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Design Toon-Shaded, Sci-Fi 3D Characters Using CC & Cinema 4D

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This article is featured on 80 Level

Calder Moore

Hey Everyone! My name is Calder Moore and I’m a digital artist that focuses on both 2D and 3D illustrative work. I’ve been in the industry for over 12 years doing everything from preschool tv shows, numismatic coins, video games, board games, and even trading card games. I’ve worked for companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, Google, Royal Canadian Mint, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons and Dragons.

My passion though, has been creating art for my personal project, In Search Of, a sci-fi anthology project where I explore creating and developing 3D stylized scenes that take place within a gritty dark universe. For the first few years of making art for this project, I had only really created landscape and location art, never really diving into creating characters for it.

I had all these vast landscapes and cities, but the world I was creating still felt lived-in but very vacant at the same time. Last year I wanted to change that and start to bring some life into the universe inside In Search Of and figure out how to create animated characters without any knowledge of rigging and very little for animation.

Calder Moore’s Artstation

So with that drive to make characters, I reached out to a few friends, one of which had recommended checking out Character Creator 4. Once I checked it out and saw what it had to offer for character bases that are fully rigged, UVed, and completely customizable to top it off. After a couple of weeks of tinkering around I finally found a sweet spot that blended CC4s realistic characters with my stylized rendering. After creating about 10 of these stylized characters I have established a solid workflow that I would love to break down for you today!

Throughout this breakdown I will cover my workflow for creating these stylized animated characters using Character Creator 4, Zbrush, Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter, Cinema 4D and finally rendering using Arnold Render.

Reference Images for Stylized Character

I’ll start every character and scene the same way, with collecting reference images and inspiration to build up the overall idea and direction. To do this, I like to explore through Pinterest and Artstation, collecting everything together with PureRef, a great mood board tool for collecting images together and creating collages to refer to as I create the character. When I’m looking for reference images, I wont search for a similar character to what I’m wanting to create but rather bits and pieces to help create what I have in mind. Stuff like jackets, sci-fi gadgets, color scheme inspiration, fabric inspiration, face sketches, and other photography or sketched characters that help to inspire the general direction.

Sketching the Design

Once I get all my reference inspiration and idea of where I want to take the next character, I will sketch out the design and further flesh out the idea. To do this I’ll use either Photoshop or pen and paper. When I’m sketching the character I’m not really trying to create a finished piece, but more of a solid direction to guide the 3D workflow with. I feel like it’s important to figure out the direction with even just a quick sketch as it makes the 3D process much more efficient as you have a direction to go into, without a sketch or direction, you’ll find a lot of time is wasted as you don’t really have any direction and aimlessly creating in 3D which tends to take much longer than a quick sketch would.

Character Creator 4 and ZBrush

When I dive into creating the character in 3D, I start by building the base model using Character Creator 4. This amazing tool provides great character bases that are already rigged, UV-mapped, and fully customizable in a non-destructive way.

I’ll load up the CC4 Neutral male or female base model and then go into the morphs tab and play with the sliders to adjust the face to what I want to have for the character. With these characters being a bit stylized, I’ll push some of the features more extreme then they would normally be to help give them more of that character I’m looking for. Things like a bigger nose, sunken eyes, prominent cheekbones. Stuff where the shader can interact with as well as push the silhouette.

Sometimes though I’m not able to push the forms into where I wanna take them, and that’s where the ‘GoZ’ function comes in handy. I’ll send the character over into ZBrush where I can sculpt the forms a bit more into exactly how I want them and then click the GoZ button in Zbrush to send the adjusted model back into CC4 where it updates to reflect those changes. This workflow is so good for not having to worry about reweighting the geometry as everything still works perfectly.

Once I’m done adjusting the model, I’ll then export it as an FBX checking on ‘current pose’ and ‘first frame in bind pose’ to have a nice default state to attach assets onto with.

Marvelous Designer

Next I like to bring the exported model into Marvelous designer, which is an amazing tool for creating the clothing for characters. It’s a physics-based software where you can create clothing for your characters with accurate folds/wrinkles and everything you need to create realistic looking clothes. Depending on the character concept I’ll either start from scratch or find a template to build off of that you can find in all the 3D marketplaces and one their website.

Because I had the sketch for this character, I had a great direction to go into for creating his clothing. I created a simple turtle neck shirt as I knew I wanted to play with the branding logo and the sheen of the fabric and not have it be too noisy in the end. For the jacket I wanted to build this mix of a ski jacket and a classic pilots jacket with the wool collar. With that direction in mind I had found an ok base jacket as a starting point, then tweaked the base shape into a spot I was happy with. After that I added details and cutlines to help guide the viewer’s eye up toward the face, which is the end focal point for the character. I knew I could create the wool collar better in Cinema 4D so I left that for later as well as any of the hardware on the jacket and all the lettering on both the jacket and the shirt. I then exported everything as FBX.

Substance Painter

With the stylized nature of this character and how I built the toon shaders, neither blend well for creating an interesting face so I like to bring the head portion of the model into Substance Painter to hand paint all the face details. This is another great reason why I like the CC4 models so much — as I don’t have to UV the face!

In Painter, my scene is very basic, I’ll usually turn on the wireframe and lower the opacity for that just to get an idea of where I’m painting on the face and get a sense of the contours as I’ll work in diffuse mode . Then I’ll start to block out the general shadow areas, as well as the areas that help define features like around the eyes or wrinkles on the forehead. You’ll notice that all the face details are done through hatching and not just a solid line drawing out the detail, this was something I found works much better for this style, as the solid lines pushed it too far towards that borderlands look.

Because this guy is older and battle worn, I had then pushed the bags under his eyes a bit more, added moles, dings, small deformations to push the face in a more asymmetric way and lastly the giant scars that reach across his face, I added the pinkish color in them so they are more pronounced compared to the skin color.

Lastly, I export out the texture to apply to the character in the Arnold shader.

Cinema 4D

Now that I have all my externally created assets done, I can import everything into Cinema 4D, My main software of choice for all my modeling, scene creation, and rendering. I import the CC4 character, Marvelous Designer clothes, and will import the face texture later when I have the material ready for it.

With the jacket imported I’ll then work on the finishing details for that, adding the hardware bits and pieces, the comms unit, the text on both the shirt and the jacket, and the wool collar using C4D hair generating thick and short strands of hair that look like wool once rendered with the shaders. Next, I added the face hardware, modeling the face piece that wraps around the head and acted as a bit of a cybernetically repaired eye and the receiver side of the comms unit.

Next, I tackled more of the face with importing the face texturing and applying it to the face using my Arnold toon shader setup. This also acts as a guide for me to shape the beard around that I created using C4D hair. After molding it into the shape and form I wanted I turned off all instances of gravity or any forces in the scene as I have to keep the hair ‘live’ so it reacts to the CC4 Pose Morphs on the face.

With all the pieces modeled and set up, I then attach all of it to the CC4 rig that gets imported. The jacket and shirt I skinned and weighted as well as some of the smaller hardware pieces on the jacket. For the headwear and comms unit stuff, I created constraint nulls that reference the bones where I wanted the pieces to be attached to. Like a head constraint for all the head assets and added those assets as a child to that null. Rinse and repeat until all the accessories are attached to the character and everything is ready to be animated. I had also created his pet that I sculpted in ZBrush and imported into C4D and rigged for animation.

After that, I created the animation loop using the CC4 rig and pose morphs that come with the character model. I’ll start by creating his base pose then keyframing everything at the beginning and end of the timeline, and then block out all the middle poses I want him to have throughout the animation. After that, I refined all the in-between areas, added the extra details with pose morphs like blinking and reacting to the pet as well as adding the eye movements.

Arnold Render

Throughout the creation and assembly of the character within C4D, I’ll work in tandem with Arnold, rendering out WIPs and checking on how the shader is reacting to the geometry, or how the face texture looks when rendered out.

To render the scene, I’ll usually have just a direct light casting down on the scene to mimic the sun, and for these characters, I render them using a parallel or isometric camera. The shader itself is a toon shader where I’ve gone and customized the entire setup with a series of nodes to create this stylized look that I can then adjust all aspects of where I can tune it to each surface it’s applied to. The shader is built into a few main sections. Creating the inner line details like hatching lines, speckles and bigger stains. Then, the light and color area where I can play with all the colors that make up the lit and unlit areas. And lastly, all the masks that tell the previous sections where to show up on the model based on stuff like the scene lighting, Facing ratio, procedural noises. The shader itself can look quite intimidating, but it’s mostly just layers of blending things together by multiplying or adding, like in Photoshop, or mixing together based on those masks.

I’ll find a good camera position and light angle for the character and lock it in place fairly early into the workflow, as I find it helps to have a good direction to tune the shaders too and be able to refine them throughout the workflow.

I’ll create a bunch of duplicates of the main shader where I’ll then change the colors for them, or in some cases, add the face texture or adjust how much of the lit area shows up to change the material from looking like fabric to metal. I’ll then apply these shaders to the character and refine them until I’m happy with the result.

When rendering using Arnold, you can add a bloom effect onto the render which I love to do. I’ll adjust it so the light on the character gives off a nice glow, adding that little bit of extra detail onto him.

Lastly, I render out all the frames and composite it together using After Effects.

Conclusion

Even though the character is complete visually, they are still not quite fully finished. I’ll send these over to my buddy Duskosound to create the SFX as well as a backing track for all of the characters to just push them that much further and bring them to life that much more. After he works his magic, they are fully done!

So with creating over 10 of these characters now with a bunch of very different concepts, some not even having any human to them at all, I find myself still using that CC4 rig and this workflow to create them. For the fully cyborg characters I will use the rig, but then use the body geo as a guide on where to add the metal details so they still have the sense of being human.

After creating over 10 characters with a variety of concepts, some of which aren’t even human, I still find myself using the CC4 rig and this workflow. For fully cyborg characters, I use the rig and the body geometry as a guide for adding metal details, ensuring they maintain a sense of humanity.

My process and style is always evolving, and with every character I make, I tend to explore something I haven’t tried doing yet. What I’ve loved with using CC4 is that with this very stylized look and even when I replace everything but the rig, I still find it such a useful tool as it speeds up my process so much and it’s super easy to use and get great results out of.

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

The submission deadline for the 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest on September 1st . Work from a CC base to vie for top prizes in character design and animation, or use other software and tools to create original characters and use AccuRIG to pose and animate your characters to perfection.
Events

Last Call and New Sponsor Prize: 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest

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It’s now or never

The countdown is on. With the submission deadline for the 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest on September 1st (PST), there are only 30 days left for 3D enthusiasts worldwide to join the fun! Work from a CC base to vie for top prizes in character design and animation, or use other software and tools to create original characters and use AccuRIG to pose and animate your characters to perfection.

This is your chance to shine! Winners will be showcased in magazines, promotional videos, and marketing materials seen by millions online. Don’t miss out on this golden opportunity to showcase your skills around the world!

$2,700 boost to the prize pool

Fox Renderfarm has joined our esteemed roster of sponsors, raising the stakes by offering $2,700 worth of render points to the top 18 winners. Additionally, Fox Renderfarm is providing an exclusive $50 USD coupon for newly registered members using this link. If you’re looking for top-tier cloud rendering services, now is the perfect time to register.

The expanded prize pool for 2024 Reallusion 3D Character Contest, now includes:

  • NVIDIA ASUS ProArt laptops with NVIDIA RTX 4070 GPU
  • Maxon One License (includes Cinema 4D, Forger, Red Giant, Redshift, Universe, ZBrush)
  • Rokoko Coil Pro, Rokoko Smartsuit Pro II, Rokoko Smartgloves, Rokoko Headrig for iOS
  • Noitom Perception Neuron 3 Body Kit
  • Kitbash Cargo Pro
  • 3DConnexion SpaceMouse® Enterprise
  • KeenTools FaceBuilder Studio License
  • TexturingXYZ VFACE Commercial License
  • Fox Renderfarm Render Coupon (ranging from $100 to $300)

Freestyle your way to a $500 cash reward

Are you eager to showcase your unique style and brand through your own characters? The AccuRIG contest category is perfect for you. Simply rig an existing 3D character with AccuRIG, then repose and customize it to your liking. Make sure your character stands out to secure $500 cash.

The opportunity is still available for 3D artists ready to explore the advantages of AccuRIG. Don’t miss the chance to bring your incredible models to life before the September 1st deadline!

Featured Story

Creating Advanced 3D Animations with Perception Neuron Studio

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Alejandro de Pasquale – Motion Graphic Artist / 3D Animator / Filmmaker / Content Creator
Alejandro de Pasquale – Motion Graphic Artist / 3D Animator / Filmmaker / Content Creator

Alejandro de Pasquale

Since the age of 9, Alejandro de Pasquale embarked on a creative journey, crafting his first rudimentary comics and discovering his fervent passion for storytelling. With each passing year, Alejandro honed his creativity, delving into diverse tools and skills to encapsulate narratives across a spectrum of challenges.

From scripting movies to producing motion graphics for various enterprises, Alejandro explored the avenues of storytelling, eventually finding his true calling in breathing life into characters and immersive 3D worlds. I

Lately Alejandro has been creating episodes for his EVA Project, which is an animated series using Unreal Engine and Reallusion tools like iClone and Character Creator (CC).

The EVA Project is about a character who awakens to find herself and others in a mysterious high-security complex, with fragmented memories hinting at a destroyed Earth. As she explores the surface, she seeks answers about the past and the technology that keeps them confined. The project combines digital storytelling with motion capture and shares its development process through online tutorials​

EVA Project, is an animated series using Unreal Engine and Reallusion tools like iClone and Character Creator (CC)
EVA Project, is an animated series using Unreal Engine and Reallusion tools like iClone and Character Creator (CC)
EVA Project, is an animated series using Unreal Engine and Reallusion tools like iClone and Character Creator (CC)

In EVA episode 18, Alejandro de Pasquale tested the Perception Neuron Studio mocap suit. The project focused on optimizing 3D animations with iClone 8, using ActorCore for specific movements like falls. By exploring iClone and the Unreal Engine, Alejandro has been able t streamline familiar processes and identified areas for further enhancement.

WORKFLOW PROCESS:

  • Character Creation and Motion Capture:
    • Developed all 3D character animations using Perception Neuron Studio, leveraging its advanced motion capture technology for realistic animations.
  • Animation Optimization:
    • Optimized animations to enhance character movement and fluidity, using iClone 8 features like:
    • Utilized ActorCore for specific actions, such as fall animations, ensuring precision and realism.
  • Challenge Management and Execution:
    • Managed multiple characters and intricate action sequences, overcoming the challenges of solo animation production.
    • Employed a comprehensive workflow that enables a single animator to produce high-quality animations efficiently.

This episode highlights the potential for individual creators to achieve professional 3D animation results using advanced tools and a strategic workflow, reflecting the power of modern mocap technology.

Follow Alejandro de Pasquale:

https://www.youtube.com/user/alerendersoc

https://www.facebook.com/aleRENDER

https://www.instagram.com/alerender_ae

https://www.artstation.com/alerender

Related Posts:

iClone is the fastest real-time 3D animation software helping users easily produce professional animations for films, previz, animation, video, and games. iClone simplifies the world of 3D Animation in a user-friendly environment that blends facial performance, character animation, mocap production, scene design, and cinematic storytelling.
Learning

Nine Reasons Why Cartoon Animator is the Best 2D Animation Software

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So, you want to be a cartoon animator? Maybe you have a story to tell or need to put together a pilot for pitching your show. Maybe you want to learn what this 2D animation thing is all about and why so many people are excited about it. With the web, there is unlimited potential to get your work out there in front of as many eyeballs as possible and maybe trigger a few opportunities.

The trouble is that the work has to get done, whether it is a one-person operation or a team, the work still has to be planned, animated, and produced. You do the planning and Cartoon Animator 5 will help with the animation and production.

While there are more than nine reasons to use Cartoon Animator, let’s take a look at nine of the most standout reasons to embrace this software for your projects whether you are a seasoned pro or too new to animation to even know what to look for.

1. Facial Animation & Lip Sync

Facial animation and Lip Sync have long been strong suits for Reallusion since the days of CrazyTalk. The Face Key Editor and the Face Puppet give us control over the facial expressions of our characters. Both tools have a small learning curve and can be productive on first use. The more experience you gain the better your animations become over time.

A few features of the Facial Key Editor include Morph, Template, and Free Form Deformation

For Lip Sync you can load the file with the character selected and Cartoon Animator will do the rest. If you aren’t satisfied with the results you can go into the timeline and edit the visemes to get the outcome you are looking for.

Auto Lip Sync and Editing

You can also Record Voice, TTS (text to speech), MP4, and Cartoon script which dates back to the days of CrazyTalk.

Cartoon Animator’s facial animation and lip sync tools are easy to use giving you one less thing to worry about while making your masterpiece.

2. 3D Motion Support

The ability to use 3D-based motions cannot be overstated as many 2D animators are also 3D animators with a large library of 3D motions. While it might seem confusing to some, Cartoon Animator can make use of those 3D motions with its import 3D motion popup.

Some tweaks can be made in the popup, but it works well just by loading the motion and then continuing. The popup provides a section for camera projection from -180 to 180. There is also a Motion subsection with a Ground Offset slider and checkboxes for Hand Contact, Foot Contact, Root Motion, and Flip Body. Below that is a checkbox for Camera Tracking.

Furthermore, in ActorCore you can find a collection of Cartoon & Anime motion assets designed for 2D-styled characters. Easily import them to Cartoon Animator and project the movements to your character for advanced performances.

3. Motion Capture Animation

Motion Live 2D is a go-between interface for recording and importing motion capture from a variety of solutions. Cartoon Animator can get you started with motion capture devices like webcams, iPhones, Leap Motion, Perception Neuron, and Rokoko. While not all of these solutions are within everyone’s budget, it does include more affordable ways to get started using a Webcam or iPhone for facial capture and Rokoko smartgloves for hand motion capture. From there on to full motion capture suits, Motion Live 2D is an easy-to-use interface to provide mocap solutions for your 2D animation projects.

For more information on mocap solutions please visit the following pages: FACIAL MOCAP (Webcam), FACIAL MOCAP (iPhone), HAND MOCAP BODY MOCAP

4. 360 Head

The 360-degree head simplifies the work of presenting your character from multiple angles. You can do a quick setup or go into a more detailed setup depending on your needs. The Quick Head Turn Setup uses a head-shaped mask for a boundary that keeps the face within that mask. This gives us the option of turning the head within the mask to create different angles without a lot of confusing work if you have never done this before.

If you want to get into more detail there is another mode, Toggle Head Turn Layout, that will provide much more control with more points available for more turns of the head. All this without additional sprites to keep things simple if you are learning while still having the tools of FFD, Transform, and Sprites for more advanced work.

The 360 Head and Head Creator eliminates the difficult and confusing learning curve when trying to emulate 3D movement in a 2D environment.

You can also purchase 360 Head characters from the Content Store and Marketplace. There is the 360 Head Maker with drag and drop head assembly tools and the Face and Hair Tools.

The 360 Head and associated tools make it easier than ever to animate 2D heads in a 360-degree manner.

5. Motion Pilot

Motion Pilot is one of those tools, that when released, had a huge impact on users. It also had a big impact on new animators who could now animate more easily with the movement of a mouse. From personal experience, I can attest that this is one of my go-to tools for fast 2D animation due to my experience being in 3D. Now legacy 3D animators like me can join in on the 2D fun with little to no learning curve.

To quote from Reallusion’s website:

Motion Pilot is tailored for a new wave of 2D animators seeking opt blend simplicity and efficiency. With its intuitive, real-time interface, it empowers you to effortlessly animate characters and props using puppet animation techniques.

When I say using a mouse that also includes tablets with pens or a stylus, the point is that the animation is created by following the input device across the screen or drawing surface. Draw in some easily added spring bones, set their parameters and you have just added more motion to the animation. All in one pass after the spring bones are added.

Motion Pilot is just one of many 2D animation tools packed into Cartoon Animator. Like other tools, Motion Pilot saves time which saves expense and frustration leading to a more pleasant and creative animation experience.

Motion Pilot Features

Transform

Transformation is at the heart of puppeting, providing you with the ability to effortlessly manipulate the movement of objects. You can axially guide objects, rotate them, adjust their size, or automatically reorient them using flips and turns.

WATCH TUTORIAL

Wave

Generate naturalistic wave motions by adjusting its frequency and amplitude, then sprinkle in a bit of noise for pizazz. To time the wave patterns with precision, align its cycles with the cursor speed.

WATCH TUTORIAL

Motion

Puppetry can facilitate character animation and prop motion. Through straightforward mouse control, frame sequences can be played back with smooth blending of animated effects like free-form deformation and elastic motion.

WATCH TUTORIAL

Flock

Simulating natural flocking behavior and controlling the animation tempo has never been simpler. You can establish a leader and its followers, define the animation sequences, and choose between uniform or random delay times to create organic swarms.

WATCH TUTORIAL

6. Motion Path

Motion Path, not to be confused with Motion Pilot, is another easy-to-learn tool that allows you to “animate anything along a path”. This makes quick work out of tasks like airplanes, helicopters, and spaceships flying across the screen or animating a passage across the sea with a map and a ship icon to show the progress as it moves along the path.

You draw out a path, pick an object like a prop or a character, and assign it to the path. There is a Path Properties dialog box that pops up allowing you access to attributes like Path Progression, offset, rotate, and scale. There is also a Follow Path check box with a drop-down menu offering a positive or negative axis to follow.

The Path Progression slider is where Cartoon Animator sets keyframed positions along the path. If you want the object to be 35 percent down the path at frame 200 you go to frame 200 and set the Path Progress to 35 percent.

Yes… it’s that easy.

Watch Tutorial

7. Spring Dynamics

To use Spring Dynamics you will need to create bones that can be converted to spring bones. The process of creating the bones is shown below and is a very simple task to complete. Don’t let the necessity of creating bones stop you from using spring effects. This is a skill that new users can pick up quickly as creating bones is a fundamental part of making your own, custom characters.

Another big dog on the block when it comes to quickly animating anything from a simple image to a more complex object with lots of moving parts, Spring Dynamics is a hero in its own right. Like Motion Pilot, this tool adds another layer of movement that does not require manual keyframing and is done on the fly as the program runs along the timeline.

Whereas Motion Pilot is for a specific movement, Spring Dynamics adds that extra flair of moving parts that inherit movement from the character or prop they are assigned to.

8. FFD – Free Form Deformation

Free Form Deformation is a tool that many 3D and 2D animators are familiar with. It is a bunch of dots (handles) across a grid that allows you to move those dots deforming the image. If we move up or down the timeline between deformations, you get an animation that morphs from one deformation to the other.

Yet another easy-to-learn and use tool that has many uses and makes quick work out of an animation task from swaying flowers to more complex movements like the roaring TRex shown in the demo video below.

9. Pipeline (PSD, Vector, AE)

Cartoon Animator’s 2D animation pipeline utilizes SVG and PSD file types and works with both Vector and Bitmap formats that will export to industry standard tools. The Image and Vector sections of the Preferences panel are where we hook up our editors such as Photoshop for image and Illustrator for Vector.  

This allows for a seamless passthrough (round-trip editing) to the preferred external applications in both directions eliminating the need for export and import.

Currently supported for Images are Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Clip Studio Paint, and Krita along with Photoshop. On the Vector side supported applications include Affinity Designer, CorelDRAW, Inkscape and Illustrator.

Create new characters and props or edit existing items with tools used by professionals around the world.

Speaking about professionals, to get a cinematic finished look in Cartoon Animator projects, After Effects plays a crucial role in providing high flexibility in final compositing and VFX editing. AE Script contributes a seamless workflow to reconstruct exported CTA projects as AE layers, while keeping the keyframes and Z-depth of all objects, along with the sound and camera movements.

And… here is a little bonus if you haven’t checked it out already. Take a look at motion link. This is a live link between Cartoon Animator and iClone to create and edit 3D motions! Not only can you convert 3D motions to 2D as mentioned above, but with motion link you open up endless possibilities for expanding your motion library.

SUMMARY

These are just nine reasons to use Cartoon Animator 5 for your next 2D project. While these are great reasons to use the software, they are far from the only reasons. Cartoon Animator 5 is packed with 2D tools to help you accomplish tasks that used to be reserved for seasoned professionals and fine artists. As with all Reallusion applications and tools, Cartoon Animator is easy to learn, easy to use, and contains a big toolbox of 2D tools.

MD McCallum - WarLord

MD McCallum – WarLord

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

WarLord’s Workshop

Featured Story

3D Printable Action Figures with Character Creator & ZBrush

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Esteban Cifuentes - 3D Sculptor/ Toy Entrepreneur
Esteban Cifuentes – 3D Sculptor/ Toy Entrepreneur / Action Figure Creator

Esteban Cifuentes – 3D Sculptor/ Toy Entrepreneur

My name is Esteban Cifuentes, better known as Donman Art and I am a 3D sculptor with more than three years of experience specializing in action figures. Thanks to my skills in social media and marketing, I have managed to stand out globally and participate in renowned events such as San Diego Comic Con and Wonder Con. Two years ago, I established a partnership with a toy factory to create FIST, the first figures of action of Colombia. With this project, we not only seek to promote an innovative product, but also put Colombia on the map as a producer of toys and collectibles.

Currently, a significant portion of my income comes from selling 3D printing files focused on action figures. Through platforms such as Patreon, CGtrader and Cults, I have managed to generate income that far exceeds the industry average.

In addition to this, I give talks at universities and participate in international events sharing my experience and teaching how to monetize the art of 3D sculpture. My goal is to continue contributing to the growth and recognition of the design industry in Colombia and globally.

I start my workflow by gathering references from 80s and 90s movies, video games, and classic toys. After listing the character’s traits, I sculpt in ZBrush and pose with Character Creator 4, leveraging skills learned in a Master Course at Libel Academy. Using Character Creator, I saved months of work by effortlessly rigging and posing high-poly characters, transforming my ZBrush sculpts into posable, and playable 3D print toys.

“What used to take me almost a week, now I can do in a few hours. Character Creator is very effective for ‘action figures’, as it works very well for viewing certain poses. It has helped me a lot with hand poses and making some decisions regarding joints.”

Esteban Cifuentes – 3D Sculptor/ Toy Entrepreneur / Action Figure Creator
Action figures made in Colombia
Action figures made in Colombia
Action figures made in Colombia
Action figures made in Colombia
FIST - the first action figures made in Colombia
FIST – the first action figures made in Colombia
Miniature 3D printed action figures made with Character Creator
Miniature 3D printed action figures made with Character Creator

Workflow: When I started this it was initially as a hobby, so I didn’t have the best computer or the best tools, so I got used to sculpting with a mouse. And so I generated my own workflow.

Esteban Cifuentes action figures and workstation
Esteban Cifuentes action figures and workstation

My workflow always starts by looking for references of what I want to create, movies from the 80’s and 90’s, video games, classic toys and a lot of the history of my country. There I make a list of characteristics of the character I want to create, from physical aspects to qualities and defects. 

From there I look again for some visual references, and with this I start the sculpture in ZBrush, once I have the piece in a standard pose and accessories. My great help has been Character Creator 4 (CC4), to make fluid poses that tell a story.

With the help of Character Creator, I can transform ZBrush sculpts into posable ones in just a few clicks. Its ideal for character artists and 3D print designers. I can effortlessly rig and pose high poly, multi-subtool characters with precision, even at millions of polygons.

Sculpting action figures in ZBrush to later pose them with Character Creator
Sculpting action figures in ZBrush to later pose them with Character Creator

What used to take me almost a week, now I can do in a few hours. Then when I am clear about the pose I want, I move on to detail and add more accessories. Finally I do the printing test. 

Although some believe that the Character Creator program isn’t very effective for “action figures,” it actually works very well for viewing certain poses. It has helped me a lot with hand poses and making some decisions regarding joints.

Posing ZBrush created action figures with Character Creator
Posing ZBrush created action figures with Character Creator

Check out Esteban’s interview on Libel Academy where he shares on how he discovered Character Creator through a Master Course at Libel Academy.com, which would eventually help him produce the very first action figures made in Colombia 🇨🇴 .

“My name is Esteban Cifuentes, the creator of the first action figures made entirely in Colombia. If you ask yourself how was the process?

Well, it all started after ending the pandemic as my passion was always about action figures and toys. So I started creating some for myself and my own collection. So how did I go from my personal use, to my own business?

Publishing on social media, I started making 3D prints that led to international contacts reaching out to me. This led to North American companies contracting me to design them action figures and a couple of other things.

And all this led to brands wanting to produce in different regions other than China. And that is how Colombia came to the point of producing its own action figures.

But that is just one part; as I needed to learn all the areas of hair sculpting, and hand sculpting, That is where Libel Academy came in and it introduced me a tool that saved my life. Which was Character Creator where I could make poses.

For something that would take me almost a month of work, now with Character Creator I could do it in just hours. And with that I could be more effective, which allowed me to charge more, to have a better life and develop my own projects.”

Esteban Cifuentes – 3D Sculptor/ Toy Entrepreneur / Action Figure Creator

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FIST - action figures made by Esteban Cifuentes
FIST – action figures made by Esteban Cifuentes

Follow Esteban Cifuentes:

Donman Art Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/donmanart/

FIST Instagram Colombia:
https://www.instagram.com/fist.colombia/

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Product Release

Reallusion Launches Free Character Creator Auto Setup for Autodesk 3ds Max

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Reallusion, a pioneer in enhancing the character workflows of 3D software users, is thrilled to announce the release of the free Character Creator Auto Setup for Autodesk 3ds Max. This groundbreaking tool automates the setup of shaders and rigs for CC Characters, offering lookdev essentials like lighting and PBR swapping to significantly streamlining the character creation process. Finally, realistic Arnold or V-Ray renders of CC or ActorCore characters is now possible without manual material graph setups.

Seamless character and animation import into 3ds max

3ds Max has been a cornerstone in the industry for 30 years, widely adopted by professionals for 3D modeling, animation production, archviz, concept art, and game development. Its powerful scripting capabilities make it essential for studios maintaining long-standing production workflows.

Character Creator, iClone, and ActorCore offer high-quality characters, animations, and assets for film studios and game developers. Traditionally, importing these characters into 3ds Max required complex setups, including creating and assigning material graphs for each part of the character. The Reallusion Auto Setup tool reduces workloads by automating the Digital Human shader and PBR material assignments for characters, outfits, props, and scenes in 3ds Max.

Lifelike Digital Human Shader

Auto Setup automatically converts the CC Digital Human Shader into Arnold and V-Ray material graphs for realistic ray-traced rendering. Easily tweak texture details for skin, eyes, hair, teeth, and tongue using the Auto Setup options panel.

  • Skin: Adjustable subsurface scattering, roughness, specularity, and micro-normal properties for achieving lifelike results.
  • Hair & Beard: Enables natural color variations between hair strands and gradual chroma changes from root to tip.
  • Eyes: Fully adjustable iris, sclera, limbus, and pupil components. Anatomical accuracy is represented with realistic roughness, depth, and refraction effects. 
  • Teeth: The Teeth Shader can adjust SSS, color, and brightness to reflect different natural constitutions, ages, or health conditions.
  • Wrinkle: Enhances the appearance of CC3+ characters with high-resolution, multi-texture blending. 

PBR Materials for Crowd, Prop, and Scene

For ActorCore crowd actors and models like cloth, accessories, props, or scene elements with PBR materials applied in CC and iClone, Auto Setup can automatically build the material graph, and provides matching PBR values, such as roughness and metallic that helps to ensure visual consistency.

  • Crowd: Utilizing a specialized color adjustment panel, effortlessly expand material variations of ActorCore crowd characters, featuring distinct color regions for skin, hair, and attire.
  • Prop & Scene: Seamlessly transfer and convert PBR materials from CC and iClone to 3ds Max, replicating the original aesthetics while preserving custom material adjustments.
  • Crowd Simulation: Generate realistic masses with detailed facial expressions, accessories, and diverse animation styles using iClone. Seamlessly batch transfer these assets to 3ds Max in the same placement for final rendering.

Effortless animation with control rigs

The Auto Setup tool allows designers to easily add facial and body control rigs for custom animation of imported CC characters. 

Face Rig

  • Comprehensive facial control rigs for both CC3+ and ActorCore characters. 
  • More than 140 extended facial morphs for CC3+ characters. 
  • More than 60 standard facial morphs for 3D extras and crowd sim.

Body Rig

  • Works with official Reallusion characters, including CC3+, ActorCore, and AccuRIG. 
  • All characters support 3ds Max Biped and CAT rigging. 
  • Easy body part selection via proxy objects, including dummy IK controllers for IK toggling.

Lightning-fast turnarounds with integrated look dev

The Auto Setup Look Dev mode supports different lighting presets, HDR templates and Macbeth Color Checker.

Light Presets

Includes five setups for close-up views and five for full shots, each adjustable to achieve the desired visual outcome, whether for high-quality main characters or low-poly crowd and extras.

HDR & Macbeth Chart

Allowing for HDR background rotation to adjust lighting direction, and integration of custom EXR images. Also features a Macbeth Color Checker with Grey & Chrome balls for accurate color calibration and lighting analysis.

V-Ray & Arnold Multi-pass Rendering

Auto Setup empowers the creation of realistic Arnold and V-Ray renders for high-definition characters from Character Creator, iClone, and ActorCore, and breaks down the rendering process into separate passes.

Crowd

Break down the rendering process into separate passes for diffuse color, specular highlights, shadows, and reflections. This allows fine-tuning specific visual elements and easy tweaking of the final image without re-rendering the entire scene.

Character

Enabling flexible and different post-processing effects applications. Facilitating clearer organization of rendering tasks, enhancing overall rendering efficiency and quality in complex graphics applications.

Free download and upcoming beta version for Maya

The Auto Setup for 3ds Max is available for free download upon registration on the Reallusion website. Recognizing Maya’s pivotal role in film and game production, Reallusion is also developing a beta version of the Auto Setup tailored for Maya. Interested users can gain early access by signing up through an online form. For more information, including download instructions, visit the website.

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Featured Story

Game Changer: iClone LIVE LINK and Control Rig for Unreal

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This article is featured on AWN
Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Writer

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios

Hello, my name is Nildo Essá and I am the Owner of FX Animations Studios. The studio was founded back in 2004 and up until around the year 2017 we were focused mainly on working with TV Commercials being mostly sub-contracted by local advert agencies. Lately we also cater to NGOs and such to make animated PSAs (Public Service Announcement Videos) dealing with several day-to-day issues.Alongside client work, whenever we could, we would invest our time on our own IP, Os Pestinhas aka The Troublemakers

Over the years we have produced a few award-winning shorts and several PSAs using these characters and with great success. Seeing how well they were received locally, we thought it would be a good idea to take the next step… doing a feature film.

As we complete 20 Years of existence in 2024, we find ourselves in the middle of production of our very first Animated feature film “KIBWE” and when it’s complete, it will be the first Animated film out of Mozambique.

We are now using Blender, Unreal Engine, and Reallusion’s iClone and Character Creator 4 (CC4) tools. As a small team, we can leverage iClone’s LIVE LINK and the CC Control Rig plugin for Unreal Engine to enhance speed, efficiency, and enable real-time animation editing, character control, and synchronized camera movements.

“The ideal scenario is iClone to Unreal Engine, and with the iClone to Unreal LIVE LINK, and Control Rig plugins, making that bridge less painful. The Reallusion team has been very helpful and receptive to ideas to improve their tools, and I’m glad to consider them our partners in this crazy adventure that is to make a full feature film with a team of just 2 people.”

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Writer

‘Os Pestinhas‘ aka The Troublemakers

Kibwe is a story about Lili’s life and her journey to save her grandmother who was poisoned, while discovering stories from her past, unravelling mysteries of her tribe and family of traditional healers. They are a group of 3 children headed by a 10-Year-old girl named Lili who is very spirited and inquisitive and always wants to know the why of things. She was raised by her grandmother and never got to know her parents due to a curse placed on her family when she was born. The other kids in the group are Minhoca aka Stretch and ZeGordo. Stretch is 12 Years old. He is an environmentalist/inventor that is always trying to come up with interesting ideas to use waste in his inventions. ZeGordo is the Glutton. Despite being chubby, under pressure he can be quite agile. Lili and he grew up together and they are like brothers. ZeGordo is super protective of her.

Kibwe, Lili’s story, unfolded amidst the lush greenery of their village, where the scent of medicinal herbs lingered in the air. As they delved deeper into the mysteries that entwined their lives, Lili’s curiosity drove the trio forward, seeking answers to age-old questions. Stretch’s inventive mind brought a new perspective, turning discarded bits into treasures, while ZeGordo’s loyal presence provided a sense of security in their perilous journey. Together, they embarked on a quest that would test their courage, faith, and the strength of their bond.

Ensuring Animation with the Right Tools

This will be our hardest project yet as we aim really high in terms of quality. Our team is very small… it’s just me and my wife. And because of that we are always looking out for tools that will help us tell our stories without “breaking the bank”. Up until 2020 our main tool was Autodesk 3ds Max. In that year we switched to Blender and seeing how Reallusion was developing their animation tools and plugins that connect with Blender in a seamless manner, it seemed to make perfect sense to add those to our pipeline as well.

Today all our characters are Character Creator 4 (CC4) based and every animation we do we start in iClone 3D software. Then we refine them in Blender , to have the Unreal Engine being the end render goal of the pipeline. This workflow works very well, and it is stable. But being a team of 2 (Me and my wife), it’s still time consuming especially when it comes to export/import times involved between all 3 applications. 

The Unreal Live Link plugin allows seamless transfer of data between iClone and Unreal Engine, enabling real-time animation editing, character control, and synchronized camera movements.

The ideal scenario is iClone to Unreal Engine, and with the iClone to Unreal LIVE LINK, and Control Rig plugins, making that bridge less painful. The Reallusion team has been very helpful and receptive to ideas to improve their tools, and I’m glad to consider them our partners in this crazy adventure that is to make a full feature film with a team of just 2 people.

A group of children playing outside Description automatically generated with low confidence

Optimizing Transfers with iClone Unreal LIVE LINK

The new iClone Unreal LIVE LINK version provides the functionality we’ve been looking for. Previously, we could only export characters through Live Link and save animations using the Sequence Recorder tool in Unreal Engine. Exporting animations through the standard FBX workflow was not ideal for us.

The improved iClone to Unreal LIVE LINK transfer now supports parallel processing for iClone FBX export and Unreal FBX import, ensuring uninterrupted editing in iClone while transfers are ongoing. You can monitor the transfer progress through the progress bar in Unreal Engine to estimate the completion time.

I appreciate how all characters, props, and cameras transfer seamlessly at once. The cameras animated in iClone and the switcher setup, transition smoothly to Unreal sequencer with correct camera cuts, reflecting the work done in iClone.

A computer screen shot of a video editing program Description automatically generated

With our previous pipeline we had to export the animations from Blender one by one, and then the cameras as well.

At a certain point we even tried exporting eight characters with all their animations as subdivided meshes and the plugin with the free Auto Setup tool for Unreal, did it in such an effective manner and all was neatly organized in their proper folders inside Unreal Engine.

CC CONTROL RIG FOR UNREAL ENGINE

The best part was yet to come however, and this was the CC Control Rig for Unreal Engine plugin. With this tool developers now have the freedom to seamlessly control CC characters using the familiar MetaHuman control rig, enabling precise manipulation and customization of both body and facial animations.

When the Reallusion team said that they were working on an Unreal Control Rig version for CC4 Characters, we immediately jumped on board to beta test it. We are still in the Previz stage of the film but have already crafted about 80 minutes of animations in Blender. 

After some tests with the Control Rig plugin and the iClone LIVE FACE facial mocap tool, we are moving ahead with the production using mainly iClone and Unreal Engine.

“Combining the powerful capabilities of iClone and Unreal Engine, our production workflow is now streamlined and efficient. The seamless integration of the Unreal Control Rig plugin for CC4 Characters and the iClone LIVE FACE facial mocap tool has truly elevated our project to new heights. With these cutting-edge tools at our disposal, we are confident in delivering a stunning visual experience that will captivate audiences. “

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Writer

The Control Rig plugin is designed in such a way that you can just pick your transferred character in Unreal and click a button. After a few seconds it will be ready to be animated within the engine with rigs for both body AND face. This is especially helpful in our case because then it means that we can just bake any animations to the Control Rig and tweak/refine them in real-time, considering the final sets and cameras angles. This is a dream come true for any animator!

There’s even a Picker to help in selecting the controllers of your Control rig and you can have multiple characters in the scene and the picker will list all of them properly named.

“This is especially helpful in our case because then it means that we can just bake any animations to the Control Rig and tweak/refine them in real-time, considering the final sets and cameras angles. This is a dream come true for any animator!“

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Writer
A screen shot of a computer Description automatically generated

Conclusions

Lastly, I would like to thank Reallusion for the continued support to this ambitious project. Their availability to help solve issues and the tools they are making really empower anyone to start telling their stories in a very cost-effective way.

I am glad that Reallusion has been such a supportive partner throughout this journey. Their dedication to assisting with problem-solving and providing accessible tools truly enables individuals to unleash their creativity and bring their narratives to life without breaking the bank.

A person walking in the woods Description automatically generated

Follow FX Animation Studios:

Website:
www.fxlda.com

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FXlimitada/videos

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The original article was written by Nildo Essá and is also featured on AWN.

Featured Story

Mastering the Art of 3D Construction for Buildings and Interiors

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Discover the Power of iClone BuildingGen: The Best-Kept Secret in 3D Architectural Design

José Antonio Tijerín

José Tijerín is a digital illustrator, 3D sculptor, and the creator of the video game “Dear Althea”, available on Steam. You can also find his content pack, “We’re Besties”, for purchase in the Reallusion Content Store. In this article, José will highlight the merits of using iClone BuildingGen plugin to construct 3D buildings and interiors and make a case for why you should use it in your next project.

Why BuildingGen is the Ultimate Tool for Creating Environments

In the world of art and development, creating immersive and lifelike surroundings is crucial. For those of us who love crafting detailed virtual cities, Reallusion’s BuildingGen is a game-changer. As an iClone plugin, it makes building virtual cities not just possible but effortless. I’ll share how BuildingGen has opened up new possibilities for me, from generating unique structures to integrating them seamlessly with other programs like Unreal Engine.

Magic behind BuildingGen

BuildingGen is a fantastic tool that lets you create buildings using modular components. You can start with pre-existing content packs, like Reallusion’s French architectural styles, or get creative and design your own elements.

What I love about BuildingGen is its versatility. It’s not just for urban structures – you can create all sorts of architectural and decorative elements. Imagine designing a palatial garden with various plants and ornaments, or even constructing a train carriage with modular components, like those available on Sketchfab.

Using modular parts downloaded from the internet, even if they’re not traditional buildings, is straightforward. It takes just a few minutes to import models into iClone and prepare them for BuildingGen. Once you have everything set up, configuring the structure’s parameters is intuitive, making it easy to achieve exactly what you envision.

In a matter of minutes, you can create an interior train carriage of any length and arrangement that suits your project’s needs. This flexibility grants artists the freedom to experiment and diversify their projects, incorporating unique and personalized elements that enhance the visual storytelling of any environment.

Creating a BuildingGen Pack

The process begins within iClone, where it is essential to have all the models required for the final building. Reallusion offers a variety of reference models that can serve as a foundation in your favorite 3D creation program. Once the basic elements are established, it is crucial to ensure that the pivot points of each element are correctly positioned to avoid subsequent adjustments. With the models prepared, the next step involves setting up the BuildingGen Packager in iClone. This package will encompass all the elements necessary to construct the building.

In addition to these modular elements, the tool simplifies the task of adding complementary elements like doors and windows. For example, walls with windows should be assigned the “Window” category type and their model dragged into the “Child elements” area. These elements can be added alongside the modular parts within the BuildingGen Packager. Doing so allows for uploading multiple versions of these elements to randomize the outcome when automatically placed during building generation.

BuildingGen’s ability to generate variations and combinations swiftly is a significant advantage. You can effortlessly create ruins, seaports, or gardens. For instance, with a simple wall model and a shrub, you can compose an attractive outdoor space in a matter of minutes.

I created this kind of mushroom house in 3D Maya using as reference the modular parts that Reallusion offers. You can download these models from iClone to be able to use them in your 3D program in a very simple way.

Integration with Unreal Engine and Advanced Techniques

One of the most effective ways to render these BuildingGen-generated models is by exporting them to Unreal Engine 5, particularly when utilizing Nanite technology. This technique enables models to have a near-infinite polygon density without distorting the model’s shape or affecting the program’s performance. Employing Nanite significantly enhances the volume’s finish, light incidence, and shadow detail, delivering unprecedented realism.

If you refer to the tutorial video associated with this article, you’ll see an example of creating a modular Spanish village with houses featuring rough walls made of unsculpted rocks, subsequently whitewashed for a realistic texture. To replicate this, download the modular elements of “Spanish modular village houses” on Sketchfab. Activate the Nanite properties within the material settings, adjusting options like “Used with Nanite” and “Enable Tessellation.” This transformation converts detailed textures, including ambient occlusion maps, into actual volumes within the 3D model. The result is a surface rich in detail, with defined edges that enhance the visual immersion of the village or city you’re creating.

Finally, I must mention a small trick to improve the final outcome of our buildings, especially in villages like the one in this example, where the streets are very narrow, curved, and with significant unevenness. Once the building is placed on the stage, we can enter Unreal’s “Modeling” editing mode. We can select the “Deform” tool on our building to easily and intuitively curve it into the desired shape.

Conclusion

Reallusion’s iClone BuildingGen emerges as an indispensable tool for any 3D designer seeking efficiency and creativity in constructing virtual environments. Its ability to manage modular components, coupled with its integration with Unreal Engine and advanced technologies like Nanite, makes it a powerful option for projects of any scale.

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The original article was written by José Tijerín and is also featured on Creative Bloq.

Learning

Mastering 8 Key Animation Skills, A Minute at A Time

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Lessons from Minute Guides 

Cartoon Animator 5 is a powerful 2D animation software for creating engaging and dynamic animations. Whether you’re a seasoned animator or a beginner just starting out, mastering the essential tools offered by this software can significantly enhance your workflow and creativity.

  • Eight key functions that every animator should become proficient in to fully leverage the capabilities of Cartoon Animator 5.
  1. Motion Pilot – Animating without the timeline
  2. Face Puppet – Smooth facial expression
  3. 2D Motion Key Editor – Flexible animation
  4. Sprite Editor – Fine-tuning character designs
  5. Face Key Editor – Precise facial expressions
  6. Path properties – Leveraging animation paths
  7. Spring Editor – Organic animation 
  8. In-application vector color adjustments
  • How to make your animations five times faster, smoother, and more lifelike, while easily animating complex facial expressions.
  • How to streamline character movements, switch sprites seamlessly, and control animation paths with precision. You’ll also learn how to create realistic follow-through effects effortlessly and adjust colors quickly and effectively.

Be well-equipped to create captivating animations that stand out. Let’s dive into each tool and uncover the specific benefits they bring to your animation projects, transforming your creative process and final results.

1. Motion Pilot – Animating without the timeline

Motion Pilot lets you animate by pressing record and moving your mouse. 

In this episode, you will learn how to generate unique and complex animations using a couple of clicks and swipes with Motion Pilot. This video covers how to initiate Motion Pilot, preview animation with different parameters, how Lazy Mouse can smooth your animation, add depth with Z controls, and change the moving directions.

2. Face Puppet – Smooth facial expression

The face puppet tool lets you animate facial expressions easily by moving your mouse, bringing life to your character.

In this episode, you will learn one of the quickest and most powerful ways to animate your character’s facial expressions in real-time using only mouse movements. Additionally, the video will show you how to choose from various animation profiles and templates, such as sad, angry, or happy, and how to disable specific facial elements, like the eyes, for more natural head movement. This tutorial will equip you with essential Face Puppet skills, enhancing your animation capabilities and enabling you to create detailed and vivid character expressions effortlessly.

3. 2D Motion Key Editor – Flexible animation

The Motion Key Editor lets you freely pose 2D characters using bones in Cartoon Animator.

In this episode, you will learn how to structure intricate bone rigs, use pins to constrain certain bones, and optimize subdivision topology for smoother deformations. Additionally, you will learn how to change the direction of a character, lock leg positions to maintain a natural stance, and adjust overall character movements flexibly. Ultimately, the video will cover how to correct knee bending issues to ensure smooth and natural motions.

4. Sprite Editor – Fine-tuning character designs

Sprites allow you to change from one drawing to another.

(Character made by Garry Pye for Space Coppers, directed by Ward Anderson)

In this episode, you’ll learn how to efficiently set up character components using PSD transfer in CTA Pipeline Edition. We’ll guide you through the process of selecting and replacing various body parts, including changing expressions, switching hand gestures, and animating by altering these elements. You’ll also learn how to use the face tab to modify facial features, such as choosing different eye expressions. Additionally, the video will demonstrate how to select body parts in the editor by simply clicking on them in the workspace.

5. Face Key Editor – Precise facial expressions

The Face Key Editor allows precise facial animation. For automatic positioning, use the face puppet tool, but for precision, the Face Key Editor is best. 

In this episode, you’ll learn ways to masterfully control the frame-by-frame expression animations of your characters. We’ll show you how to select and move individual eye components or coordinate multiple facial parts for synchronized movements. Using the Transform options, you’ll easily reposition facial elements or use the deform function to alter the shape of any element, allowing you to make your character smile or frown effortlessly.

6. Path Properties – Leveraging animation paths

Paths allow you to move characters on precise trajectories.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to infuse your animations with enhanced dynamism by defining object movement paths. Discover how to attach objects to a path, edit the path shape using bezier curves, give smooth or linear transitions, set start and end points, adjust movement speed, and ensure objects follow the path trajectory. Watch your character animated along the path, achieving smooth and precise movements.

7. Spring Editor – Organic animation

Use spring effects to automate follow-through — one of the core animation principles — to make physics easy to animate in Cartoon Animator.

In this episode, you will learn how to adjust spring bones in characters and props, and enhance secondary animation with organic physics behaviors. Discover how to apply spring effects to selected bones and assign them to groups, or using presets for quick assignments. You’ll also see how to preview the effects in real-time, make necessary adjustments, and fine-tune settings like speed or gravity to perfect your animation.

8. In-application vector color adjustments

With vector characters, you can easily change colors in Cartoon Animator without leaving the software.

In this episode, you will learn how to efficiently group vector elements and adjust colors in specific parts or across the entire character. Composer mode allows you to set up color groups, grouping by individual parts or entire color schemes. For instance, you can transform a blue skirt to red by utilizing the “Group by Color” feature, and change all the segment colors at once.

In Short:

Mastering these essential tools in Cartoon Animator 5 will significantly enhance your animation skills.  With smoother, more lifelike animations and increased efficiency, you’ll be able to create captivating projects that stand out.

Additional interface tips

After learning the key features above, you can continue with the step-by-step UI interface guide below to gain a clearer understanding of the operation steps.

1. Motion Pilot

1. Select your character and click the Motion Pilot icon to open it.

2. Practice your moves by pressing preview (space) to see it in action.

3. For smoother movement, click on “Settings” and increase “Lazy Mouse” to 15.

4. Adjust settings with the Z control to move in front of and behind objects like this seaweed.

5. You can also disable “Face Cursor” to make it move in one direction.

2. Face Puppet

1. Press Ctrl+U or find it in the toolbar.

2. Press “Record” and move your mouse to animate, using clicks to make your character blink.

3. Choose from different animation profiles and templates like sad, angry, or happy.

4. Click on face elements to disable them; for example, disabling eyes makes the head move without eye movement.

3. 2D Motion Key Editor

1. Press K or find its icon in the toolbar.

2. Click on “Flip Hip” to change the character’s direction.

3. The lock feature can keep the feet planted on the ground while the hips are moved about.

4. Disable it to move the entire character. And, if the knees bend incorrectly…

5. Select the shank and click “Reverse Joint” or press 5.

6. This applies to arms as well. Disable constraints to move bones freely and adjust bone settings by clicking “Bone Display” to hide bones, change their color, size, or opacity.

4. Sprite Editor

1. With your character selected, press S or find its icon in the toolbar to open the editor.

2. Select a body part, like the right hand, to switch between different sprites.

3. You can swap sprites for the body or click the face tab to change facial features.

4. For example, selecting the left eye, lets you choose different eye expressions.

5. Face Key Editor

1. Press Ctrl+K or find its icon in the toolbar.

2. Use the head rotation gizmo to turn the head, or drag the circle indicator to rotate it.

3. Select both eyes and click and drag to move them.

4. Select multiple face parts to move them together.

5. Click on templates to quickly change emotions like angry or sad. Select the expression style and face template.

6. Under the “Transform” tab, move face elements easily or use deform to change the shape of any element, making the character smile or frown quickly.

6. Path Properties

1. Click the “Create Path” icon in the toolbar, then click in the scene to add points.

2. Click and drag to add Bezier handles for a smooth curve.

3. Press ESC when done. Reposition points and adjust the path as needed.

4. After selecting another object, reselect the path and click “Path Properties” to start editing.

5. To animate a character along the path, select the character (1), click the Path Properties eyedropper tool (2), and then click the path (3).

6. To adjust the progression to move the character: Set progression to zero, advance the timeline, and set it to 100 to animate — now your character is moving along the path.

7. Spring Editor

1. To add springs, select the character, enter Composer mode.

2. Click on “Springs” in the toolbar, and choose the target bone for adding spring effects.

3. Select a bone and click “Assign to Group”.

4. Click “Preview” and move the character to see the springs in action. Continue adding springs to the group, previewing as you go.

5. Adjust settings or presets as needed; for example, reduce speed to 30.

6. When done, stop the preview, close the editor, and return to the stage.

8. In-application vector color adjustments

1. First, select the character (1) and enter Composer mode (2).

2. Set up group colors by clicking the icon and choose to group by part or color sets.

3. For example, to change a dress from blue to red, click “Auto Color Group”.

4. Select “Group by Color”, click “Process”, and “Okay”.

5. Close the window; and in the toolbar, click on “Adjustments”.

6. Click on the blue skirt to make it blink. This indicates that the blue colors are selected.

7. Proceed to change the color.

8. Select red, and click “OK”.

9. Repeat the steps for all the blue elements, in order to turn them red. Recolor the entire dress  to complete this lesson.

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