Animating Characters

[brkurt]

I wonder if the grass is truly greener on the other side?

Well, we all agree this is a matter of personal preference. For me, just my personal situation, I realized that I was being stupid. I know this could happen, because it happened already once before.

Seriously, my stupidity was investing a bunch of time in to a program I basically hate (Blender) when I could be spending that same time in a program I basically love (CrazyTalk). I was trying to pound the round peg in to the square hole by force of will, not wise. Somebody above suggested this to me already, and they were right.

Yes, I'm a bit of a CrazyTalk evangelist, for a good reason. It's a vastly easier and more fun way to make use of MakeHuman characters. If your Wolverine bosses don't know about CrazyTalk yet, you might be able to wow them by introducing CrazyTalk to the project. It depends of course on whether your project would be enhanced by having your 3d characters talk, sing, yell, cry, converse with each other etc.

But, CrazyTalk probably won't be able to replace Blender, unless your bosses would be happy with talking heads only, and not full animation. From what you've said so far, this seems unlikely.

Whether others would consider CrazyTalk to be greener grass than Blender is of course up to them. I don't understand the lack of interest here, but to each their own.

You should be looking at Synfig Studio, not Blender as your main open-source tool. But even then, you're talking apples and oranges. How could I possibly animate a kungfu move using Crazy Talk? You're focussed on talking heads, but MH/Blender can do anything, if one has the technical skills. For example Crazy Talk won't integrate into Marvelous Designer, the premier digital clothing program (runs on your Mac, btw).

Technically-inclined people generally don't 'hate' a software product; they analyze its weaknesses and strengths.

If you're the artist you claim you are, why don't you post some of your work?

[Tanny]

You should be looking at Synfig Studio, not Blender as your main open-source tool.

Thanks for the tip! I've downloaded it and will check it out. Feel free to educate me further on this product if that should interest you.

But even then, you're talking apples and oranges. How could I possibly animate a kungfu move using Crazy Talk?

Yes, apples and oranges, and no kungfu moves, as I've repeatedly disclaimed in various threads.

You're focussed on talking heads, but MH/Blender can do anything, if one has the technical skills.

This takes us to the heart of the matter, thanks. Yes, if one has the technical skills. MH seems quite accessible by and large, but Blender is of course another story. My point is not that Blender is bad and CrazyTalk is good. My point is that Blender is suitable for only a tiny fraction of the population, while CrazyTalk is suitable for almost anybody with a computer.

This is very relevant for non-nerd users looking for something to do with their MH characters. For the non-nerd population, which out numbers the nerd population by 1,000 to 1 or more, CrazyTalk is a way more inviting, accessible and fun way to use MH characters than Blender.

So what my honorable fellow members are doing when they look down their snooty noses at CrazyTalk is ignoring a program that could serve to make MakeHuman software about 1,000 times more popular than it is today.

The 3d realm will inevitably move ever closer to the consumer market, because that's where the real money is. How much did the nerds pay for MH? Nothing. How much did the nerds pay for Blender? Nothing. How much do the mass market folks have to pay for CrazyTalk? $50. And there are a thousand times as many non-technical folks as there are nerds.

All the technical 3d skills you're learning now will become obsolete because they'll be replaced with accessible user friendly point and click interfaces. As example, MakeHuman. Thus, there is some logic to declining to spend the next 5 years banging one's head against Blender.

For example Crazy Talk won't integrate into Marvelous Designer, the premier digital clothing program (runs on your Mac, btw).

CrazyTalk does integrate with more advanced apps made by the same developers. I don't really know enough about that to offer useful commentary. If interested, search for iClone.

Technically-inclined people generally don't 'hate' a software product; they analyze its weaknesses and strengths.

I'm a programmer with 22 years of experience who has made a considerable sum of money selling my technically inclined startup to those with the big bucks. From that situation, I don't have to worry about what anybody may think about what I love or hate, as I am now retired on the proceeds of my nerd adventures.

Technically-inclined people are not required to be passionless Mr. Spocks. As example, Steve Jobs, whose success arose out of his embrace of a state of chronic dissatisfaction, which apparently included quite a bit of inconvenient yelling.

I'm as nerdy as you guys or maybe more, I just choose not to be nerdy in 3d, because I've already been there and done that and scratched that itch.

If you're the artist you claim you are, why don't you post some of your work?

When did I claim to be an artist? Well, maybe a typoholic artiste, otherwise known as loud mouth.

I've already posted one short vid which showed a very basic marriage of MH and CrazyTalk. I also offered to make samples for users of the forum based on their MH characters. No one seemed interested, which is ok, no problem.

I do have some more CrazyTalk projects coming which I might share if members can figure out how not to yell, "SPAM!"' once I do.

[jorgeo]

I actually went another route, and do all my animation using motion capture. I'm in the dance business, so even though the mocap needs equipment, setup takes time, and you need a good amount of space for filming, the animation is already 90% done for me. I am trying to learn blender to smooth out some animation issues, though. Building my startup takes most of my time, but i think you guys are right: Learning blender will probably pay for itself.

The motion capture I use:
http://ipisoft.com/software/basic-edition/
$345/year license. Good rate of updates and bug fixing

Sample mocap video:
https://youtu.be/1He4SOypin0
Makehuman + ipiSoft -> Blender-> Unity

[brkurt]

I actually went another route, and do all my animation using motion capture. I'm in the dance business, so even though the mocap needs equipment, setup takes time, and you need a good amount of space for filming, the animation is already 90% done for me. I am trying to learn blender to smooth out some animation issues, though. Building my startup takes most of my time, but i think you guys are right: Learning blender will probably pay for itself.

The motion capture I use:
http://ipisoft.com/software/basic-edition/
$345/year license. Good rate of updates and bug fixing

Sample mocap video:
https://youtu.be/1He4SOypin0
Makehuman + ipiSoft -> Blender-> Unity

Good to hear from another perspective.

I am a university instructor, working closely with computer scientists and mathematicians. My focus is on the principles that underlie the animations, so creating puppets is more important than motion capture. For example: teaching the difference between Euler and Quaternion rotational systems.

Another huge problem that crops up, and has not been resolved, is the set of algorithms for folding cloth. Marvelous Designer is the premier digital clothing application, but it's animated mesh output is a mix of quadrangles and triangles, unacceptable to the main animation packages like Maya or Modo, much less Blender.

The best solution I have seen can only be found in academic papers on 'Advancing Front Quadrilateral Mesh', but no one has implemented this yet, afaik.

[wolgade]

I actually went another route, and do all my animation using motion capture. I'm in the dance business, so even though the mocap needs equipment, setup takes time, and you need a good amount of space for filming, the animation is already 90% done for me. I am trying to learn blender to smooth out some animation issues, though. Building my startup takes most of my time, but i think you guys are right: Learning blender will probably pay for itself.

Any chance that you might share some bvh files?

[Déesse]

@ jorgeo: That's great!!! Yes please: share some of your bvh-files. Maybe I can try to upload them to Opensim and see how they work.
@ joepal: no way to implement videofunction to the forums? You will love Jorgeo' s other video showing all Makehuman characters with user's contributions coming to life, dancing around

[joepal]

I looked into hotlinking youtube videos into forum posts before, but I never really got it to work. Best I can do is allow video attachments.

[RobBaer]

Very nice work jorgeo! Fun to watch.

[jorgeo]

Thanks guys, it wouldn't have been possible with this community! Those videos are unlinked right now, once I polish them up and start posting them in public places I'll have to compile a list of all your guys' contributions

I just did some motion capture for some partner dances, like salsa and west coast swing. The idea was to capture a single move (like a basic), reset to a neutral position, do other moves (like a turn), reset to a neutral position, etc. So ideally you would be able to put these moves together in a smooth transition to create a choreography to a song. For that of course I'd need to learn some animation techniques in Blender :p If you guys want I can share some of those moves here, your feedback would definitely be appreciated and useful.

Also if you have a specific requirement for a song or a dance style I can look into including it on my next motion capture session. My dance partner loves to dance so she probably won't mind.

[wolgade]

If you guys want I can share some of those moves here, your feedback would definitely be appreciated and useful.

Cool! I'm sure some people here would grab these moves and have a look at what can be done with them.