@logicalwarrior @animagic
As requested, Gretchen Pinhead is now available as a CC3 DHS avatar!

Get her here
She goes nicely with animagic's CC3 Pinhead DHS

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iClone Certified Content Developer and Author of the Pinky Frink® Adventure Series & the Pinky Frink® Learning Books
site: Granny J's 3D Attic SKYPE = grannyjsplace email: grannyj@grannyjs3dattic.com
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Hello Alley!! :)

Thank you so much for posting! Well, as you can see, I am the creator of this thread, and yes, I most certainly would LOVE the idea, as that was the reason behind my starting this in the first place! I am grateful that GrannyJ reached out to you, which led you to this posting ( thank you my friend, GrannyJ!), so you can see that he (Pinhead) is greatly admired and highly regarded! :)

It wasn't so much that I wanted to try it. It was just that I was so intrigued by the projects that I did see on him, which made me thirst for more. Then, when I came across your last posting in regards to the comeback, but then never saw anything else about it after 2014-2015 (https://forum.reallusion.com/Topic174029.aspx), I just wondered what had happened to him and this comeback? So, with my being such a HUGE fan of the Franchise, I figured well, if this is what it would take to bring him back alive, then so be it...I'll take a stab at it. :) I'm glad that it sparked the interest of the Reallusion Community, which led to you coming out of the cave and resurfacing for feedback on actually contemplating a for sure comeback of the old famous Walter Pinhead! :P

I actually appreciate understanding the full, in-depth history of Walter Pinhead, and where he originated from (mad respect for your Husband... :) ). Now, I am truly hoping that there is a for sure comeback for him, from the original creators, in order to display Pinhead in the way that it was originally intended. :P 

Please, let's get him back up and running! Everyone post your votes....Wal-ter!! Wal-ter!! Wal-ter!! Wal-ter!! :P


LW

Hello people - it's Alley.  Sorry, this is going to be a long post.

I'm usually so busy working the stores backends that I rarely read the forum anymore and thankfully GrannyJ directed me to this thread.

For those that don't know, PInhead was originally drawn as a 2D character by my husband "Walter".  Which is why his first name is Walter.  He was created for my friends on the Pinnacle Studio Video Forum - a bunch of people all over the world who decided they would like to do a group video project.  There was much discussion on what the actual project would be and decided we would each do a little video about where were were from.  But we needed something to tie everything together - a common element.  We discussed including a Garden Gnome or something like that but someone brought up the Flat Stanley project - in any case, we decided to create a cartoon character and my hubby drew it for us.  So people could either make actual cutouts of Pinhead and include them in their video, or they could use him as an overlay participating in some way.  The winner would be able to do the final edit stitching all the movies together.  The movies were not posted on youtube - they were embedded on our website and Longcross created the website, which is no longer active.  I believe I still have all the videos somewhere - I know as I live near Toronto, we took the kids to the CN Tower, along with our Pinhead cutouts, and Pinhead travelled with us for the day.  I must admit, people looked at us funny with these silly cutouts but we had a lot of fun - my kids were in elementary school at the time.  As they are now 24 and 23, it tells you PInhead has been around for some time.

One of the original members had a copy of Crazy Talk and he gave me the software as he didn't use it.  We were able to give Pinhead a voice (Australian Lee) and how exciting that Pinhead could actually communicate with his fans.  We started a series of 2D contests on various themes and I would source prizes - the committee were all members of the PInnacle forum.  Brian from California, Kayla from Minnesota, Paul from Pennsylvania, Joe from Chicago and early on Gerry from Germany (originally Ireland).   But...people move on - and Crazy Talk led me to iClone and I was hooked!

And so, the PInhead projects started to accept 3D entries, as well as 2D.    Joe, myself, Gerry and Brian became the committee from here on.  Only Gerry and I actually use iClone.  Brian and Joe briefly dabbled in earlier versions.  I was the lead on the committee, so I would manage the website once we let the original one go, do the story animation openings with assistance from Gerry, source prizes, set the ground rules and prepare the final awards ceremony after a community vote decided who the winners would be.  It was extremely time consuming and there was some internal disagreements about how things should be so I walked away.  But, I have always thought we would resurrect the projects after a hiatus.

The focus of these projects, while technical achievement was always important, was mostly on story.  We wanted Pinhead to be a tool for new users to help them learn to animate.  Essentially give people a reason to make a video story.  So the winners were not always the most technically advances users, a video with some mistakes, but a good story, would potentially win over the technically perfect video with weak story.  Prizes were awarded by Committe vote and the "Golden Pinhead Awards" were based by a vote of participants.

Pinhead was originally created as a "Tech Support" kind of guy who worked at Pinnacle.  He was a bit of a looser in life, but somehow always came out a winner.  He is naive, clumsey but completely loveable.  He is not particularly handsome, has bad hair, a pasty complexion, a bit of a ponch - you can see from Gerry's post the evolution of his character.  He falls into situations quite innocently and despite the predicaments, he always seems to stumble through a winner at the end.  As Viking says, at times he is portrayed a little different in videos and we sort of bite our lips hoping that everyone will understand the essence of his character and his history.  I could go on an on but enough for now.

The group did have an idea for a 10 year anniversary project.  It never materialized but I have always thought we would do it eventually if there was enough interest.  I think the idea might have been a suggestion by Viking if I am not mistaken.  Whether we would move forward would depend on how people feel and whether the committee is even interested or not.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts.  Maybe people would rather just stick to doing a video starring Pinhead when they feel like it - that's fine but try to remember who he is.  As Viking said, he is a very dear character to a lot of us who have been with him from Day 1.   

Alley

Thank you so much for you highly regarded insight on the character of Walter Pinhead. It is with great intent for me to keep him as original as I can. This is why I have asked many questions in regards to him from different ones on here, as you can see from previous posts, in order to get a great understanding of good old Walt! Again, I'm not sure if you read the beginning, but I'm a HUGE fan of him, and I actually missed videos of him, being why I brought it back up after so many years. 

I will do my best to keep his authenticity pure and  true. (Gosh, I feel like I'm being sworn into to Secret Society like old College days...LOL) :P it's all good. Let's make it happen, Captain! :)

 Okay, now I'm really hyped! Wow, he looks awesome in his up-to-date look! Oh yeah, this is going to be amazing. I'm downloading him as we speak! :)

Sorry, been back and forth taking care of my mother. She has an accident at the start of the year, so I've been her care taker for the most part. 

You're right, especially after watching almost all, if not all, of the Walter Pinhead movies that I could find on Youtube and Vimeo for research and Development. :) I'm starting to get a really good handle on what direction to go in with this. I'm actually very excited to even be able to be apart of the Franchise!  :P

Thank you for the kind words regarding the updated Pinhead. I am a little worried that those that don't have the Essential Morphs and the Head Shot plugin will get a watermark. I made sure to bake all morphs, but that doesn't seem to care of it.

That said, the Essential Morphs and the Head Shot plugin are certainly worth it if you are serious about CC and iClone. And Pinhead is still FREE!

Speaking of Head Shot, I tried a Head Shot version from a render of the head of the previous Pinhead version, but that didn't look right. So this is a conversion of that previous version with further tweaks of his head. Since we can now sculpt within CC, I could smooth out some anomalies. I also gave him new hair (based on the auto hair of another character), which renders a bit better. However, I do supply the classic Pinhead hair if you prefer that.

As to Pinhead's character, he seems a little naughty sometimes (as in the video I posted), but then again, he may have been completely innocent. I like a bit of ambiguity. I would also add that he is brave when needed, and that you can count on him. If you are new to Pinhead, watch some of the old videos. I don't think there is currently a website that points to them, so it will be a bit of a search.

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Also as one of those who started with Pinhead in project 1 on the Pinnacle Forum, and who later ended up on the "Committee", I would like to echo the comments made by Justaviking regarding treating the character with respect.

That being said I am also looking forward to any new videos staring Pinhead.

@animagic - many thanks from me also for the updated Pinhead character.


Gerry

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@Job - Thanks for the updated Pinhead avatar.  Looks great!

@Pinhead-Newbies - About his voice and other things...

I have often thought Pinhead's "computer" voice was part of his charm and personality, even when the other characters were done by real people.  However, it's not a requirement, and I've done human-voiced Pinhead videos too.

Mostly, as one of the original Pinhead participants, I feel protective of HIS CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY.  He is much more than an avatar.  He has been in some dramatic videos, a few more serious than others, but first and foremost he's a good guy.  Originally, and in most of his videos, he is somewhat bumbling and inept, but he is pure of heart and almost always wins in the end.  He is not foul-mouthed or mean or nasty.  It was odd the first time he was in a "dramatic" video, but he was still "Pinhead."

Perhaps a real-life actor that's close to Pinhead is Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy).
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stan+laurel

I believe I speak on behalf of all his long-time fans when I implore all filmmakers to respect who he is and keep his core personality and character traits intact
I realize that all characters need to grow and expand to some degree, but I believe I speak on behalf of all his long-time fans when I implore all filmmakers to respect who he is and keep his core personality and character traits intact.

I look forward to seeing new Pinhead videos.  :)

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Walter P. never looked better Job!!!:)



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