do at Digital Puppets is stylised. Stylised characters are always a little more challenging because they don’t necessarily follow realistic human proportions. A larger head, exaggerated eyes, unusual facial shapes, or a more cartoon-like design can all make the character more difficult to recreate from a single image.

The Headshot 3 Side profile is especially important. A character might have the perfect silhouette from the front, but if the nose, jaw, or back of the head doesn’t match the concept, it can quickly lose that original design.

I wasn’t expecting Headshot 3 to create a perfect stylised character immediately, and that’s not really what the workflow is about. The strength comes from the combination of the generated base character and the tools you have available to refine it. The new Refine Face tools are probably one of the biggest improvements for this type of workflow. Being able to adjust the face from both the Front and Side views gives you much more control over the overall structure.

The Headshot 3 Refine Face tools are probably one of the biggest improvements for this type of workflow. Being able to adjust the face from both the Front and Side views gives you much more control over the overall structure.

From my experience in character design, getting the proportions right from different angles is one of the most important parts of creating a convincing character. It’s easy to make something look right from one view, but the challenge is making sure the design holds up from every angle. The Side profile is especially important. A character might have the perfect silhouette from the front, but if the nose, jaw, or back of the head doesn’t match the concept, it can quickly lose that original design.

The refinement tools help solve that problem by allowing you to guide Headshot towards the shape you actually want rather than simply accepting the first generated result.

“The new Headshot 3, Refine Face tools are probably one of the biggest improvements for this type of workflow. Being able to adjust the face from both the front and side views gives you much more control over the overall structure.”
ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

The refinement tools help solve that problem by allowing you to guide Headshot 3 towards the shape you actually want rather than simply accepting the first generated result.

Once I had the basic head shape, I moved into the Sculpt Morphs. This is where the character really started to come together. I could push and pull features, adjust proportions, and exaggerate certain areas until the character started matching the original concept. For stylised characters, these small adjustments make a huge difference. A slight change to the eyes or mouth can completely change the personality of the character.

The Headshot 3 Sculpt Morphs. This is where the character really started to come together.

I also found the image matching tools really useful during this stage. Being able to keep my original AI-generated reference visible while refining the model helped make sure I didn’t lose the design direction I started with. Normally, this is the stage where I would probably move into another application such as ZBrush for additional sculpting. However, I found myself staying inside Character Creator much longer because the new tools gave me enough control to make most of the changes directly within CC5.

Once the head and face shape were complete, the next step was improving the textures. Headshot 3 can generate a high-quality facial texture from your reference image with a single click, which is a huge time saver. But what really stood out to me was the ability to continue editing those textures directly on the character.

In previous versions of Headshot, one issue I occasionally found—especially with stylised characters—was that certain areas of the texture could overlap or contain unwanted information. Hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and exaggerated facial features could sometimes create areas that needed additional cleanup.

The new brush and masking tools make this much easier to fix. Instead of exporting the texture, editing it externally, and then bringing it back into Character Creator, I can now paint directly onto the mesh and make adjustments exactly where I need them. This is something we would normally do in ZBrush or Photoshop, so having those tools available directly inside CC5 makes the workflow much more efficient.

Another small feature that I really appreciated was the Delight tool. When using photographs as references, lighting information from the original image can sometimes be baked into the texture. Normally I would remove this in Photoshop before applying it to the character. Being able to do this directly inside Character Creator saves another step and keeps the whole process moving.

Once the character was complete, one of the biggest benefits of the Headshot workflow became clear, the character was ready for animation.

With Character Creator 5’s new HD Facial Profile, the character automatically receives the updated facial blendshapes and corrective morphs needed for expressive animation.

In my experience, the default setup works extremely well. Most of the time I don’t need to make any changes, but if a specific character requires extra control, the Facial Profile Editor is still available for further adjustments. This is a big advantage because the technical setup that normally takes time before animation can begin is already done. The character is ready to animate in iClone, and it can also be used with Unreal Engine workflows, including MetaHuman Animator pipelines.

“AccuFACE 2 allows you to use the CC5 HD profiles giving really good results just from a webcam or a prerecorded HD video. So, instead of going out to Metahuman Animator, we are able to do all our facial capture directly here in the iClone and Reallusion ecosystem.”
ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

After finishing the face, the final stage was completing the overall character design body. I could easily expand the body using the same AI generator tools, which allowed me to create a fully-rigged 3D body from a reference image in minutes.

This streamlined approach ensured that the body proportions, pose, and initial clothing layout matched the facial style perfectly. By having the AI handle the complex task of mesh generation and initial skin weighting, I was able to bypass hours of manual modelling, allowing me to move directly into final adjustments and wardrobe customization.

It bridged the gap between a standalone head sculpt and a complete, production-ready character, ensuring the entire design language remained cohesive from head to toe.

One of the things I like about working with Character Creator is that you are not limited to the base character. The Reallusion Marketplace provides a huge range of clothing, hair, accessories, and additional assets, making it easy to finish a design quickly.

For this character, I went back to the original AI-generated concept images and used them as a guide when choosing hairstyles, clothing, and other details. Of course, there are times when you need something completely custom. In those cases, we create clothing and accessories in applications such as Blender or Maya and then bring them into Character Creator using the Weight Transfer tools.

That combination of custom assets and Character Creator’s built-in systems gives us the flexibility we need for different projects.

Feature	Description	Benefit for Stylized Characters
AI Image Generator	Generates concept art from text prompts, with optimization for 3D import.	Rapid concept exploration; generates clean, prepped reference images.
Refine Face Tools	Precise adjustment of face geometry from front and side views.	Ensures accurate proportions and silhouette from all angles.
Sculpt Morphs	Intuitive push/pull tools for exaggerating features and altering proportions.	Fine-tunes unique character personalities and cartoon styles.
On-Mesh Texture Paint	Directly paint and clone textures onto the 3D model.	Eliminates external texture cleanup; faster iteration.
Delight Tool	Removes lighting information baked into reference photos.	Ensures neutral, clean base textures for consistent lighting.
HD Facial Profile	Automatic generation of advanced blendshapes and corrective morphs.	Animation-ready characters with expressive facial performances.

Animation Integration

Once the character was complete, the next challenge was bringing it to life. This is where iClone really becomes the next part of the workflow. One of the reasons I enjoy using Reallusion tools is that there are so many different ways to animate a character depending on the needs of the project. You can use traditional keyframe animation, motion libraries from ActorCore, professional motion capture systems, mocap suits, or video-based capture. There isn’t one correct workflow; the best option depends on the project, the budget, and the type of performance you need.

For this character, I wanted to demonstrate iClone Video Mocap because I think it’s one of the most accessible ways to create custom animation. For smaller teams, freelancers, or creators working without expensive motion capture equipment, being able to record a performance using a simple video is extremely useful. It works particularly well for characters that need to talk directly to the audience, such as virtual presenters, educational characters, or digital hosts. I wanted to test how quickly I could take a simple performance and transfer it onto the character.

“I wanted to demonstrate ICLONE VIDEO MOCAP because I think it’s one of the most accessible ways to create custom animation. For smaller teams, freelancers, or creators working without expensive motion capture equipment, being able to record a performance using a simple video is extremely useful.”
ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

Because I didn’t have enough space in my office to record myself properly, I decided to experiment with an AI-generated video clip instead. I created a short video using an AI actor Kevin, prompting him to perform some simple talking gestures and natural movements. I then imported this video into iClone’s Video Mocap system, selected my character, and within minutes the character had a full-body performance.

The result was surprisingly good straight away. Like any motion capture workflow, there was some cleanup needed, but that’s completely normal. Even professional motion capture usually requires some adjustment afterwards. The difference is that iClone makes this cleanup process very straightforward. Using tools such as Motion Modifier, I could quickly adjust areas that needed refinement and polish the final animation.

For me, this is where the workflow becomes really powerful. The technical barriers are reduced, allowing you to spend more time focusing on the performance and storytelling. I was especially looking forward to testing AccuFACE 2 because facial capture is something we use regularly in our projects, and we are always looking for ways to improve both quality and efficiency.

Facial animation is often one of the most challenging parts of character production. A character can have a great design and a good body performance, but if the facial animation doesn’t feel natural, the audience will notice immediately.

Before testing AccuFACE 2, our preferred workflow for high-quality facial capture involved using MetaHuman Animator and then transferring that animation onto our Character Creator characters. This works very well, especially when working inside Unreal Engine, but it does mean adding extra steps and moving between different systems.

What impressed me about AccuFACE 2 is that it allows us to keep more of that process inside the Reallusion workflow. Combined with Character Creator 5’s new HD Facial Profile, the level of detail captured in the facial performance is really impressive. The updated facial system makes a big difference because the capture is not just moving simple expressions, it is working with a much more detailed facial rig with corrective morphs already built in.

“What impressed me about AccuFACE 2 is that it allows us to keep more of that process inside the Reallusion workflow. Combined with Character Creator 5’s new HD Facial Profile, the level of detail captured in the facial performance is really impressive.”
ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

I was able to import the character, capture the performance, and then transfer the animation between characters using the existing tools. The process was straightforward and showed how practical this workflow could be when working with multiple characters or different versions of a project—all within the same tools.

I also noticed some nice improvements in the AccuFACE 2 update, including the ability to reset different areas of the face independently and adjust the resting face pose.These might seem like small additions, but anyone who has worked with facial capture knows that these types of controls can make a big difference. Every character is slightly different, and having the ability to fine-tune the starting point helps create a better final performance.

The workflow I have shown here with iClone Video Mocap and AccuFACE 2 is only one possible approach. That’s probably one of the things I like most about the Reallusion ecosystem—you can adapt the tools around the project rather than having to adapt the project around the tools.

Every production has different requirements. Sometimes you need speed, sometimes you need maximum control, and sometimes you need a balance between the two. Having multiple options means you can build a workflow that suits the project, the team, and the budget.

Benefits for Creators

For me, the biggest benefit of this workflow is simple: it allows creators to spend more time being creative and less time dealing with technical setup. The combination of AI-assisted concept creation, Character Creator 5’s Headshot 3, and iClone 8’s AccuFACE 2 creates a much faster path from an idea to a finished animated character.

The concept stage is quicker because I can generate and explore ideas faster. The modelling stage is quicker because I already have a strong starting point. The rigging and facial setup are quicker because so much of the technical work is already handled automatically. That doesn’t mean the creative decisions disappear. In fact, I think the opposite is true. By removing some of the repetitive tasks, you have more time to focus on the things that actually make a character interesting—the design, personality, storytelling, and performance.

One of the main reasons I recommend iClone and Character Creator to other artists is because they are very approachable. There are a lot of powerful tools available, but the workflow remains intuitive. Features like preset animations, automatic rigging, lighting tools, weight mapping, facial setup, and the huge library of available assets all help speed up production without making the process feel complicated.

For smaller studios and independent creators, this is especially important. A lot of artists are working with limited time and resources, so being able to create professional-quality characters without needing a huge pipeline can make a massive difference. Another big advantage is how well these characters fit into different production environments. The same character can be used for a game project, a cinematic animation, a virtual presenter, or a real-time experience. You aren’t locked into one format or one platform.

At Digital Puppets, we’ve been fortunate to work across many different types of projects, and having a flexible character creation workflow is essential. Character Creator continues to be the foundation of our process because it allows us to create characters quickly while still fitting into professional pipelines.

Conclusion

After testing Headshot 3, Character Creator 5, and AccuFACE 2, I think this is a really exciting direction for character creation. For me, the biggest improvement with Headshot 3 is how much more practical it has become for stylised characters. Previous versions were already very good for realistic faces, but stylised designs often required more manual work afterwards.

The new refinement tools make a big difference because they give artists more control over the final result. Instead of accepting the generated character as the finished product, you can use it as a starting point and shape it into exactly what you need. The AI generation tools also fit naturally into this workflow. They don’t replace the creative process—they simply make it faster. Being able to move from an idea to a useful reference image quickly means more time can be spent developing the actual character.

The biggest takeaway for me is the complete image-to-animation pipeline. A concept image can now become a fully rigged, textured, and animated character in a fraction of the time it used to take. The technical foundations are already there, allowing artists to focus on the creative side.

With Character Creator 5, Headshot 3, iClone, and AccuFACE 2, you have a workflow that can adapt to almost any project. Whether you’re creating characters for games, animation, virtual production, education, or real-time experiences, the tools are flexible enough to fit different needs.

For the type of work we do at Digital Puppets, that flexibility is probably the biggest advantage. The goal has always been to create better characters, tell better stories, and spend less time fighting technical limitations. These updates help move that process forward, giving artists more freedom to focus on what matters most—the creativity behind the character.

Featured Artist Spotlight: Antony Evans – Digital Puppets UK

ANTONY EVANS — Co-Founder of Digital Puppets / 3D Animator

Antony Evans is a highly respected UK-based 3D animator, character designer, and virtual production specialist, co-founding Digital Puppets alongside his brother, Scott Evans. Based in Torquay, Devon, their studio is renowned for its expertise in real-time motion capture, innovative 2D/3D character design, and custom VTuber avatar creation. Digital Puppets excels in delivering turnkey virtual production solutions, crafting rapid character designs and digital puppetry workflows for a diverse client base that includes educators, streamers, and commercial agencies for full-scale animated shows and marketing content.

Antony’s workflow with Reallusion tools is a testament to their flexibility and power, forming the foundation of his studio’s character pipeline. He continuously explores the latest updates, integrating tools like Character Creator 5, Headshot 3, iClone, and AccuFACE 2 to push creative boundaries while maintaining high efficiency. His recent work on stylized characters showcases how Headshot 3‘s AI-assisted generation and refinement tools streamline concept to animation, allowing for unprecedented speed and creative control in crafting unique IP. This blend of technical mastery and artistic vision positions him at the forefront of real-time animation production.

Website: https://www.digitalpuppets.co.uk/
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalpuppetsuk/
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/digitalpuppets
Facebook: https://www.fa c ebook.com/digitalpuppetstudio
TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@digitalpuppets

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I create stylized characters with exaggerated features using Headshot 3 in Character Creator 5?

A: Headshot 3 utilizes AI to generate an initial 3D head from reference images, which you can then extensively refine using its dedicated Refine Face tools for front and side views. These tools, coupled with Sculpt Morphs, allow artists to push and pull facial features, adjust proportions, and exaggerate elements to match any stylized design. This process ensures the character maintains its unique personality and cartoon-like aesthetics across all angles, offering precise control over the final shape.

Q: What are the key benefits of using Character Creator 5’s HD Facial Profile for animation?

A: The Character Creator 5 HD Facial Profile automatically equips characters with an advanced facial rig, including updated blendshapes and corrective morphs. This means the character is immediately animation-ready upon creation, significantly reducing technical setup time. The profile enables highly expressive facial performances in iClone 8 and ensures compatibility with professional facial capture solutions like AccuFACE 2 and even external pipelines such as Unreal Engine’s MetaHuman Animator, offering unparalleled flexibility.

Q: Can I use AI-generated videos for full-body motion capture in iClone 8?

A: Yes, iClone 8’s Video Mocap system supports using AI-generated video clips for full-body motion capture. As demonstrated by Antony Evans, a video of an AI actor performing gestures can be imported and applied to your 3D character, generating animation quickly and efficiently. This method is incredibly useful for freelancers or studios without dedicated motion capture equipment, providing an accessible way to create custom body animations with straightforward cleanup tools.

Q: How does AccuFACE 2 compare to MetaHuman Animator for facial capture of custom characters?

A: AccuFACE 2, an iClone 8 plugin, offers real-time facial capture directly from a webcam or HD video, leveraging the advanced Character Creator 5 HD Facial Profile. A key distinction noted by Antony Evans is AccuFACE 2‘s Expression Curve editor, which provides superior granular control over micro facial expressions crucial for custom IP and stylized characters. While MetaHuman Animator (MHA) also offers high-quality capture, AccuFACE 2 allows users to remain within the Reallusion ecosystem for a more integrated and efficient workflow, especially for non-realistic designs.

AI Studio Storytellers: Directing AI Films with Diverse 3D Assets

August 28, 2026August 28, 2026 johnreallusionLeave a comment

Generative AI can create extraordinary images and video, but filmmaking requires more than generating something that looks good. A director needs control over characters, performance, motion, cameras, composition, environments, and continuity from one shot to the next.

John Martin explores a production workflow that combines the directability of iClone with the generative capabilities of AI Studio. Using a superhero sequence featuring Alphaman and Runway, Martin demonstrates how an iClone project can become the foundation for both AI image and video generation.

Instead of beginning with a blank prompt and asking AI to invent the shot, the process starts in 3D. Characters are positioned. Motions and poses are established. Cameras are chosen. Environments are assembled. The action can be viewed and adjusted before generation begins. That 3D information is then sent into AI Studio, where AI Actors, image generation with Flux2 Max, video generation with Seedance, and enhanced prompting transform the previs into a more cinematic result.

The central idea is simple: Use 3D to direct the shot. Use AI to transform it.

Building the Shot in iClone

The workflow begins with an iClone project. For the superhero demonstration, Martin builds the scene using a Motion Dummy, motion sourced from ActorCore‘s Legendary Heroes: Aerial Fighter motion pack, and city environments assembled with assets from the Content Store‘s City Blocks Vol. 1: Skyscrapers / Metro City.

The Motion Dummy is important because its purpose is not to define the final appearance of the superhero. It provides something equally important: performance. Motions, poses, and keyframe edits created in iClone can establish what the character is doing before the shot reaches AI Studio. The director can refine the pose, adjust an existing animation, change timing, reposition the character, or modify the camera while still working inside a controllable 3D environment.

The city props perform a similar role. Using City Block 03 and other city assets, Martin can establish the geography and scale of the scene. Buildings, streets, characters, and cameras have actual spatial relationships instead of being independently interpreted from a text prompt. The result does not need to be a final render. It needs to communicate the shot.

3D as Visual Direction for AI

Once the project has been constructed, iClone contains much of the information necessary to communicate Martin’s intention to AI Studio. The project can provide motion, pose, props, character position, environment, camera framing, and camera changes.

This changes the role of prompting. Consider a traditional text-to-video instruction such as: A superhero flies through a city. That sentence leaves almost everything open to interpretation. Where is the camera? How does the superhero move? What direction does he fly? What is his starting pose? Where is he in relation to the buildings? How quickly does the action happen?

An iClone scene can answer those questions visually. The 3D project becomes another form of prompt—one constructed with characters, animation, cameras, and environments rather than words. AI Studio can then use that visual information as the foundation for generation.

The Motion Dummy Becomes an AI Actor

One of the key transitions happens when the relatively simple 3D character is replaced by an AI Actor in AI Studio. Martin’s project uses the superhero Alphaman changed to be in full yellow suit and no cape, also a text prompted female actor, and later his opponent Runway, as AI Actors. For sequences involving both Alphaman and Runway, both AI Actors can be included as references, helping maintain their identities across the sequence.

AI Studio includes a library of approximately 200 template characters, including male, female, senior, kid, stylized, and creature characters. For this project, the AI Actor system provides something especially important for filmmaking: character consistency from shot to shot.

The Motion Dummy can therefore concentrate on directing the performance in iClone while the AI Actor establishes the character’s identity during generation. This creates a useful separation between two jobs: iClone defines what the character does. The AI Actor defines who the character is.

Once Alphaman is added to the project, his AI Actor can be invoked by name in the prompt. This gives AI Studio a specific character likeness to reference when generating the shot rather than asking the model to reinvent the superhero every time.

3D to Image with Flux2 Max

The first workflow demonstrated is 3D to Image. Martin positions the iClone playhead on the exact moment he wants to develop into a finished image. That frame is captured directly from the iClone 3D project and becomes an image reference for AI Studio. For the demonstration, image generation uses Flux2 Max at 1280 × 720. The captured iClone frame provides the basic composition, pose, camera, and spatial arrangement. Alphaman and Runway are then selected from the Character Library as an AI Actor reference.

The generation therefore has multiple layers of information working together. The iClone capture communicates the shot. The AI Actor communicates the character. The text prompt communicates additional visual and cinematic intention.

AI Studio’s Lighting and Style presets can then be incorporated to further develop the final appearance.

What begins as a relatively simple 3D viewport image can consequently become a much more developed cinematic frame while retaining the directional decisions made in iClone.

From 3D to Video

The workflow becomes even more powerful with 3D to Video. For video generation, Martin uses Seedance in a 16:9, 720p format. Here, AI Studio can receive two forms of guidance from iClone.

An image reference can be captured from a specific playhead position, establishing the visual starting point.

A video reference can also be captured from the iClone project, allowing the animation itself to guide the generated motion. The desired animation range can be selected using the iClone timeline or In and Out markers.

Now the AI model is not simply being told what movement should occur. It can see the movement. The 3D animation communicates the character’s motion, trajectory, timing, and overall performance, while the captured frame establishes the composition and the AI Actor reference maintains identity. This provides a much stronger starting point for directed AI video than text alone.

Prompting Between the Key Actions

The rescue sequence demonstrates an even more interesting variation. Martin begins with a 3D motion that establishes the important start and end states. The generated sequence, however, needs more storytelling between those points. The basic idea is straightforward: Alphaman takes flight over the city, rescues a falling woman, brings her safely to the ground, and receives her appreciative reaction.

Instead of trying to animate every detail of that interaction in 3D, Martin keeps the important motion structure while using the prompt to describe the action that should occur between those established moments.

This creates a hybrid approach to animation. The director can lock down the essential action with 3D while giving the generative model room to interpret secondary movement and connective performance. It is a different way of thinking about AI video. The choice is no longer simply between animate everything and generate everything. A filmmaker can decide which parts need explicit 3D direction and which parts can be interpreted by AI.

Using ChatGPT to Enhance the Prompt

Prompt development becomes another stage of production. Martin begins with a basic written description of the rescue and takes it into ChatGPT with the instruction to improve it for generative AI video. The objective isn’t to replace the direction already supplied by iClone. It is to make the intention surrounding that direction clearer.

The enhanced prompt can add information about cinematic presentation, emotional reactions, physical interaction, environmental response, pacing, and other nuances that aren’t easily communicated by the 3D motion itself. The refined prompt is then pasted back into AI Studio.

This creates a three-part directing system:

3D communicates physical direction.
The prompt communicates cinematic and narrative intention.
The AI model interprets both.

In the rescue example, the beginning and ending motion can remain anchored to the iClone reference while the prompt encourages Seedance to develop the rescue action between them.

That is an important distinction. Prompt enhancement isn’t being used simply to make the language more elaborate. It is being used to tell the model where it has creative room and what should happen inside that space.

Directing AI Instead of Simply Prompting It

The larger lesson from 3D to AI is not that prompting becomes less important. It becomes more focused. Text is very good at describing intention, atmosphere, emotion, style, and additional action. It is less precise when asked to communicate every spatial and physical decision required by a complicated cinematic shot. 3D excels at those decisions. By combining the two, Martin’s workflow allows each tool to contribute what it does best.

iClone provides motion, pose, keyframe editing, props, environments, cameras, framing, timing, and spatial direction.
AI Actors provide recurring character identity and shot-by-shot consistency.
Flux2 Max transforms directed 3D frames into generated imagery.
Seedance transforms directed 3D motion into generated video.
ChatGPT helps develop the prompt beyond a basic description, adding clarity, cinematic nuance, and additional action.

And AI Studio brings those elements together into a single generative workflow.

3D to AI: A Director’s Approach

For Martin, the significance of the workflow is not simply that a 3D render can be made to look better with AI.

It is that existing 3D filmmaking skills can become a method for directing generative AI.

A pose is direction.

A motion edit is direction.
A camera choice is direction.
Moving a character within the scene is direction.
Choosing the exact playhead position is direction.
Setting In and Out points is direction.
Selecting the right AI Actor is direction.
And writing the prompt is another layer of direction.

Together, those decisions create a production process where the filmmaker doesn’t have to surrender the shot to a text prompt. The filmmaker can build the shot first and then decide where AI should contribute. That is the promise behind 3D to AI: Direct it in 3D. Define it with references. Enhance it with prompting. Generate it with AI Studio.

For storytellers accustomed to thinking in terms of actors, motion, sets, cameras, shots, and performances, it offers a familiar way into an unfamiliar technology. AI becomes another filmmaking tool and the director still directs.

John Martin

John Martin is a producer, digital storyteller, and Vice President of Marketing at Reallusion, where he has spent more than two decades helping shape the future of real-time animation, digital humans, and AI-powered content creation. With a background spanning filmmaking, performance capture, animation, and emerging technologies, John has been instrumental in the development and testing of AI Studio, helping refine workflows that connect traditional CG production with generative AI. His passion is empowering storytellers with innovative tools that transform imagination into cinematic experiences.

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Master the Character Creator to ZBrush Pipeline: The Making of Veyra

August 28, 2026August 28, 2026 bridgettepanLeave a comment

Overview

TL;DR: Digital sculptor Óscar Fernández built Veyra, a horned demon with digitigrade legs and full bat wings, using a Character Creator to ZBrush workflow in which CC5 supplies the rigged base, handles skinning, texturing, posing, and final render, while ZBrush carries the sculpting and hard-surface work. The same file ends up both animation-ready and print-ready.

Across a 20-chapter series, Fernández documents the full build on Character Creator 5 and ZBrush, connected by GoZ Plus. What makes the series worth studying is not any single technique, but where he draws the line between the two applications: everything structural and repetitive goes to CC5, everything artistic stays in ZBrush.

Resource Pack Free Download

Fernández bundles everything reusable into a single Resource Pack, including his custom ZBrush interface, the Geo and Slash2 brushes, the free Orb brush set, the CC face region texture that maps expression deformation zones, and the scale alphas used on the shoulders and forearms. The brushes need to be copied manually into ZBrush’s ZStartup/BrushPresets folder before they appear in the palette.

A Demon With No Human Skeleton to Borrow

Veyra is a deliberately awkward test case. She has reversed digitigrade legs ending in hooves, oversized clawed hands, a horned helmet fused to the skull, layered armor, and a wingspan wider than she is tall. Every one of those choices breaks something in a conventional rig.

Fernández, who specializes in figures for 3D printing, does not treat that as a sculpting problem. He treats it as a proportion problem, and solves it with sliders before a single brush stroke lands. The CC5 neutral HD base gets an athletic female preset, longer legs, a stretched torso, wider hips, scaled-up hands and feet, elf ears, and extended nails, all through the Morph System before the mesh ever reaches ZBrush.

His summary of what that buys him is blunt: the base alone, he says, has “already saved us a ton of work hours that would have gone into sculpting the body from scratch.” His normal process would be blockout, then DynaMesh, then hours of refinement. Here it takes two clicks.

The Six-Stage Character Creator to ZBrush Workflow

The series follows one loop, repeated at increasing resolution.

Stage 1 Base in CC5 Load the neutral HD base, set proportions with body modifiers and detail sliders, clear the pose, then GoZ to ZBrush with diffuse and normal maps switched off.	Stage 2 Sculpt the body via GoZ Sculpt facial structure, anatomy, and the digitigrade leg break at subdivision level one, sending the mesh back at level zero whenever topology or proportion changes need to be verified against animation.	Stage 3 Build accessories Duplicate the body subtool as a conforming base, then cut helmet, armor, clothing, and ornament pieces from it using slice curves, polygroups, and dynamic subdivision thickness.
Stage 4 Detail Add anatomy passes, claws, horn erosion, surface noise, alphas, and scale texture, pushing to 57 million polygons where needed.	Stage 5 Texture Skin, makeup, eyes, and nails from CC5 content; accessories polypainted in ZBrush with cavity and ambient occlusion masks; tattoos composited over CC5 skin maps in Photoshop.	Stage 6 Render or print Pose, light, and render in CC5, or decimate a base prop, pose against it, and send the posed mesh back to ZBrush as a layer for print prep.

The loop only works because Fernández tests early. After every major proportion change he loads a walk cycle in CC5 to confirm the deformation still holds.

★ The Elite 20-episode Masterclass ★

Explore the full course >

Character Creator 5: The Base That Removes the Blockout

Sliders Instead of Sculpting

The most repeated lesson in the series is that CC5 should absorb anything parametric. Knuckle thickness, finger length, nail shape, ear type, thigh-to-calf ratio: all of it moves faster on a slider than under a brush, and all of it stays symmetrical and topologically clean. When Fernández wants the shins longer and the thighs shorter, he says he could do it in ZBrush, “but as you can see, it’s just a matter of moving two sliders.”

Bones That Follow the Morph

The digitigrade legs are the real test. Fernández splits the ankle joint upward in ZBrush so the hoof can behave as a foot, then sends the mesh back. The first walk cycle looks wrong, and the cause is skeletal, not geometric. Auto Position rebuilds the bone placement against the new silhouette, and the character walks correctly on the tips of the hooves. That single step is what keeps a non-human body plan animatable.

Test at Every Stage

He returns to CC5 constantly, at subdivision level zero, purely to check behavior. It costs seconds and catches problems that would be expensive to unwind later.

ZBrush: Where the Character Actually Gets Made

Sculpt Low, Detail Late

Fernández sculpts the face at subdivision level one, using the CC face-region texture map as a guide so that his edits respect the deformation zones the expression system depends on. He is emphatic about resolution discipline: work high too early and “that plastic effect will start to appear, which looks really, really bad.” Volume first, detail last.

Polygroups as a Hard-Surface Engine

Nearly every accessory in the series follows the same recipe: cut the shape, define polygroups at every intended edge, then alternate Polish by Groups and ZRemesher until the surface is clean and the edges survive. Thickness comes from dynamic subdivision rather than manual extrusion. It is a low-poly, high-control approach that produces armor, helmet panels, and belt hardware without ever leaving sculpting mode.

Physics for the Things Sculpting Does Badly

The wing membranes start as ZSpheres, then get a flat plane draped over the finger bones and simulated with ZBrush dynamics against a calculated collision volume. Fernández drops the firmness almost to zero so the cloth sags naturally. The resulting folds, he notes, would be “pretty hard to sculpt.” The same technique settles the skirt against the legs.

Detail With Restraint

Scales go on the shoulders and forearms via surface noise driven by custom alphas, then get individually lifted with Move and Inflate so the tiling does not read. Everything else stays smooth on purpose. His reasoning applies to any character: “It’s also important when designing a character that not everything has a ton of texture. You need to let it rest.”

Texturing and Getting Everything Back Into CC5

Split the Texturing Job

Skin, makeup, eyes, and nails come from CC5 content, which handles subsurface behavior and the eye shader better than a hand-painted approach would. The accessories get polypainted in ZBrush using cavity and ambient occlusion masks to drive gradients, plus a consistent top-down light pass that reads as form. Color direction came from concept artist KithKart, whose palette proposals Fernández mixes rather than adopts wholesale.

The tattoos take a third route entirely: masked and painted in ZBrush, exported as high-contrast 2K maps, then composited over the CC5 skin textures in Photoshop as a multiply layer at 50% opacity. It gives full control and takes minutes.

Accessory or Clothing, Not Both

Bringing the pieces back is where the series is most useful. Rigid parts, horns, helmet, shoulder pad, forearm guard, come in as accessories and get bound with Pick Parent to the correct bone. Deforming parts, hooves and the lower garment, come in as clothing with Transfer Skin Weights using the shoes preset, then Conform to calculate collision. Anything left intersecting gets fixed with Mesh Editing sculpt tools directly in CC5.

Displacement and normal maps transfer separately per subdivision level, so level one and level two each need their own bake.

Rendering Without Leaving CC5

Fernández builds the final image entirely inside Character Creator: a preset stage, a tuned five-light setup, a rescaled and recolored backdrop, then a pose assembled from a preset, hand-adjusted joints, hand presets for the claw gesture, and a facial expression tuned through both muscle mode and sliders. He renders at 4000 x 4000 at subdivision level one, with depth of field. His verdict on the output: “we don’t need any other program.”

From Render to Resin: Preparing Veyra for 3D Printing

The final chapter is the one that separates this series from a standard character pipeline. Fernández merges his sculpted base prop, runs Decimation Master down to roughly 700,000 triangles, and brings it into CC5 as a prop. He unlocks the foot IK, poses Veyra against the base, then sends the mesh back to ZBrush with GoZ set to deliver only the new position, loaded into a layer.

That layer is the payoff. Pose Tools reads the layer names, so multiple poses live inside one file and can be toggled on and off without duplicating subtools or losing subdivision levels. The final figure gets a Marvelous Designer cloth pass to close the composition, and it is ready to print.

Why This Matters for Solo Character Artists

The interesting number in this series is not polygon count, it is time allocation. By the fourth chapter Fernández observes that he is spending most of his time on accessories and very little on the character itself, “because that’s already done for us by Character Creator.”

For a solo artist selling print files or building animated characters alone, that reallocation is the entire value proposition. Rigging, skinning, weight painting, bone placement, and skin shading are the tasks that historically forced specialization or outsourcing. Handing them to CC5 does not make the artist faster at sculpting. It removes the technical work that was never the artistic contribution in the first place, and it does so without locking the result into a single output. The same file renders, animates, and prints.

Looking Ahead

Fernández closes the series by pointing at the range rather than the result: the same character can go to animation, to render, or to a collectible figure, without a separate build for each. For anyone already sculpting in ZBrush, that is the argument for adding CC5 to the pipeline rather than replacing anything in it.

Key Takeaways for a Character Creator to ZBrush Workflow

Push every parametric change to CC5 first. Proportions, hand scale, ear type, and nail shape are faster and cleaner on sliders than under a brush.
Sculpt at subdivision level one for as long as possible. Big shapes at low resolution avoid the plastic look and keep the mesh easy to reshape.
Run Auto Position after any major proportion change. Non-human silhouettes only stay animatable if the skeleton follows the morph.
Decide accessory versus clothing before you send anything. Rigid pieces get Pick Parent, deforming pieces get Transfer Skin Weights, and mixing them up costs a full round trip.
Send the posed mesh back as a layer, not a new file. Pose Tools reads layer names, so several poses can live in one project with subtools and subdivision levels intact.

FAQ: ZBrush to Character Creator 5 Workflow

Q: Can I sculpt non-human proportions in ZBrush and still animate them in Character Creator 5?
A: Yes. Sculpt the proportions at a low subdivision level, send the mesh back through GoZ Plus at level zero, then run Auto Position so the skeleton relocates to match the new silhouette. Veyra’s reversed digitigrade legs and hooves animate correctly using exactly this method.

Q: Should armor come into CC5 as an accessory or as clothing?
A: Rigid pieces that should not deform, such as shoulder pads, horns, and forearm guards, come in as accessories and get linked to the right bone with Pick Parent. Pieces that need to follow the body, such as boots or fabric, come in as clothing and get skinned with Transfer Skin Weights.

Q: Do I need to bake displacement maps separately for each subdivision level?
A: Yes. Normal and displacement maps in CC5 are independent per subdivision level, so a character viewed at level two needs its own bake in addition to the level one bake.

Q: Do I need to buy anything extra to use ZBrush with Character Creator?
A: GoZ Plus is included free with Character Creator and works with recent ZBrush versions. A Character Creator trial is available from the Reallusion Software Store if you want to test the round trip before committing.

ÓSCAR FERNÁNDEZ / DIGITAL SCULPTOR

Óscar Fernández is a freelance digital sculptor from Spain, specializing in creating figures for 3D printing. With deep expertise in ZBrush, he is known for crafting highly expressive characters that capture both personality and motion. His work stands out through the meticulous attention to facial expression, muscle definition, and dynamic posing, giving each sculpt a strong sense of tension and storytelling power.

Check Oscar’s ArtStation

Related Posts

The 2026 Reallusion 3D Character Contest stands as one of the few remaining character art competitions.

Events

Last Call! 2026 Reallusion 3D Character Contest: Submit your best character and animation!

August 27, 2026August 27, 2026 ericchangreallusionLeave a comment

Reallusion has announced the 2026 Reallusion 3D Character Contest, offering entrants a $45,000 prize pool, free three-month access to the full Reallusion software suite, and biweekly premium content airdrops to qualified participants. Submissions are open now through 31 August 2026, so don’t miss your chance to win great prizes and compete on the global stage.

Entries will be judged by an international panel including Pablander Academy founder Pablo Muñoz Gómez and VFX artist Reza Sarkamari. We are already seeing some great entries from the Reallusion Contest Forum, and now you are just one step away from the final submission!

Submit Today >>

Messages From Our Distinguished Judges

Pablo Muñoz Gómez

Reza Sarkamari

Submission Category & Cash Prizes

Best Character Design – Realistic ($1,000 / $750 / $500 )
Best Character Design – Stylized ($1,000 / $750 / $500 )
Best Character Animation – Realistic ($2,000 / $1,500 / $1,000 )
Best Character Animation – Stylized ($2,000 / $1,500 / $1,000 )
Best AccuRIG Characters ($500 * 3 )

Special Prizes

Best Render
Best Pipeline Use
Best Mocap Use
Best Costume
Best Digital Double
Student Artwork

10 Years, One Stage for 3D Character Artists

This marks the sixth time Reallusion has hosted its 3D Character Contest. Over the years, the competition has grown into one of the few remaining character art contests still actively run by a 3D software company.

The AI wave has swept across the entire 3D industry, and Reallusion is no exception. To adapt to this trend, the company has introduced AI-powered features across its product line, from Headshot’s photo-to-model generation to AI-assisted content workflows. But for this contest, Reallusion is drawing a clear line: entries must be grounded in traditional 3D craftsmanship. Participants are welcome to use AI for concept art, reference generation, or as a creative aid in their process, but final submissions (renders, turntables, and animation clips) must be produced through conventional 3D workflows, not AI-generated output. The goal is simple: a level playing field where artistry and skill speak for themselves.

The 3D industry is going through extraordinarily tough times in the age of AI. That’s exactly why we keep running this contest. We want to give talented artists a stage to show the world what they can do.”

Charles Chen, CEO, Reallusion

Portfolio Artist Program: Experience the Full Suite Software & Premium Content Airdrops

To welcome new talent and remove any barrier to participation, Reallusion is offering an exclusive Portfolio Artist Program, free 3-month fully licensed software workgroup to qualified applicants. The workgroup includes the full character creation and real-time animation toolkit, including Character Creator 5 Deluxe, iClone 8, Headshot 3, AccuFACE 2, and ZBrush Face Tools. To support all pipeline users, Reallusion also offers Auto Setup for Unreal, Blender, Maya, Marmoset Toolbag, 3ds Max, Unity, and Omniverse users.

To speed up your creation, in a first for the contest, Reallusion is also introducing bi-weekly content airdrops throughout the competition period. Every two weeks, one popular content pack will be added directly into participants’ workgroups, giving creators an ever-growing library of production-ready characters, hairstyles, outfits, and motions to fuel their entries. Premium content access, such as Hair Builder, Casual 20, and other best-selling assets are included in this contest timeframe for approved applicants. To let you experience the full power of the Reallusion ecosystem.

This section is specially designed for an established character artist background, the best chance to let us know you. To apply, simply submit an online form for review. Applications are accepted through July 31, 2026, and workgroup access remains active until the contest concludes. The earlier you apply, the more time that you will have to work with.

A $45,000 Prize Pool Sponsored by Industry Giants

This year’s event is backed by a powerhouse roster of industry leaders, offering a combined $45,000 in cash and prizes. Reallusion is honored to partner with NVIDIA, Maxon, Epic Games, Unity, Autodesk, Houdini, MSI, G-Drive, and CenterGrid to provide contestants with the professional hardware, cloud resources, and software support needed to bring their visions to life.

Beyond the Prizes: Career-Defining Exposure

In addition to cash and hardware, distinguished contestants will be featured across popular 3D media outlets and magazines through dedicated articles and promotional highlights. Selected artists may also be invited to join Reallusion’s digital content ecosystem to monetize their work or collaborate on official showcase projects. Submit your entry before August 31, 2026, to win big! For more information on rules, prizes, and how to apply for free software and content airdrops, visit the contest webpage.

Related Post

Reallusion’s 2024 3D Character Contest – Meet the Winners!

Learning

iClone Motion Puppet: Adding Motions

August 27, 2026August 27, 2026 WarLord1 Comment

Motion Puppet has long been a feature of iClone and is a great tool for creating animations fast without knowing how to animate at all. It’s a time saver for easy filler motions for more advanced users and an introduction into timing, masking, and layering for beginners, which are all concepts important to improving as an animator.

The Motion Puppet is simple in use and easy to grasp for most beginning iCloners. Part of its power is in the built-in Preview system that allows you to see the motion in action before committing to it. If the motion wasn’t what you wanted during the preview, you just stop the preview, and it all reverts back to the state it was in before you previewed.

The Motion Puppet Popup

The pop-up contains a simple interface with three main sections: the type of motion (Idle, Mood, Move, Talk), the available motions in each type, and the slider controls for Exaggeration and Speed, or you can use a mouse to control the Exaggeration of the movements.

Next up is the Preset and Masking control area on the bottom left of the popup. Masking is a very important feature and the main reason to use the puppet. The masking, if you are not familiar with it, allows us to layer in animations by masking out or freezing limbs during animation runs with the puppet. This means we can work with only the legs in one run and the arms, head, and/or torso in another run or a combination of runs, creating a custom animation out of all those layers. More on this later.

The last buttons on the right side of the pop-up, Preview and Record, allow you to preview the motions before committing, which is a great idea for beginners, as after the preview is over, everything will return to the state it was in before the preview and at the exact keyframe position too.

Masking

Now comes the fun part of Motion Puppet… masking.

In iClone 8’s Motion Puppet, Body Part Masking lets you decide which parts of the character will be affected by the puppet performance and which parts will be left alone. Think of it as a selective “apply motion here” filter. You can include only the upper body for gestures, only the lower body for locomotion, or isolate a single arm for a quick pointing or waving pass while everything else stays as-is.

Masking becomes especially powerful when you’re layering motions, as mentioned earlier. If you already have a walk cycle recorded, you can select the torso, arms, and head using Motion Puppet to record a new upper‑body performance, like talking with hands, reacting, or carrying something, without overwriting the footwork. This makes it easy to build up an animation in passes, keeping the parts you like and only replacing what needs improvement.

Select the body part or parts, then use Preview to test the result. If the motion isn’t behaving the way you expect, maybe the shoulders are moving too much, or the hips are being influenced. Stop the preview, make your adjustments, and preview again until it’s clean. Once it looks right, hit Record to commit the motion, and only the enabled body parts will receive new motions.

With a little practice, Body Part Masking turns Motion Puppet from a one‑click motion generator into a flexible performance tool, letting you combine multiple puppet recordings into one more polished animation.

Previewing

Even though we just discussed it in the previous section, let’s discuss how Previewing enables creative freedom at the beginner’s level. One of the worst things an animator can face is destructive editing. The type of editing where the only way to recover from a mistake is to reload the file and start again. A lot of animation tools have this destructive editing, but the Preview mode removes all of that by NOT making any edits at all until you record it.

It takes a deliberate act of pressing Record to get started, and by then, you will have already previewed and adjusted as many times as it takes to get the quality of work you want without losing the starting place of the motion. Most of us go through some version of putting in a lot of work just for something to hiccup along the way and cause irreversible changes that require the reload. Previewing eliminates this entirely.

If the scene isn’t working as you want it to, you can keep changing it until it does with no destructive edits at all. On the downside, this sometimes gives us too much creative freedom as we can get stuck on minutia, bogging down the project, so this is a tool to use wisely, as they say, else you will find yourself running endless edits.

The Benefit of Layering Motions

Combined with masking, this is the ultimate beginner’s tool. To keep this simple for your first attempt:

record a base animation with no masking the first time. If you are not familiar with Motion Puppet and Masking, check out the online manual section about it here.
After you record the base motion, select another motion and go to the Masking Tab on the lower left of the Motion Puppet popup. Click on the legs or other limbs to mask them out so they retain the original motion. Preview and Record that motion.
Select another motion and mask out everything EXCEPT the head so only the head is affected. This can be any limb or any combination of limbs. Preview and Record the motion

You have just layered motions on top of a base motion, but they will be treated as one motion in the timeline should you need to edit it.

Adding New Motions to Motion Puppet

It wasn’t really a well-publicized feature, but it has always been possible to add more motions to the Motion Puppet. Adding them to existing folders already in the Motion Puppet library is easy and should be crash-proof.

This first step can be the toughest part of this whole thing if you do not understand file location. If so, this will be a little tricky and may be a showstopper. This is just a warning, as we will be adding items to the installed program, not the custom asset locations.

Search for the MotionPuppetPreset folder in your iClone installation to determine its location on your system.

NOTE: The Motion Puppet now uses the iMotion format. You can load other motions like rlMotion into a character, then right-click on the motion in the timeline and select Save with Motion, choose the iMotion file suffix in the dropdown menu, and save. This is demonstrated in the tutorial below.

Locate the directory that the Motion Puppet motions are in. This will be a TEMPLATE motion, not a CUSTOM MOTION. This is a rare time that we actually add files to the template instead of Custom location. In my case, iClone is installed on another drive in a custom location under the following path convention: /iClone 8\Program\Assets\iClone\MotionPuppetPreset\Base Motion
Locate the motion file that you want to copy. In iClone, you can right-click on the motion icon in the Content Manager and select Find File, but remember to convert it to iMotion as shown in the tutorial below, which saves the iMotion to the Motion Puppet location.
Copy the iMotion file to one of the four folders already in the Motion Puppet, then copy and paste any one of the ini files and rename the ini file to the exact name of the iMotion file. It has to be the exact same name, including spaces and underscores. A thumbnail will be generated in the Motion Puppet and is easily recognizable from the original

I used the Idle folder in my example, but you can use any one of the four existing folders. They don’t have to be the kind of motion listed in the folder either. This is just a quick start to show you how to get the motions in the right location so the Motion Puppet can see them.

Managing the Added Motions

With this simple method, there is no easy or good way to manage them. As simple as it is, you might just want to delete the ones you don’t use very often and add them back when you need them. You’ll soon figure out your own system.

So far, the motions I have added are always at the bottom of the existing stock motions that come with Motion Puppet, as the stock motions had numbers in the name, like 01_Natural, which keeps them at the top unless you use numbers on your added files. By not using numbers, those files will be at the bottom as mentioned earlier in alphabetical order based on the filename. The iClone-generated thumbnail is another identifier.

ADVANCED – Creating a New Folder at the Base Motions Level

This is up to you whether you want to go this far, and I’m not going to cover it in this article, but I have dug up some links to some old tutorials from users on this, so you can educate yourself on the ins and outs of that method. If you make a mistake like a missing icon when you make a new higher-level folder, then iClone can crash, so that is why we will not get into it in this beginner’s guide.

NOTE: BE WARNED, if you choose to go the advanced route and make a mistake, iClone can crash so understand what you are going to do before you attempt it. Just following the steps can work, but can also lead to an unstable installation if errors are made.

Summary

I didn’t find anything new when I was researching information, nor did I find any recent tutorials other than the ones I mentioned in the Advanced section. If you are confused by anything I wrote in that section, then don’t go that route until you do understand.

The Motion Puppet has been a feature for a long time, as I mentioned earlier, and it deserves a lot more attention with the powerful masking feature, considering how simple it is to use. Considering that beginning animators have a lot to learn, a tool like the Motion Puppet is almost like throwing a life preserver to an animator drowning in informational overload. No need to know what keyframes and curves are at this basic level, as the Motion Puppet takes care of all the necessary technicalities in the background.

Even if you are a Pro and have never gone this route, then give it a try, as you might just find out mixing and layering motions with the Motion Puppet can create a lot of filler action and up close to the camera motions with little tweaking.

At the end of the day, Motion Puppet is a tool that empowers beginners by allowing them to create easy animations early on without having to spend months or years learning the software. That builds confidence, which leads to a more productive learning experience and avoids burning out from frustration with advanced techniques.

Manual

Masking Puppeteering and Multi-Layer Recording

Older Tutorials on Adding Motions to the Motion Puppet

Rampa Tinling YouTube Channel – Adding Motion Puppet Motions in iClone 8 (Nov 12, 2022) Explains the advanced method.

Hayz TV YouTube Channel – New Way to add Motion Puppet to iClone 8 (June 15, 2022)

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.

Featured Story

AI Studio Storytellers: Exploring Dimensions from iClone to Multi-Style AI Render

August 24, 2026August 24, 2026 enocburgosLeave a comment

TL;DR:

iClone 8 and AI Studio combine for a powerful 3D-guided AI video generation pipeline, ensuring consistent characters and animations across diverse artistic styles.
Award-winning animator Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi (Benny Dee) demonstrates how to leverage iClone’s precise scene and camera control to prevent AI hallucinations and maintain IP.
The workflow involves preparing characters in Character Creator 5, animating in iClone 8, then using AI Studio’s “3D To Image” and “3D To Video” functions for multi-style rendering.
Users gain full creative control and IP ownership over their AI-generated content, crucial for filmmakers, marketing agencies, and game developers.

This AI Studio Storytellers article by Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi (Benny Dee), an award-winning Nigerian animator, details a cutting-edge workflow using iClone 8 and AI Studio to generate diverse AI video render styles from precise 3D animation. It addresses the critical need for consistency, control, and IP ownership in AI-generated content, enabling 3D filmmakers, game developers, and marketing agencies to achieve stunning visual variety without sacrificing creative integrity.

“Reallusion’s AI Studio expands your creativity while preserving asset consistency and IP ownership. It combines iClone, Character Creator, and AI-generated video without sacrificing control over your 3D characters, scenes, animation, or lighting.”
BENJAMIN SOKOMBA DAZHI — Renowned 3D Animator, Director, Musician, Cinematographer

AI Studio Storytellers: Exploring Dimensions from iClone to Multi-Style AI Render

What is 3D-Guided AI Video Generation?

3D-guided AI video generation represents a paradigm shift in digital content creation, offering artists unparalleled control over AI-driven outputs. This approach leverages established 3D animation software like Reallusion’s iClone 8, Reallusion’s flagship real-time animation suite, to serve as the foundational blueprint for AI models.

By providing a fully animated 3D scene – complete with characters, environments, lighting, and camera movements, users dictate the precise motion and composition, which AI Studio then interprets and renders in various artistic styles. This method fundamentally solves the common challenges of AI video generation, such as maintaining character consistency across frames and preventing visual hallucinations, by grounding the AI in accurate 3D data.

Bridging iClone 8 and AI Studio for Consistent Creativity

The workflow begins in the familiar environment of iClone 8 and Character Creator 5, Reallusion’s comprehensive character design tool. Artists first create or import their 3D characters, often leveraging tools like the Headshot 3 plugin for rapid, photorealistic head generation. The animated character and scene are meticulously prepared in iClone, with careful attention to lighting and camera work.

Creating Liam character with Headshot 3 in Character Creator 5

Headshot 3 in Character Creator 5

According to Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi, “The first thing I did was to animate my Character Creator generated avatar in iClone and prepare my scene in iClone.” This initial preparation includes setting up the scene, lights (Benny Dee often uses simple two-color lighting like red and blue for cinematic effect), and intricate camera movements. Crucially, the iClone PopCornFX plugin can be used for dynamic particle effects, adding another layer of visual complexity to the 3D guidance.

This initial iClone scene preparation includes setting up the scene, lights (Benny Dee often uses simple two-color lighting like red and blue for cinematic effect)

Voiceovers can be generated using iClone’s text-to-speech combined with external AI tools like ElevenLabs, then perfectly lip-synced to the character using iClone AccuLIPS, ensuring narrative cohesion. This comprehensive 3D data then becomes the robust input for AI Studio.

The iClone AccuLIPS system can automatically generate accurate text data, and correct viseme timing from an imported voice.

Featured Artist Spotlight: Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi (Benny Dee)

BENJAMIN SOKOMBA DAZHI — Renowned 3D Animator, Director, Musician, Cinematographer

Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi, widely known as Benny Dee, is an award-winning Nigerian animator, film producer, and creative storyteller renowned for his distinctive visual style and technical prowess. Hailing from Niger State, Benny Dee’s career bridges animation, filmmaking, music, and emerging technologies, establishing him as one of Africa’s leading digital artists. His collaboration with Cartoon Network for the CN Dance Challenge showcased his ability to blend vibrant African culture with energetic animation on a global stage.

Benny Dee is an internationally respected expert in Reallusion’s iClone and Character Creator ecosystem, particularly noted for his mastery of real-time lighting, cinematic rendering, and virtual production techniques. He also leverages NVIDIA Omniverse for advanced rendering and collaborative workflows, pushing the boundaries of digital filmmaking. His methodology for integrating iClone’s precise 3D guidance with AI Studio exemplifies his innovative approach to animation and storytelling, ensuring consistent, high-quality results across diverse AI render styles.

Benny Dee’s Multi-Dimensional AI Workflow

Benny Dee’s workflow for creating multi-style AI renders centers on a narrative concept where a character, Liam, travels through different “dimensions” or rendering styles. He meticulously prepares Liam’s character in Character Creator 5 using the Headshot 3 plugin, then imports Liam into iClone 8. Here, he animates Liam, designs the lab environment, and sets up dramatic lighting using just two colors, often blue and red, to achieve a cinematic look. Different camera angles and switches are choreographed in iClone to emphasize transitions between dimensions.

By capturing specific frames and video segments from iClone, Benny Dee guides AI Studio to render these segments in a multitude of artistic styles—from 2D Anime to Origami Art—while ensuring Liam’s appearance and actions remain consistent across all transformations. This control is paramount for storytelling where character identity must be preserved despite radical stylistic shifts.

iClone Courses: https://courses.reallusion.com/master-class/instructors/3d/benny-dee
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@justartanimationstudios810
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealbennydee

Original iClone real-time DX render

AI Studio render style – 2D Anime

AI Studio render style – Origami

AI Studio render style – Minimal Cartoon

Mastering Multi-Style AI Rendering with AI Studio

AI Studio empowers artists to transcend traditional rendering limitations by offering a robust platform for 3D-guided AI creation. It is powered by advanced models like Seedance 2.0, Veo 3, KlingAI, and Flux, providing 3D-guided scene layout and absolute motion control. This process transforms original 3D characters into consistent AI Actors (iModels), allowing for unprecedented creative versatility.

Step-by-Step AI Image Style Generation

To begin, users switch to the AI Studio Workspace directly from the iClone dashboard. Within the “3D Guided Gen” tab, the “3D To Image” section is used to define the desired artistic style for a single frame.

Capture Image: Click “Capture Image from 3D Viewport” to import the current iClone frame into AI Studio.
Select Style: Navigate to the “Styles MENU” in the PROMPT area. Here, you can choose from over 33 render styles such as “2D Anime,” “Photorealistic,” or “Origami Art.” Each style comes with a preset prompt description.
Refine Prompt: Users can expand the collapsed style prompt to view its full description and add their own specific details or modifications. This allows for fine-tuning the AI’s interpretation of the chosen style.
Generate First Frame: Click “GENERATE” to send the image and prompt to the AI model servers. This typically takes a minute or two and consumes a small number of AI point credits (e.g., 17 AI point credits, approximately USD 0.15).

Switching to the AI Studio Workspace from the iClone dashboard

Select AI image Model

Import initial Image from iClone 3D Viewport

Choose Preset AI style

Refine text prompt for AI Render Style

Generate Style First Frame Image

Converting Styled Images to AI Video

Once the initial styled image is generated, it loads into the “First Frame to Define Style” slot, acting as a crucial guide for the subsequent video generation.

Switch to “3D To Video”: Move to this section, where various AI video generation models like LTX, Wan, and Seedance 2.0 are available. Benny Dee opts for Seedance 2.0 for its capabilities.
Capture iClone Video: Ensure the full animated sequence from the iClone 3D viewport has been captured and imported into AI Studio.
Apply Camera Movement: It is critical to tick the “apply camera movement” box. This ensures the AI video generator respects the exact camera directions and movements orchestrated in iClone, preventing visual drift or inconsistencies.
Manage Prompts: Copy the expanded style prompt from the “3D To Image” section and paste it into the “3D to Video” prompt panel. Always ensure previous style prompts are cleared or updated to avoid contradictions, as Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi emphasizes: “You can delete the previous Style text prompts to ensure no contradictions from the previous style descriptions.”
Generate Video: Click “GENERATE.” This process integrates the selected style, the 3D-guided animation, and camera movements to produce a consistent AI-rendered video. The generated video appears in the History panel for review and playback. This iterative process is repeated for each “dimension” or style required for the animation.

Switch to 3D To Video and choose AI video model

Capture iClone video through 3D Viewport

Select option to Apply Camera Movement from iClone video

Adjust text prompt for the chosen AI render style

Generate video with selected style, the 3D-guided animation, and camera movements to produce a consistent AI-rendered video

Pro-Tip: To quickly generate diverse visual narratives for a single animation, capture your iClone 3D viewport video once and reuse it across multiple AI Studio render style experiments. By only changing the style preset and prompt, you can generate numerous visual interpretations (e.g., 2D Anime, Origami Art, Minimal Cartoon) from the same core animation, saving roughly 2-3 hours of scene setup and animation iteration per style.

AI Studio: Technical Capabilities

Feature Category	Detail	Benefit for Users
3D Guidance & Control	Uses iClone 8 animation, lighting, camera moves as strict input for AI.	Prevents AI hallucinations, ensures character/scene consistency, maintains artistic intent.
AI Models Supported	Seedance 2.0, Veo 3, KlingAI, Flux (for video); Nano Banana Pro (for image).	Access to diverse generation capabilities, allowing varied stylistic outcomes.
Render Styles	33+ preset styles (e.g., 2D Anime, Photorealistic, Origami Art, Minimal Cartoon).	Rapid stylistic exploration, highly customizable through prompt expansion.
Resolution Support	1080p, 720p, various aspect ratios.	Professional output quality suitable for film, games, and marketing.
Cost Efficiency	AI point credit system (e.g., 17 credits for ~$0.15 per image).	Pay-as-you-go model, cost-effective for experimentation and production compared to traditional rendering farms.
IP Ownership	Generated from original user-owned 3D assets.	Full ownership and control over content, crucial for commercial projects.

Why 3D-Guided AI Is the Future of Consistent Cinematic Production

While AI video generators unlock remarkable creative possibilities, they often struggle to maintain consistent character appearance, motion, and camera perspective across shots. These inconsistencies, commonly referred to as hallucinations or visual drift, can make it difficult to produce professional-quality animations or preserve a recognizable character throughout a project.

This is where the combination of Character Creator 5, iClone 8, and AI Studio provides a significant advantage. Benny Dee’s workflow begins with creating production-ready digital actors in Character Creator 5 before assembling the complete animation, camera work, lighting, and scene composition inside iClone 8. Instead of relying on AI to invent content from scratch, AI Studio uses this fully animated 3D scene as the foundation for rendering in virtually any artistic style.

This 3D-guided AI workflow allows creators to transform the same animation into dramatically different visual aesthetics—from 2D Anime and Minimal Cartoon to Origami Art—while preserving character identity, animation fidelity, camera movement, and storytelling continuity. The result is the creative freedom of generative AI without sacrificing production consistency or artistic intent.

Equally important, this approach gives artists complete ownership and control over their intellectual property. Because the original characters, animations, and environments are created within Character Creator and iClone, the underlying assets remain entirely yours. AI Studio functions as an alternative rendering engine rather than a content generator, enabling filmmakers, studios, and content creators to explore multiple visual styles while protecting their original work.

Whether producing proof-of-concepts, marketing content, animated shorts, or full cinematic productions, a 3D-guided AI pipeline offers the best of both worlds: the speed and stylistic flexibility of AI rendering combined with the precision, consistency, and creative control of a professional 3D animation workflow.

“AI Studio is a new rendering alternative to iClone’s real-time DirectX renderer. Using the same iClone animation, you can generate multiple visual styles, experiment with different camera angles, or even transform an entire animated scene into completely new creative looks.”
BENJAMIN SOKOMBA DAZHI — Renowned 3D Animator, Director, Musician, Cinematographer

iClone 8’s robust 3D guidance becomes indispensable by providing fully animated 3D characters, precise camera movements, and defined scene layouts. iClone acts as a strict blueprint for the AI.

Render comparision between iClone real-time and AI Studio 2D Anime style

Conclusion: Unlock Infinite Render Styles with iClone and AI Studio

Integrating iClone 8’s robust real-time animation capabilities with AI Studio’s diverse AI rendering options empowers creators to explore a spectrum of visual styles with unprecedented control and efficiency. This workflow, expertly demonstrated by Benjamin Sokomba Dazhi, ensures consistent character presentation and strict adherence to creative direction, transforming the landscape of AI video generation. Artists can now achieve distinct artistic visions, maintain full IP ownership, and drastically accelerate their production pipelines, ushering in a new era of creative freedom in 3D filmmaking and animation.

iClone Personal is a permanently free, time-unlimited edition of Reallusion’s real-time 3D animation software. It provides full access to core animation tools and unlimited video rendering, but limits external 3D file exports to 30 lifetime uses.

Claim your exclusive Reallusion AI Studio offer here

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I ensure my AI-generated character looks consistent across different render styles?

A: Consistency is achieved by providing precise 3D guidance from iClone 8. By defining your character, animation, lighting, and camera movements exactly within iClone, AI Studio uses this accurate 3D data as its foundation. This structured input prevents AI “hallucinations” and ensures your character’s appearance and actions remain faithful to the original 3D model, regardless of the chosen render style.

Q: What is the difference between rendering in iClone 8 real-time and using AI Studio?

A: iClone 8 provides high-quality real-time DirectX rendering, ideal for interactive previews and quick outputs. AI Studio, conversely, acts as an alternative render engine that uses AI models to generate videos in diverse stylistic formats (e.g., 2D Anime, Photorealistic). While iClone handles the 3D animation and scene setup, AI Studio interprets that 3D guidance to produce entirely new aesthetic renderings, expanding creative possibilities beyond traditional real-time visuals.

Q: Can I use my own custom prompts in AI Studio, or am I limited to preset styles?

A: You have significant creative freedom within AI Studio’s prompt system. While it offers over 33 preset render styles, each with its own descriptive prompt, you can expand these presets to view their full details and then modify them. Additionally, you can input entirely custom prompts to guide the AI model towards a very specific stylistic vision, allowing for fine-tuned control over the final render.

Q: How does AI Studio ensure I retain ownership of my generated content?

A: AI Studio protects your content ownership by basing all AI video generation on your original 3D assets created in Character Creator 5 and iClone 8. Since the foundational characters, animations, and scene layouts are your proprietary creations, the AI-generated outputs, strictly guided by your 3D data, remain tied to your intellectual property. This model supports creators by giving them full control and ownership over their unique visual styles.

Character Creator Digital Double: How PhiBix Sculpted a Photoreal Michael Jackson Without Leaving the Reallusion Pipeline

August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 bridgettepan1 Comment

TL;DR: Solo 3D artist PhiBix built a photoreal Michael Jackson character creator digital double starting from a hand-drawn pencil sketch and finishing inside iClone, using nothing but Reallusion’s own tools: Character Creator 5 morph sliders, Mesh Editing, SkinGen, and Content Store hair and wardrobe. No ZBrush. No Blender. No Substance. The project, capped off by a Smooth Criminal-flavored musical that turns the sculpting process itself into lyrics, is a working argument that the King of Pop’s likeness can be achieved entirely inside one ecosystem.

When most digital double case studies say “all-in-one,” they still pass through ZBrush for sculpting and Substance for textures. PhiBix’s MJ tribute project does not. Working from a private studio under the handle phibix.com, the artist has been quietly building one of the most recognizable musician digital doubles on YouTube, a likeness used across multiple short films including a recreation of the demolished In the Closet set in Bombay Beach, California. The pipeline runs entirely on Character Creator 5 and iClone.

A King of Pop Built Without a Pipeline

The MJ digital double is the spine of PhiBix’s tribute work, a single character asset reused across multiple shorts, each one rebuilt around it. What makes the project notable isn’t just the likeness; it’s the route PhiBix took to get there. The entire character (head, skin, hair, wardrobe, performance) is built without ever leaving Reallusion’s own tools. No ZBrush. No Substance. No Blender. The “pipeline” most digital double artists assume is required simply isn’t part of his.

The work doesn’t start in 3D, though. Before opening Character Creator, PhiBix grounds each MJ build in a hand-drawn pencil sketch, a traditional portrait study that fixes the proportions, the bone structure, and the era-specific likeness he’s chasing before a single morph slider gets touched. The sketch becomes the brief he sculpts against. It’s an old-school move that anchors a very new-school pipeline.

The most recent release is a Smooth Criminal-flavored musical in which PhiBix writes the modeling process into the lyrics themselves. The song opens on “a whisper of bone, curves of a skull like the half-remembered home,” and walks the listener through jawline, eyes, lips, skin pores, and final lighting. Every verse is a stage of the build. By the chorus, the face has rendered into recognizability and the lyric drops the reveal: “From data to identity. I know that face.” A self-aware framing that doubles as a thesis: a digital double is an act of recognition, not just reconstruction.

The earlier In the Closet recreation short shows the same MJ asset in a fully rebuilt 1992 Herb Ritts environment, including the demolished Bombay Beach location, a working saqiya, and the sepia desert palette of the original music video. Same character, different scene. That asset reuse is only possible because the character was built inside a system designed for it.

The All-Reallusion Pipeline

The question PhiBix’s work answers: can a single artist hit musician-level likeness without leaving the Reallusion stack?

Stage 1, Pencil sketch for the brief

A traditional hand-drawn portrait of MJ fixes the proportions and era-specific likeness before any 3D work begins.

Stage 2, Character Creator 5 for the head, body, and likeness

Morph sliders and Mesh Editing shape the skull, jaw, brow, and facial structure to match MJ’s distinctive bone structure, no external sculpting required.

Stage 3, SkinGen for the skin

Layered material synthesis builds the pore detail, blemish maps, and subsurface depth that sell the close-up shots.

Stage 4, Content Store hair and wardrobe

Curls, jackets, and the In the Closet outfit are sourced from Reallusion’s own content ecosystem and conformed to the character.

Stage 5, iClone for performance and staging

The finished CC5 character is sent to iClone for facial animation, dance choreography, and multi-camera direction.

The core insight: when the character base, the skin system, and the wardrobe library all live inside the same topology, the “asset-handoff tax” disappears.

Character Creator 5: The Likeness Engine

PhiBix’s MJ proves that character creator digital double work no longer needs to escape to ZBrush for the hard sculpting calls. Two CC5 capabilities carry the weight.

Morph sliders and Mesh Editing as a sculpting language

The lyrics describe the process explicitly: “Curves of a skull like the half-remembered home. Jawline drifting into place.” That’s morph-slider work, not freeform polygon pushing. CC5’s Morph System gives PhiBix directional control over the skull, brow ridge, cheekbones, and jawline without entering a sculpt application. For the corrections that morphs can’t reach, Mesh Editing handles the targeted vertex-level work directly inside Character Creator. Together, the two tools cover the territory most workflows hand off to ZBrush, and the character stays on CC3+ topology throughout, so animation deformation never gets compromised.

For a face as scrutinized as Michael Jackson’s, that matters. The eyes have to read MJ. The jawline has to read MJ. PhiBix’s lyric, “Every angle, story untold. Every shadow rendered in gold. I’m watching hard in suspense, who are you behind that sense?”, captures the iterative recognition test. The artist watches the face accumulate identity slider by slider, vertex by vertex, against the pencil-sketch brief.

SkinGen for the texture layer that sells the close-up

Photoreal celebrity likeness fails most often in skin, not bone structure. SkinGen handles that layer natively inside Character Creator: pores, micro-detail, blemishes, subsurface tone, through stackable material layers rather than a separate texturing application. The lyric “Every pore, every glance, every subtle hue. Now the truth is undeniable. It’s you” is functionally a description of what SkinGen contributes to the build: the final 5% of photoreal recognition that lives in the skin.

The outcome: a character that holds up under iClone’s close-up camera rigs without round-tripping through Substance Painter.

Content Store: Find MJ’s clothes and hair

The MJ outfit and signature curls are sourced from the Content Store and the marketplace ecosystem, assets built natively against CC topology, so they conform without breakage. For a tribute project where wardrobe accuracy carries the period (this is 1992 MJ, not 1987 MJ), having a deep first-party library matters more than a generic universal-fit system.

Why an All-Reallusion Digital Double Matters

The dominant assumption in the digital double space is that getting from “good 3D character” to “convincing real person” requires a tool chain: ZBrush for the hard sculpting, Substance for the textures, Marvelous for the wardrobe, then somewhere downstream for animation. Each handoff costs time, file-format friction, and topology integrity.

PhiBix’s MJ project is a counter-example. The whole likeness (head, skin, hair, wardrobe, performance, camera) lives inside one ecosystem. For a solo artist or small studio chasing musician-grade likeness on a release cadence, that’s the difference between shipping a music video and shelving one.

It also reframes what Character Creator is for. Most marketing positions CC as a fast character base that you finish elsewhere. PhiBix’s work positions it as the finishing tool, the place the digital double becomes the digital double, not the place you start before going somewhere serious.

Key Takeaways for Solo Digital Double Artists

Start with a pencil sketch, not a Character Creator preset. A traditional portrait study fixes proportions and era-specific likeness before any 3D work begins, and gives the artist a brief to sculpt against.
Treat morph sliders and Mesh Editing as a primary sculpting pair. CC5’s Morph System plus vertex-level Mesh Editing can carry full musician-grade likeness work without an external sculpt application.
Let SkinGen own the texture pass. Native skin layering inside Character Creator hits the photoreal threshold that usually requires Substance Painter, and it stays in the same scene as the morphs.
Build the digital double to be reused. One MJ asset, many shorts. The investment pays back across a portfolio, not a single release.
Direct inside iClone, don’t just animate inside it. Multi-camera staging, lighting, and the virtual set should live in the same scene as the performance, that’s where the solo-director workflow becomes possible.

FAQ: Character Creator Digital Double

Q: Can I build a celebrity-likeness digital double using only Character Creator and iClone, with no third-party tools?
A: Yes. PhiBix’s Michael Jackson project demonstrates exactly that. CC5 morph sliders and Mesh Editing handle the structural likeness, SkinGen handles the photoreal skin pass, and Content Store hair and wardrobe finish the look. The character animates and performs in iClone. No ZBrush, no Substance, no Blender required.

Q: Do I need Headshot 3 to create a digital double in Character Creator 5?
A: Headshot 3 accelerates the process by generating a likeness base from photo reference and AI image-to-3D reconstruction, but it isn’t strictly required. Pure morph-slider and Mesh Editing sculpting can reach the same destination, as PhiBix’s work shows. Headshot 3 simply gets you there faster, especially for first-time digital-double artists.

Q: How do I get Character Creator 5 and iClone for digital double work?
A: Both are available from the Reallusion Software Store. Character Creator 5 also offers a 30-day free trial, which is enough time to test a full digital-double build end-to-end before committing.

Q: Does the digital double from Character Creator work with other 3D tools if I want to expand later?
A: Yes. CC5 characters export cleanly to Blender, Unreal, Unity, and Maya through Reallusion’s Auto Setup plugins. PhiBix’s project keeps everything inside CC5 + iClone by choice, but the same character asset is portable when a project needs it.

About the Artist

PhiBix is a 3D artist and animator producing musician tribute work centered on Michael Jackson, with shorts and music videos released on YouTube and full build documentation available to subscribers at phibix.com. His pipeline relies entirely on Reallusion’s Character Creator and iClone, including a fully recreated 1992 In the Closet set built around the demolished Bombay Beach location used in Herb Ritts’s original video. PhiBix grounds each build in a hand-drawn pencil sketch before any 3D work begins, and his recent Smooth Criminal-flavored musical weaves the modeling process into the song’s lyrics, a working statement that, for him, the craft and the homage are the same act.

Featured Story

Digital Double from Photos: PhiBix’s Photorealistic Workflow with CC5 and Headshot 3.1

August 11, 2026August 11, 2026 bridgettepanLeave a comment

TL;DR: This tutorial breaks down how Paris-based artist PhiBix builds a photorealistic digital double from photos using Character Creator 5 and Headshot 3.1. You will follow his full pipeline: standardizing reference images, aligning the mesh with Vector and morph tools, projecting texture from four camera angles with Stencil & Clone, repairing coverage gaps in Photoshop and AI Studio, and detailing skin, eyes, and expression until the likeness survives a full 360-degree rotation.

Step 1: Standardize the Reference Photos and Generate a Body Base

Before any geometry work, PhiBix removes hair, beard, and eyebrows from the source photograph. Headshot 3.1 then produces a 4K frontal reference: it moves the face to a frontal view, neutralizes the expression, replaces uneven light with diffuse light, and generates a matching profile reference from the cleaned result.

The generated profile is inspected as a usable secondary reference for the later profile alignment.

The first generated body comes back too muscular for the subject’s age, so PhiBix rejects it. In the Body tab he specifies an elderly, slender man, and the regenerated body matches the intended physique.

The first generated body is rejected because it appears too muscular for the subject’s age.

In the Body tab, PhiBix specifies an elderly, rather slender man. The regenerated body becomes more consistent with the intended age and physique

Pro Tip: Treat the first body as a proposal, not a final result. Normalize lighting, pose, and facial hair first, then confirm the body supports the subject’s age and silhouette before moving on.

Step 2: Align the Frontal Structure with the Vector Tool

PhiBix uses vector-based Bezier curves to align facial landmarks point by point, guided by the small reference tutorial in the upper-left corner of the interface. The goal is structural alignment, not tracing visible makeup, hair, or shadow. He places the eye curve just below the eyebrow and adds a double eyelid because it is a distinctive structural feature of this face.

Frontal Vector alignment. The eye curve is placed just below the eyebrow, and a double eyelid is added because it is a distinctive structural feature

Once the curves and the side contour look right, a fast preview converts the vector corrections into a 3D result. This preview is a checkpoint: it shows whether the new landmarks improve the volume before the change is committed.

Preview of the frontal correction. The updated 3D head is compared with the reference before PhiBix applies the change

Note: Align the anatomical feature the guide points to. The eyelid curve follows the eyelid structure, not the eyebrow above it.

Step 3: Complete the Profile Alignment and Refine the Head

On the profile, PhiBix matches nose, lips, chin, forehead, ear, and skull depth to the side photograph. After applying the profile curves, he switches to Character Creator 5 morph controls and works exclusively on the head.

Profile Vector alignment. Nose, lips, chin, forehead, ear, and skull depth are matched to the profile photograph.

The reason is practical: every visible feature must sit under the corresponding region of the photograph before texture projection begins. He repeatedly toggles the reference opacity to compare the 3D head against the photo, aligning the mouth, nose, nostrils, eyes, chin, ears, forehead, brow ridges, eye shape, and skull silhouette. A correction that works in the front view but breaks the profile is not accepted. Once the alignment is close, he applies the projection, removes skin shine to get a matte working surface, and continues with local morph corrections.

The generated source set. Five views were created, but PhiBix uses four: front, one profile, back, and the opposite profile.

Pro Tip: Keep the body unchanged while you solve the facial projection problem, and make the working skin matte so highlights do not hide proportion errors.

Step 4: Lock the Base Mesh and Generate the Multi-Angle Source Set

PhiBix narrows the left eye, adjusts the brow ridges, and changes the eyelid height, then applies the result. This is the last major geometry pass before texture work begins, and the likeness is already readable.

Refined base head after corrections to the eye width, brow ridges, and eyelid height. The likeness is readable before multi-angle texture work begins

Headshot 3.1 generates five views, but PhiBix uses four: front, one profile, back, and the opposite profile. He deliberately keeps both profiles because faces are not symmetrical. Moles, wrinkles, and skin variation cannot be assumed to match from one side to the other.

The generated source set. Five views were created, but PhiBix uses four: front, one profile, back, and the opposite profile

Step 5: Project a Digital Double from Photos Using Stencil & Clone

This is where the digital double from photos really takes shape. In Stencil & Clone, PhiBix loads the frontal reference and matches the 3D camera angle, scale, and framing to the photograph rather than trusting the nominal lens value used when the image was generated. For this source, the match lands near a 69 to 70 mm focal length with a viewing angle of roughly 20 degrees.

Front-view camera matching in Stencil & Clone. The photo and the 3D head are brought to the same framing and perspective before any texture is painted.

He removes remaining shine, selects the Constant brush, sets Strength to 1, and begins the unifying pass only after the facial regions are positioned consistently.

Note: Geometry first, projection second. The brush cannot compensate for a nose, ear, mouth, or skull that is in the wrong place. Stop and realign whenever the projection stops landing on the correct anatomy.

Step 6: Project the Profile, Back, and Opposite Profile

On the first profile, PhiBix corrects skull depth, mouth, ear size, chin, forehead depth, and ear angle, with a 2-degree tilt and a scale of 189 percent producing a close match. The Constant brush stays at Strength 1, but he avoids the frontal face to protect the work already done there.

Profile alignment. A 2-degree tilt and a scale of 189% produce a close match for this reference.

For the rear skull he uses full strength to unify coverage, then reduces strength behind the ears. A smaller brush handles narrow areas such as the nostril wing and the corner of the mouth. The second profile repeats the same logic, because the two sides carry different wrinkles and moles.

Opposite-profile and rear coverage. The brush is concentrated on the sides, neck, and regions around the ears.

Pro Tip: Do not force the ears. When an ear outline is not aligned well enough, postpone its texture and repair it later in the diffuse map.

Step 7: Review the Projection and Map the Cleanup Zones

PhiBix does not treat the combined projection as finished. He moves around the head and inspects it for three categories of problems: incomplete coverage, visible overlaps, and lighting baked into the source photographs. His review loop is consistent: project, inspect the complete head, identify exactly what the projections could not solve, and choose a targeted repair for each remaining area.

Combined projection after moving around the head. Front, profiles, back, neck, and side regions are present, but the result still requires cleanup behind the ears, under the chin, and in shiny areas.

The cleanup list here is specific: baked highlights on the chin, nose, cheekbones, forehead, and philtrum; imperfect seams around the ears; an incompletely covered scalp; and a gap directly under the chin.

Step 8: Clean and Consolidate the Diffuse Map in Photoshop

Starting from both the default Headshot projection and the Stencil & Clone projection, PhiBix transforms a generated right-profile photograph to fit the diffuse map, then adjusts it for matte finish, hue, tone, contrast, and brightness, blending precisely with the eraser. He repeats the approach around the eyes and mouth, and addresses the scalp with transformed material and a symmetry pass.

Diffuse-map cleanup. Profile material is transformed, made more matte, color-corrected, and blended with the eraser.

For the underside of the chin he demonstrates a manual route: use a frontal source, match proportions, switch between the source and the diffuse map, apply Warp and Puppet Warp, blend with the eraser, and correct color and brightness. The image is then flattened so the matte finish and the head-to-body transition stay coherent.

Manual under-chin repair. A frontal photograph is warped and aligned while PhiBix alternates between the photo and the diffuse map.

Note: Ear mirroring is not a universal rule. PhiBix mirrors the ear here only because this subject has no distinctive asymmetrical ear marks to preserve.

Step 9: Generate an Under-Chin Reference with AI Studio

For an integrated alternative that stays inside Character Creator 5, PhiBix opens AI Studio, chooses Image Gen and Edit, selects the Headshot front and profile images, and asks Nano Banana Pro to create an under-the-chin view from the two references. He sets the aspect ratio to 1:1 and the resolution to 2048 pixels, and generates the view with the chin tilted upward. When the first result casts a shadow below the jaw, he adds an even-tone lighting instruction and regenerates.

AI Studio setup: Image Gen > Edit, front and profile references selected, square 1:1 output, and 2048-pixel resolution.

Generated under-chin view after adding an even-tone-light instruction to avoid a cast shadow below the jaw.

He then imports the generated image into Headshot 3.1 as a custom image, uses Edit Pose to put the 3D character into the same pose, aligns scale and proportions, and projects only the under-chin region. That projection also produces normal and roughness information for the repaired area.

The generated under-chin image is aligned to the posed 3D head and projected onto the missing area. The projection also produces normal and roughness information.

Step 10: Extend Map Coverage and Refine Identity Detail

Because the character has a shaved head, scalp and neck detail cannot stay incomplete. PhiBix generates a normal map from the diffuse map in Photoshop and fills the areas that hair would normally hide, so skin relief continues across the scalp and neck.

Normal-map comparison. The Headshot result emphasizes the face, while PhiBix’s Photoshop-derived normal map extends skin detail over the visible scalp and neck.

He then darkens the overall skin tone and refines the eyes: a bluish iris rim, more bloodshot sclera, adjusted pupil and iris proportions, added iris depth, and the slightly bulbous eye shape. Makeup tools add a watery effect along the lower lash line, define the lips, harmonize the eye contours without erasing beauty marks, add subtle cheek veins, and restore localized sheen where moisture naturally appears. The same identity logic extends to the hands, where SkinGen adds age spots and vascular detail so the body matches the aged facial skin.

Eye refinement: bluish iris rim, more bloodshot sclera, pupil and iris proportions, iris depth, and the slightly bulbous eye shape.

SkinGen is used to add age spots and vascular detail to the hands so the body matches the aged facial skin.

Step 11: Build the Expression, Style the Character, and Run Technical Checks

PhiBix shapes the characteristic expression first, then refines it with Edit Facial: the head tilts slightly sideways and down, the eyes look upward, the eyebrows raise, the forehead furrows, and a subtle half-smile appears. He adds tight curls, earrings, a dark suit, a tie, and a pocket square, and adjusts the default pose to preserve the intended head tilt and gaze.

Expression design: head tilted slightly sideways and down, eyes looking upward, raised eyebrows, forehead furrows, and a subtle half-smile.

Finally, he validates. Different light sources are tested so reflections and shadows do not hide texture problems. When the tie knot intersects the shirt collar, he corrects it with Edit Mesh. A full 360-degree turnaround confirms that geometry, seams, map coverage, and identity cues all hold together, not just in the hero angle.

Final technical cleanup. With hair, earrings, suit, tie, and pose in place, PhiBix uses Edit Mesh to stop the tie knot from clipping through the collar.

Pro Tip: Clothing is part of the final validation, not an afterthought. Check that hair, accessories, shirt, tie, and jacket do not collide with the mesh before you call the model done.

Final frontal view with hair and direct camera gaze.

Three-quarter portrait: overall likeness, expression, hair, earrings, suit, and skin response under final lighting.

Rear scalp and neck: continuity of pores, age marks, creases, and texture around the back of the head.

Frontal close view: beauty marks, wrinkles, beard transition, eye treatment, and balanced skin tone.

Extreme facial close-up: pores, tiny vessels, tonal variation, and localized moisture sheen.

Top-scalp inspection: skin relief and roughness coverage remain visible under direct light.

Summary

PhiBix’s method comes down to a repeatable sequence: standardize the references, match the mesh, match the camera, project only aligned regions, repair coverage gaps, refine identity-specific detail, and validate under rotation, close-up framing, and varied light. Because of long experience with Character Creator, he completed this build in under four hours, and he estimates a newcomer who already knows the tools could reproduce it in roughly one to two days. You can watch the complete walkthrough in the full video tutorial.

Key Takeaways

Standardize the reference before touching geometry. Neutralize expression, remove hair and facial hair, and flatten lighting first, or the geometry and texture projection will inherit every flaw in the source photo.
Align the mesh to the photo before you project any texture. Toggle reference opacity constantly and confirm both front and profile, because the brush cannot fix a feature that sits in the wrong place.
Capture both profiles, not just one. Faces are asymmetrical, so moles, wrinkles, and skin variation on the left will not match the right, and a single profile leaves half the identity guessing.
Match the camera, not the nominal lens value. Dialing the 3D camera to roughly 69 to 70 mm and a 20-degree viewing angle for this source gave a far closer projection than trusting the generated metadata.
Treat coverage gaps as a repair list, not a failure. Behind the ears, the top of the scalp, and under the chin will almost always need targeted work in Photoshop or AI Studio after the main projection.

About Phibix

PhiBix is a digital-double specialist at RL-FRANCE, a multimedia production company on the Champs-Elysees in Paris that builds photorealistic doubles for trailers, commercials, music videos, and films, usually as a white-label partner for professional clients. He has created more than 250 commissioned hyperrealistic celebrity doubles and also works as a trainer and technical consultant for schools and companies developing character-production skills. He has used Character Creator since its earliest versions. You can follow his work on YouTube and Instagram.

FAQ: Building a Digital Double from Photos

Q: Can I use this digital-double-from-photos workflow on a subject I photograph myself?
A: Yes. The workflow starts from a standardized frontal image, so a well-lit, face-on photo with a neutral expression is the ideal input. Headshot 3.1 handles the frontal and profile reference generation, and the rest of the pipeline is the same whether the source is a commissioned shoot or your own camera.

Q: Why does PhiBix use four camera angles instead of a single front photo?
A: Because faces are not symmetrical. Keeping the front, both profiles, and the back lets the Stencil & Clone projection capture moles, wrinkles, and skin variation that differ from one side to the other, which a single-photo projection would flatten or mirror incorrectly.

Q: What versions do I need to follow this tutorial?
A: The workflow uses Character Creator 5 with the Headshot 3.1 plugin, plus SkinGen for skin detailing and Edit Mesh for the final collision cleanup. Photoshop is used for diffuse and normal-map repair, though AI Studio inside Character Creator 5 offers an integrated alternative for the under-chin region.

Q: Do I have to leave Character Creator for the texture repairs?
A: Not necessarily. PhiBix shows both routes. Photoshop gives the most manual control for diffuse cleanup, but the AI Studio Image Gen and Edit workflow with Nano Banana Pro can generate and project a missing view, such as the under-chin area, without leaving Character Creator 5.

Q: How long does building a digital double this way take?
A: PhiBix completed this build in under four hours thanks to years of practice. He estimates a beginner who already knows the tools could reproduce the same workflow in roughly one to two days.

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Events

SIGGRAPH 2026: NVIDIA RTX Boosts AccuFACE2 & AI Studio at HP

August 10, 2026August 13, 2026 enocburgosLeave a comment

SIGGRAPH 2026 in Los Angeles SIGGRAPH 2026 brought a week of incredible innovation to Los Angeles, gathering the world’s leading artists, developers, and technology pioneers in digital creation. This year, Reallusion was exclusively invited by NVIDIA to participate in the HP booth.

Positioned at the forefront of digital creation, this synergistic showcase combined Reallusion’s Character Creator and iClone software with NVIDIA’s advanced RTX GPU technology and HP’s top-tier hardware, specifically the Z4 Workstation and the HP ZGX Nano AI Station.

Reallusion’s Presence at SIGGRAPH 2026

From July 21st to July 23rd, the Reallusion team hosted active, high-traffic live demonstrations at the HP booth. Reallusion’s Director of Partnership Marketing – Enoc Burgos, and Senior Account Manager – Kai Deneve, engaged directly with fans, friends, clients, and industry partners to provide hands-on experiences. These daily interactions led to recorded testimonials from some of Reallusion’s closest allies and media systems integrators, demonstrating the industry-wide impact of the software.

Showcasing RTX Render, AccuFACE2, and AI Studio

Throughout the event, Reallusion featured hands-on showcases of AccuFACE 2 at the HP booth.

AccuFACE 2 features a newly trained AI model designed for accurate facial tracking and enhanced stability, specifically optimized for CC5 HD characters. With GPU acceleration support, AccuFACE 2 enables real-time, full-frame facial capture for faithfully reproducing nuanced lip movements and dynamic facial expressions.

Reallusion also had the chance to demo its latest RTX Render update for iClone, which leverages NVIDIA’s RTX GPU acceleration for real-time path tracing.

A major highlight was the new AI Studio intergration with iClone and Character Creator. Powered 3D assets exoprted from iClone to AI Studio, users can now strictly control consistency while retaining IP ownership when rendering with AI video generative models.

LIVE Demos on CenterGrid Virtual Machine

Beyond the HP showcase, Reallusion took center stage at the CenterGrid booth with daily, hands-on demonstrations of AI Studio. These presentations highlighted the sheer power of CenterGrid’s virtual studio services, demonstrating how users can scale their hardware by choosing from a flexible lineup of high-end GPUs designed to meet any project scope or budget.

At the CenterGrid booth, Reallusion Senior Account Manager – Kai Deneve led a captivating live demonstration of Reallusion’s AI Studio running entirely on a high-performance M4 Raptor cloud workstation with NVIDIA RTX A6000.

Kai walked attendees through the complete digital human pipeline, seamlessly linking Character Creator, iClone, AccuLIPS, Motion LIVE, and AI Studio, to showcase how artists can create, animate, and deploy production-ready characters without the constraints of local hardware.

By leveraging CenterGrid’s secure, cloud-based creative infrastructure, studios and independent creators alike can tap into powerful GPU resources for rapid, AI-assisted workflows and global collaboration, ultimately redefining the future of content creation for film, games, and virtual production.

Connecting with Friends, Fans and Long-time Allies

SIGGRAPH is always a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with the passionate creators who push our software to new heights. This year, the Reallusion team was thrilled to meet up with veteran power users and long-time champions of iClone and Character Creator.

We had great conversations with industry trailblazers like Jonathan Winbush, Solomon Jagwe, and E.J. Hassenfratz (School of Motion), sharing insights, workflows, and celebrating their continued success. It was also a special highlight to connect in person with our talented Reallusion content developer, Gregor Hoch, whose ongoing contributions remain a vital part of our vibrant creative community.

Looking Ahead: Event Wrap-Up & Key Takeaways

SIGGRAPH 2026 was a great success for Reallusion. The event solidified strong partnerships with NVIDIA, HP, CenterGrid, and Maxon, and allowed the team to demonstrate robust technological leadership through RTX GPU-Accelerated tools and AI Studio. Reallusion extends a heartfelt thank you to all the partners, academic leaders, and creators who visited our booths and participated in the live demonstrations.

FAQ

Q: Where was Reallusion located at SIGGRAPH 2026?
A: Reallusion was exclusively invited by NVIDIA to showcase inside the HP booth. Additionally, the team ran daily demonstrations of AI Studio at the Centergrid booth.

Q: What hardware powered the Reallusion demos?
A: The demonstrations were powered by NVIDIA’s advanced GPU technology running on HP’s Z4 Workstation and the HP ZGX Nano AI Station.

Q: How can users access AI Studio for free?
A: Users can access AI Studio for free through the latest iClone Personal Edition, giving creators a hands-on opportunity to explore AI-driven character creation and animation workflows directly.

Q: Which core technologies were highlighted at the event?
A: Reallusion provided hands-on showcases of RTX Render and AccuFACE2 at the HP booth, alongside daily demonstrations of AI Studio at the Centergrid booth.

Introduction

The question I wanted to answer was: How well can Headshot 3 workflow handle that type of stylized character?

AI-Assisted Character Generation

Character Refinement and Customization

Animation Integration

Benefits for Creators

Conclusion

Featured Artist Spotlight: Antony Evans – Digital Puppets UK

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I create stylized characters with exaggerated features using Headshot 3 in Character Creator 5?

Q: What are the key benefits of using Character Creator 5’s HD Facial Profile for animation?

Q: Can I use AI-generated videos for full-body motion capture in iClone 8?

Q: How does AccuFACE 2 compare to MetaHuman Animator for facial capture of custom characters?

Read Next:

Building the Shot in iClone

3D as Visual Direction for AI

The Motion Dummy Becomes an AI Actor

3D to Image with Flux2 Max

From 3D to Video

Prompting Between the Key Actions

Using ChatGPT to Enhance the Prompt

Directing AI Instead of Simply Prompting It

3D to AI: A Director’s Approach

John Martin

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Overview

Resource Pack Free Download

A Demon With No Human Skeleton to Borrow

The Six-Stage Character Creator to ZBrush Workflow

Stage 1

Stage 1

Stage 1

Stage 1

Base in CC5

Base in CC5

Stage 2

Stage 2

Stage 2

Stage 2

Sculpt the body via GoZ

Sculpt the body via GoZ

Stage 3

Stage 3

Stage 3

Stage 3

Build accessories

Build accessories

Stage 4

Stage 4

Stage 4

Stage 4

Detail

Detail

Stage 5

Stage 5

Stage 5

Stage 5

Texture

Texture

Stage 6

Stage 6

Stage 6

Stage 6

Render or print

Render or print

★ The Elite 20-episode Masterclass ★

Character Creator 5: The Base That Removes the Blockout

Sliders Instead of Sculpting

Bones That Follow the Morph

Test at Every Stage

ZBrush: Where the Character Actually Gets Made

Sculpt Low, Detail Late

Polygroups as a Hard-Surface Engine

Physics for the Things Sculpting Does Badly

Detail With Restraint

Texturing and Getting Everything Back Into CC5

Split the Texturing Job

Accessory or Clothing, Not Both

Rendering Without Leaving CC5

From Render to Resin: Preparing Veyra for 3D Printing

The question I wanted to answer was:
How well can Headshot 3 workflow handle that type of stylized character?