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Carrara BVH import is erratic IMO. From my own experience, it is far from being precise. It is far more satisfying to import the BVH into DS, then into Carrara as a DUF file.
Yes I noticed that but this kind of "animation in a box" is always a base of work and needs to be adjusted to the scene.
Is DS interpret the .bvh better than Carrara ? a squeleton of a character is the same in the two programs , I think.
And, what about in iClone ?
Edit: Skelton and no squeleton (squelette, in french...)
Yes, DS interprets BVHs better than Carrara. Because, while the two skeletons are pretty much the same, each program NAMES it differently. Hence, that's where re-targeting between programs comes in. And 3DXchange does that very well for DS.
What about iClone? Well, unless you visioned many tutorials on the subject and you know what you're doing, it's better not to import BVHs in iClone. Just use iClone as a source for your animation (which is what it has been designed for,it has an awesome walkdesigner), and export the BVHs from it. That's what I do.
P.S.: Alors, mon ami, tu viens prendre un pot?
well I had 3D universe Gramps perfectly animated in iClone using aniblocks a thing not possible to do in Carrara, or Poser only DAZ studio but oddly no method I used could get the aniblock BVH export from 3Dxchange to work on him correctly in my other programs.
This is the first time I have hit this snag, I have retargetted many things including quadrupeds before.
It seems to be the odd hierarchy used by gramps, I fear the only fix is to rerrange his bones and rename them, a thing I have done before, but of course means only I can use standard motions on him not others, I really wish I could find a way to use him as is so I could retarget redistributable motions for him, something I have been slowly working on using some CMU mocaps.
blah moving and deleteting the extra m- joints in carrara froze it after after an error occurred, looks like a job for DAZ studio content creation tools which I find VERY hard
Gramps really is a pain in the butt!!!
none of them appear in vertex room animation mode weightbrush bones so no mesh assigned to them, their purpose seems to be to affect other bones and I suspect are the cause of my retargetting issues
I must say this is one of the oddest cases I have encountered in every way, even the saved modified figure freezes carrara
the extra bones do not appear in DAZ studio at all
That about summed it up.
IClone = quickly SEE. The latest character design video shows Sims 4 style mouse-triggered real-time screenspace morphing! Wow! Reallusion does one thing very well: INSTANT VISUAL FEEDBACK. Artists always prefer interactive feedback, because it is just more inspiring.
IClone is not Maya not even Carrara but good enough for kiddy 3D cartoon or goofy 3D The Simpsons. It is about cutting out perfectionistic fussy fiddly stuff and get on with making something fun and watchable for Youtube. Totally current gen mindset CG creative app.
Meanwhile...
Carrara = working BLIND. Even with Luxuscore IPR or Octane plugin. Thank goodness old schools users or the small group of ambidextrous-brain artists like me don't mind the delayed feedback. That's why Carrara is still around in spite of its stagnated development.
IClone = Apple mindset. Carrara = Microsoft Windows Vista era mindset.
All it takes is for Carrara to overcome its creative-juice-killer anti-intuitive workflow Archilles heel is updated OpenGL or 2012 era DX11 integration with all its gems: instancing primitives/ soft body/ dyna-hair.
Meanwhile Reallusion is adding GoZ. They do listen to their core users. 3DX6 is now more integrated with iClone6 too.
I'm not into app wars. But I also prefer lean mean efficient intuitive workflow. I crave higher fidelity visual feedback. I yearn for a Carrara that cares about post-ZBrush 2010+ era CG artists's creative process.
I hate inter-app pipeline, even if I will pay for 3DX6 pipeline because I can. Right now I stick with Carrara my main app. But iClone development continues to challenge my loyalty.
Reallusion is a small team but they get it. All it takes for cross-app users like me to commit to iClone-3DX6 is a proper Octane plugin for iClone. And 3dconnexion support. I won't even miss Carrara dynamic strand hair and bird/flower spawning prowess.
What Reallusion needs now is their equivalent of Sighman, Fenric, Sparrowhawke, Inagoni, float3D....etc who kept Carrara relevant. And then the iClone scene will finally take off and bring CG to the masses, as they promised.
You got that right, interactivity is everything (at least to me)...
Just imagine how slow Live LSCM unwrapping would be in Carrara on like 30000 poly model, lol, probably one of the reasons it was never implemented %-P
If it doesn't crash Carrara, you can see some awesome live changes in the octane render viewport playing in the vertex room :lol:
with UV mapping too!
I always save first but it is great for tweaking stuff.
I'm always ready to take a drink, it's when you want !
I own iClone 5 Pro and the Pipeline bundle and to upgrade to v6 it'll cost me over $300 not including Indigo Render. I own the top tier of their products but they want to charge me that amount to upgrade for a few extra features. No chance! Then there's the mind boggling license criteria of their content. Unless you buy the pro license it can't be exported or some such nonsense. While Reallusion insist on spanking customers with high upgrade and content prices then I shall pass. I don't care how great the animation tools are (not that great for what they cost) I'm not paying over $300 (not including unbiased renderer) for a few extra features that aren't even implimented or released yet.
I took a look earlier today at the Morph 3d website. It was the first I'd heard of it but I wonder whether the figures that will be created will be useable in iclone?
I suppose its OK to mention morph3d.com?
I've always been interested in iClone, but that interest always inevitably fizzles and dies after each new installment they don't allow you to save motion files. The fact that you have to "3DXchange" them seems like a crappy cash grab.
I'm always hopeful that they'll change, but they seem pretty well stuck in their ways.
Wouldn't you know it but they've got an iClone sale going on! Is iClone 5 Pro worth upgrading to iClone 6 Pro in terms of better animation features? What have Reallusion added to the animation features in iClone 6? I viewed their website but it doesn't give a lot of indepth comparison information.
iClone doesn't have that much new as far as specifically animation is concerned. Their new featurtes consist of subtance shaders, real-time surface smoothing, a new Indigo unbiased render engine, tessaltion and displacement, dynamic (soft) cloth and hair, and the like.
Remember also that Iclone6 needs a powerful computer to work on. There have been lots of discussions of this in the Reallusion forums.
Ok, thanks! I assumed as much. I wondered whether there had also been any timeline improvements but probably not. My aim is to import DAZ figures into iClone Pro, animate them and then export the animation information and use it in DAZ Studio or Carrara. I have iClone 5 Pro and the 3DXC 5 Pipeline and this works for both import and export. If I understand correctly, iClone 6 Pro will allow import using 3DXC 5 Pipeline but not export. Not much use for what I want to do in iClone 6 Pro then unless I buy 3DXC 6 Pipeline?
Right. And right now 3DXChange 6 Pipeline is very limited, an "Early Access"-Version.
I guess you may wait one or two years, until it is capable of everything promised and short after you are allowed for 200$ to upgrade to the next "Early Access"-Version waiting for the next promises.
Further information about the new character creation tools:
https://youtu.be/Id4GEx_EoiA
Facial Hair, aging morph, cosmetic,facial morphs, ethnicity, etc. in the charcter creation tool.
Earlier, it was promosed sometime in Auigust. I suspect RL is getting close.
I guess I'm just not understanding what iClone provides that Carrara doesn't. With Carrara you can change morphs ("aging" and other body/facial morphs) on-the-fly in realtime. You can also change textures for cosmetics and ethnicity and skin color, etc., merely by selecting a different texture map. Not realtime necessarily, but as fast as you can select another texture.
Now, compared to, say, Bryce, which, last time I checked, doesn't even have an OpenGL view, it seems to me like Carrara is pretty much realtime in those areas.
What am I missing?
JoeMamma...
I do not use Carrara for animation. I like the modelers for editing content items, the replicator tools, and terrrain builder.
Iclone facilates animation and video production.
I suggest, if you are really interested to know more go to youtube search and enter IClone 6. You should bring up a large list of video tutorials and information on Iclone.
There is just no way I can explain everything in a forum posting.
Rampart, I'm not expecting that you explain everything. Mythmaker and others seemed to like iClone's "realtime feedback", and you mentioned some features that I think Carrara already has. Just trying to understand why.
But I'm certainly not in the market for yet another 3D app, so it's just curiosity.
Thanks.
No problem, glad to share. Carrara will do so much. I have spent over 3 years working with Iclone.
You understand my thinking as you have been with Carrara a long time.
If you do a lot of animation and video production I suggest to take an educated hard look at Iclone
The files are in fbx format so I dont see why not. They import into 3dx6 and are recognized as a daz Genesis 2 figure.
edit to add:
I think this is Daz's plan to get its content into Unity. LOD's are a nice feature. I think for use in iClone one is better off to go the 3DX6 pipeline route
Hi ProPose,
Thanks for the info.
This isn't a question but I am a bit puzzled by the popularity of one or two individuals teaming up to write games in CryEngine or Unity. The last game I bought (of VERY few) was Skyrim. I played the opening scene and found the combination of using WASD keys and mouse too frustrating and never tried again although I mean to get round to it. There was some kind of deal in the shop when I bought the game and I got a free manual the size of a London telephone directory full of illustrations of characters, buildings, props and so on.
Such a game must take huge teams of artists years to put together. So I don't understand what market there is for individuals to compete in. Also, what innovations are possible? Iclone seems to be popular with Indie game developers for the creation of animations. Yet game animations must surely by now be very much the same from one game to another: martial arts moves, running, swinging on ropes, throwing grenades, etc.
Unless the games are for little apps on hand-held devices I don't understand where the market is. But it seems that there is a lot of chasing of that market.
@ JoeMamma2000,
I'm not sure if it answers your question but the interest in Iclone's new characters probably stems from the development flow that has occurred over the years.
The first iclone characters had meshes which consisted of clothed body parts. There was no foot under the shoes, for example. The meshes were a bit unusual (to me anyway). Upper bodies, and lower, as well as feet and heads were interchangeable so that a figure could, if the user wanted, have the upper body of a male wizard and the lower body of a showgirl.
Later versions had a second mesh layer called Clone Cloth. Again this came in upper body, etc. The transparency channel of the texture was used to give an upper body short sleeves, for example, and there were various Clone Cloth meshes for tight pants, long dresses, etc. These all had a version of the body mesh underneath. A nude iclone figure just has transparent clothes.
The latest characters being developed now are more akin to DAZ's Genesis, I think, and seem to be one-piece.
As far as I know it remains to be seen what options will be used for clothing creation for the new figures. The couple of new figures currently used in Iclone6 are a kind of interim version. There are no clothing choices but the clothing provided uses PhysX for soft body effects.
I'd say it's more Exchange that's of interest to Carrara users than it is iClone as a program. iClone, by itself, isn't particularly useful. You really have to have Exchange for it to dole out decent renders (animation or otherwise) using a 3rd party app (like Carrara).
So, for instance, you can jump into iClone and use their massive library of mocap and hand made animation cycles and blend them together seamlessly (for a price), and then save that out to your rendering app for fine tuning.
As a distant secondary use, you can render massive crowd (or, herd) scene in iClone extremely quickly and efficiently. So let's say you want a close up of your protaganist and a bunch of busy shit going on behind him or around him, you could spend your rendering and detail time on the character that's front and center, and then fill the background with cars and people with less detail, etc.
now this what I hope they add to iClone -
I have to say that using the Speed Trees is about my favorite thing about the IClone 6. I own Carrara 8.5 pro and to be honest, I am not fond of the interface or the workflow. I use DAZ studio now more than anything for characters, but having the ability to take those characters into Iclone gives me some options that really make it attractive. I can have a scene with trees that move and wind behavior affecting them that I can control on the timeline. I don't have to upload an animation in order to get the trees to move. I just tell the trees wind speed and directions, and I don't have to do anything else but watch them move. I like that you can work in Substance Designer and make a material for use in Iclone. Right now I'm converting some old Toon textures that I have into Substance Materials because I've always wanted to do a semi-realistic toon city. Bitmap2Material is also a lovely way to gain a lot of control over materials and you can create them on the fly in Iclone.
I'm more into toons than I am into realism, so not rendering in Iray or Octane isn't a big issue for me. In the forums, most of what I've read about people having trouble rendering in Indigo come from people having old equipment, and expecting it to work like they see with someone who just put in a 980 ti or A Radeon R295. I basically want to see what it would look like in Indigo, but it's not a big drawback to use the standard render. The only thing that I really miss about using Iclone is lack of 3DConnexion Support, but then last time I checked I didn't have it in Carrara either.
For those people who didn't like Iclone props, I say that you don't have to use them --you can still take your DAZ Assets into Iclone to animate. That's really nice! 3DXchange took a little getting used to, but it's not daunting and I will tell you one of the other things that they have that Carrara doesn't. They have a very active, dedicated, TRAINING staff. The worst thing about DAZ Studio, Carrara and Bryce is that there are all these features but no core training on how to use them. No one seems interested in putting out "official" training materials and the DAZ Wiki is really bad. Broken Picture Links... Out of Date information... That stuff is a huge buzz kill.
I only purchased the software after discovering the built in dynamic elements were coming. They put them all in the same place for the most part and the way they work together is really easy to get the hang of. I'm upgrading my 3DXchange 5 Pipleline to 6 down the road, but Iclone 6 is getting a lot of use from me right now.
people like indie games. people like fringe games. People like cheap games. People like to make games as a hobby. That's the market. Otherwise unity wouldn't be as huge as it is now.