Is anyone with CA4 Pipeline also using the products "360 Head Tools, 360 Face Tool, 360 Hair Tool" from the store?  
Are they useful?  Are they better than just using the CA4 Pipeline with the PSD templates to create custom characters?

Cheers

No one seems to be answering you and I wish I could give you a more solid one other than -- *I* don't see any reason to use them.

But...  I'm still struggling with rigging in CA4 anyway.  But here's one of the bottom lines -- if you look at, for example, Kai's videos, he never shows using those tools.  It's always "just replace this layer with another".  I'd love to see a video showing the advantages of using these tools (which I actually have).  The only ones I've found so far are either so short (literally seconds) and/or uncommented (so who knows what's going on?) and unhelpful.

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Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

Thanks for the reply.
That's what I was afraid of.  I would be interested in the  "360 Head Tools, 360 Face Tool, 360 Hair Tool" from the store, but I just don't see the advantagses of using it and different than just using the PSD templates that came with CA4 Pipeline.
That may explain why I am not getting more help or responses here.  It's probably not worth buying.

Hi Guys, 

I thinks the tools should have been included with Cartoon Animator 4 pipeline. These tools just keep adding costs to the software.   I was also looking at the price.  $100 USD  is a bit expensive for an add on product.

have a great week.

Agree. 

Hi all. I find this particular topic very interesting and timely. You see, I was of the same opinion as many of you about the 360 Head Tool, Face Tool and Hair Tool. I figured "Why do I need to buy something that is already included in the software?". But then I spoke to Warwick Hays, one of Reallusions top character developers. Warwick has been using these tools to develop his new character for his entry in to this years Animation @Woek competition and he showed me what the Tools can really do. Whilst Cartoon Animator provides you with the tools you need to create a 360 Head, the add on Tools help refine, simplify and offer diversity that can be set up much quicker than completing the whole prcoess manulally (which is the way Ive always done it). 

So to those who would suggest that the 360 Head Tools are an unecessary purchase, you are correct. You do not need them to create a 360 Head. But if you're serious about character creation and speeding up your work flow,, they are an invaluable tool. I will speak to Warwick Hays and see if i can get him to give some insight in to this for you. 

And to those who would suggest that $100 is too expensive for an add on, again, you dont NEED to buy it to do the job and get quality results. I think full credit to Reallusion for not simply adding these Tools in and increasing the software price. Theyre giving you choice. Buy it if you want it, or dont buy it if you dont need it.  

I think the problem is that they don’t have any video tutorials explaining how to take advantage of these tools and how is different than doing it the standard way.  Maybe a good webinar can demonstrate that it is worth the investment.  I still don’t understand how it can be that good. It seems like we still need to move all parts into The correct folders and position everything on the cross hairs to line up the eyes, mouth, etc just like using the pipeline templates. 

Ha! Very timely indeed! I am just now trying to work with the tools and came here for help.

I purchased the set a little while ago, and I've only had time to start using Cartoon Animator this weekend.

I had no problem following the tutorials on the product page to add a 360 head and using Pipeline creating a simple 360 head (lots of fun) but I can't fine where to access the actual tool they show in the tutorial. Same wihtteh 360 hair, I see the templates on my drive, but I can't find a way to access it from inside Cartoon Animator. I'm not sure if I've installed everything correctly or not.

I'm using it on a Mac; if anyone can point to a a tutorial on actually accessing the tools, or even a menu sequence, that would be appreciated.

An excellent idea. I will make some suggestions that a dedicated video for the 360 Head Tool might be in need. No promises, but we'll see what we can do. I think you'll find Warwick Hays will be quite a big help when he gets in here too. 

Thank Gary.
What do you think?  Are the 360 Head Tools really that good?  A lot better than the pipeline templates?