I have skinned it using a 3dMax Biped rigg.

the exporter keeps crashing,

the mesh exports OK on its own but Max crashes when I load the biped.

Some very interesting points you make. Thanks for sharing them with us.

You are right that the conversion from Biped to Bones is not perfect but with a simple bone layout it is quicker to adjust the converted bones than to start from scratch. It could be better but it is a reasonable workaround for now at least I find.

The posibility of releasing a iClone Studio Pro with FBX was discussed but in the end it was decided against releasing it at this time. I don't know of any changes to this at present sadly.

Now when you say that Reallusion should not hold back on its secrets I have to say I really don't think there are many secrets being held back. The main reason that there are not that more developers out there creating completely new animated characters is simply because at present 3DS Max is required to do so.

As I'm sure you know Max is a very expensive program which puts it out of reach of most of the iClone userbase we have. If more people had the tools there would be more activity in that side of development for sure.

The second obstacle is the knowledge factor. 3DS MAX is a complex program that requires quite a high level of experience to fully understand how to model and rig a character with the RL bone system. The tools are there. The plugin, the Max templates which contains the RL bones. Everything you need is there to get started but it is a steep learning curve for many.

What in particular would you like to see that would help you increase your creativity? Reallusion is always willing to hear the views of its developers so anything you can add would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Pete

Thanks for the further feedback. Really the only reason 3DS Max was the original developer tool is because this was the software used in the creation of iClone. So in an effort to make tools available to outside developers the plugin and templates were made available. It would be great to see plugins for other programs and this is under constant review.

As iClone has progressed so has the need for an easier (and cheaper) way for users to create their own content and so 3DXchange was born. This has solved the custom props, accessories and 3D scenes problem but characters remain a sticking point.

Without 3DS Max (or Maya) it is still very difficult to create 100% original shaped characters, animals etc and so this is an area that is certainly due improvement.

When iClone 3.0 is released we will see big advances in the character creation area within iClone itself and although few details are available on any new development tools I think we can expect to see character creation made easier and customizable for all real soon.

Thanks again for the fantastic feedback. :cool:

Pete

Thanks for your post and questions about developing new characters for iClone. I'll try and answer based on my personal experience of using Max with iClone.

1.. The latest plugins work very well. As long as you use the right plugin for your version of Max then you should have few problems as far as exporting goes. If you base your work using the male or female templates you will have a good head start on the process and as long as you maintain the correct connection points (waist, neck, ankles etc) you can create any body shape you like.

As long as you keep an eye on the poly count you can create freely. Because iClone is a real time film maker you have to keep the count reasonable to maintain fluidity. For example G1 figures are around 15,000 polys, G2 20,000 and G2 + CloneCloth at 35,000 polys. Going higher may cause problems on slower systems so this is something to keep a check on.

2.. Custom faces are handled by iClone and not 3DS Max so it is only the body that you export from Max. You can make a non-standard figure with its own head but the parts are not interchangeable with other characters this way.

Crazytalk creates scripts that contain speech and facial animation that can be opened in iClone and immediately applied to any iClone character. You can't open iClone heads in Crazytalk or vice versa. It is just the scripts that are interchangeable not the geometry.

(Note: iClone 2.5 is only compatible with Crazytalk 4.6. iClone 3.0 will be compatible with Crazytalk 5)

3.. I don't know who you mean by iClone stuff? Sorry if I misunderstand you there.

I can say that you will be offered an upgrade discount to iClone 3.0 if you purchase iClone 2.5 now. What the discount will be I can't say at the moment as plans are still ongoing for iClone 3.0 but Reallusion have always offered very good discounts to its customers when upgrading so I expect it to be the same this time.

I hope this answers your questions. Get back to me if you need to know more. :)

Pete

Thank you !

Some concerns yet:

1- it´s OK for me . I´m usualy to administrate polycount in my characters and scenes.To be honest I think 35K polys more than enough for me.

2 - I know I can´t import 3d meshes in CrazyTalk... Let me try explain better:

a ) if I sculpt a new head inside max,with a diferent topology ( geometry ),export like a standard character to iClone, snapshot the face  image, place in Crazytalk, mark the mouth,eyes,etc, export the script to iClone.My head is able to talk and use voice audios?

b ) if I sculpt a  head inside max ( or export obj to ZBrush to sculpt and  bring back to max the 1st level ),using the same G1 G2 topology ( geometry ) ,export like a standard character to iClone, snapshot the face, place in Crazytalk, mark the mouth,eyes,etc, export the script to iClone.My head is able to talk and use voice audios?

I send the emails to iClone emails found at the website link " contact us ".
No answer till now.
Thank you very much for your fast answer !

best
Alemar

Thanks for explaining a bit more about your ideas. With regards to your questions.

Both the methods you mention will work but there are some things worth noting. You use a facial image to create your face in both iClone and Crazytalk. This facial image is not part of the scripts created in Crazytalk so doesn't transfer when you open a script in iClone. You will still need to create a custom head first in iClone with the facial image. So simply put, if you create a talking head in Crazytalk and wish to transfer this to iClone then you will need to use both the facial image and the script to reproduce the character in iClone.

If you create a custom head in 3DS Max then you might as well take the "snapshot" while still in Max and use this image to create your custom head in both iClone and Crazytalk. Bringing the head into iClone just to take a "snapshot" would be an unnecessary step.

To make things a little easier, Crazytalk 5 is able to save a special type of Jpeg called an RL Image which contains the fitting point data so that when opened in iClone the fitting points are maintained and the process is much quicker to complete.

I hope this answers your questions but don't hesitate to reply if there is more you need to know. We'll get there in the end. :w00t:

Also there are often problems when using the Reallusion emails for contact so yours may not have got through correctly. It is always best to use the Support form to make contact. You can find the support form from the link below. Apologies for the inconvenience.

http://www.reallusion.com/CustomerSupport/User/QForm.aspx

The Facial reconigtion is what attracted me to Reallusion.

Well done everyone.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jN9Y2nZcuHg

If you already have experience with 3DS Max you are half way there already I'm pleased to say.

Simply go the Developer Center and login. (If you have registered your software you can use your Premium Members username and password for this)

http://developer.reallusion.com/default.aspx

Go to the Download section and download the appropriate 3DS Max Plugin for your version and the Max Templates.

Install the plugin (instructions included in the zip) and load up the G1 model you want to base your work on. There is a male and female template as well as a dummy model with just the bones if you want to create your character from scratch.

Now you are ready to go, but before you do I would strongly advise you to read some of the tutorials in the developer center to get an understanding of the work pipeline required for Reallusion characters.

You should at least take a look at the guide "Creating Characters For iClone" which goes through the processes one by one. Also worth a look are the video tutorials done for us by Max expert Chris Murray. These are excellent.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions. :)