Hi Folks, please do read the readme document which comes with the AFP - there's info in there about how to make more realistic animation using the system, as well as important tips on modelling for animation.

My worry is that those who don't read the documentation will simply use the profiles without an AFP avatar (which has essential additional morphs, and default morph improvements which the system is designed for), and without considering the factors involved in both facial animation itself as well as good modelling for facial animation - whereby the results will not be as effective as they could be.

The system is extremely powerful if you can use it as it's designed to be used.  But you do need to read the documentation, If not, you might get a few more facial wiggles out of it than with iClone's default profiles - but you won't be able to realize the full potential.

So please. please, please read the documentation - it's written for everyone who really wants to do better facial animation with iClone :)

Regards,

Mike (3Dtest)

hi hj,

sorry, but from your screenshots it looks to me like second one is the standard default avatar - where indeed there are no tongue morphs, none of the additional morphs (and no doubt none of the improved default morphs either).

If you are using an  AFP avatar (either the new default or the AFPx avatar), then the new morphs, including tongue are retained in CC, 3DX and iC6.

Short of the user manually removing the morphs in 3DX, the only circumstances in which they won't be retained are:

* if you swap the AFPavatar for another which was built with the stock default (which doesn't have the improved and additional morphs) 

From the readme documentation:
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5) Compatibility:

The new default avatar remains a standard CC avatar and is fully compatible for modelling in Character Creator, editing in 3DXchange, as well as animation in iClone.

The new avatar is also backwards compatible in everything except complete replacement eg: if the new avatar is swapped out for the stock default (or a model created from the stock default), then facial animation quality will be reduced due to absence of the additional morphs.

In order to use earlier models effectively with this system, the user can morph-in the earlier character's base mesh in 3DXchange or via Character Creator, and apply textures manually.

NB: The user can also apply a pre-existing character's head and head textures to the new default avatar directly in iClone

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Basically, if you don't have the additional morphs (tongue included), then you're not actually using an AFP avatar: at some point you've swapped it with the stock default, or a model built from the stock default - without following the rules described in the readme. I guess one point of difficulty for folks might be thinking that loading their own previously built iAvatar somehow 'meshes' with whichever default you have in CC, which I'm afraid it doesn't: if you load a new project, it replaces the avatar - hence to use previous models with an AFP avatar you need to morph them in, and apply textures manually (and/ or as described in the readme, apply heads to AFP avatars in iC6). There's no way around this I'm afraid - but it is worth doing if you want to get the best of the AFP system.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Mike (3Dtest)