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By jaxtone - 5 Years Ago
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Hi, I bought Reallusion about 6 years ago but haven´t used it at all since I didn´t make it work as planned. Couldn´t get any help from the support that solved the problem but now feel like getting ready to give it another chance. My problem then was that it didn´t seem like the export function in Reallusion made FBX files that could be imported into Lightwave 3D without problems.
A lot have happened both in Lightwave and Reallusion since then and I guess the fastest way would be to import an animated Reallusion character with hair and clothes to see how Lightwave reacts in 2021.
I am about to update my old version of Reallusion to the latest version but wan´t to see if the import/export functions work first. If not, I have to consider changing from Lightwave 3D to another 3D suite that fits my budget. Any one who could help me out here with a simple character that walks or acts a few seconds for me to see if I can open it in Lightwave 3D?
Don´t know if its possible to send a zipped file in the forum, otherwise I will share my personal e-mail.
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By AutoDidact - 5 Years Ago
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Hi I only have an old seat of lightwave 2015 installed over on my 5 year old,dusty toshiba laptop. Here is the CC3 male exported ,with one walk cycle from CC3 pipeline, using the Maya preset ( there is no export preset for lightwave). the animation is intact however there is distored deformation in the hip area likely due to a weighting issues with the lightwave import.

Actually Direct FBX export of Genesis 2 Figures from Daz studio to Lightwave
work perfectly in my brief experiments in the past.
I must be really frank with you. Lightwave was sold from Newtek to "Liberty 3D" its future development is highly doubtful and most likely DEAD!!:rolleyes:
I personally would not spend another dime or ,second of my time, on that program as it is a vestigial relic of a bygone era of 3D/CG with little to no active online communities or modern tutorial knowledge base.
If indeed you are looking for an external 3DCC for exporting your Iclone Avatars consider Blender 2.9x. it is directly supported by CC3 pipeline with an export preset and there is even a free auto setup addon for converting the materials to blender nodes.
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By TonyDPrime - 5 Years Ago
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That's interesting, I wonder if RL has that, sample animations in Alembic and FBX in all the different export modes for trial.
See it may be that Lightwave works better with the C4D FBX export mode than the Blender mode, or maybe Lightwave works better with the Maya mode than the 3DS Max FBX mode. So, I think it would unfortunately be a hit or miss compiled with stroke of luck that someone gave you the single right combination of Lightwave-compatible FBX, as there is no current "Lightwave" FBX mode.. Now, Alembic there are 2 modes, so all combined you'd be researching about 10-11 different things. It's not a simple quick 1-2-3 request actually if someone were to work with you and give you various samples to trial. If RL knows which mode it is, then they could also be the party to do the work and provide you with the sample.
Now, if another user does it, and then you like what you see, and then you buy it, the user who created it for you is not by default compensated for their work as part of that sale. So, you may want to externally arrange working with another user who mentions they could email you. Or, contact RL directly, as it is their opportunity to get a sale from you....they may have import-ready iClone generated FBX animations for public trial .
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By jaxtone - 5 Years Ago
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AutoDidact, wow, thanks man! Didn´t know that Lightwave was sold to Liberty 3D. It seems like its the death of Lightwave and after more than 20 years struggling with it I apprecieate your message since it released me from more pain when working with CA in it. I haven´t tried Blender since the first versions when it was really slow, complicated and hard to work with. I think it took one hour before I gave up the thought of using it in a major customer project.
I have thought about working direct in Unity or Unreal to avoid rendering loss but find their learning curves long and complicated. I have also tried DAZ3d but its render engine is probably the slowest on earth and after their latest updates the direct FBX export of Genesis 2 Figures from Daz studio into Lightwave didn´t work smooth any longer.
So Blender might earn another chance after all these years.
"If indeed you are looking for an external 3DCC for exporting your Iclone Avatars consider Blender 2.9x. it is directly supported by CC3 pipeline with an export preset and there is even a free auto setup addon for converting the materials to blender nodes. Autodidact"
I saw the film clip but ask you this: Do you have any film sequense where the imported Iclone Avatar is moving, running or rolling etc...
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By jaxtone - 5 Years Ago
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TonyDPrime!
I dont know if the FBX in Lightwave 2019 works since I only have Lightwave 2018. But there are for sure an FBX importer: https://docs.lightwave3d.com/lw2019/reference/interchange
It seems like Alembic and Lightwave had something going on here: https://docs.lightwave3d.com/lw2019/reference/interchange/alembic
But it doesn´t matter any longer since Lightwave was sold and probably put in the sack for good. I have to find another 3D suite.
"It's not a simple quick 1-2-3 request actually if someone were to work with you and give you various samples to trial. If RL knows which mode it is, then they could also be the party to do the work and provide you with the sample. Now, if another user does it, and then you like what you see, and then you buy it, the user who created it for you is not by default compensated for their work as part of that sale. So, you may want to externally arrange working with another user who mentions they could email you. Or, contact RL directly, as it is their opportunity to get a sale from you....they may have import-ready iClone generated FBX animations for public trial ."
Sorry but I believe you misunderstood me. I am not interested in using the FBX file I requested in any other aspect than just watch and see if the interchange between RL and LW works.
P.S. I have already contacted RL support but since they don´t even answer I guess I had to try another way to get an answer,
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By planetstardragon - 5 Years Ago
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from last i did research on lightwave ....the problem i believe was in the gimbals and how by default their rigs were pointing a different direction than the standard autodesk made. I think they fixed it though as my last tests about 4 years ago ? worked correctly and imported fine. - there was a youtube video that illustrated the issue clearly....they illustrated how the bones in autodesk pointed in one direction, and an entirely different direction in lightwave.
I think the issues stem from a time when all the big 3D softwares were competing to be the standard in hollywood, but over time they came to realize that hollywood generally used all the 3D platforms, as did the CG art community and the software with the least compatibility were generally out of that loop - then compatibility became a bigger focus.
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By AutoDidact - 5 Years Ago
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@Jaxtone
Iclone animation exported to Blender via CC3 pipeline
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By Grimhilda - 5 Years Ago
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Hi Jackstone,
You refer to using 'Reallusion' in the past for .fbx export and you are about to give 'Reallusion' another try.
I'm guessing that previously you were using Iclone and 3dxchange Pipeline to export .fbx ?
Today many people only need the newer Character Creator 3 Pipeline to export .fbx in different 'flavours' eg fbx for Blender, etc.
Check carefully the file types you can export from CC3 Pipeline and from 3dxchange Pipeline. You may not need to buy the latter (unless you want to export Alembic and/or bvh).
Iclone and the Character Creator Pipeline extension is sufficient for fbx export.
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By jaxtone - 5 Years Ago
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Grimhilda!
Well about giving new chances I am willing to give it a try since it has gone some years now. The only thing I wasn´t sure of and didn´t get any support for was my doubt if Reallusion was capable of exporting all features like hair, clothes and their dynamics in a format that Lightwave accepted.
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By jaxtone - 5 Years Ago
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AutoDidact[
This is what I recently found and I must say I must have been blind by not notice this before now!
Quote from WilliamVaughan :
"Sad news indeed. I can say without a doubt that I wouldn't have 3D in my toolkit if it weren't for LW. My initial steps into using 3D were very off putting until I was introduced to LW. Best of luck to the current LW userbase." https://community.foundry.com/discuss/topic/153793/looks-like-lightwave-may-have-finally-been-shelved
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By jaxtone - 5 Years Ago
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Planetstardragon
Lightwaves problem with gimbals and rigs pointing in a totally different direction than the most common industry standards has been a big part of my negative experience of Lihgtwaves rigging and CA system for decades.
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By AutoDidact - 5 Years Ago
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I would it is time to move on to one of the many apps that Reallusion/CC3 supports.
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By TonyDPrime - 5 Years Ago
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jaxtone (5/16/2021) TonyDPrime!
Sorry but I believe you misunderstood me. I am not interested in using the FBX file I requested in any other aspect than just watch and see if the interchange between RL and LW works.
P.S. I have already contacted RL support but since they don´t even answer I guess I had to try another way to get an answer,
I gotcha, but your review of the motion is in fact your use of the FBX file here. This is a very specific and specialized request of yours involving animations to Lightwave. Whether or not you animate the FBX or have it sit as a ZIP in a folder unused does not remove the work done to provide it to you. Instead of buying iClone 7 / CC3, etc., on your own wager that it works, you would like a user, who bought on their own set of wagers, to give you a sample, as courtesy for your asking. What I am saying to other users, not so much you, is that RL obviously gets paid if you do in turn purchase, so a user providing you with such courtesy externally and outside of this forum may wish to be also be paid for essentially doing the marketing that RL has not done for you, as you mention that RL had not responded to your requests. In effect, that user ultimately encourages a sale for RL.
To you, I would dare say instead of asking another user to supply you with a courtesy FBX copy, instead ask RL to give you a courtesy copy of iC7, then you have it all - they might, you never know! But if you then say to me you wouldn't do that because it sounds silly or far-fetched, then effectively you say another user performing the task for compensation is not silly or far-fetched. (I am directing this towards the other users.)
If RL itself disagrees with this notion, that is great as so long as they have the free marketing sample for you to try. So any contact with RL ultimately has to funnel back to that they provide you with a marketing courtesy-copy for you as a potential purchaser. Which is a bigger point, they have opportunity for various other sales that are possibly, like you, sitting on a fence because they don't have samples of some type that would satisfy a curious potential purchaser. You actually are showcasing a potential additional revenue-booster for them through this request, and as such, I say you deserve the courtesy sample + a courtesy version of IC&/CC3, etc....or at least a discount!
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By animagic - 5 Years Ago
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We like to be welcoming...;)
We are helping people all the time on this forum, so I don't quite understand what Tony is going on about.
Anyway, I haven't seen much use of Lightwave with iClone over the years, and I don't assume Customer Support having a copy of Lightwave lying around, so it would be hard for them to answer. But, they could at least tell you so.
Searching on YouTube for Lightwave and iClone gives a a seven-year old tutorial on how to import an OBJ file, so that's of little use. I found however a channel who use Lightwave and iClone in the other direction, so he might be resource to find out more: Automic_Poly_3D (Lightwave playlist).
FBX export itself is used in various applications for which there are specific export options, so if any of these are close to what Lightwave needs, you would be OK. You could use something like FBX Review to see if the FBX export looks OK.
FBX has limitations, it cannot export cloth or hair physics as far as I know.
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By animagic - 5 Years Ago
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I was curious and searched for "Lightwave" on the forum and it HAS been discussed.
One interesting post that addresses the question is this one: https://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost223951.aspx.
The poster, hattori kun, has not been around lately, but over the years has made "production logs" as he calls them describing the exchange between various applications and iClone. Maybe try to PM him.
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By AutoDidact - 5 Years Ago
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Well, I Posted an example showing that Lightwave can import an animated FBX from CC3 pipeline.( with some deformation issues).
Lightwave 2015 can also import Alembic as well as MDD (that newtek invented)
Iclone exports FBX from 3DX & CC3 pipeline as well as Alembic however Material conversion is another matter entirely.
I have answered the question of getting Iclone avatars into lightwave in general.... yes it is possible.
So ,like Job, not sure what TonyD is banging on about either.:ermm:
IMHO the larger question is weather the OP should even bother building Lightwave based Iclone/CC3 pipeline after upgrading to the latest Realusion tools give that the program is no longer even owned by Newtek and very likely at a development dead end.
This is the general consensus in the Professional 3DCC communities
Reallusion probably will not offer any official tech support for Lightwave other than "use one of the compatible export methods and figure it out from there".
The online Lightwave user knowledge base appears to have come to a dead stop over 5 years ago.
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By TonyDPrime - 5 Years Ago
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AutoDidact and Animagic - He is asking for a courtesy FBX, why don’t either of you simply provide him one?
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By AutoDidact - 5 Years Ago
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TonyDPrime (5/18/2021) AutoDidact and Animagic - He is asking for a courtesy FBX, why don’t either of you simply provide him one?
Because question of importing CC3 exported FBX files into lightwave3D, has been definatively answered by someone who owns both lightwave3D and CC3 pipeline.
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By TonyDPrime - 5 Years Ago
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AutoDidact (5/19/2021)
TonyDPrime (5/18/2021) AutoDidact and Animagic - He is asking for a courtesy FBX, why don’t either of you simply provide him one?
Because question of importing CC3 exported FBX files into lightwave3D, has been definatively answered by someone who owns both lightwave3D and CC3 pipeline.
AD - He asked for an FBX, you gave a screenshot. He said that he tried FBX from iClone in 2016 with issues, so he already affirmed, himself, without you, that it could already in premise be done. You said you tried with Lightwave 2015 - not a more recent version - and found that there were mesh-deformation issues. But, is that the case in all export variants, or just the one you trialed with LW 2015, which pre-dates his 2016 trials...because you did not specify which export version you tried, and we all know the variants are not universal. So, you say this = Definitive....But definitive to what
Animagic... in your opinion are you welcoming him by not providing the FBX he originally asked for? You don't need Light wave to do this for him, it is walk-motion FBX from iClone. Also, is RL welcoming him by not responding to his request? So see this is what I am going on about - in reality it is work to produce, otherwise you could have just given him the FBX's yourself 1-2-3. But you did not do that, as it is work, time, etc, to do that. And you took the time to address me without actually giving him the FBX. And that is the point, without owning iC7, he was asking for a tangible FBX from iC7, if someone didn't have specific updated knowledge.
Anyway, it would help RL's business if they had sample animations that a prospective user could download for trial, vs asking and then either being forced to work with someone externally for hands-on in depth results like he wanted. It really goes beyond this one user, it is a business boosting opportunity for RL to have samples.
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