“For the love of Sprog!” an iClone animation

Posted by Animize on June 25th, 2009

For the love of Sprog! from The Martin Brothers on Vimeo.

This animation idea came about while testing the dynamic springs inside iClone 3. I started by constructing the Sprog character and attaching and linking various spring props. The result gave a very liquid motion effect and the story of our two underwater lovers evolved from there.

After developing the idea with characters and scenery, I decided that I wanted to try and do a single project with multiple cameras and film the animation in real-time. What I mean is that this movie is one project from beginning to end that you could watch it inside iClone, in real-time 3D. So, the project in iClone is the same as the rendered movie. All editing was done inside iClone so the cuts are camera cuts. No video editing was done except for the final text credits and the shimmer effect on the logo.

I found that springs can be very effective as accents for characters or even as total characters. You can find most of the props I used to make the Sprogs inside your iClone 3.2 props folder.

Music and sound are always needed and for this project I needed above and below water ambient sound and a slue of water sounds. I relied completely on the royalty-free resources: Freesound.org for all sound FX and http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/ for the Tango music. Each audio library has a wide range of sound fx and music. One tip, on Freesound.org, you can actually search for the sound you want, like ‘Whoosh, Splash, Yahoo, etc…” You’ll likely find what you need.

CrazyTalk 6.0 launches multi-head facial animation

Posted by Animize on June 11th, 2009

CrazyTalk 6 is here and the most user-requested feature has arrived: Multiple talking characters for virtual conversations and a stage to direct it all in real-time. Many more great features detailed below and on the Reallusion website.

Crazytalk 6

CrazyTalk 6.0 What’s New:

http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/default.asp

Dynamic Dialogue with Multi-character Editing Tracks

* Multi-head setup is easy with fitting tools to identify up to 4 heads in any image.
* Individual editing tracks for each character.
* Transform and key-frame position.
* Enhanced camera system with zooming in/out enables you to flexibly arrange the scene.

Enhanced Facial Mesh

* The larger, full-hair mesh provides accurate fitting to make animation natural and realistic.
* 3D Face Orientation setting enables precise fitting for slight head turns.
* Auto Face Fitting adds another level of accuracy to the auto-fit engine.

Advanced Eye Settings

* Match your design style with VividEye Templates – anime, animal, cartoon, comic, human.
* 4 layers of VividEye Settings greatly increase the virtual eye realism – Eyeball, Optics, Eye Lashes, Eye Shadow.
* EyeMagic adds cosmetic effects with various adjustable colors and lash sizes, style controls.

Performance & Output

* Open GL hardware acceleration.
* Direct output to YouTube.
* Export for web use (Interactive Flash Avatar/Widget).

Web Avatar - the interactive web host
CrazyTalk6 PRO enhances actor creation, actor performance, and editing controls to deliver an elite set of facial animation tools to develop, direct and render videos for production or sharing online.

iClone eye-candy from Barca Lunar

Posted by Animize on June 5th, 2009

O CHAMAMENTO PANFFARRÓNICO - The Panffarrounic call 3D

Barca Lunar’s, “O Chamamento,” has a message for you. Forget what you think you know about iClone 3. That’s not meant to be taken as a jab, but an awakening. The visuals brought to life inside this movie are fantastic in every sense. The creatures are unlike anything I’ve seen yet in iClone and their presence, movement, vivid color and behavior will captivate you just as much as it has us. A truly stunning work. If this is a preview of what Barca Lunar is going to bring us from the world of iClone, then all I can say is, “Where’s the popcorn?”

Berlin Wall Graffiti with CrazyTalk 6

Posted by Animize on May 27th, 2009

Berlin Wall Graffiti Animation
We are releasing CrazyTalk 6 in June and this is a movie I put together with the new multi-actor animation and pan and zoom camera features. The images are from photos I took when I visited the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall, known for it’s graffiti.

Graffiti of the East Side Gallery brought to life with a poem by Alan Cook and animation with CrazyTalk 6. These are photos with some comic effect added and then imported into CrazyTalk where spoken word becomes animation. http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk

The Expedition from Anima Technica on Vimeo.

Anima Technica is back again with another outstanding iClone movie, The Expedition. The character design, custom costumes, and big voice cast are among some of the notable accomplishments of, The Expedition. Gabe brings a great story to life inside iClone.

From the creator:
Father Corrigan disappeared in the jungles of Burma while researching ancient sanskrit texts. The renowned explorer James Cooper and a hero of the Zulu Wars, Captain Powell, embarked on a journey to find Father Corrigan. The expedition takes them from London to the dust and grime of Kolkata and the impenetrable jungles of Burma.

iClone & CrazyTalk collide in the actor’s workshop

Posted by Animize on May 12th, 2009

Natural Facial Performance content Pack FINAL

James Martin returns from a 2 month hiatus with a new series of training for iClone. This is some super noodle krinkling material and James raises the bar leaping into iClone as an avatar.

From James: Guess who’s back? That’s right, your favorite insane iClone insider is back and with more goodies than ever to share with you, the iCloners of the world. Today’s tip focuses on the new Acting Workshop, Natural Facial Performance content pack by Reallusion. Think of this adding this content pack to your library the same as adding the ability to apply instant emotion to your characters in any project in both iClone and CrazyTalk. Sound good? Learn how at www.iCloneTraining.com”

1st graders TEACH animation with CrazyTalk.

Posted by Animize on May 12th, 2009

Shoal Creek Elem. School is preparing students for the age of Visual Computing with Reallusion’s CrazyTalk.

These kids know what they’re talking about when it comes to CrazyTalk. We were told that this class was doing a project in CrazyTalk and part of that was to film their own, ‘How-to,’ video. I would say that they got an A+. Really fantastic movie by the kids from Shoal Creek Elem. School.

Megan Power, a teacher of Poway Unified School District (USA) said:”I was amazed at the energy and excitement the students had for this project once they realized they would be creating a movie using CrazyTalk. Their motivation jumped exponentially.”

Epic WWII Battle in iClone

Posted by Animize on May 2nd, 2009

CRONICAS DE UNA GUERRA

Norte43’s recent entry into War & Peace. Epic battles!

From the creator:
“La estupidez humana no tiene limites ni fronteras HUMAN STUPIDITY HAS NO LIMITS OR BOUNDARIES Realizado con ICLONE, para el concurso WAR and PEACE Made with iClone, the competition for War and Peace Editado con VEGAS Published in VEGAS”

D is for Dead - iClone film by Zirkhel

Posted by Animize on May 1st, 2009

iClone War & Peace - D for dead

Film submitted by Zirkhel for War & Peace contest. NIce execution of cel shading and WWII content. A very unique short-film and story. From the creator: “Be safe, and stop shooting.”

Tune-in to iClone radio, tonight!

Posted by Animize on April 27th, 2009

If you are using iClone or are interested in Machinima or animation, then you can’t miss a second of the Wolf and Dulci hour on iClone Radio.


Want to know more about iClone? Meet Dulci and Wolfzone, two iClone powerusers that have put together an informative and entertaining weekly iClone webcast. Listen live each week for topics on using iClone, hints & tips, filmmaker interviews and new film release discussion. There’s also a super creative way to get free content each week from the show’s producers. Join Dulci and Wolfzone for this week’s episode tonight.

Following is reposted from Dulci’s blog:
The show airs live Monday nights from 9pm-10pm CST.

Live listeners in the chatroom will receive an exclusive parking lot freebie. Listeners not in the chatroom are welcome to Skype me (Dulcilicious) during the show for their link once we announce the content is available. If you download Week 4 after it’s available, listen for the download code to email to Wolf for your copy of the freebie.

The hot topic of tomorrow night’s show is “I bought iclone - now what?”. We will delve into how to get content into iclone so you can start making movies!

This is in addition to our usual banter, and my favorite segment, Stump The Wolf!

As always, Stump the Wolf questions and audio commercials can be submitted to dulcineatmo@gmail.com