My script to turn Blender in a laboratory for 3d humans

[rampa]

I hadn't read the manual before asking about it.

[duststorm]

I think we'll be porting the new proxy mechanism of Manuel Lab soon enough to MakeHuman. It'll be such a big step up in usability compared to using MakeClothes.
I still have to finish investigating the feasability of that, though.

[Manuel]

I got a chance to sit down and play with the addon for a while and wrote down what I noticed. These are my main concerns:

--saving characters. I read the page in the manual and to be honest it sounds like a pain in the ass. Or like you haven't figured out a good solution yet. I can't imagine having to manually reload the json file every single time I open up my .blend file. This also means you can't export your human with all the settings to an external program, so you can say goodbye to marvelous designer.

I don't understand the problem. You can save your character as you prefer: blend, json, or export it using Blender functions.
If you save the blend file, the script will ask you to re-init the model. What you should avoid is to have multiple characters in the same scene, or use it in a complex scene, or add shapekeys to it..
The best way to use the lab is to keep a blend file as character generator, and another blend file to compose the generated character in a complex scene.

--Removing the race/gender/age sliders. Maybe most people wouldn't miss mixing the race/gender sliders but the total lack of an age slider is a big deal. Instead there's this awkward workaround to make a character older?? seen here

The lab is not a port MakeHuman in Blender, it uses different algorithms and different methods to model humans, so we can't say that I "removed" a feature.
At the moment you can make a character older or younger mixing it with the special metadata types. I'm studying some algorithms to better modify the age, if the result will be good, I'll add it in next version.

--The global weight/muscle sliders are moved to the generator tab, so the only way to globally change those parameters is to either randomly generate a new character, or go to the heavy/muscular/etc presets (and in the process lose whatever facial/etc fine tuning you just did.)

You can edit it using parameters: http://www.manuelbastioni.com/guide_det ... meters.php

[Manuel]

Link to video: https://youtu.be/X-gSNDBDPM8

[jujube]

What you should avoid is to have multiple characters in the same scene, or use it in a complex scene, or add shapekeys to it..
The best way to use the lab is to keep a blend file as character generator, and another blend file to compose the generated character in a complex scene.

I thought there wasn't a way to export a finalized character with the parameters built in? If you export the model as obj, you have to reload the json file into the model in blender via the addon, or else your changes won't show up. That's what the manual seemed to say. Is there some other way to create more than one character? I was also sure it said that you can't use your human outside blender, which is another major limitation.

And at any rate, since this is a piece of software, not a piece of art that is simply viewed, you should consider taking into consideration user experience. (Not all I said was negative either; there were things about the addon that I liked better than makehuman, which is why it's disappointing to run into the flaws. )

edit: I see now watching the video that "apply as shapekeys" applies ALL possible expressions as shapekeys, and also is what finalizes the model. In that case, I think it might be a better idea to give it a different name, and/or move it somewhere else.

[brkurt]

Hi guys,
this is my new script...
Download: http://www.manuelbastioni.com

manuellab100.png

Works great!

Fantastic for showcasing all kinds of render engines: Cycles, LuxRender, and my favorite, cause it's fast, Yafaray.

Even better, since one can save in Blender (in a wide variety of formats) it creates exactly the kind of models that Marvelous Designer needs.
And...I can use *any* version of Blender I want on *any* (I've got two dozen alma-mater-donated) machine to create whatever characters....

[Fred Astair]

Hi Manuel,

This lab of yours is wonderful, thank you for it

It's been asked by myself, and several others, but you never answer us - when will some skin become available?

I'm not asking you for the variety of skins you've mentioned, nor the variety of UV maps you've also mentioned, but just one basic Caucasian skin and one basic UV map would make a huge difference when it comes to learning the modelling methods you've introduced. (IE - adjusting parameters). I find it very difficult to visualize the model when I'm making changes on a "white stone" statue. There is no contrast and everything blends together into one color and the eyes are the same color as the cheeks and eyelids. I tried making the models colored by changing that in the materials section, but things like the eyes are impossible to appreciate when they don't "look" like eyes. I even went so far as to apply a Caucasian female skin from MH to the material, and that improved things considerably, although, as you can imagine, without a UV map she had eyes on her butt cheeks and hair on her back . Still, it was better than the cold white default color.

If you could please release at least a basic Caucasian female skin and perhaps a basic UV map that we could work with (preferably one with eyes), that would be greatly appreciated. Or at least, tell us why you are keeping "Mum" on the subject.

[Fred Astair]

Oh, one other thing Manuel...

In MakeHuman, and I see also in your lab, it is still impossible to create lower eyelids that have a realistic wave to them. (see image). This is a great big deal, because for all the sliders in MH, and the parameter adjustments for eyes in your lab, eyes like these cannot be accomplished. Even though you've added a curve adjustment for the lower lid, it is only a very slight curve and cannot create the sideways "S" in this type of eye. I've struggled with MH for a long time trying to accomplish this, and was thrilled to see that you've added a lower eyelid curve adjustment, but alas, it is not potent enough. I mostly have noticed the lack when I've put a face of a model in the background in MH to underlay behind the MH models face, and not been able to duplicate the eyes because the lower eyelid won't budge beyond mostly flat, and the eyes I'm copying have that sideways "S" for lower eyelids.