Official Announcement: HiveWire 3D to partner with Reallusion on Content.

[Nathrai]

I just don't think I would've thought of doing a scene like the one Nathrai did, so wouldn't have thought of trying to attempt a simulation of a net around a character so that it looks like she/he/it is hanging from the ceiling, or whatever.

Exactly, it's just an example of necessity being the mother of invention.

I needed something like this, and then it was just a matter of using the tools at hand to reach that goal. And the more tools we have, the more we can experiment in order to get the results we envision. Thus I'm such a sucker for updates.

I remember something James Cameron once said in an interview - that he had wanted to make Avatar for a very, very long time, but he had waited for that sweet spot when technology was finally advanced enough to keep up with his vision. <3

Sorry I have been absent for the last few days. I am slowly recovering from a surgery and I can't stay long on a computer. It may be weeks until I can be back in to regular activity.

Oh my, get well soon! And a big, big thank you for using some of that precious online time to reply!

Although Poser/DS support dynamics, iClone makes more effective use if it. For example, if we rig hair or cloth meshes with bones, we can have them animated in real-time in iClone - but not in Poser/DS.

*swoosh, off to throw money at Reallusion*

That probably was the best argument one could have made to convince me.

As for your question about iClone replacing Poser/DS, I am not sure. I use them together. I use Poser/DS for still renders, and iClone for animations because it's better for that. Nonetheless, I have already posted still renders created in iClone as well, so I guess it depends.

Ah, I'll just have to play around a bit to decide which tasks work best in what piece of software. I've made a similar experience with Poser dynamics and VWD - with some scenes one works better, while the other prevails at different scenes.

Not sure about I-ray (never warmed up to neither Reality nor Superfly), but that AI system sounds quite interesting. Might be worth a shot, too.

One major difference between iClone and Poser/DS is that CC3 is used to apply all the body morphs to the characters, and then we export them to iClone to create scenes, animate and render. In Poser/DS, morphs are available at any point. Maybe Reallusion will integrate CC with iClone, but right now those things are separate. We can still send characters back to edit in CC3 from iClone, but it's important to know that these things are done in different programs. This only refers to character morphs. Clothing, materials, poses and expressions can be edited directly in iClone.

I can see how that could be a bit of a hassle, but to be true, I usually create my characters long before I render them, anyway. So I guess I should be fine, as long as the posing can be done in iClone.

They publicly publish a timeline of the upcoming features organized monthly, so we always know what to expect. For example, it's already known that iClone will support I-ray in one of the coming updates. I like this became it keep me coming back for more.

*nods emphatically*
Sounds like a great communication strategy.

I think I'll definitely give it a try. And I'm just so looking forward to using Dusk and Dawn again. I like them so much more than other figures, but far too often have to walk away from them because I cannot create a certain look I want with their morphs. I'll have to play around with adding different morphs now, to finally use them to their full potential.

I'll be completely broke by tomorrow, but right now I don't even care.

 

[Nathrai]

Okay, it will take an eteeeeeeeeernity to get the hang of CC3 (haven't even started dabbling in iClone)... but, woah, all the new possibilities it offers!

Base character with both Dawn and Luna dialed in halfways. Didn't bother to adjust the shirt for Lunas smaller frame, but it still turned out rather okay. Converting 8 years worth of clothes will be a hassle, but muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch less so than with any of the other auto-fit solutions. I think I'm in love.

 

[Miss B]

Looking good Nathrai.

 

[Ken1171]

Okay, it will take an eteeeeeeeeernity to get the hang of CC3 (haven't even started dabbling in iClone)... but, woah, all the new possibilities it offers!
Base character with both Dawn and Luna dialed in halfways. Didn't bother to adjust the shirt for Lunas smaller frame, but it still turned out rather okay. Converting 8 years worth of clothes will be a hassle, but muuuuuuuuuuuuuuch less so than with any of the other auto-fit solutions. I think I'm in love.

There is a lot we can do in CC3, but that's basically just for creating characters you will use in iClone (or other programs). One thing I got used to doing is to hide the HDRI background image so the real-time rendering doesn't stress my GPU.

Reallusion posts lots of video tutorials at YouTube, so if you are getting started, that's the best place to go.

 

[rampa]

Latest CC3 Pipeline patch can now import Vic/Mic 4 exported from Poser. We'll see about other Poser characters.

Physics is Nvidia PhysX in realtime, although Bullet physics content can still be played back. Not edited anymore though.

 

[Ken1171]

I think V4/M4 were already supported when CC3 was first released. At least they were listed as supported figures in the advertisement. Most of my runtime is for them, so this means TONS of contents to use in iClone, but now with Dawn and Dusk. Thanks to CC3 Transformer, it's a 1-click conversion once we have the exported FBX. ^_____^

 

[Nathrai]

Looking good Nathrai.

Thanks, though I have to admit, almost none of that was my doing. Mostly just pressing the "Make Art"-Button.

I really like that whole auto-weightmapping, and despite my earlier bad experiences with physics-based renderers, that anti-grain AI thing makes me quite curious about how much I could get out of I-Ray without loosing the painting/fantasy vibes.

And I was quite ecstatic to find the face posing window is the same in iClone. So much more fun (and powerful) to manipulate facial regions by dragging than by moving sliders.

Reallusion posts lots of video tutorials at YouTube, so if you are getting started, that's the best place to go.

Thanks! Yes, already spent the better part of yesterdays working hours watching their videos (was a slow day and a technical problem kept me from working - poor me ).

I think V4/M4 were already supported when CC3 was first released. At least they were listed as supported figures in the advertisement. Most of my runtime is for them, so this means TONS of contents to use in iClone, but now with Dawn and Dusk. Thanks to CC3 Transformer, it's a 1-click conversion once we have the exported FBX. ^_____^

I think this was more about the "from Poser" part.

Tried it last night, and for me importing baked morphs directly from Poser worked like a charm (I used the Unity4 preset, since in one of the tutorial videos they used the 2011 format).

Now all that's keeping me back to create ALL of my characters in CC3 are two issues:

1. There seems to be no way to import whole morph sets, or at least neither Google nor I have found one yet. You can of course import single morphs simply by applying them to a vanilla figure, importing that and then using the figure itself as the base. But converting a whole set this way would take an eternity.
2. I love the skins that come with CC3 and iClone, but I have a huge library of character maps for both HW and Mil4. Since there seems to be no way to either re-map the CC3 figure to use them, or to convert the maps to the CC3 UVs, that's a lot of character goodness lost to me. Including my own painstakingly created library of addon tattoos, scars, facepaint and other skin details.

Other than that, I've had a lot of fun so far in CC3. And I think I'll have no problems warming up to iClone, either. The rendering engine looks okay, and the work-/preview window is a marvel. It looks almost like the final render, so no longer do I have to constantly waste 20min on test renders, just to see what a material or a shadow actually looks like.

 

[rampa]

You cannot load morph sets for the body, only the clothing and hair. There is a fairly comprehensive set of morphs available for purchase. Look for the "Essential" morphs.
You can also bake your DAZ UV's and textures to the CC character. Just select the box in the import panel, and choose your resolution.

 

[Ken1171]

You cannot load morph sets for the body, only the clothing and hair.

At least in DS yes, you can. You just have to set up the filters to decide which morphs you want exported, instead of having them baked. All exported morphs can be edited in CC3.

 

[rampa]

Hi Ken

Do the DAZ body morphs work in CC3 now? Sometimes they sneak stuff by me!

 

[Ken1171]

They work in CC3, but I am trying to figure out how to make them show in iClone as well. When I export to iAvatar, the morphs disappear. Any ideas?

 

[rampa]

Check these videos to get some ideas:

 

[Ken1171]

Check these videos to get some ideas:

Ohh, so THAT's how it's done! A lot more work than I expected, but I get the general idea. So specific morphs can hardcoded to individual avatars in a multi-step process. That was done in CC2. I wonder if they made it simpler in CC3, or is it the same process?

 

[Nathrai]

At least in DS yes, you can. You just have to set up the filters to decide which morphs you want exported, instead of having them baked. All exported morphs can be edited in CC3.

Tried it in both Poser and DS, but I couldn't get it to work, sadly.

That is, I can export the morphs to .fbx, but they don't end up in the morph list in CC3.

Thanks for the hint on baking the textures! But is there any way to work with shaders trees, or do we have to bake things like scars and tattoes into the main texture?

 

[rampa]

The CC3 Appearance Editor will be released with CC3.1. Then you will have the ability to add scars, and other stuff.

So yeah. for a while longer you'll need to bake them.

DAZ body morphs are not recognized in CC3. If they were, the conversion would probably take a whole day! So if you have DAZ morphs you want to use, use them in DAZ before exporting. Only clothing and hair morphs transfer across.

 

[Ken1171]

Tried it in both Poser and DS, but I couldn't get it to work, sadly.

That is, I can export the morphs to .fbx, but they don't end up in the morph list in CC3.

Thanks for the hint on baking the textures! But is there any way to work with shaders trees, or do we have to bake things like scars and tattoes into the main texture?

I know we can export body morphs with the FBX created by DS, but I haven't tested if they can be used in CC3. I have tested with hair morphs, but not body morphs. I know that exported hair morphs do work.

Shader trees used in Poser's "Material Room", or DS' "Shader Mixer" are proprietary technologies that cannot be legally used anywhere else. So much that they remain incompatible between the 2 programs to this date, and all exporting plugins from both programs can't include shader nodes in the exports.

The CC3 Appearance Editor will be released with CC3.1. Then you will have the ability to add scars, and other stuff.

So yeah. for a while longer you'll need to bake them.

DAZ body morphs are not recognized in CC3. If they were, the conversion would probably take a whole day! So if you have DAZ morphs you want to use, use them in DAZ before exporting. Only clothing and hair morphs transfer across.

Oh, so here's the answer - body morphs won't work in CC3 even if the FBX created with DS includes them. Transformer can project Poser/DS morphs over the CC3 figure, but currently only the ones baked to the figure. Maybe the additional FBX morphs will be usable in future CC3 updates? We know it can, but it hasn't been implemented yet.

There also seems to be some incompatibility between figures and/or morphs used in CC and iClone, because whenever we transfer figures between the two, it claims to be "converting" the data. Otherwise, the models would just appear instantly instead of taking the time to be "converted". As I have recently learned, even transferring morphs between CC and iClone is rather convoluted, requiring several steps and even a separate program fired from inside iClone. If we want to animate these morphs, iClone fires yet another program to do just that.

In other words, CC and iClone morphs are not handled directly as we are used to in Poser/DS.

 

[rampa]

The conversion process is like a super "shrinkwrap". The CC3 mesh is adapted to the shape of the DAZ exported mesh. That's what makes it a 100% CC3 character. There is no longer a DAZ body mesh after you Transform.

 

[Ken1171]

I still think it's amazing how truthful the imported morphs get on the CC3 figure. I have never seen something like that before.

 

[TaishoBee]

Sorry I have been absent for the last few days. I am slowly recovering from a surgery and I can't stay long on a computer. It may be weeks until I can be back in to regular activity.

Oh my gosh, are you okay?? I send good vibes your way!

 

[Ken1171]

Oh my gosh, are you okay?? I send good vibes your way!

Thank you, Bee! I am slowly getting better every day, though still under heavy medication. I am not used to ever taking medications, so it's quite odd to me. Now it's the 5th day and I feel like I can sit a bit longer on a computer, so I am optimistic. They told me it will take 3-4 weeks, but I am hoping to get better in only 2.