SOFTIMAGE Ships Face Robot 1.9 - Realistic 3D Facial Animation
SOFTIMAGE Face Robot 1.9 introduces a new Autodesk® Maya® exporter that facilitates moving completed facial rigs and animation data from Face Robot into Maya. The interoperative workflow enhances pipeline export and custom data exchange, allowing artists to integrate facial rigs created in Face Robot into pipelines built on SOFTIMAGE|XSI® software, Autodesk Maya software, or between any other professional3D animation software packages.
Availability:
SOFTIMAGE Face Robot 1.9 is available now. For a consultation and Face Robot 1.9 pricing information, please find a local Softimage sales representative at:
Code:
http://www.softimage.com/buy/
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I have no idea what it costs, but first I want to test it. I have a confirmation e-mail where it is printed black on white what my login is, but it still doesn't work. I can't access anything without log in.
EDIT: alright, I think I know now why I can't log in. This software plays probably in the same league as Endorphin or Massive, costs several thousand dollars, and is not available neither as evaluation nor pirated version.
Too bad . . . I was thinking that with a simple camcorder and a few markers on my face I could do mocap and tweak the animation to get such phantastic results like in the preview videos . . .
So, back to voice-o-matic, LBrush and Magpie. And as nobody seems to know Face Machine, I will definitely have to install Maya for that. Well I'm not complaining, I just had the impression that FaceRobot would be my secret weapon to enter the professional area . . .
Phil, I think FaceRobot cost around the price of a small house.. might still cost that much. Would be great to see this cracked but cause of that fact I'm not holding my breath. Has anyone even seen a crack, even of older versions?
If you want to enter the pro area, watch this first:
thanks PacManiac for clarification. You know, on the Softimage site it was not clear that you can't get a demo. There is simply a "download" button. So I spent one hour of trying to get access to a demo. "Those who know" know it, but those who don't, do not. I find that very arrogant, it's the usual elitist attitude.urgh
Hehe, and about the video: no, I don't go this way. I work slow, make pauses, watch the birds and clouds from time to time, then I play a bit of music, come back to the graphics project. And most important, I tell clients right from the start what I do and what not, so there are not many clients . . .. In my life, I've prostituted myself long enough, now it's my turn, I decide how I work!
And I have studied facial mimics long enough, one day I will take revenge for that hour the Softimage guys stole from me and present animations that are better than theirs.:)
16 grand is a lot less than the last price I heard.. good to hear, maybe someone will sneak it out from some place and we'll see a crack at some point.. :)
In the meantime, what are the alternatives? As far as I know there's Face Machine which looks interesting, I've tried the one from http://research.animationsinstitut.de/ which might be a bit too technical but can give good results for realistic faces.
Anything else out there?
About that video, seems like you have set up a good deal for yourself there! :)
What are good face animation tools? Magpie and voice-o-matic feature automation, which is an affordable alternative to mocap. LBrush feature nice modeling tools, but no automation. Combining these tools could be a satisfying solution.
But to give the animator more flexibility, a custom made rig with bones is better I guess. MotionBuilder was not mentioned yet in this thread, but I must admit that it is very challenging when you work as a one-man-band. I never really got to a point where I could use MotionBuilder for projects. Blender should also be added to the list, e.g. the mancandy rig is quite impressive (bone-driven), but I just scratched the surface of Blender until now, so I can't tell more about it.
I should install Maya and try out FaceMachine, but I hesitate, fearing to open Pandora's box (learning lots of new things, and not producing results).
Also, I know not enough about modeling itself, about the right topology of the polygons, about selection sets. As long as I don't know those basics, all attempts to create good animations won't succeed.
So, if you know these basics, I think there are very good tools available. Maybe it is better to reduce the expectations a little bit, because modeling, rigging and animating (and sound engineering) are disciplines on their own, and to master them all is probably a bit too much I guess. When a person speaks, it is also the neck, the chest, the whole body actually that moves. To do this without mocap is still possible, but very hard.
The impressing thing the FaceRobot videos show are the wrinkles, and as the animator said, the edges of the mouth. It is a high poly model to produce such subtle details, so it is quite sure that they use top-notch graphic cards and computers. To match this quality without mocap (either with morph-targets or/and bones), you also need to have such a high polygon count, and a computer system that can display this at reasonable frame rates.
Lip-sync and facial animation is the most challenging thing in CG. But the award is huge, if you manage to create it. One day, I will do it, one day . . .
thanks PacManiac for clarification. You know, on the Softimage site it was not clear that you can't get a demo. There is simply a "download" button. So I spent one hour of trying to get access to a demo. "Those who know" know it, but those who don't, do not. I find that very arrogant, it's the usual elitist attitude.urgh
. In my life, I've prostituted myself long enough, now it's my turn, I decide how I work!
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