Mimic Pro 3.1 (Inactive) / Crazy Talk / iClone
Novica
Posts: 23,924
Why is Mimic Pro 3.1 Inactive? I have it in my Product Library.
How does this compare to Crazy Talk?
Edit: Changed the title to reflect the conversation
Post edited by Novica on
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I'm worried that Mimic has gone the way of the Dodo. It's in the 32 bit version of Daz Studio, but never made it into the 64 bit. The 3.1 version is really for Poser, not Daz Studio, so the DS version might be an improvement for all I know.
Seems like it's kinda on the same development train as Bryce.
Hmmm, I don't use Poser and it HAD to have said it was for DAZ Studio...but the Product Page doesn't show that part anymore. Only the blurb comes up, that option to click to the page and see the full thing is of course not there. So I am not a tech person- what version of DAZ is 32 bit- any of them? I still have 4.5 (I bought this last December apparently) even though I use 4.6
Thanks for your help :)
This is the product description (can still get it from the Product Library)
"Mimic Pro provides an advanced environment for easily creating and editing facial animation sequences. Take existing WAV audio files of any language and let Mimic animate your figure for you. Or, record your own speech file within Mimic's recording studio. With the ability to add in expressions such as winks, nods and smiles, your figures can easily become as expressive as your imagination allows. Mimic Pro now displays your custom character ERC and morph settings during playback, and has a much more intuitive, customizable interface, along with enhanced features that will drastically cut your production time. Making your favorite 3D characters talk has never been so easy, thanks to Mimic - and now it's better than ever! This product does not currently support Genesis."
And does iClone do the same thing as Crazy Talk? I have all the iClone stuff but haven't used it yet.
The best I can tell from iClone is that it can take your Daz characters and then do the animation work in iClone. It can do the voice work, full animation and other stuff, but I don't see where it comes back to DazStudio. I could be wrong, but based on what I read on here and at Reallusion, it appears that once it goes to iClone, it stays there.
Crazytalk seems to be more of a fake animation. It takes a 2D image and allows you to set it up to do voice overs and the like. It doesn't stay 3D like iClone or DazStudio with Mimic.
There is a Mimic for Carrara. Never tried it or moved from DazStudio to Carrara or vice versa.
Hi Novica.
I have CrazyTalk. It's meant to be used on 2D photos/drawing to give them the appearance of 3D movement.
M.
http://www.daz3d.com/iclone-facial-pipeline-character-pack
I'm becoming re-acquainted with iClone products that I bought and they seem to have the facial animation, etc covered.
That sounds like fun- what do you think of it?
Thank you :) I'm looking to see if I can figure it out. There's several components to it and I got all of them I think.
As said rendered in iClone
You cannot export the facial animation back to DAZ studio from iClone
Most however would not wish too as iClone renders very fast.
You can export some bvh bone movement back with pipeline but facial uses blendshapes which are not supported, I think it may be in 3DSmax etc but no DAZ/Poser softwares inc carrara
There seems to be a lack of products like iClone on the Mac unfortunately. I'd love to get the iClone stuff. I'd even shell our for the $399 Pipeline package, but I have to pick and choose where I spend my money. I have to have a Mac in my line of work, so a PC is a luxury. If I get the PC, then I can't afford the software, so I'm left with having to do without either way.
I love Mimic and wish Daz kept it up, but I don't think they are the original coders for it. I have no knowledge one way or another, it's just something that I thought I read somewhere. Still, it's an amazing product really. If you use DazStudio in 32-bit mode, there is a Mimic in there than CAN animation Genesis and G2 figures, just so you know. There's no extra cost. I was just hoping that a 64-bit version would come out. Still, it's available and very usable and once you've done the mimic, you can save the scene and open it in the 64-bit version without any issues.
As for other animations, there seems to be limits there. Some of them are good, but I've finding that certain oddities still show up. Even the walk animations seem odd with weird placements on the feet, not knowing if it's a heeled shoe or not or even barefoot. Even the legs can be at odd angles. There are some fixes out there that help, but it's not a perfect solution. Even finding a Mocap option on the Mac. I did find FastMoCap and I'm tempted, but it's kinda pricy at $200 to be able to create files for DazStudio or BVH files. They don't have a trial either but they do offer your money back if you aren't happy with it, for what that's worth.
Kinda funny how it started as a thread on Mimic and ended up on animation, but I believe that's the main intent of Mimic is to help in that arena. I believe I saw something in the iClone Pipeline where they even have a facial emotion capture option. That was very intriguing.
Oh, one other thing if you thinking of iClone and don't have a PC...
Their software doesn't work in virtual PC apps and they even have issues with BootCamp. So if you want iClone, you better have a PC.
I was totally bummed when I found that out. I had to remove the iClone Pipeline bundle from my shopping cart when I saw that, but I had to do my due diligence.
That sounds like fun- what do you think of it?
It really is fun! And the learning curve isn't too steep. I prefer CrazyTalk Animator, though, because you can do so much more. Like this:
http://youtu.be/3G-vQ8YhoJo?list=UUcu1sjd7JrBsLK4F_ggh3ig
http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/
Shows the difference in crazy talk and CrazyTalk Animator 2
The animator does the full body (but a workaround could be screenshots of your character in different poses and put into the timeline?
The Crazy Talk Animator does NOT
Export Interactive Avatars to Web, iPad/iPhone
Not exactly sure what interactive avatars are- meaning you have typed questions that the avatars can answer?
but unlimited characters.
The question with just the CrazyTalk is it has Voice-driven Auto Motion and the Animator 2 doesn't. HUH? Why would something that includes the body and seems like MORE, not have voice auto motion- I guess I don't know what that is.
They also have this note for MAC users:
Note 1: CrazyTalk Animator 2 Mac is scheduled to be released in 2014.
With the kinect? Yep, I got that bundle.
It really is fun! And the learning curve isn't too steep. I prefer CrazyTalk Animator, though, because you can do so much more. Like this:
http://youtu.be/3G-vQ8YhoJo?list=UUcu1sjd7JrBsLK4F_ggh3ig
Melissa- what a funny song- very clever lyrics!
Mimic pre-dates DS by a number of years. At one time it came in a Standard version, Pro Version and a plugin for Lightwave. When version 3 was released, the Standard version was dropped. Eventually a Lite version was created as well as a Carrara plugin.
The inactive in your product library simply indicates that the product is no longer sold in the marketplace. You can still download and use it.
At one time, mimic files were included with any number of figures. I have little experience with iClone and haven't used Mimic Pro beyond version 3 so I don't know how they compare.
Thanks icprncss. Now a DUH question- is Mimic a standalone program or do I use it with DAZ Studio? I'm still pondering one of the previous statements about it working in 32 but not 64 bit- is the 4.6 studio 32, 64 bit or both? (Those bits always get me confused.)
Thanks icprncss. Now a DUH question- is Mimic a standalone program or do I use it with DAZ Studio? I'm still pondering one of the previous statements about it working in 32 but not 64 bit- is the 4.6 studio 32, 64 bit or both? (Those bits always get me confused.)
Mimic is standalone program .
lip sync ( DS 32 bit ) works the same as Mimic .
there is a version of Mimic that works in Carrara 8.5 64 bit .
With the kinect? Yep, I got that bundle.
Yeah, that was it. I actually bought a Kinect off eBay for $35 with the AC adapter with the intent to do MoCap. If Reallusion would port iClone to the Mac, I'd have jumped on that deal so fast... now I have to decide if I want to put down $200 on FastMoCap instead.
Thank you Bigh :)
Here's a REALLY good video on Crazy Talk 7 Pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca9imGPgyHw
I have to admit, that if I went the CrazyTalk route, I'd have to go with Animator. Even if I had to wait on the product, but I believe it's already out for the Mac.
Okay, so why exactly did they stop letting folks buy Mimic Pro? I installed it and am in the ReadMe and it looks like a lot of fun. Just because they haven't updated it since 2008, so what? Silo hasn't hasnt had upgrades in a long time, until recently- and it's still viable. Is there something wrong with Mimic Pro that I should know about ? :)
nothing wrong - some people find it hard to work with .
it is most useful for creating dmc files for unsupported lipsync figures
that said you can also do that in notepad using the default dmc and swapping out morphs
which I have been forced to do with some figures that will crash Mimic
some of the Poser animal figures do
Just a note for Mimic users - beside the dmc files that didn't make it into the product libraby and that are still listed under 'Resource Files' tab on items pages in the shop (e.g. Toonimal Penguin), 3DUniverse has mimic files for many of their toons available: http://www.3duniverse.co.za/files/mimic/
https://app.box.com/s/7181r0b1v5kwv3lbryhx one I made for the DAZ cow
IIRC, Mimic was a buy out like Bryce. There's nothing wrong with the app. Probably the main issues are it's "old" code and no one there is familiar with it.
We still use it when we need it. I suppose mainly because we're familiar with it after all these years and because it is a stand alone app.
wow! Thanks, didn't know those existed.
2018 The link is now: https://www.3duniverse.co.za/free-downloads
2018 Other fun stuff: https://www.3duniverse.co.za/downloads