Using Character Creator figures in Carrara

MatCreator

If anyone has IClone/Character Creator and could share some screenshots of how to export/import figures (rigged for posing) from Character Creator into Carrara it would be greatly appreciated. The options Ive used thus far arent working out as expected =(

Hermit Crab

Earlier this year I bought CC3 Pipeline and had Iclone6 already installed.  I found I could export CC3 characters with motion taken from my Iclone libraries as .fbx.

This is the thread I started:

https://www.daz3d.com/forms/discussion/309841/reallusion-s-character-creator-3-and-carrara#lateste

Wendy had already been using Iclone Pipeline exports for a long while before I tried this with CC3.

I haven't had time to look back into this in detail because I'm not doing any 3d stuff these days but I think that if you look at the skeleton hierarchy in Carrara you will see that limbs have bones with 'twist' in the name.  The 'wireframe' bones can be rotated for posing and work correctly.  The 'twist' bones distort the mesh.

I must ask you to excuse me if I'm unable to get back with further info.  I may not be free later.

Hermit Crab

OK, I made some time for this because my posts in the thread are a tough read - my fault.

Here are screenshots, which you asked for:

The first shows where to get the export dialogue box.

Then I show the dialogue box.  I've chosen the Maya preset and ticked 'Include Motion'  This is where I would add a motion after choosing the 3rd radio button.  In the screenshot the 'Calibration' radio button has been selected.  (You will find that this exports 17 seconds of animation to Carrara - it puts the figure through all sorts of calibration poses).

It is probably a good idea to prepare a folder to export to - this means that the .fbx file will be kept together with a folder full of textures which the export process creates.

In Carrara, simply use the import dialogue to navigate to the .fbx file that was exported.  You will see that the skeleton has the bones that I mentioned above.  You can make the 'twist' bones invisible which takes a bit of time but makes it easier to select the bones you want to use for posing.

Hermit Crab

Hmm... looking at the bone hierarchy of this figure, I don't see any with 'wireframe' in the name.  Maybe it is only DAZ characters and possibly others that have been brought into Character Creator then exported as .fbx that have bones named that way.

This native CC3 character exported to .fbx does have plenty of 'twist' bones, however, and the ones I tried to pose turned the mesh into elastic with no IK.  So I think the rule is: don't try to pose the figure using the extra 'twist' bones.

I hope this helps before I disappear.

MatCreator

Very helpful, going to marinate on this and see how it goes on my end. Will let you know, and many thanks for the input.

MatCreator

It was the "twist" joints that were throwing me off, I thought I was doing something wrong but thats just normal for the process and exported figure. Taking that chunk with me Ive started an animation and will post to the other forum, which also had some good tips and opinions.

So far, I really enjoy the toolset, I havent explored animation enough but with the animation pipeline, that will change. Even just beginning, creating an animation is fairly easy, but I am far more comfortable in Carrara, and prefer the output.

Hermit Crab

Once again, I'm zapping through here quickly having seen your new post...

I'm glad things are working and the outlook is good.  It makes the expense worthwhile!

If you have Iclone, you will have a good number of motion files included in the package which should not need an export licence.

If you want to add any of these motions to your character in CC3, ready for export, then you can enter the motion file's location (pathname) in the dialogue box I gave a screenshot of.  You select the third radio button and enter the pathname of the motion you wish to give the character.  Where do you get the pathname of the motion file?  Go to the motion file in the Iclone asset library within Iclone and right-click on it.  There is an option in the resulting pop-up menu 'find file'.  That will give you the location on your hard drive of the motion file you want to add to the character (attached screenshot).  Remember that you can put together your own motions within Iclone (either from scratch or from existing motions) and save them to the asset library.

The dialogue box for adding motions in CC3 looks like it should accept a list of motions but I haven't got it to pass more than one to the figure.  Maybe I should ask in the Reallusion forum.

At first sight, Iclone rendering will not look as good as Carrara output but Iclone is extremely capable of giving good visual output for those who are determined enough.  It is good for quick visual effects such as mist and rain for sure and camera work is easy.   All this helps with learning to think in terms of creating a final work.  I, too, look to bring things into Carrara but an evening spent with Iclone is always a fun way to get a lot of quick animations of characters moving in a scene done.  Making a serious animation, however, would still take a lot of work whether in Carrara or Iclone or any combination of other software.

Once you start exporting DAZ characters to put into CC3 and then back out again to bring into Carrara - each with a different motion - you will have a lot of files to keep track of and names to remember.  It quickly gets hard to stay organised (if you are like me and don't prepare a file structure and naming system).

Looking forward to seeing any results you may wish to post.