This is only the second scene I've ever rendered, so be gentle.

Not bad for a second attempt, but the characters are too stiff.  There all sorts of muscles in the face that twitch and move about when talking.  Eyebrows, cheeks, chin... Use the facial puppeteering to give it some minor movements.  Also, they stare at one spot, eyes are locked to one specific spot.  They should move about a bit more, the head should move a bit more as well.  Just my opinion though... Nice attempt, just needs some randomness thrown into it.

Yeah, I used face puppet in this scene, but in the other, I had weird outcomes and deleted the expression track. I also think I'll kill the elliptical irises. It makes their eyes look too wide open

The face puppet seems very powerful in concept, but I am currently longing for dialing up expressions like I did in Daz. If I can become as proficient with face keys and face puppet as I was with Daz's dials, I'll be smoking. As you can see here, in this video, done in Daz, expression comes easy. I just have to know my tools. I have come to the conclusion that I have to finish my projects in Iclone. I just have to get past this learning curve. Having a hard time with the puppets, walking, and soft cloth.

I thought it was quite nice. Fun to see.

I find it's best to do several takes on the face puppet. I do head tilts, then eyes, then cheeks, then forehead; more-or-less.

Just going with the presets never works for me. Maybe with more practice.

Exactly! This was a very rough draft just so the actors could see the vision. I plan on getting very good with face puppet very quickly. 

Nice start.  Thanks for being brave enough to share it. 

I struggle with puppeteering, sort of like having trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. 
So I avoid it, so I never get better.  Vicious cycle.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing version 2.

---

iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
Desktop (homebuilt) - Windows 10, Ryzen 9 3900x CPU, GTX 1080 GPU (8GB), 32GB RAM, Asus X570 Pro motherboard, 2TB SSD, terabytes of disk space, dual  monitors.
Laptop - Windows 10, MSI GS63VR STEALTH-252, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 (6GB), 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD

I think you did a very good job on this intro piece. Great audio, I love the ambient sound, very good way to tie it in to the world.
Cool!



Click here to go to my YouTube Channel filled with iClone Tutes and Silly Stuff

Visit ANIMATED PROJECTIONS Powered by iCLONE

Intel Core i7 3960X @ 3300MHz Overclocked to 4999.7 MHz Sandy Bridge 24.0GB DDR3 @ 833MHz Graphic Display HP ZR30w 
GeForce GTX 980Ti 6GB  Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. P9X79 WS (LGA2011)

I'm just a wee bit confused...  People post their clips for constructive criticisms, right?  Things that could be improved upon?  And yet everytime I do so (and never do so in a negative way) all sorts of people come on afterwards saying things like "Well I thought it was fine", "I think it's great", etc without offering any bits of advice or pointing things that could've been a bit better.  If you want to get better at something, you can't just listen to the gushing messages, the ones who think it's great, because in all truthfulness, everything can be better, and everyone can get better.  If you don't want constructive criticisms, then fine... but it seems to me it's far more helpful to point out issues (in a positive manner) than it is just tell someone how awesome their work is, even if it isn't.  

The clip here is a great 2nd attempt, and I even said that in my initial posting.  But people, be honest.  It's far from awesome, and there are plenty of things that could be done to enhance it. If you really want to help someone, tell them what some of those things are (again in a positive manner).  There are all sorts of places in this clip that can be improved upon.  I focused on the facial animations because it's something I'm passionate about.  But there's the lighting, the shadows, the stillness of the set & clip, the lack of real atmosphere and ambience.

If I'm out of line here, then go ahead and tell me, and I'll avoid making any more comments on people's clips, but if you're not going to be honest with them, you're doing them a great disservice.

Theres nothing wrong with constructive criticism (and yours was constructive and respectful).  There's also nothing wrong with support and encouragement.  Its just different ways of interacting with the community.  Some folks do both.  Some folks feel uncomfortable with critiques or the possibility of stirring the pot.  Both are necessary in my view but everyone is welcome to their own style.