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The "Animators Assemble!" thread for Daz animation WIPs, clips, and tips

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  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 40,698

    Dartanbeck said:

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    Vace Multitalk witn Wan is supposed to be good for defining which character out of 2 says what

    you do a prompt for left and another one for the right character 

    but not for me blush

     

    video link

    yes So... it didn't put the right voice on the proper character?

    well not for me

    as I said, others show it working

    I am cursed cheeky 

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Dartanbeck said:
     

    Agreed. Lip sync has been an issue for me as well. 

    When I animate using Daz Studio, I can animate each character on their own in their own, otherwise empty scene - then bring them together for the render if I do it that way. My AI doesn't like rendering a character to alpha, which is a huge downfall.

    That's one of those areas where I'm using the AI as Pre-Viz.

    For very specific source images I can get excellent lip syncing. So I can then use that to drive me edits to an Anilip 2 result - or even sculpt the lip sync animation myself, by hand. Because what I'll be building as custom dials are special phoneme enhancements to make speach look a lot more real - or stylized - and in Studio, I can achieve both - in theory. Actual results are yet to be seen because I haven't actually started that process yet.

    I still can't recommend the MImic lip sync built into the 32-bit DAZ Studio; it's still the best one I've ever seen. It's worth it to me to keep a couple of older iMacs running in the basement just to do some quick lip syncs and save the partial poses of just the head and neck to apply to figures I'm animating in the DAZ Beta. It doesn't affect any other animations set up on the characters, it just lets them talk. A real "plus" is that the one .dmc for any generation works for all characters of that generation, despite it being male, female or monster.

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310
    edited April 13

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    Dartanbeck said:

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    Vace Multitalk witn Wan is supposed to be good for defining which character out of 2 says what

    you do a prompt for left and another one for the right character 

    but not for me blush

     

    video link

    yes So... it didn't put the right voice on the proper character?

    well not for me

    as I said, others show it working

    I am cursed cheeky 

    You're not alone in being cursed; I thought I'd take another run at targetting a single character in a group and used the shot of the crew in the cockpit I played with yesterday; the first animation worked perfectly as far as the lip sync went, one character talked and the others turned to look at her as she talked, but the Cheetah Gal's tail stretched out and played in the air in the most bizarre way; I then tried again – three times – adding a note to not animate the tail and in every one of the three instances the characters took turns saying parts of the voice clip.

    Post edited by wsterdan on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    wsterdan said:

    Dartanbeck said:
     

    Agreed. Lip sync has been an issue for me as well. 

    When I animate using Daz Studio, I can animate each character on their own in their own, otherwise empty scene - then bring them together for the render if I do it that way. My AI doesn't like rendering a character to alpha, which is a huge downfall.

    That's one of those areas where I'm using the AI as Pre-Viz.

    For very specific source images I can get excellent lip syncing. So I can then use that to drive me edits to an Anilip 2 result - or even sculpt the lip sync animation myself, by hand. Because what I'll be building as custom dials are special phoneme enhancements to make speach look a lot more real - or stylized - and in Studio, I can achieve both - in theory. Actual results are yet to be seen because I haven't actually started that process yet.

    I still can't recommend the MImic lip sync built into the 32-bit DAZ Studio; it's still the best one I've ever seen. It's worth it to me to keep a couple of older iMacs running in the basement just to do some quick lip syncs and save the partial poses of just the head and neck to apply to figures I'm animating in the DAZ Beta. It doesn't affect any other animations set up on the characters, it just lets them talk. A real "plus" is that the one .dmc for any generation works for all characters of that generation, despite it being male, female or monster.

    For my animation workflow in Daz Studio - especially since Rosie 8.26 is Genesis 8, Anilip 2 is awesome in that all of the key frames it lays down are applied only to its own custom (Genesis 8 only) viseme dials - so that they're incredibly easy to edit. 

    This is an hour long babble-a-thon, but if it worked right, this should start at a time where you can see how I work with the Anilip 2 results.

    Just keep in mind that dialog is something that I haven't been doing up to this point, so I'm easing my way in

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310
    edited April 13

    I'd been using and counting on voices generated by Play.ai the last couple of years but Meta noticed how much fun I was having and decided that it had to stop, so they bought Play and took it off the market. Last week, when I decided to tinker with AI animated lip sync, the first thing I had to do was find some new voices. 

    It turns out that just testing voices is one of my favourite new things. It's one thing to have a blast taking old DAZ characters I've created over the last few decades and toonify them render comic art all over again after so much time, it's a whole 'nother level to watch them talk.

    The very first two voices I tested was one with a very slight Icelandic accent I'd created on Moira O'Ryan, the female star of my "Black Rose Misadventures" comic pages (over in Greybro's Comic ONe-Pagers thread):

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/openart-video_caca4ab8_17758256174111.mp4

    I noticed that I'd used the wrong name -- "Freya Knight" instead of "Moira O'Ryan", so I redid it using a more Irish accent:

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/openart-video_5f8f24b9_1775790364577.mp4

    A friend asked for a longer clip of the Irish sample to judge from, so I did this and just had fun with it (there's a lot of running that occurs in The Black Rose Misadventures"):

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Freya-Voice-Test-00-1.mp4

    Of note regarding the last one, I dropped a 37-second audio file in, gave very minimal instructions and the 37-second animation was output; this is longer than most of the engines I've tested would do in one go.

    So, after about five minutes of testing and fun, I had my voices for both Moira O'Ryan and for Freya Knight.

    Post edited by wsterdan on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    Argh. It doesn't start at that time (around 7:20ish)

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310
    edited April 13

    Dartanbeck said:

    wsterdan said:

    Dartanbeck said:
     

    Agreed. Lip sync has been an issue for me as well. 

    When I animate using Daz Studio, I can animate each character on their own in their own, otherwise empty scene - then bring them together for the render if I do it that way. My AI doesn't like rendering a character to alpha, which is a huge downfall.

    That's one of those areas where I'm using the AI as Pre-Viz.

    For very specific source images I can get excellent lip syncing. So I can then use that to drive me edits to an Anilip 2 result - or even sculpt the lip sync animation myself, by hand. Because what I'll be building as custom dials are special phoneme enhancements to make speach look a lot more real - or stylized - and in Studio, I can achieve both - in theory. Actual results are yet to be seen because I haven't actually started that process yet.

    I still can't recommend the MImic lip sync built into the 32-bit DAZ Studio; it's still the best one I've ever seen. It's worth it to me to keep a couple of older iMacs running in the basement just to do some quick lip syncs and save the partial poses of just the head and neck to apply to figures I'm animating in the DAZ Beta. It doesn't affect any other animations set up on the characters, it just lets them talk. A real "plus" is that the one .dmc for any generation works for all characters of that generation, despite it being male, female or monster.

    For my animation workflow in Daz Studio - especially since Rosie 8.26 is Genesis 8, Anilip 2 is awesome in that all of the key frames it lays down are applied only to its own custom (Genesis 8 only) viseme dials - so that they're incredibly easy to edit. 

    This is an hour long babble-a-thon, but if it worked right, this should start at a time where you can see how I work with the Anilip 2 results.

    Just keep in mind that dialog is something that I haven't been doing up to this point, so I'm easing my way in

    Exellent intro and workflow! I've only skimmed through it so far, but will watch in full later, just because I always learn stuff watching your workflow.

    Sadly, while it's pricier than "free" and probably not as easy to implement whole new characters or animals, it's also Windows-only so while I would have invested in it at one point in the past, it's not useable on a Mac. 

    Post edited by wsterdan on
  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Dartanbeck said:

    Argh. It doesn't start at that time (around 7:20ish)

    I PM'd you, when you have a moment, no rush at all. 

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030
    edited April 15

    Animation Inspirations

     

    I have a special spot on my website that I use for kicking back and enjoying some incredible behind-the-scenes and other such documentaries, demonstrations and productions that I use to inspire new animations, new techniques, helpful workflows and the like.

    Dartanbeck.com > Gallery > Inspiration

    The main landing page has a few videos on it along with an index to the other pages, but I find it more convenient, myself, to simply use the navigation menu on the top: Gallery > Inspiration > and select the topic from there.

     

    For example, the latest addition is a page for the Avatar Series, which starts with the initial movie and progresses down the page with all manner of goodies that I was able to find on YouTube. Of course, YT has a lot more than just these, but the selections I make are the closest things that I can find that somewhat resemble what I can watch in the Special Features section when I buy the movies' Digital Deluxe editions (when applicable) which come with tons of useful interviews and just plain behind-the-scenes goodness!

     

    Now, just to be clear: In watching these sorts of things, I'm not looking for or getting "Tutorials" on "How-To".

     

    What I'm after are comments about "what" they're doing and why, explanations on the story telling, the importance of a certain McGuffin, combining Live Action Special Effects with CG Visual Effects, etc.,

     

    I absorb all of this stuff - but not necessarily all at once. Quite often I'm looking for ideas for certain things. I enjoy all of it, but the stuff that I pay close attention to is more specific, so I'll pause, back up, and play some of it multiple times. That sort of thing.

     

    Natural Facial Performances

     

    Interestingly enough, one of the things I also like to do is to watch any and all sorts of these things - especially looking for interviews - and then especially interviews of the actors. It's not "What" they're saying that I'm paying attention to, but more "How they Behave as they Speak".

     

    I'll watch the subtleties of their mouth movements, eye glances, blinks, body language, do they talk with their hands?

     

    I'll also pay attention to what the camera is doing. Often times in interviews the camera is still. It's on a tripod. Even then, the screen might switch from the view of the actor's speech to a subject - or we might get different angles from multiple cameras or even get a glimpse of the interviewer. 

     

    Seeing the facial performance of actors when they're answering questions or talking about their craft or the show that they were in can be GOLD to an animator. These are the sorts of things that I pick up on from being the social butterfly rock drummer that I am - people don't realize it, but I'm capturing how differently their facial muscles fire compared to the person standing next to them. It's absolutely magnificent to see how differently we all behave without ever realizing it. Involuntary expression that we've built simply by being who we are.

     

    How Things Used to Be

     

    Catching a glimpse into The New Cutting Edge Technology of How Films Are Made from decades past can also be incredibly beneficial and encouraging. Hearing professionals talk about how they had to pull things off by the skin of their teeth to meet the time constraints and budget remind us that even the most brilliant visuals we've ever seen on the screen have been compromised by many constraints and, given more time could have been even better, or may have turned out altogether different. And often times it's this push to get things done that makes things turn out much better than they could have otherwise. Mess with the same thing for too long can truly make things worse in the end!

     

    Also, it's just fun to see the history of how films were made. A lot of the things that looked cool many years ago would really be a refreshing thing to see on screen in a modern day environment, in my opinion!

     

    Have Fun!

     

    Inspiration is a place to go and erase writers block, take a peek into other forms of visual language, listen to professionals talk about the work they've done, or just kick back and watch a ton of game and/or movie trailers. Give it a try and see what inspiration you might get from it! :)

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Awesome, it looks incredible; thanks for sharing!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    Pleasure is mine :)

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    Just putting this here because of how it all just came together in three days after talking to wsterdan. Thanks for the tips, my friend!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    It's funny because I started out using AI for the lip sync, but trying mimic for the first time in... I don't know how many years... I like the results better, so I was able to do all of it right here in Daz Studio - and that's how I prefer to work anyways!

    I still use the AI as a means of previz sometimes. It's great for new inspirations. But then I go back and do the fun stuff by hand. Win Win!

    I know... still cheesy. But there's growth. And that's what counts! wink

  • FrankTheTankFrankTheTank Posts: 1,565

    Dartanbeck said:

    It's funny because I started out using AI for the lip sync, but trying mimic for the first time in... I don't know how many years... I like the results better, so I was able to do all of it right here in Daz Studio - and that's how I prefer to work anyways!

    I still use the AI as a means of previz sometimes. It's great for new inspirations. But then I go back and do the fun stuff by hand. Win Win!

    I know... still cheesy. But there's growth. And that's what counts! wink

    Yeah I don't know why people bad talk mimic all the time. I've tried pretty much everything and mimic is great. The free version Lip Sync in 32bit studio is just as good I think, its what I use even though I did buy Mimic Live at one point and I used the audio trick to feedback audio through the mic, I don't do that method anymore, I just do it all in Daz 32bit lip sync, save pose presets and then use them in Daz 64bit. 

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    I'd posted a "Comic One-Pager" couple of weeks ago and decided to animate it using AI, just because it's quick and clean and just for a laugh. The characters are toonified versions of my Webboids DAZ Studio characters that I'd used in 3D tests on the Vanishing Point "O'Bannon Bridge" that I used in my first 3D animation attempt. The characters are wearing some of MightyMite's Genesis 3 clothing, also toonified.

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/What-are-your-Orders-02.mp4

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 40,698

    I still use Mimic, it's just that with Facefusion I can reuse old png series overlayed on new backgrounds to render mp4 videos I can add new dialogue to very quickly 

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    FrankTheTank said:

    Dartanbeck said:

    It's funny because I started out using AI for the lip sync, but trying mimic for the first time in... I don't know how many years... I like the results better, so I was able to do all of it right here in Daz Studio - and that's how I prefer to work anyways!

    I still use the AI as a means of previz sometimes. It's great for new inspirations. But then I go back and do the fun stuff by hand. Win Win!

    I know... still cheesy. But there's growth. And that's what counts! wink

    Yeah I don't know why people bad talk mimic all the time. I've tried pretty much everything and mimic is great. The free version Lip Sync in 32bit studio is just as good I think, its what I use even though I did buy Mimic Live at one point and I used the audio trick to feedback audio through the mic, I don't do that method anymore, I just do it all in Daz 32bit lip sync, save pose presets and then use them in Daz 64bit. 

    Yeah... I guess I mispoke. I was using Daz Studio 32-bit Lip Sync function. Love it!!!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    wsterdan said:

    I'd posted a "Comic One-Pager" couple of weeks ago and decided to animate it using AI, just because it's quick and clean and just for a laugh. The characters are toonified versions of my Webboids DAZ Studio characters that I'd used in 3D tests on the Vanishing Point "O'Bannon Bridge" that I used in my first 3D animation attempt. The characters are wearing some of MightyMite's Genesis 3 clothing, also toonified.

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/What-are-your-Orders-02.mp4

    LOL!!! Fantastic!!! Love that near-beef!!! :)

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    I still use Mimic, it's just that with Facefusion I can reuse old png series overlayed on new backgrounds to render mp4 videos I can add new dialogue to very quickly 

    yes

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030
    edited April 18

    My first Mimic Pro for Carrara test - Rosie 4
    December 19, 20120

    Post edited by Dartanbeck on
  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Dartanbeck said:

    wsterdan said:

    I'd posted a "Comic One-Pager" couple of weeks ago and decided to animate it using AI, just because it's quick and clean and just for a laugh. The characters are toonified versions of my Webboids DAZ Studio characters that I'd used in 3D tests on the Vanishing Point "O'Bannon Bridge" that I used in my first 3D animation attempt. The characters are wearing some of MightyMite's Genesis 3 clothing, also toonified.

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/What-are-your-Orders-02.mp4

    LOL!!! Fantastic!!! Love that near-beef!!! :)

    Thanks! 

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Dartanbeck said:

    My first Mimic Pro for Carrara test - Rosie 4
    December 19, 20120

    Wow! Neat test clip, I love seeing different points in Rosie's evolution. She (and you) have sure come a long, long way! 

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    Agreed! :)

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Spent a couple hours testing voices for the cast of The Black Rose Misadventures, first low-res test clip here:

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Wheres-the-Ship-–-Voice-Test.mp4

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    I've spent time over the last 11 days trying my hand at animating the mostly-DAZ 3D characters and scenes that I've converted to 2D toon- and comic-styled versions using AI; I slapped a quick little video with a few snippets of some of them as a sampler to review:

    https://sterdan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Studio-Hrimfaxi-Animation-Sampler-1.mp4

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    Fantastic!!! Bravo!!! I Love it!!! Love the voices and animation tests!

    Seal of Appraoval for moving Forward!!!

    Hrimfaxi Adventures - Here we Come!!! :)

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 22,030

    Anything can happen in the next half-hour!

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 40,698

    wsterdan that is looking really polished yes

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 3,310

    WendyLuvsCatz said:

    wsterdan that is looking really polished yes

    Thanks Wendy, much appreciated. 

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