While I haven't had it long, perhaps that's an advantage in talking about version 2.0 of the original suit.

First of all -- I have the magnetic shielded case (which I think is a must -- cost about $200 more, so that total cost was about $1700 for the suit, including finger gloves which I think are VITALLY important).  Haven't had any issues with magnetism, but I also use a USB remote keyboard (you need to be careful if, for example, you use a laptop because you can't get the gloves close to the keyboard in that case -- not a huge problem to deal with but one I don't have to.  The wireless mouse is no issue at all and according to the PN folks, neither is my wireless keyboard).

Second -- first time I put on the suit it was like the first time I used a condom -- seemed like a HUGE amount of trouble but I was motivated for the end results so it seemed worth it (and just like that it helps if your partner helps :>.  About 30 minutes and I though "Yipes, I'll only do this occasionally (we're talking about the suit now, not the other thing :>.  But practice makes perfect, and it also helped tremendously for me to put each piece in a marked plastic bag (they give you bags for this but plastic ziplocked slider bags are MUCH easier).  I can now get it on in five minutes including software setup time, so no biggie.

Feet are smooth with the smoothing feature enabled inside of the PN capture software (I would never use LIVE for this purpose -- not only do I save $500, but the capture there is not as good according to Mark).  It's at least as smooth as any other capture I've used (and I've used them all).  I can post samples if you want to see, but there are a LOT of them out there.  I also bought Web Animate (a touch over $100 right now) to help with cleanup but so far haven't needed it (and I'm pretty critical of such things, even for very long captures).

I can understand the Doctor's reasoning about money making -- a professional doesn't think in terms of costs so much in ROI -- but I don't think even a pro would have trouble with this suit (and in any case, if they have the money, it would be worth it to have it if nothing more than the fingers, which take an ENORMOUS amount of time to do otherwise, IMHO, even adding the Leap controller in, which I also have).  Plus you can never have enough capture suits -- the PN software can work with at least two or three at a time, so interactions between actors could be captured as well.  If in another year or two I have the money, I may well get the suit without the fingers just for fun (I've spend a LOT of money this year, including $4k for my new computer with the two cards, Titan and 1080,  both of which have 12gb of memory).

However, I will say this -- I'm completely sold on the PN, no matter which version.  I think they do it right, and they are a pretty responsive company (I had trouble with one piece of the suit and they sent me a replacement within a day -- it helps I live in Florida and they are based in Miami, but that's still pretty fast.  As it turns out, while they were sending it I figured out how to fix it so now I have two :>.

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Alienware Aurora R12, Win 10, i9-119000KF, 3.5GHz CPU, 128GB RAM, RTX 3090 (24GB), Samsung 960 Pro 4TB M-2 SSD, TB+ Disk space
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

Kelley thank you for the helpful input!

So you are saying that 2.0 produces good results with the help of the Axis smoothing tools. I was wondering if you could post an example or two with the results you get from your suit.

It puzzled me when you said there are a lot of sample clips out there, because I have been searching like a maniac and found next to zero results concerning iClone.

If you have the time and it's not too much trouble, any sample mocaped clip would be an immense help for me.

Thanks again!


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Phoenix  

This might be the real deciding factor for some. I refuse to do cleanup on fingers so was never gonna buy the gloved version of PN. However rewatch the video and you will see that the Iclone clips have finger movement. Especially the last shot which isn’t even cleaned yet. Gestures take seconds to use.

If for you, gestures take an enormous amount of time or you need very intricate finger movements like playing a piano or something, you’ll probably want gloves.

Doc, I think it boils down to your actors.  Because mine (well, my wife and I) are classically trained, we use expressiveness with the hands that absolutely cannot be boiled down to a "gesture" added afterwards.  Actors (again, folks who know what they are doing) use their hands at least as much as they use their faces, because that's a key to any performance.

But a person who isn't an actor?  They might not ever use their hands in such a manner and, yes, it would be overkill to even worry about it.  But there hasn't been any finger cleanup for me during my captures so far, so it's no trouble (perhaps those who don't have the magnetic case and who get the fingers magnetized have more issues).

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Alienware Aurora R12, Win 10, i9-119000KF, 3.5GHz CPU, 128GB RAM, RTX 3090 (24GB), Samsung 960 Pro 4TB M-2 SSD, TB+ Disk space
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

This is really cool to read, congratulations to you guys with a setup in place that works well.  Thank you DrN for providing a great review.
I might go this route too one day, but might wait for successive iterations.
The hands can be handled by Leap, even if it doesn't have gloves. 

In all I have been very impressed with these type videos.  Great job!

As KT pointed out, the magnetically shielded case is a must. Without it, you have to take out each of the 32 neurons after mocap and store them in small containers. Also when you want to use the suit, same thing. Gotta take all 32 neurons out of the containers and put them in the straps. Then put the straps on. Takes a long time. But if you get the antimag case, just leave the neurons in the straps when ur done. No probs.

KT’s description is better than anything I can say about first time putting on the suit. In videos online the PN fills out it in in no time. My first time I was so lost and had no idea what I was doing. Now... it’s minutes and I get it on and I’m mocaping. My gripe with the suit is the magnetic issues. Depending on your room, I’ll see a leg turn around and make crazy motions or a shoulder. So you’ll have to recalibrate. Also some of the motion isn’t all that fluid. It’s smooth but not fluid.

The vid in my signature was a 48hr film fest vid. Total time for mocap was less than 2hrs. I started at 2:30am and was done around d 4:10am IIRC. There’s zero cleanup on the mocap. There’s a character or two that has keyframed and stock anitmatuin clips that I split because I forgot to save the mocap but 90% if the film is raw mocap from the suit through the PN plugin (not motion live). You can see how stiff some of the movements are. The hands and fingers are a treat. But fingers are usually the first to mess up since you’re using them to control a mouse near a computer. You can see some weird finger shapes from everyone in the film. Again I didn’t clean up or redo any of the hand animation. Didn’t have any time. So what I got was what I got. There’s a lot of rocker “hook em horns” signed fingers. That wasn’t intentional.

For me the biggest drawback is the sensitivity to magnetism. But the speed and “close enough” animation is enough to make me stick with it. Especially after KT tried out the other mocap system based on VR hardware. I had high hopes for it! I was about to take the plunge into Xsens but those software costs after the suit are a hard pill to swallow. Dr. N may be making Noitom some money! Oh and I can vouch for good support. I’ve had several issues and they were always answered within a day or two.

My "NEWEST" Latest  Movie Made With Amaaaazing iClone


—> High Noon”ish” in Narrow Valley<—

NP, was fun.
Kungphu, have you done anything else with your suit since then?

Still no new pro videos on Youtube that I've seen. I might make this vid public.

Guys, I know that you are all preoccupied with your projects and I don't want to press anybody, but you should know that every tiny little video that you decide to post here is more helpful than you would think.

I hope you know that we appreciate your informing us, and I personally hope to see more videos of either 2.0 or Pro, as I am making up my mind on what to purchase.

Thank you very much!


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Phoenix  

Some more Pro footage in another WIP scene.
This is mostly to show hand animation done with poses (gestures). The hands took about 2 mins to do.


I'm also really happy with the mocap for this line.

Very, very nice mocap. And nice flowing finger action too.

May I ask how did you capture the facial expressions? Do you have faceware or did you use Face Puppet?

And also, lip synching was done in the traditional way, or via faceware?

Thank you Dr. Nemesis, you are helping me more than you know.


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Phoenix