issues with recording face 3d?


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By zenonline - 6 Years Ago
Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else is having issues with recording using a webcam and face 3d for motion live 3D?

BACKGROUND:
I downloaded the trial version just over a week ago and then decided to buy motion live package as it seemed to do what I want however...

I have an old but still moderately powerful system WRT required specs. Intel 4790k CPU,  32GB RAM, 512GB Samsung NVME M.2 drive (1.6GB read and write) and 2 x 980ti in SLI.
I have 2 monitors, 1@4k and 1@1080p.

I have also installed the app on a Dell XPS 9575.

I originally didn't have a webcam so was using my Note 8 with DroidCam X and Irium webcam apps. I tried different resolutions but they were broadcasting at ~24/25fps and the tracker fps was about 20ish.

Using the preview button was more or less OK, not great reproduction but ok, however as I went to record, the app followed the movements for about a second and then froze, pressing the spacebar to cancel the recording did nothing, If I was lucky, I would have to wait for approximately 20-30 secs before it unfroze and the recording of basic movements just wasn't there, a couple of jerky twitches and nothing else, if I was unlucky the app would just exit.

Laptop does the same. I tried to use its built in webcam but it is one of the silly up your nose version (bottom of the screen by keyboard) so although it did 30fps @640x480 and tracked at the same frame rate, trying to get the laptop at the right height for the webcam to be effective was hard, using the note 8 with droidcamX was the same as the PC. I the dropped the laptop screen res from 4k to 1440 x 900 but no joy.

I noticed that the app seemed to be a bit confused over the PC 2 screens having different resolutions (splash screen on wrong monitor with huge image) and found that reducing the screen res of my main monitor down to 1080p and running a registry cleaner a few times seemed to have helped a whole lot but still not very useful recordings (not very faithful reproduction of movements).

So I bit the bullet and bought myself a half decent webcam, it can do 1080p@60fps and 1440p@30fps , I reduced it down to 720p@30fps and the tracker fps stayed between 14 and 16. Kept my monitor set at 1080p (not tried the 4k yet) and the result is night and day, much more faithful reproduction of movement but lipsync is a bit suckky.

I cant seem to change the fps of the webcam to 24fps which I think the Face 3D would be able to cope with.
I thought the laptop would be a bust but figured I could give it a try and see if it behaved differently from the PC.

It is worth noting that I was keeping an eye on the resource manager whilst doing all of this on both the PC and the laptop.
On the PC the CPU never went above 70% in total and the rest (RAM, HDD, Graphics, Network) all well below 50%. I even set the processes of both the face 3D and cartoon animator to High priority to see if it made any difference, it did not. 
On the Laptop the CPU got close to 90% but the rest were fine, I'm assuming it is the lack of dedicated graphics that is the issue (made the decision of wanting a 2 in 1 touchscreen with 4k rather than a graphics card, that has bitten me in the posterior).

QUESTIONS:

1. Has anyone else had a similar issue? if so how did you solve it?
2. Since webcam seems to be better than a fudged Android phone webcam, would shelling out for an Iphone XR during black Friday/ cyber Monday deals (and buying the plug in) give even better results or will I be throwing good money after bad?
3. Is it worth me buying a 2nd hand leap motion or am I going to get to similar results with this?
4. I'm assuming that if all goes well, I will progress onto Character creator and Iclone, is it worth getting a 2nd hand XBOX one Kinect or am I going to have similar results?

thanks in advance for you help

Zen
By DanielC_RL - 6 Years Ago
Hello Zen, 

I am glad that you have found a way to use Facial capture feature that suits you. We really do not recommend using an Android phone for Face 3D. The application of the system should be used if you following our specifications and steps.

iPhone face capture is very powerful. We highly recommend using the iPhone for Live FACE connection, but using Webcam is not bad at all. The main difference lies in the fineness of the character.
We also highly recommend using Leap Motion for Live motion capture to make animations, which will save you a lot of time.
If you want to purchase a Kinect to capture motion, please note that you must purchase an "Xbox One Kinect v2" to success connect.

Thanks for the discussion that helps to solved many problem.

DanielC
By zenonline - 6 Years Ago
Hi DanielC,

Thanks for the reply.
Is there anything else I can do to help with the recording process regarding stability/frame rate of capture?

A full OS reinstall was only done about 6 months ago so that shouldn't be an issue but would do it if you feel it will help.

After there any specific drivers I should use?

Would I be better decoupling the SLI graphics and just have them running as separates?

Also for clarity: the kinect will only work on Iclone and cc but not cartoon animator?

Finally do we know if intellisense is going to be integrated in?

Thanks

Zen
By DanielC_RL - 6 Years Ago
If you want to improve the accuracy of Faciel mocap, make the lens capture easier, such as placing a soft light to brighten your face, so that the Webcam can clearly illuminate your facial muscles.
If you want to improve the stability, I hope you keep the Resolution of Face 3D at 640*480. You don’t need to use the best lens, make the data transmission speed up, it should be able to improve stability.
In addition, the frame rate is currently fixed at 30 FPS and cannot be adjusted.

According to the plugin and profile you already have, you should not need to install any other devices, or you can put your needs here, so that we can give you more specifically suggestions.

Sorry I am not familiar with SLI Graphics, but if you have reached our system specifications, I believe your program will run smoothly.

Yes, kinect currently only supports iClone. If you want to use kinect to make motions in Cartoon Animator by the kinect, you can only Export iClone motion, and then apply at the G2 character of CTA.

Hope the info helps you.
DanielC
By soytinatiu - 6 Years Ago
I have the same problem. A halfway decent though certainly not new computer. I would love to use the facial mocap, but it keeps blinking on and off in the preview, and when I've got that to work when I record it records a few seconds then crashes to a halt. I also use a webcam (the one in my computer) and would really love to use this incredible feature.
By DanielC_RL - 6 Years Ago
Hello Soytinatiu,

I’m sorry for the problem that you encountered. We are willing to help you deal with all the problems. It seems that your problem is that the screen will flicker during preview. I would like to suggest that to send your system information and screen recordings to our Technical Customer Service, so that we can find your problems and ways to improve for you.

 Technical Customer Service :  https://www.reallusion.com/CustomerSupport/UserEx/QForm.html

DanielC