Sport Changer: iClone LIVE LINK and Management Rig for Unreal

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Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios

Whats up, my title is Nildo Essá and I’m the Proprietor of FX Animations Studios. The studio was based again in 2004 and up till across the yr 2017 we had been centered primarily on working with TV Commercials being largely sub-contracted by native advert companies. Currently we additionally cater to NGOs and such to make animated PSAs (Public Service Announcement Movies) coping with a number of day-to-day points.Alongside consumer work, at any time when we might, we’d make investments our time on our personal IP, Os Pestinhas aka The Troublemakers

Through the years we’ve produced just a few award-winning shorts and a number of other PSAs utilizing these characters and with nice success. Seeing how properly they had been obtained domestically, we thought it could be a good suggestion to take the subsequent step… doing a function movie.

As we full 20 Years of existence in 2024, we discover ourselves in the midst of manufacturing of our very first Animated function movie “KIBWE” and when it’s full, it will likely be the primary Animated movie out of Mozambique.

We at the moment are utilizing Blender, Unreal Engine, and Reallusion’s iClone and Character Creator 4 (CC4) instruments. As a small group, we will leverage iClone’s LIVE LINK and the CC Management Rig plugin for Unreal Engine to boost velocity, effectivity, and allow real-time animation modifying, character management, and synchronized digicam actions.

“The perfect state of affairs is iClone to Unreal Engine, and with the iClone to Unreal LIVE LINK, and Management Rig plugins, making that bridge much less painful. The Reallusion group has been very useful and receptive to concepts to enhance their instruments, and I’m glad to contemplate them our companions on this loopy journey that’s to make a full function movie with a group of simply 2 folks.”

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Author

‘Os Pestinhas‘ aka The Troublemakers

Kibwe is a narrative about Lili’s life and her journey to avoid wasting her grandmother who was poisoned, whereas discovering tales from her previous, unravelling mysteries of her tribe and household of conventional healers. They’re a bunch of three youngsters headed by a 10-12 months-old woman named Lili who could be very spirited and inquisitive and at all times desires to know the why of issues. She was raised by her grandmother and by no means acquired to know her dad and mom attributable to a curse positioned on her household when she was born. The opposite youngsters within the group are Minhoca aka Stretch and ZeGordo. Stretch is 12 Years outdated. He’s an environmentalist/inventor that’s at all times attempting to give you attention-grabbing concepts to make use of waste in his innovations. ZeGordo is the Glutton. Regardless of being chubby, underneath stress he may be fairly agile. Lili and he grew up collectively and they’re like brothers. ZeGordo is tremendous protecting of her. Kibwe, Lili’s story, unfolded amidst the plush greenery of their village, the place the scent of medicinal herbs lingered within the air. As they delved deeper into the mysteries that entwined their lives, Lili’s curiosity drove the trio ahead, searching for solutions to age-old questions. Stretch’s creative thoughts introduced a brand new perspective, turning discarded bits into treasures, whereas ZeGordo’s loyal presence offered a way of safety of their perilous journey. Collectively, they launched into a quest that may check their braveness, religion, and the energy of their bond.

Guaranteeing Animation with the Proper Instruments

This will likely be our hardest venture but as we intention actually excessive by way of high quality. Our group could be very small… it’s simply me and my spouse. And due to that we’re at all times looking for instruments that can assist us inform our tales with out “breaking the financial institution”. Up till 2020 our primary software was Autodesk 3ds Max. In that yr we switched to Blender and seeing how Reallusion was creating their animation instruments and plugins that join with Blender in a seamless method, it appeared to make excellent sense so as to add these to our pipeline as properly.

Immediately all our characters are Character Creator 4 (CC4) primarily based and each animation we will we begin in iClone 3D software program. Then we refine them in Blender , to have the Unreal Engine being the tip render aim of the pipeline. This workflow works very properly, and it’s secure. However being a group of two (Me and my spouse), it’s nonetheless time consuming particularly relating to export/import occasions concerned between all 3 functions.

The perfect state of affairs is iClone to Unreal Engine, with the the LIVE LINK and Management Rig plugins making that bridge much less painful. The Reallusion group has been very useful and receptive to concepts to enhance their instruments, and I’m glad to contemplate them our companions on this loopy journey that’s to make a full function movie with a group of simply 2 folks.

The Unreal Reside Hyperlink plugin permits seamless switch of information between iClone and Unreal Engine, enabling real-time animation modifying, character management, and synchronized digicam actions.

The perfect state of affairs is iClone to Unreal Engine, and with the iClone to Unreal LIVE LINK, and Management Rig plugins, making that bridge much less painful. The Reallusion group has been very useful and receptive to concepts to enhance their instruments, and I’m glad to contemplate them our companions on this loopy journey that’s to make a full function movie with a group of simply 2 folks.

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Optimizing Transfers with iClone Unreal LIVE LINK

The brand new iClone Unreal LIVE LINK model gives the performance we’ve been on the lookout for. Beforehand, we might solely export characters by way of Reside Hyperlink and save animations utilizing the Sequence Recorder software in Unreal Engine. Exporting animations by way of the usual FBX workflow was not ultimate for us.

The improved iClone to Unreal LIVE LINK switch now helps parallel processing for iClone FBX export and Unreal FBX import, guaranteeing uninterrupted modifying in iClone whereas transfers are ongoing. You’ll be able to monitor the switch progress by way of the progress bar in Unreal Engine to estimate the completion time.

I admire how all characters, props, and cameras switch seamlessly without delay. The cameras animated in iClone and the switcher setup, transition easily to Unreal sequencer with appropriate digicam cuts, reflecting the work accomplished in iClone.

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With our earlier pipeline we needed to export the animations from Blender one after the other, after which the cameras as properly.

At a sure level we even tried exporting eight characters with all their animations as subdivided meshes and the plugin with the free Auto Setup tool for Unreal, did it in such an efficient method and all was neatly organized of their correct folders inside Unreal Engine.

CC CONTROL RIG FOR UNREAL ENGINE

One of the best half was but to come back nonetheless, and this was the CC Control Rig for Unreal Engine plugin. With this software builders now have the liberty to seamlessly management CC characters utilizing the acquainted MetaHuman management rig, enabling exact manipulation and customization of each physique and facial animations.

When the Reallusion group mentioned that they had been engaged on an Unreal Management Rig model for CC4 Characters, we instantly jumped on board to beta check it. We’re nonetheless within the Previz stage of the movie however have already crafted about 80 minutes of animations in Blender.

After some exams with the Management Rig plugin and the iClone LIVE FACE facial mocap tool, we’re transferring forward with the manufacturing utilizing primarily iClone and Unreal Engine.

Combining the highly effective capabilities of iClone and Unreal Engine, our manufacturing workflow is now streamlined and environment friendly. The seamless integration of the Unreal Management Rig plugin for CC4 Characters and the iClone LIVE FACE facial mocap software has actually elevated our venture to new heights. With these cutting-edge instruments at our disposal, we’re assured in delivering a shocking visible expertise that can captivate audiences.

“Combining the highly effective capabilities of iClone and Unreal Engine, our manufacturing workflow is now streamlined and environment friendly. The seamless integration of the Unreal Management Rig plugin for CC4 Characters and the iClone LIVE FACE facial mocap software has actually elevated our venture to new heights. With these cutting-edge instruments at our disposal, we’re assured in delivering a shocking visible expertise that can captivate audiences. “

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Author

The Management Rig plugin is designed in such a means that you would be able to simply choose your transferred character in Unreal and click on a button. After just a few seconds it will likely be able to be animated throughout the engine with rigs for each physique AND face. That is particularly useful in our case as a result of then it signifies that we will simply bake any animations to the Management Rig and tweak/refine them in real-time, contemplating the ultimate units and cameras angles. It is a dream come true for any animator!

There’s even a Picker to assist in choosing the controllers of your Management rig and you may have a number of characters within the scene and the picker will listing all of them correctly named.

“That is particularly useful in our case as a result of then it signifies that we will simply bake any animations to the Management Rig and tweak/refine them in real-time, contemplating the ultimate units and cameras angles. It is a dream come true for any animator!“

Nildo Essá – FX Animation Studios | CEO, Founder, Author

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Conclusions

Lastly, I wish to thank Reallusion for the continued assist to this bold venture. Their availability to assist remedy points and the instruments they’re making actually empower anybody to begin telling their tales in a really cost-effective means.

I’m glad that Reallusion has been such a supportive accomplice all through this journey. Their dedication to aiding with problem-solving and offering accessible instruments actually allows people to unleash their creativity and convey their narratives to life with out breaking the financial institution.