Carrara Challenge #62 "Clowns and Other Circus Stuff" -

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Comments

  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 1,949
    edited May 2022

    Headwax said:

    ed3D said

    ~  actualy , yeah  , But ,  have used Carraa Modelr only a small amout

     and is kinda' used to  Blender-O-Matic  ( Slices, Dices, and Makes Julienne Fries )  giggles    wink

      _  and then  -   this aint Complete  also  _  was enuff  for the Qubes Challeng  ~  Thanx

     

    it's a fine grill box besides! now to get out the sausages :)

    ~  and then _ big  thanx  , burgers for the Grill  , _

    Post edited by ed3D on
  • StezzaStezza Posts: 7,757
    edited May 2022

    The Show Must Go On

    Used G1 and L'il Frankie retextured and my HumptyDumpty Egg .. also modelled the eggs, speech bubble and props for the 3dU banana

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    Post edited by Stezza on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    I love Hugo the Human Cannonball and Ronald Bananaman!

    I am working on a couple of props.  One set is the wagons.  Another is the performance ring, grandstand and audience.  Will post an update of the sets and the replicated figures in a day or two.  I think it is coming along well.  Meanwhile, here is my current cast of the circus.  Lion, Horse, bear, Elephant, RingMaster, two clowns, two trapeze artists and a high wire performer.

    WIP for Circus.jpg
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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,712

    impressive yes

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 7,757

    Diomede said:

    I love Hugo the Human Cannonball and Ronald Bananaman!

    I am working on a couple of props.  One set is the wagons.  Another is the performance ring, grandstand and audience.  Will post an update of the sets and the replicated figures in a day or two.  I think it is coming along well.  Meanwhile, here is my current cast of the circus.  Lion, Horse, bear, Elephant, RingMaster, two clowns, two trapeze artists and a high wire performer.

    what an awesome collection... and done in double quick time ... great stuff yes

    a lot of boning coming up for you I reckon cool 

  • Bunyip02Bunyip02 Posts: 7,531

    ed3D - BBQ looks great for some steak & sausages !!!

    Stezza - go the Maltesers, Banana hat looks great !!!

    Headwax - Hugo looks great !!!

    Diomede - excellent cast for your Circus !!!

  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 1,949
    edited May 2022

    Bunyip02 said:

    ed3D - BBQ looks great for some steak & sausages !!!

    Stezza - go the Maltesers, Banana hat looks great !!!

    Headwax - Hugo looks great !!!

    Diomede - excellent cast for your Circus !!!

    Yeah  , Thanx  very much  ~

    Post edited by ed3D on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    Stezza said:

     

    a lot of boning coming up for you I reckon cool 

    All of the figures are boned.  But I will need to make joint control morphs for elbows and such depending on what types of poses I end up using.  IK chains might be needed as well.

    Thanks for the comments, Stezza, Bunyip, and Wendy.  I don't think I've had this much fun since the Noir challenge.  For that, I made the claymation Rachel the RedHaired Racketeer in Rankin/Bass mode.  

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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    Audience Tests

    Here is a WIP for the audience.  Proof of concept.  With the circus ring, I want to be able to have a curved grandstand with replicated figures.  Instead of a surface replicator, I will be using some regular replicators with the arc setting.  For a single arc row, make sure the Y and Z axis are set to 1.  Adjust the cell grids sizes so they are not on top of each other.

    For additional control, I inserted a target helper.  I selected the hip of the figures and used a point at modifier.  It took some trial and error, but for this project, I got good results by moving the figures and target helper under the floor, moved the target helper lower than the figure, and then adjusted the target helper until I got the figures pointing toward the center.

    I will have a replicator for each row.  I can get some variation with my base male and female models, but I think I will need another base model for children.  Here is a test render of the proof of concept.  I've used one female figure with two different hairs.  I just changed the shaders for the dress and arms to get two different looks.  One test render with 8 in the audience, and one with 16.

    Always more to do.

    Keep up the good work everyone.

    zz01 select hip and point at target helper using y plus.jpg
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    zz02 regular replicator.jpg
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    zz06 bigger ach.jpg
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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • UnifiedBrainUnifiedBrain Posts: 3,588

    Quite a project, Diomede!  Starting to look epic.

    I've never even used a Target Helper.  At least I finally got some experience with the regular replicator in the last Challenge.

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 7,757

    Diomede said:

    Audience Tests

    Here is a WIP for the audience.  Proof of concept.  With the circus ring, I want to be able to have a curved grandstand with replicated figures.  Instead of a surface replicator, I will be using some regular replicators with the arc setting.  For a single arc row, make sure the Y and Z axis are set to 1.  Adjust the cell grids sizes so they are not on top of each other.

    For additional control, I inserted a target helper.  I selected the hip of the figures and used a point at modifier.  It took some trial and error, but for this project, I got good results by moving the figures and target helper under the floor, moved the target helper lower than the figure, and then adjusted the target helper until I got the figures pointing toward the center.

    I will have a replicator for each row.  I can get some variation with my base male and female models, but I think I will need another base model for children.  Here is a test render of the proof of concept.  I've used one female figure with two different hairs.  I just changed the shaders for the dress and arms to get two different looks.  One test render with 8 in the audience, and one with 16.

    Always more to do.

    Keep up the good work everyone.

    I bet they'll be a rowdy lot .... devil 

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 7,757
    edited May 2022

    here's a simple scene I setup using Genesis with a texture for his face I created and some wardrobe from David 3 ( the ruffles ) and I modelled the duck, sun and the clown collar and buttons and created the background.

    Also setup his hair using three hair pieces

    Do You Like My Duck

    you can get it in the wacky modelling thread

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    Post edited by Stezza on
  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921

    Stezza said:

    here's a simple scene I setup using Genesis with a texture for his face I created and some wardrobe from David 3 ( the ruffles ) and I modelled the duck, sun and the clown collar and buttons and created the background.

    Also setup his hair using three hair pieces

    Do You Like My Duck

    you can get it in the wacky modelling thread

     

    wow I like that duck, but that's some scary scary clown Stezza , I think it's the eyebrow arches and the squinty eyeballs ;)

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921

    Diomede said:

    Stezza said:

     

    a lot of boning coming up for you I reckon cool 

    All of the figures are boned.  But I will need to make joint control morphs for elbows and such depending on what types of poses I end up using.  IK chains might be needed as well.

    Thanks for the comments, Stezza, Bunyip, and Wendy.  I don't think I've had this much fun since the Noir challenge.  For that, I made the claymation Rachel the RedHaired Racketeer in Rankin/Bass mode.  

     

    Ww that's quite a ménage à trois Ted. Great characters - as I said before, it's admirable how you keep the same style across so many differnt types of characters.

    And for the audience - that's a terrfic idea with the target helper - I'd forgotten about the point at modifier for feet etc. Thanks for the reminder!!

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921

    Oh and thanks for the comments on Hugo the Human Cannonball everyone :)

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,921
    edited May 2022

    Here's worked up scene from that avi.

     

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    Post edited by Headwax on
  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 1,949
    edited May 2022

     

    ed3D said:

    N/A

     

    Post edited by ed3D on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    Free Stuff.  Figures, Bone Skeletons, and Hair Caps

    Thank you for the comments, UB, HeadWax, Stezza, Wendy, and Bunyip.  I am just plodding along, but I hope I get more than half of my entries from these base elements.

    Speaking of base elements, I am attaching a ZIP file with my generic Male, Female, and Kid meshes and bone skeletons for the Circus/Clown challenge.  Feel free to use for any use.  When I say generic, I mean generic.  I detach the skeletons, work on the meshes, adding and deleting vertexes, modeling clothes into the meshes, or whatever.  That usually means they have to be UVMapped and it isn't worth making morphs at the generic stage.  Similarly, it isn't worth doing the skeleton constraints or weightmaps until the meshes are complete.  They have basic UVMaps, but the UVMaps are usually redone after playing more with the meshes.  Then I reattach the skeletons and do any weightmap editing, joint constraints, etc.

    See 2 attached ZIP files, one for the generic figures, and one for a set of sample joint constraints which you 'should' be able to apply.

    Dio Kid Generic 2.jpg
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    Dio Generic Figures Screengrab.jpg
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    zip
    zip
    Diomede Generic Figure Bases ZIP.zip
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    zip
    zip
    Constraints Dio Generic Clown.zip
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    zip
    zip
    Generic Female Reboot 01 ZIP.zip
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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    Example of Use - RingMaster

    I used the generic male as a starter to create the ringmaster.

    - detach the skeleton  (don't delete the skeleton, just select both the skeleton and the mesh and go to animation menu and detach the skeleton.  Keep the skeleton for future use.

    - ungroup the animation group

    - select the mesh for the generic male.

    - Creating pants and shirt.  in this case, I added edge loops at the sleeve and pant cuffs near wrists and ankles.  I selected an edge loop, scaled it up larger than the limb, and pulled it over the wrist or ankle.  Edit to taste to give the appearance of clothes.  I also added geometry at the waist to give illusion of pants and can add a belt buckle.  In this case, I wanted a jacket.  So I repeated the addition of more edge loops on the arms to create a second cuff for the coat over the shirt.  I also added geometry in the mid chest so I could extrude the middle divide of the jacket.  I added some more geometry so I could extrude the lapels on the coat.  I inserted new cubes to make the shoulder pads.  In the mid-shirt, I added diagonal edges so I could create shader domains for a vest.  I added an edge loop at the neck to create a collar using same method as cuffs.  I added geometry in the back so I could extrude the tails of the jacket.  I did some minor edits to body shape and face shape, but I planned to have thick hair and beard so was not too concerned with face detail.

    - Shader Domains - I created separate shader domains for the coat, the shirt cuffs and collar, the vest, the pants, the boots, and the gloves.  The head has separate domains for the skin, the lips, and the inner mouth.

    - UVMap.  I started the UV map from scratch, which meant slecting everything and hitting the - in the UV unfold tab editor.  

    - Hair. Normally I use a hair cap.  But this time, I grew the hair directly on the RingMaster.  Don't know why.  It did mean I had to wait until I was done with mesh editing and UVMapping.  There are separate hairs for head, brows, and beard.

    - Skeleton.  The generic skeleton still matches, but I had to add bones for the coat tails.

    - The hat is a separate model.

    Bottom line.  There are not separate clothes so I don't have to worry about poke through.

     

    aa01 generic male mesh and skeleton.jpg
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    aa02 RingMaster Mesh and Skeleton see how close match up.jpg
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    aa03 except RingMaster coat has bones for tails.jpg
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    aa04 RingMaster modeled on same mesh.jpg
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    aa09 hair was grown directly on ringmaster instead of haircap.jpg
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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 1,949

    Headwax said:

    Stezza said:

    here's a simple scene I setup using Genesis with a texture for his face I created and some wardrobe from David 3 ( the ruffles ) and I modelled the duck, sun and the clown collar and buttons and created the background.

    Also setup his hair using three hair pieces

    Do You Like My Duck

    you can get it in the wacky modelling thread

     

    wow I like that duck, but that's some scary scary clown Stezza , I think it's the eyebrow arches and the squinty eyeballs ;)

     + 1  ~  pretty good _ 

  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 1,949
    edited May 2022

    N/A

     

    Post edited by ed3D on
  • Philemo_CarraraPhilemo_Carrara Posts: 1,175
    edited May 2022

    I've decided to enter this challenge.

    Whenever I do, I always try something new and take the opportunity to learn something.

    This time, as there is a possibility to submit an animation, my take was to try to build a workflow to import animations from Mixamo. My first tests were disappointing as FBX importer/exporter in Carrara are really out of date. Therefore, I had to use a third party software. It happens I have a nice plugin for Carrara called Daz Studio.

    It works up to Genesis 2. G7 and G8 have double articulations for thigh and shoulder and Mixamo has trouble with that.

    So, this is how it goes.

    • From the latest version of studio, export your base figure (in my case Genesis) as FBX using the latest version of the exporter.
    • In Mixamo, upload a new character using this export.
    • Apply the animation you want. Tune it the way you want. In Genesis, you can fiddle with the Arm space slider.
    • Export it still using the latest version of FBX.
    • Back in studio, import the resulting FBX and save it as a scene subset.
    • Now, in Carrara, create a new scene and add the scene subset from your content.
    • select the figure
    • In the NLA tab of this figure, click on "create master clip"
    • Drag the resulting clip in the clip tab of the browser
    • You're done with this scene, you may close it.
    • in your project, drag this saved clip to the clip tab of the project
    • drag it from there to the NLA line of your figure in the time line. It's done.

    Carrara expects translation to be on the model or on the hip. Mixamo export translation on the figure. So, if you're looping an animation, you have to use the override master clip option. The offset from previous clip part doesn't work.

     

    Post edited by Philemo_Carrara on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    Philemo_Carrara said:

    I've decided to enter this challenge.

    Whenever I do, I always try something new and take the opportunity to learn something.

    This time, as there is a possibility to submit an animation, my take was to try to build a workflow to import animations from Mixamo. My first tests were disappointing as FBX importer/exporter in Carrara are really out of date. Therefore, I had to use a third party software. It happens I have a nice plugin for Carrara called Daz Studio.

    Great to see you entering.  Yay.  Thanks for the workflow.  I have tried my silly Carrra-rigged models in Mixamo.  They load and I can watch them in Mixamo, but as you point out, I can't get the exported animation to work correctly in Carrara.  Carrara gives an error when trying the default FBX Mixamo export.  I can get the model back using the FBX 6.1 export from Mixamo, but no animation keyframes.  Trying collada DAE Mixamo export did not align the exported skeleton with the mesh, and no keyframes.  

    crying

    I bet I could rig them in Studio and follow your workflow.

    I am looking forward to how you integrate a Mixamo-exported animation.  Definitely something that I had been looking into.

    (1) My Clown Model Dancing in Mixamo.

    (2) Error loading default Mixamo FBX export

    (3) Mesh load Mixamo FBX 6.1 export, but no animation keyframes for skeleton

    (4) Mesh and skeleton do not align using Mixamo Collada DAE export

    bb02 clown fbx silly dance.jpg
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    Post edited by Diomede on
  • Philemo_CarraraPhilemo_Carrara Posts: 1,175

    Diomede said:

    Great to see you entering.  Yay.  Thanks for the workflow.  I have tried my silly Carrra-rigged models in Mixamo.  They load and I can watch them in Mixamo, but as you point out, I can't get the exported animation to work correctly in Carrara.  Carrara gives an error when trying the default FBX Mixamo export.  I can get the model back using the FBX 6.1 export from Mixamo, but no animation keyframes.  Trying collada DAE Mixamo export did not align the exported skeleton with the mesh, and no keyframes.  

    crying

    I bet I could rig them in Studio and follow your workflow.

    I am looking forward to how you integrate a Mixamo-exported animation.  Definitely something that I had been looking into.

    Does you Carrara rigged character transfer correctly in Daz Studio using Daz Collada ? You could maybe skip the rigging part.

  • Philemo_CarraraPhilemo_Carrara Posts: 1,175

    Philemo_Carrara said:

    Diomede said:

    Great to see you entering.  Yay.  Thanks for the workflow.  I have tried my silly Carrra-rigged models in Mixamo.  They load and I can watch them in Mixamo, but as you point out, I can't get the exported animation to work correctly in Carrara.  Carrara gives an error when trying the default FBX Mixamo export.  I can get the model back using the FBX 6.1 export from Mixamo, but no animation keyframes.  Trying collada DAE Mixamo export did not align the exported skeleton with the mesh, and no keyframes.  

    crying

    I bet I could rig them in Studio and follow your workflow.

    I am looking forward to how you integrate a Mixamo-exported animation.  Definitely something that I had been looking into.

    Does you Carrara rigged character transfer correctly in Daz Studio using Daz Collada ? You could maybe skip the rigging part.

    I just saw your basic character pack in another thread. I did the test and he answer is no, it doesn't transfer correctly sad

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026

    Philemo_Carrara said:

    Philemo_Carrara said:

    Diomede said:

    Great to see you entering.  Yay.  Thanks for the workflow.  I have tried my silly Carrra-rigged models in Mixamo.  They load and I can watch them in Mixamo, but as you point out, I can't get the exported animation to work correctly in Carrara.  Carrara gives an error when trying the default FBX Mixamo export.  I can get the model back using the FBX 6.1 export from Mixamo, but no animation keyframes.  Trying collada DAE Mixamo export did not align the exported skeleton with the mesh, and no keyframes.  

    crying

    I bet I could rig them in Studio and follow your workflow.

    I am looking forward to how you integrate a Mixamo-exported animation.  Definitely something that I had been looking into.

    Does you Carrara rigged character transfer correctly in Daz Studio using Daz Collada ? You could maybe skip the rigging part.

    I just saw your basic character pack in another thread. I did the test and he answer is no, it doesn't transfer correctly sad

    Thanks for checking.  No, I would have to use something other than Carrara for the rigging, Examples include Daz Studio or Poser.  We get to enter up to 3 animations, so maybe I will consider it if I have time for a 2nd or 3rd entry.

  • Philemo_CarraraPhilemo_Carrara Posts: 1,175
    edited May 2022

    First wip: first half of the animation

    Main animation is scary clown walk and Thriller 1 from Mixamo

    Public has some sitting animation also from mixamo

    Octane is used to render

    Animation of the dance needs to be redone (hands entering body, for instance, which can be handled with the arm space parameter in mixamo).

    Characters are organized with "regular" replicator. Grid for the dancers, circle for the spectators.

    I'll be on the road next week, so don't expect any improvement before 2 weeks :-)

    circus tent and stuff are from the carnival products here in Daz.

    Carrara setup:

    Carrara setup for first wip

     

    setup.jpg
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    Post edited by Philemo_Carrara on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026

    Off to a great start.  Can't wait to see what you have planned for the second half.

  • Bunyip02Bunyip02 Posts: 7,531

    Diomede - Circus visitors looking awesome, thanks for the freebie & rundown on the ringmaster !!!

    Stezza - that Duck looks like it could make one hell of a splash !!!

    Headwax - nice render of your animation !!!

    Philemo - you beat me to the clown thriller dance, looks great !!!

    Me - back to the drawing board....

     

     

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,026
    edited May 2022

    Freebie Supplement. - Joint Constraints

    I have added another ZIP file to the post with the freebie generic figures above.  My base figures for this challenge use similar skeletons.  I created a set of joint constraints for my fat clown variation of the base male.  If you ever decide to try the figures, you 'should' be able to apply these constraints to corresponding joints of a model/skeleton derived from the same generic figure.  See post with freebie zip above.

    Post edited by Diomede on
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