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By abdul305brand - 6 Years Ago
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Here is a detailed video on how I capture any talking head or manually recorded face video that can be used inside Iclone via the LiveFace plugin. This is a follow-up video to what @Kelleytoons mentioned for live capture. This was done using the Iphone 11 Pro. Enjoy...
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By abdul305brand - 6 Years Ago
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When using the phone arms, make sure you allow the arms to stop shaking before capture.
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By StyleMarshal - 6 Years Ago
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that's crazy , I didn't know that this is possible , thank you for sharing :-)
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By Rampa - 6 Years Ago
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Well that is a whole new game of telephone! ;)
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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And it doesn't have to be your phone, you can use a monitor, a television, another computer, anything that can display video can act as your source (even iClone itself -- put the video in the background and hide the avatar you're syncing).
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Nice!
So you need Iphone 10 or higher right?
The plugin cost?
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Good stuff, technology today can achieve amazing things:-)
What do you mean with "put video in the background" which video do you refer to from what source? I didn't quite catch that hehe...
Kelleytoons (3/31/2020)
And it doesn't have to be your phone, you can use a monitor, a television, another computer, anything that can display video can act as your source (even iClone itself -- put the video in the background and hide the avatar you're syncing).
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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You need an iPhone with the 3D camera -- cheapest right now is the iPhone XR (doesn't have to have service). The iPad Pro also has the camera.
What I mean by video is you could use iClone and just drag and drop your video into the background and use that to capture the face. I might demo that in another tutorial (I already have a tutorial out that uses just another monitor as I have my dual monitor setup).
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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So, import an existing video clip into iClone, then us iPhone with Live Face Plugin to capture the face and then to see the Character loaded inside iClone doing face animations and capture that again?
Kelleytoons (3/31/2020)
You need an iPhone with the 3D camera -- cheapest right now is the iPhone XR (doesn't have to have service). The iPad Pro also has the camera.
What I mean by video is you could use iClone and just drag and drop your video into the background and use that to capture the face. I might demo that in another tutorial (I already have a tutorial out that uses just another monitor as I have my dual monitor setup).
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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Yeah (I'm a bit drunk right now but I think you have it).
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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:D;)
Always a perfect time for a pint, I stopped drinking in my early 20s though, my brain got to messed up, and I had to focus, straighten up because of my ambitions in chess and football;)
I am now trying to animate ascend and descend the stairs with Zane in the loft scene. Quite messy to handle...
ToyStoryLabs open a challenge thread after my original thread of how to do this. It seems like many people also RL has joined this and also agreed this is a hazzle.
Maybe you could also shed some light on this?:cool:
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By abdul305brand - 6 Years Ago
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Teamwork makes the dream work...
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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So, import an existing video clip into iClone, then us iPhone with Live Face Plugin to capture the face and then to see the Character loaded inside iClone doing face animations and capture that again?
It seems to work pretty good full screen on a separate monitor. Just placing the iPhone in a cradle and let the video run full screen.
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi Dan Miller.
So, it seems like using your iPhone 10 or higher with Faceware capturing video from any source seems to work, no?
I wish I had an iPhone right now with the corona situation in the world, one should be careful with using too much money, suddenly you have no job, no income, no nothing.
Hope everyone is well and take care:-)
danmiller (4/1/2020)
So, import an existing video clip into iClone, then us iPhone with Live Face Plugin to capture the face and then to see the Character loaded inside iClone doing face animations and capture that again?
It seems to work pretty good full screen on a separate monitor. Just placing the iPhone in a cradle and let the video run full screen.
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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AlbinosGambit (4/1/2020)
:D;)
Always a perfect time for a pint, I stopped drinking in my early 20s though, my brain got to messed up, and I had to focus, straighten up because of my ambitions in chess and football;)
I am now trying to animate ascend and descend the stairs with Zane in the loft scene. Quite messy to handle...
ToyStoryLabs open a challenge thread after my original thread of how to do this. It seems like many people also RL has joined this and also agreed this is a hazzle.
Maybe you could also shed some light on this?:cool:
Walking an iClone character downstairs would be a challenge for anyone. For me, I'd just resort to mocap (which is kind of my answer to any such problem). I'd have to find stairs myself to do this with, but I think I could rig something in my garage to get the appropriate loop cycle.
This does highlight a big problem with iClone which specializes in people animation -- the inability to just have footsteps for characters to follow. I used to do stairs in Max, for example, and they were a piece of cake (so were making complex dance steps -- you just laid out the footsteps). I wish iClone had a similar function and perhaps 8 will indeed introduce something like that.
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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AlbinosGambit (4/1/2020)
Hi Dan Miller. So, it seems like using your iPhone 10 or higher with Faceware capturing video from any source seems to work, no? I wish I had an iPhone right now with the corona situation in the world, one should be careful with using too much money, suddenly you have no job, no income, no nothing. Hope everyone is well and take care:-) danmiller (4/1/2020)
So, import an existing video clip into iClone, then us iPhone with Live Face Plugin to capture the face and then to see the Character loaded inside iClone doing face animations and capture that again?
It seems to work pretty good full screen on a separate monitor. Just placing the iPhone in a cradle and let the video run full screen.
Hi Albin,
I tried iPhone X with Live Face from PC monitor and from my iPad. It does seem to work pretty good. I haven't started into animation yet, just dabbled here and there for testing, so I won't do much with it at this time. Down the road when I get invested in learning animation then I'm sure it will be helpful. By then it will likely be iClone 8. For me everything ends up in Unity so I'm not convinced iClone is my best solution. I spent a few hours in Blender, MayaLT, and Maya. I really like Maya but the price tag doesn't fit too well right now.
I hear you regarding loss of income. I lost my job 5 times and went into the hospital a few times in between to get a little work done on the heart. It doesn't take much to end up in financial trouble. I'm developing a plan now to begin other streams of income in addition to my job. It seems like you have good energy towards learning animation which is great. What are your plans with it?
Dan
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi.
Good point that iClone, in fact, has a huge problem in my eyes as well, I really didn't understand why it should be so difficult to animate a person walking up and down some stairs... If it was so easy in other older software like 3D Studio Max, why can't we make people's lives easier and implement the same feature into iClone as well?? I really hope RL would make this big change included in future updates of iClone very very soon. A Mocap solution is well and dandy, but not everyone could afford this solution.
So to animate walking up and down the stairs with a Mocap suit you have to find some stairs and to capture it somehow? How easy is this to do in practice when the Mocap suit has cables? or is the 1500 USD mocap cable free?
How is it possible to combine a full-body Mocap suit for full body animations together with full facial animations at the same time? Equipment needed?
BIG THANX again for your insights Kelleytoons.
Kelleytoons (4/1/2020)
AlbinosGambit (4/1/2020)
:D;)
Always a perfect time for a pint, I stopped drinking in my early 20s though, my brain got to messed up, and I had to focus, straighten up because of my ambitions in chess and football;)
I am now trying to animate ascend and descend the stairs with Zane in the loft scene. Quite messy to handle...
ToyStoryLabs open a challenge thread after my original thread of how to do this. It seems like many people also RL has joined this and also agreed this is a hazzle.
Maybe you could also shed some light on this?:cool:
Walking an iClone character downstairs would be a challenge for anyone. For me, I'd just resort to mocap (which is kind of my answer to any such problem). I'd have to find stairs myself to do this with, but I think I could rig something in my garage to get the appropriate loop cycle. This does highlight a big problem with iClone which specializes in people animation -- the inability to just have footsteps for characters to follow. I used to do stairs in Max, for example, and they were a piece of cake (so were making complex dance steps -- you just laid out the footsteps). I wish iClone had a similar function and perhaps 8 will indeed introduce something like that.
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By animagic - 6 Years Ago
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There have been long-time requests to improve the locomotion system for iClone, as it certainly needs an overhaul. Some of us still want to make movies with iClone...:unsure:
@Kelley: I learned animation using 3D Studio Max 2.5, and I really liked the idea of placing the feet for footsteps.
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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Thanks, then -- I had quite a bit to do with the footstep system in Max (I was a LONG time Max person, from back when it was 3D Studio in DOS, and did some development work for them).
That said, I did get the stairs things with the right tools:
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi Dan.
Nice to hear back from you.
Seems like many other people got decent results with iPhone and Faceware, but I have no idea how it really works without testing myself. I hope someone could post a test video of the results they get.
I am so sorry to hear about your job situation, it's really a difficult situation for the whole world, but also it brings out the best in people. I hear many positive things in the news also, people are forced to use their creativity, which we humans are very good at. I am sure the situation will last for a while, so we all should come together and support one another as best we can. I really hope your heart condition is not too serious and wish you well!
I also invested in the Xbox Kinect Mocap plugin using the Xbox camera for full-body animation, but I have not tested it out yet, so I am not sure it will produce any good results but may help me in some way. It's kind of old tech already and I hear not too many positive praises about it though, we will see. Have you experimented with this?
I, also dabbled much back and forth what software could be best, but decided to buy Reallusion´s software and give it a try, because the results seemed very good and it seemed very easy to learn. So far I have to say its far from easy. iClone has many good things but also has its flaws and quirks. Yesterday I published a topic of how to animate walking down and up the stairs and asked how to do it, because of lacking tutorials on the subject. It seems like this is quite messy and difficult to do, he he. Even the more distinguished members and RL team also have found that hard to accomplish. In 3D Studio max KelleyToons said this was a piece of cake compared to iClone, so I really hope RL Team will fix this and many other problems to make animation more easy and fun! I do not want to invest in a Mocap Suit because this is really expensive and KelleyToons says that this is the only real solution right now.
I also have spent many hours on Blender, Unreal, and Unity, also finished many online beginners courses on Udemy and Skillshare, knowledge is always useful no matter what software you use, it will always come in handy! Yes, thank you for saying I have a lot of energy towards animation. I have always been fascinated with this and always dreamt of someday make my own "ToyStory" movie. The animation is definitively something I want to master someday, because I wanted to use it with my Chess Video Tutorials, to start making intros or short movies to explain my creation of digital chess courses. I work as an amateur chess author on the side because chess has always been my great passion from a very young age. So with this hobby project on the side, I figured why not to start learning animation and decided to buy iClone! In the chess world, I have always had patience sitting still for up to 7-9 hours using my brain to play the best to my ability, maybe that's why I have the energy to take on new skills and learn them well. I hope I can achieve this one day and with such a great community anything is possible!
Unreal is so far the best animation software for my taste. It is free and has a great collaboration with Quixel Megascans to create some really stunning realistic animations! I really hoped that iClone could be my answer to animation, we will see, maybe, maybe not. iClone seems to have a long way to go. I also hoped that Reallusion would have partnered up with Unreal, Unity in someway to take advantage of on another. There is a plugin link to use Unreal and iClone together, but I am not sure how that works? Also the price tag for this plugin is really steep...
The world of animation is not easy! Also not easy to know what software would be a perfect fit.
We have to keep working and discover what mysteries lie behind each software to find out what suits us the best.
Thanks for listening to me Dan.
danmiller (4/1/2020)
AlbinosGambit (4/1/2020)
Hi Dan Miller. So, it seems like using your iPhone 10 or higher with Faceware capturing video from any source seems to work, no? I wish I had an iPhone right now with the corona situation in the world, one should be careful with using too much money, suddenly you have no job, no income, no nothing. Hope everyone is well and take care:-) danmiller (4/1/2020)
So, import an existing video clip into iClone, then us iPhone with Live Face Plugin to capture the face and then to see the Character loaded inside iClone doing face animations and capture that again?
It seems to work pretty good full screen on a separate monitor. Just placing the iPhone in a cradle and let the video run full screen. Hi Albin,
I tried iPhone X with Live Face from PC monitor and from my iPad. It does seem to work pretty good. I haven't started into animation yet, just dabbled here and there for testing, so I won't do much with it at this time. Down the road when I get invested in learning animation then I'm sure it will be helpful. By then it will likely be iClone 8. For me everything ends up in Unity so I'm not convinced iClone is my best solution. I spent a few hours in Blender, MayaLT, and Maya. I really like Maya but the price tag doesn't fit too well right now.
I hear you regarding loss of income. I lost my job 5 times and went into the hospital a few times in between to get a little work done on the heart. It doesn't take much to end up in financial trouble. I'm developing a plan now to begin other streams of income in addition to my job. It seems like you have good energy towards learning animation which is great. What are your plans with it?
Dan
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi Animagic.
I agree that iClone needs some huge improvement to make animations easy and fun for people. I also want to really make movies and films with Reallusion software, after all, many good things to say about it!
placing the feet for footsteps sound like a great idea from 3D Studio Max, hope it will be implemented something similar in iClone
animagic (4/1/2020)
There have been long-time requests to improve the locomotion system for iClone, as it certainly needs an overhaul. Some of us still want to make movies with iClone...:unsure:
@Kelley: I learned animation using 3D Studio Max 2.5, and I really liked the idea of placing the feet for footsteps.
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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AlbinosGambit
Hey Albin, No worries with the job and heart thing, all of that is behind me now. I’m gainfully employed and after I give my employer 55 hrs, then the rest of the week is mine. I might have some extra time this weekend to post a test video with iPhone and Live Face results. I haven’t experimented with the Xbox Kinect. It will be interesting to hear what you discover with it. I know the mocap suit is on the spendy side. I was considering using Motion Library from Rokoko but their app, which is integrated into Unity, seems to have some issues. It seems like it could be an inexpensive way to get studio mocap, all recorded with the expensive mocap suits and actors, into the project(s). Yes, I’ve been following the ‘walking down and up stairs’. It is an interesting topic and nice to see different strategies to solve the problem. I have not tried to tackle that before but I was thinking maybe I would find some time and experiment. My solution would be different because I’m using a game engine. It sounds like we have similar goals. You want to make a Toy Story movie and I want to make feature length animated movies. The only way that I see this happening is by finding ways to monetize along the way, get a few passive income streams so I can lose the full-time job, and then gradually build a studio. One must be willing to play the long game. Regarding Unreal, I went over there and put in a few hours with it. The plugin, Live Link, is free now. My experience with it was bad. It crashed the engine every time I tried to use it. They are supposed to be doing an update in a few months. Megascans was the other reason why I seriously considered going to Unreal. But hey, what can I say, I like Unity. I will be starting a blog soon. You are welcome to make a guest post if you like. I think it would be particularly interesting if you wrote something about the stairs problem and what solution you went with in the end. I think it was Mike Kelley that talked about just animating the parts you need for your shots. I am paraphrasing but it was something to that effect. It took me awhile to discover that. In the beginning I was thinking the entire story would be one full, flawless, animation. LOL, not too realistic.
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi Dan.
Nice to hear back from you!
A test video of iPhone and Faceware would be indeed interesting to see. So, you obviously need an iPhone 10 or higher, but what else? Total cost for all the other stuff except the iPhone?
In time I will try out the Xbox Kinect Mocap and I can let you know and make a demo video of some animation. I really hope this could be an additional asset for my animations to help my life to become easier.
When you mention Rokoko Motion Library, you mean to just buy ready motions from their website below for usage in Unity only, or are those motions also possible to use in iClone?
https://www.motionlibrary.com/
The "walking down and up stairs" forum thread spiked many interesting ideas, tips, tricks from all over the place. I didn't expect this kind of response and discussion at all, but glad to see so many people participating to try help one another:-) You say your solution would be different because you use Unity. What do you mean by that? You don't use iClone at all, you make animations in Unity and import into iClone again or?
Unreal got my attention when I discovered Quixel Megascans as well, I have spent some time there but not enough to really know if that's the way to go. Same thing with Unity as well, and attended some basic courses with Udemy, just to see which software would be the right fit. But for now, I am focused on using only iClone since I already invested the money, I want to learn it inside and out before I move on to trying other software. I may combine the learning though:-)
Nice to hear we have similar goals with the animation! If one is going to be serious about making an animation film, then sacrifices have to be made somewhere, that's for sure. So getting some passive income sounds nice to lose a full-time job. What kind of passive income do you have in mind? For me, it would be to continue to make digital chess courses, because this is one of my many big passions in life, and Chess I know! So, spend a month or 2 to make a steady income for a year making several chess courses is my plan. Then I can spend some money to invest in the equipment I need and spend spare time on animation learning. I hope ha ha... Or I have to combine everything, and spend sleepless nights and sacrifice other things to achieve my dreams. One way or the other I am going to make it!
The plugin, Live Link is free? For iClone?
Starting a blog sounds interesting! About animation right? I would gladly make some post on it for sure, but I have to warn you I am not sure I will manage to animate the walking down or up the stairs. I do not have enough skin in the game yet, but I will definitively do my best to learn everything I can in the shortest amount of time! You can say I have maybe spent maybe 15-25 hours on this software, but only watching tutorials, learning from forums, but not made any animations yet, just dabbling and testing from the basic tutorials and some webinars. Just to get the feel of the UI and how the software works, the basic stuff. If I feel I have come far enough and have built up enough knowledge and confidence, I would love to write a piece of my story in your blog or better yet make a video.
True that Mike Kelley that talked about just animating the parts you need for your shots , and it hit me like a streak of lightning! It is so true what he said, for the most part, you really don't need to see full animations and mostly people fake it if you can't make, not because they can't do it though. The most important is to get your story told in some way or another.
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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AlbinosGambit
A test video of iPhone and Faceware would be…
Hi Albin,
An iPhone X or higher, plus Motion LIVE Plug-in for iClone, plus LIVE FACE Profile for Motion LIVE Plugin. You would have to price it; I haven’t looked in quite a while. Yeah, I look forward to seeing your results with Xbox Kinect.
Rokoko ML is a Unity plugin. When I inquired, they did say I could purchase through the Unity plugin, then import those animations into iClone, add any other animations while in iClone, and then back to Unity. It is within their licensing. I would have to revisit a RL video on just how to do that because its been awhile. Likely it would be through 3DXchange. Rokoko does claim that the animations are AAA quality. If you don’t find what you’re looking for then they will create custom animations. They didn’t mention the cost for that. They might just do the custom animation, charge normal price, and place the custom into the Library. It seems like a cheaper solution than buying the expensive mocap equipment.
It is good to see a collaborative effort on ‘walking down and up stairs’. Yes, my approach would likely be a little different with Unity. But keep in mind I am a beginner and I have never tackled it before. My thinking is to get the animation(s) into Unity. By that I mean it could even be the Mixamo one, or something created without worrying if it aligns with the stairs. Then in Unity, it seems like the foot placement and smoothing could possibly be handled with a script and IK. Even if I am correct, that presents a new problem. How to write it? Since I don’t have this answer, I would look for one, or seek someone out that could write one for me. Then I would be able to learn from the script so I can solve the problem on my own next time. But again, this is a beginner perspective and I might be way off base. If I am wrong, then there is learning in that too. To answer your other related question, I haven’t been working with animation, just dabbling here and there. So I don’t have any real workflow. The intent is to do iClone -> Unity.
I think your plan to focus on iClone only is a good one. iClone is very capable all on its own. And you will be making movies way before I get there :) Sometimes I consider using iClone only because it would be a much easier workflow. I’m just set on learning a game engine. Your plan to make digital chess courses sounds great. I’m still considering the strategy for passive income. I will likely do something like: 1. Build a subscriber list. 2. Affiliate Marketing. 3. Sponsors. And then later on, products. However, it is still a little early in the game for me to know just how I will go with it. But the content is all Animated Filmmaking centric.
They made the plugin Live Link free. Or it might be you have to purchase some minimum product amount then free. Not exactly sure. Yes, the blog is specifically about animated filmmaking. I don’t really know a thing about it but that’s the whole point. It documents my journey from beginner to someone who can make an animated film, while helping others along the way. I’m probably not the only one somewhat bewildered in the beginning thinking where do I start?
Glad to hear you’re interested in a guest post. Don’t worry at all about having enough knowledge or skill. It’s just all about sharing what you learn for the skill level you’re at today. I might post for a few years and look back on it saying to myself, wow, you didn’t know what you’re talking about. LOL, that’s quite alright. Taking action and learning from others is most important. Yes, if you want to make a video that’s great. That is also my plan for many of the posts is to also make a related video.
Yep, I agree, just animate the parts needed. That is why I’m not worried about learning animation right now. Just dabbling. Because there is so much more to do before the animation in pre-production, that learning to animate is in the future for me. Learning to be a story teller and getting those ideas into something tangible like a book, a script, a shot list, etc. At first I was interested in creating stories around ‘The Silmarillion’. But when I visited with Middle Earth Enterprises, they were kind but also very clear that Peter Jackson has the option on that too, and no other production company can create film(s) from the book. Now it actually seems like a better idea to create my own stories and scripts. With the help of a creative writer of course :)
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi.
plus LIVE FACE Profile for Motion LIVE Plugin
What is that? Is that also for iClone?
Rokoko ML is a Unity plugin
I see, so the plugin is free but how and where do you buy the motions, they say they are the largest mocap library, I couldn't see any motions for purchase.
Import their animations into iClone and then back to unity? Then you will need a 3DXchange pipeline or else it will not allow exporting right?
By the way, the mixamo descend stairs motion is not working, as discussed in our topic at the forums animating and walking down the stairs. The ascend motion work, but needs further editing because of the stairs in the loft scene are not geometrically correct made.
Yes, me too, just starting out and dabbling a bit with the software. So not done any real animations. Got some good advice though from a potential teacher that do private lessons in iClone Benjamin Tuttle. He told me that the way he learned and I quote:
"Learning from scratch, basically when I started with version four, all I did was basically mess around and make something. I took advice from a filmmaker who created a giant post detailing everything wrong with it and how to correct it. I applied what he said to a project which took six months to make. I looked at what common errors people make when it comes to iClone productions. For example, most of them at the time never used an idle animation or they never filmed from the waist up when a character was walking, so you saw the feet slide. There is always continuous improvement with each project, so that is something to consider."
So, I will be taking his advice, several people have told me similar things, so I believe this is the way to go. I am now going to start focusing on-camera work, making an animation with 3 different camera angles of a person walking on a road, with buildings on both sides.
Making a blog that documents your progress is a good idea! I did the same thing when I became serious about chess, but the problem was that it also takes too much time to write and update the content. So, I made a more basic excel sheet with date, time spent, what I did, What I learned, goals, etc, by doing it this way I had more time to the actual training and I succeeded and beat a very strong player in The Nordic Chess Champion Ship with the best performance ever in my life. I am rated 1719, and I beat a player with 2300 FIDE Rating!
I would gladly be a part of your blog together we can produce some content and follow our progress together. But if you are a noob as well, maybe we could be work buddies? I think the best way is to actually make video content for the blog as well to actually show people in practice how we solved and learned the software, much easier for people to see and also it's more interesting than just writing a post.-)
The unreal live link is not free it costs 990USD if that's what you mean?
So, you are a LOTR fan? You actually contacted Peter Jackson to ask for permission to write a continued story of Silmarillion? Yes, you are right about learning how to tell a story is maybe also a very hard part, I am not sure I am any good at it but I have been told before I have a good imagination. I know I have seen some tools to help you come up with ideas in a video on YouTube somewhere, yes here is the link:
, fast forward to 4.17 then he talks about this:-) He uses a word generator to come up with ideas to get your mind started!
Besides being a LOTR fan I have always been a huge Star Wars fan as well, I remember I was amazed when I first saw the original movie from 1977. I remember I borrowed a copy on VHS from an older friend of the family and I watched several hundred times! Those were the days. So regards to making animation films, I love the genre of Fantasy, Science Fiction and Animated 3D Cartoon Movies like Toy Story, etc. you?
By the way, I set up my Kinect V2 to my PC, downloaded the Kinect plugin from Reallusion and tested it out. I have to say I am not at all impressed. Yes, it does basic body animations, but no fingers or facial, and the animation itself is almost worthless. to shaky and sketchy. I think it's unethical to sell a plugin that so outdated and charge 99 USD for something that's not usable.
I was told their plugin has not been updated at all since its release, that's a shame, because I have done some research, and the Kinect Camera could actually be used for capturing Facial, fingers and full-body animations! Many software choices for this, but I have to test them out one by one to see which is the best and also the price tag.
Software such as: iPi Mocap Studio Brekel Kinect Pro Cinema Suite And you can also set upyour own mocap studio with Blender, save and export it as .obj or fbx fromBlender to use with iClone. Software and Resources: • Kinect SDK: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl... • Delicode's NI Mate& Add-on: https://ni-mate.com/ • Remington's NI MateRig: https://remington.pro/resources/asset...
I am going to try now and see if I also can join the challenge of walking down the stairs!
Have a great weekend my friend.
Take care.
Albin
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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@AlbinGambitHi. plus LIVE FACE Profile for Motion LIVE Plugin What is that? Is that also for iClone?
Hey Albin,
Regarding LIVE FACE Profile for Motion LIVE Plugin. CLICK HERE
Rokoko ML is a Unity plugin. So, you only see the animations when using it within Unity. The concept is to use the animations directly in Unity, but that workflow doesn’t work when using iClone for animating. To get around that would be to bring their animations into iClone 7, blend with other animations, then back to Unity. To this point all I’ve done is clarify the licensing to make sure it was fine with them to do it. I haven’t tried it so I can’t answer your question too well on the exact process. I would have to reference RL videos to see just how to do it. Likely it would be going through 3DXchange.
Yes, I’m aware of the problem with the Mixamo descend stairs animation. However, my mind isn’t working the problem from the point of forward kinematics. I’m giving thought to using any stairs and any step size. So, if you put a character on stairs to descend and ascend, then replace the stairs with completely different step sizes and length so the rise and run are completely different, will the character still be able to negotiate the stairs? The answer would seem to be of course not. But, maybe it is possible through scripting. I have a C# programmer looking into it for me. The stairs is a great question and I’m glad you brought it up. It’s sort of a new one for game engine users too because for games you would likely use a ramp and simplify the entire thing. Gamers just want to get up those stairs and shoot some more stuff. For film, I can see how this would be important.
Yep, I agree with project-based learning. Gain a few fundamentals in the beginning but then try to make something. The camera work should be fun. I would be interested to know how that goes for you. At some point I will be getting into Cinemachine which is just virtual cameras. I figured I would hold off on that until after the filmmaking master classes so I have a better idea of what I’m trying to achieve.
Yes, blogs do take a lot of time. And running the blog will lengthen my overall learning process because I could be just diving into my own projects and not bother with it. However, it is a good way to help others while monetizing along the way. I appreciate your offer to partner on the blog, but I would prefer to remain solo on that. I am always happy to accept guest posts from anyone interested in posting something within animated filmmaking. And I’m always up for sharing ideas along the way and helping each other out.
It sounds like they are charging again for the Unreal LiveLink. For awhile it was free so I jumped on that one. That was most of the reason I tried out Unreal. Unfortunately, it just crashed the engine all the time.
Yes, I am a LOTR fan for sure. I started reading the books when I was around 12 or so. After reading the trilogy several times I also tackled the Silmarillion but only got halfway through. No, I didn’t contact Peter, but I did contact Middle Earth Enterprises which was founded by Tolkien’s family. Thanks for the word generator; I bookmarked it. I’ve never been a big Star Wars fan myself but I’m with you on the genres that you mentioned. I do like Star Wars but I prefer Star Trek.
Sorry to hear you got bad results with the Kinect. That could have been a good low-cost solution. Yeah, the plugin should be free rather than $90.
Ok, best of luck with your stairs challenge. I started a project this weekend to do a 30 second animated video with Unity. I ran into a problem already where the RL script does not support Unity 2019.3, but my assets for the project require 2019.3. I’m finding this to be another issue with iClone in the pipeline; I must wait on RL to update their scripts. They seem to be slow at this. Have a good weekend.
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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@danmiller (4/5/2020)
Hey Dan.
So you mean this:
| Connect iPhone with Motion LIVE
Bonus: LIVE FACE Profile for Cartoon Animator's Motion LIVE 2D |
I really can't understand that the Unreal Live Link plugin was free at some point?? Really? Sorry I missed that one:-)
Regards to Rokoko Plugin for Unity, it seems very good if you are allowed to add motion in iClone and to send it back to Unity and use it there. Let me know if this is 100% allowed. It seems to me that if you bring motions from the Rokoko library to iClone, add motions from inside iClone, then you will need 3DXchange to be allowed to export it out again for usage for Unity, no?
Do you have a close friend that knows C#? I used to work with that software ages ago and knew how to program, but I am not sure I remember much from 20+ years ago ha ha! Its always nice to have some connections and friend who knows other fields that may help you out!
Cinemachine looks great, a good intro is here:
Film making masterclasses you say? What course are you attending?
I will let you know how my camera project will go and make a video of the result:-)
Yes, I think the word generator was a good idea to help out with brainstorming some ideas! You are most welcome:-)
Let me know when you start your blog and I am glad to make some post if it can help out in any way. Also, its always good to learn from one another. You may know something I don't and vice versa.
I have to get started working on my projects with camera and stairs, thanks for wishing me good luck, I think I will need it ha ha:-)
Let's keep in touch, nice to get to know you Dan:)
Best regards
Albin
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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@AlbinosGambit
Hey Albin, Yes, that looks like the correct link to iPhone (Live Face). Yep, the Unreal Live Link was free but I think the deal was you had to have purchased a minimum amount, or something like that. Yes, Rokoko animations are 100% allowed by Rokoko licensing.At least the way I’m using it, meaning it is edited in iClone 7 and finds itsway back to Unity. It is intended for use in Unity so Unity should be at the end of the pipeline. If you are planning to use a Unity plugin to get it and then use in your iClone 7 projects, then you would want to inquire before doing so. I don’t have any C# friends. Just hired someone on Fiverr to do the work. However, he found the task to be too difficult and bowed out. I inquired with another developer and waiting to hear back from him. I’m trying to get a script where you can use any stairs and you can adjust the speed within the editor. This would be helpful. Yeah, Cinemachine is pretty cool. I see you found Brackey’s video, he does a nice job teaching. Yes, at masterclass.com. I haven’t done much with it yet,too many other things to do. But I will start down that path soon. Basically learning from people like Ron Howard, Jody Foster, etc. I don’t think it will answer all of my questions but it could be interesting to gain insight and have a better idea of what I’m trying to achieve. I would think that traditional filmmaking fundamentals can be applied with animated filmmaking. Cool, yeah, I look forward to seeing a video with the camerawork. I made a video for you this evening. You wanted a video with the iPhone X facial mocap from a YouTube video. So, the YouTube video was playing full screen on one monitor and the iPhone was capturing the person speaking in the video. It was something like 27,000 frames. I forgot to trim off the end. The render time was approximately 15 minutes. If you were doing this for production it would take longer to prepare because you would need to export in png sequence, import into something like Da Vinci resolve, add the audio, and then export. Also the audio that I ripped from the YouTube video was compressed so I basically compressed twice; something you really shouldn’t do. But for testing it worked fine. But also for production, you would spend quite a bit of time tweaking the facial animations, all I did here was lay the track down and try to find something close to sync. That’s another thing I don’t quite like with this workflow, no way to sync the audio. When recording your own facial animations, not using the video, then it is typically off by around 4 frames. So, here is a link to the video. What I would really like is if iClone 7 recorded audio from my iPhone (non Viseme track), then with the use of a clapper (or just clap my hands), I could sync with a quality audio track and have the audio synced. Rather than trying to figure out where it is. Sounds good, I will let you know on the blog. I agree, sharing ideas and learning can help out for sure. Part of my motivation for doing the blog and getting things out there as I learn, is because I find the process confusing. I came from an aviation background and the training path is well documented. If you want to hold a specific certificate or rating, then everything you need to learn is clear. I think this field needs a bit more of that. Something where new people can see a clear path and understand what they need to learn to ultimately become an animated filmmaker. Sounds good Albin, you can DM anytime as well.
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By HimAnI_Kev - 6 Years Ago
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New to this Reallusion software (but been on computer graphics for 36 years...) and I'm having a problem getting LIVE Face to connect with iClone. It's a super easy process, except it's not working for me. Just bought all the software this month, and I'm using an iPhone 11 ProMax PC is definately on the wifi here at home... Hell, I was able to download all the software easily, but after I type in the modem address, and try a multitude of last numbers, the Live Face radial buttin in iClone never clicks on. Closes I've got it the occasional "No Connect". I'm new to this, and have watched all the vids, so I'm assunig I'm missing something simple. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! - KK
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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Screenshots might be helpful here.
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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New to this Reallusion software (but been on computer graphics for 36 years...) and I'm having a problem getting LIVE Face to connect with iClone.
Are you placing colon and 999 at the end of the IP number? For example, 192.168.1.4:999
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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@danmiller (4/6/2020)
Thanks for the video demo:-)
Looks pretty good and decent results, what do you think?
By the way here is my first animation for walking down the stairs challenge:
Masterclass.com I am familiar with, I watched the best player in chess history GM Garry Kasparov. Yes, I am a chess player:-) They have many decent classes. What're the classes you will be attending?
You say:
I came from an aviation background and the training path is well documented. If you want to hold a specific certificate or rating, then everything you need to learn is clear. I think this field needs a bit more of that. Something where new people can see a clear path and understand what they need to learn to ultimately become an animated filmmaker.
I totally agree with you, the learning path should be more clear. I find learning very difficult, so I decided to take private lessons in iClone from a very good instructor with 10+ years of experience, also the forum is great for giving us insights as well!
DM you what does that mean?
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By animagic - 6 Years Ago
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AlbinosGambit (4/11/2020)
DM you what does that mean?
the ":999" at the end indicates the port number. It's like the IP address is your house and then the port numbers designate various entrances and exits.
There are certain set port numbers for specific applications and usually you don't have to worry about them. Now a firewall may block them, so you may need to make sure that Port 999 isn't blocked if there are issues. I'm not an expert at this at all, I just pick up little bits of information...:unsure:
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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?!
animagic (4/11/2020)
AlbinosGambit (4/11/2020)
DM you what does that mean?
the ":999" at the end indicates the port number. It's like the IP address is your house and then the port numbers designate various entrances and exits. There are certain set port numbers for specific applications and usually you don't have to worry about them. Now a firewall may block them, so you may need to make sure that Port 999 isn't blocked if there are issues. I'm not an expert at this at all, I just pick up little bits of information...:unsure:
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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No problem, you're welcome. I'm glad Mike Kelley brought it up. I think the results are pretty good for just pointing the iPhone at a person in a video. But it does bother me that the tongue doesn't move so maybe it would be better to record a viseme track at the same time, which would also help with audio sync.
Yes, I think you have made good progress with the stairs and I like it. However, I still see the same issue with this approach. It takes a long time and there is still foot sliding and contact issues. It probably sounds like I'm critizing you but I'm really not. I am skeptical of this forward kinematics approach to the problem. Every time you have a new set of stairs then you have to basically make a very specific animation for those specific stairs. It seems like a pain point that needs a different solution. But don't let me take away from your progress, overall I think you did a great job.
I will be looking at anything filmmaking related on masterclass.com.
Awesome, glad to hear you found someone to give you private lessons. Yes, much of my energy moving forward will be about making the entire process easier. But hey, I have a lot to learn :) Everyone approaches problems differently. I have to see the larger picture first and then drill down into the more specific areas. You are thinking about animation and I'm thinking about distribution. So, as you can see, I start at the end of the pipeline and work backwards.
DM just means direct messaging.
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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@ danmiller
Hi Dan,
Yes, I think the Faceware with just using an iPhone gets decent results but could be better and for the price you pay to get such results then I think it should be even better because still, you have to do some tweaking and work to get it right.
Regards to my stairs animation, I think it' important to tell the truth and I am not offended in any way. I believe this is the best approach to let me know what I did wrong so that I know exactly what I need to work on:):D You are right regards to different stairs different approach, doing things manually takes a lot of time, I was also hoping for an easier solution like Anima has. Anima takes mostly care of the walking process itself it seems to me, although I do not know the software. The animation should be logical and a clear path for learning, with iClone and CC3, I feel I take 1 step forward 2 steps back all the time. The manual is not meant for us noobs, it seems like its made by people who already have the knowledge, so the manual is almost always no help. I have to ask the community all the time for solutions, and also many times the community is helpful but still, we get answers that are at a much higher level. It may seem logical to them but not clear at all to us noobs. But I do appreciate the helpful community, they have value in gold:):D
Yes, I felt like private lessons are the way to go in the start to get a grip and feel of the software because right now I feel it's hard to learn and see a clear path what to do.
I just bought:
The Animator's Survival Kit, Expanded Edition
Recommended by Benjamin this is a must-have to learn from the book and test out the examples from the book inside iClone. Also, watching 2D animation could be really helpful to master animation, it's easier to understand.
Let me know what master class you attend and how it is:-)
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By HimAnI_Kev - 6 Years Ago
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Sorry for the delay... Was lucky to have some freelance work this week.
Tried this again. As I said, I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max, and I've tried many last digit numbers in case one was in use by somwthing else, but I still get this result. It never activates.
This process is pretty simple, but what could I be missing? Thanks for the help - KK
  
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By HimAnI_Kev - 6 Years Ago
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Yes. I just posted some screen grabs...
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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LOL -- sorry, but you're still not *quite* getting it.
Here's what to enter: 192.168.1.9:999
(You just are confusing the last "9" at the end with the 999 device number -- both need to be there, separated by the colon).
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By HimAnI_Kev - 6 Years Ago
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Thanks! That worked... Technically. It connected and I recorded some face capture: Really jerky and popping. Then on my next recording an eye froze shut, then the whole head. I started a new project, loaded up the stock female character and couldn't connect again, even setting the wi-fi address correctly. So that solved the problem, but I obviously have other issues going on here. It may have to do with the fact I have 3 computers hanging around the same modem. But - Progress! I should be able to hardwire the computer to the modem and still have it work yes? Thanks - KK
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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Yeah, I would recommend connecting via ethernet (you'll need to get an adapter but you can get one for less than $40 from Amazon).
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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Hey Albin,
Yeah, the results from LIVE Face are not too bad. I've been thinking about how I can use it more moving forward.
The stairs are a difficult problem and it is good that you brought it up. I have already worked with several developers that thought they could solve it through scripting but ultimately they were unable to get it done. I will continue to look into it and see if I can find someone. I would like to have it where you use any stairs you want, drag the animation on the timeline, attach a script and done. Of course, I'm talking about Unity right now.
Private lessons sounds like a great idea. Any time you can find a mentor in an area you're trying to learn it's a big help.
How do you like The Animator's Survival Kit?
I will give you some feedback from the Master Classes when I take them. Recently my hours at work increased and I just moved this weekend so its been busy. And I'm thinking I might need to create a Fiverr gig or two so I can get some cash flowing into the company. My monthly expenses just increased by $400/month. Dan
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By AlbinosGambit - 6 Years Ago
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Hi Dan.
Nice hearing from you again, I hope you are well:-)
So, if you say LIVE FACE for iPhone produces decent results, I believe you and I will be looking to find my self a cheap used iPhone X.
Thank you for saying so with the stairs problem, it seems I was not the only one to find this a bit challenging. I really think it's great you are looking to find a solution to this problem by approaching some developers creating a script. Let me know any news? In any case, as many other people have said, it's not that important, because in animation they usually don't show the feet anyway by just faking the animation, but still, I find it useful to learn anyway, because in some cases it could be important to show the feet. Like for example in a horror type scene.
Private lessons have been great so far, but the instructor is so busy with his own productions and also creating private classes, so I am not taking any classes right now but will attend his private paid classes in the near future.
Yes, keep me updated of your masterclasses, I am excited to hear what you learn from that!
The Animators Survival kit book has not arrived yet, but I am excited to open the book and start learning from the master of animation and try out the examples in practice with iClone.
Yes, there is always something happening in life right? For me as well, there's always something that distracts or makes things more difficult, but we have to stay focused and be patient, the results will come!
What kind of Fiverr Gig are you planning to do?
Take care my friend, all the best.
danmiller (4/27/2020)
Hey Albin,
Yeah, the results from LIVE Face are not too bad. I've been thinking about how I can use it more moving forward.
The stairs are a difficult problem and it is good that you brought it up. I have already worked with several developers that thought they could solve it through scripting but ultimately they were unable to get it done. I will continue to look into it and see if I can find someone. I would like to have it where you use any stairs you want, drag the animation on the timeline, attach a script and done. Of course, I'm talking about Unity right now.
Private lessons sounds like a great idea. Any time you can find a mentor in an area you're trying to learn it's a big help.
How do you like The Animator's Survival Kit?
I will give you some feedback from the Master Classes when I take them. Recently my hours at work increased and I just moved this weekend so its been busy. And I'm thinking I might need to create a Fiverr gig or two so I can get some cash flowing into the company. My monthly expenses just increased by $400/month. Dan
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By ultimativity - 6 Years Ago
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Thanks for posting this. Glad I can use voice actors long distance!
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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AlbinosGambit
Hey Albin,
All is well here, thanks :) And you?
Regarding the stairs, I learned that what I'm after is called procedural animation. The concept made sense in my mind but I didn't realize it had a name. The developer believes it would be very expensive to go down this path and is suggesting a cheaper alternative. This alternative would be a quick solution but not as accurate or believable as I would like. However, for the user, it would take about 2 minutes to set up and it would work on any staircase. I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet, waiting for him to give me a quote on the cost.
I agree with you because a lot of times it is not necessary to show the feet. That is a big plus for film, the viewer can only see what we put in the frame. So it probably isn't necessary for me to do all this with the stairs but I'm very interested to see what scripting can offer with various projects. And who knows, maybe what started out as a linear film project might be re-purposed into a VR project or a game.
It seems like private paid classes are the way to go for content creators. After listening to many podcasts about blogging, I'm wondering if blogging is a good use of my time. Or better just focus on creating online courses. I'm a little on the fence with a good strategy to monetize along the way. Of course, filmmaking is the ultimate goal but, as you know, feature films are big projects and require lots of time and money.
As for the Fiverr Gig I just created a really small, and easy gig. It is setting people up with a Joomla website and extensions. Something most people can probably do themselves but since I have a developer account anyway, I figured I might try it out. A little side hustle. I'm interested to see what you learn from the Animators Survival Guide. That should be a lot of fun.
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By Mentalman - 6 Years Ago
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Is there a way to live stream Live Face on social media?
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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If you could send a computer screen via social media (I don't broadcast -- used to do Twitch and it WOULD work with that) then, yes, you could certainly send Live Face out there (you'd need to minimize or adjust the iClone screen to fit whatever it is you're sending). Perhaps if you told us what you had in mind we could be more specific.
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By Dan Miller - 6 Years Ago
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Mentalman (5/9/2020)
Is there a way to live stream Live Face on social media?
That's an interesting idea. I haven't tried it myself but I might have to explore this too. Or maybe a webinar with Live Face.
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By Mentalman - 6 Years Ago
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I’m looking to Facebook live, tiktok live, or YouTube live with a character using the live face . I’d like to interact live with my fans as they ask questions etc. Or use face live like gamers, when the are playing a video game and can put a small picture of themselves playing and talking in the bottom corner of their screen. Really just replacing my face in a social media live or a moderated gaming session with a iclone character using the limit ion live face ware. That make sense?
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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Okay, you can definitely stream YouTube live using the LiveStream with an Encoder (I'd recommend OBS, the one I used to capture my tutorials).
With that approach you can use multiple screens or just capture a certain portion of your single screen. In that case you could set up iClone with the face capture going in a certain window, and just stream that particular window (I'm an old OLD man and the OBS software is a snap to use. And free).
So that's my advice to start with. Should be easy-peasy.
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By Mentalman - 6 Years Ago
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Thanks a ton. Wish RL would do a tutorial on this, would help lot of us creators actually use all the stuff we buy.
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By Kelleytoons - 6 Years Ago
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I could do a tutorial on doing it in OBS -- just not the live streaming part (because I don't want to do that part). But I could show you how to set up OBS for it and then all you'd need do is follow the YouTube tutorials on using the streamer software.
If you want let me know and I could put something up later tonight.
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