Hey OldNick,

You will find the serial numbers in your DAZ account with other serial numbers... i am not sure why but they took a while to appear for me and then they didn't all appear at once... also make sure you go into the Reallusion site and register your serial numbers (when you get them) and then download and install all the patches as the version you have just downloaded wont work with each other until they are all patched.

Wendy,

I asked a couple of direct questions about how CT6 was used with iClone animations as I was very confused and they gave me a great answer which I have posted below in case others find the info useful... especially with how cheap CT6 is just at the moment.... I am most likely going to grab it tonight as what it does with 2D images is mind blowing and if that transfers to iClone characters (even just standard ones) then that is sooo worth the money.

Reply from Reallusion support

"CrazyTalk 6 Pro can be used to create detailed facial animation for your iClone characters. To do this you would follow the procedure below.

In CrazyTalk 6 Pro you would add a good quality photo of a human face. You then use the features of CrazyTalk 6 to add detailed facial expressions (happy, sad, scared etc.) and also add your vocal audio to create automatic lip-sync.

Once you have everything as you want it in CrazyTalk 6, you save it as a script containing all this data. These scripts have the .cts extension.

Now you can open iClone, load any standard character you wish, and then import the previously saved script from CrazyTalk 6 Pro. Once imported, your iClone character will speak the same audio with automatic lip-sync, and show the same facial expressions as created in CrazyTalk 6 Pro.

Please Note: This process is for standard iClone characters. Daz characters are classified as non-standard characters so this process would not work for them. We are currently working on an update that will allow facial animation to be used with Daz characters. This is due at the end of the year."

Kevin Sanderson said:

DAZ has to setup better default settings for Carrara and Studio and explicit instructions on how to make DAZ and Poser content look great in Carrara and Studio. And not the old guess and by gosh method. Specifics. That would be one of THE best things they could do. I know there are the Carrara users who really don't care about DAZ content, but if they could really get it to work well in making DAZ content look great simply and easily, we might be able to get more of the content buyers to give Carrara a try and make more sales and more development dollars for Carrara.

1) Carrara's original philosophy was DIY (bigger toolkit, general use)
2) DAZ3D's philosophy is buy our presets (smaller toolkit, very focused use)

This is in conflict. In practice it is in EXTREME conflict. There's not just a lack of support for Carrara, Carrara has been excluded from contests, feature requests that would aid content development have been ignored, meanwhile when we request 3D-Coat applink we are told to go find a plugin developer.... for a program that has sat in beta for over a year and still no release date in sight... It goes beyond a double standard. It's sabotage. Why would anyone want to develop for Carrara? Every plugin and product developer has jumped ship already.

3) Carrara + DAZ3D = best of both worlds, content + DIY

That's how it SHOULD be. That's the potential, but in practice DAZ's push to sell content is about enabling helplessness, and there are very few attempts to exploit the possibilities of what DIY + CONTENT might be. (Carrara hair is one exception, but Carrara suffers from poor physics apparently). Ensuring that Carrara is at the tail end of content compatibility, yet preventing a bug update until the content is perfected with D|S and Poser is patently ridiculous. There should have been a Carrara 8.2 a year ago, and leave Genesis for Carrara9.

What we actually have is:

3a) DAZ3D has zero interest in DIY. They are actually against it in practice and marketing...
3b) Carrara is crippled at content (we've had weight painting all along, but no V4 with Carrara weight painting. So we're waiting on Genesis whose big innovation is... weight painting (!) but a kind that is completely incompatible with Carrara's... and it just goes on and on...)
3c) There is no development because there is no content. There is no content because there is no development. ad infinitum.

There is zero chance Carrara will become MORE content friendly. We are at the tail end of that train. We will be the LAST to gain compatibility. Why? DAZ says so. Ask for more compatibility we are told to go find a developer. Ask for a final version of Carrara we are told we are waiting on compatibility.... The rules flipflop depending on whether they can sell their content. That's how it is and that's how it's been all along. It won't change.

But what if...?

4) Carrara bridges out of content into the larger 3D and small studio worlds -- and the reverse: Carrara bridges the semi-pro market to content. Better video import/export and After Effects compatibility. Better file format compatibility to modelers, and game engines. Real World uses for 3D in illustration and marketing.

In my opinion this is where Carrara should be positioned: semi-proffesion 3D with a bridge to content. Less "needlepoint for the craftsy housewife who doesn't want to learn how to model and texture". And DAZ should know the potential because they've always had a hand in that bigger market with their high end medical models.... But they are so busy selling miniskirts and werewolves to see a useful niche in the working studio world -- and I'm not dissing the skimpy clothes since I buy them too put on my large breasted wolfbabe™.... But my point is there is very much a "niche" for Carrara but it bridges the insular world of "content and crafts" to a semi-professional world of working artists and animators, and also people who want to go much deeper into their own creativity (hardcore hobbiests).

So in my opinion, since DAZ shows no love for Carrara with the content, the goal should be to seek out these outside partners where Carrara can be a unique bridge for those communities TO content, rather than the other way around.... Carrara doesn't need dumbing down, it should smarten up!

DAZ put some money towards Carrara Cafe, but that is more a hardcore hobby site, than a semi-professional showcase. Cafe bridges to nowhere and gains no new customers, and that is appropriate from a community site.... Still, where the absent potential would be is this semi-pro 3D area - partnering with other important or up and coming players that are semi-pro (Unity, 3D-Coat, Vue, C4D).... That would boost Carrara's image and also make content a possibility in their world.

Reallusion has announced they are taking Crazytalk to iOS and iPad.... Exporters that target app creation could be a whole new market for Carrara also, since Carrara is already strong on Macs.... There are a lot of outside markets that Carrara could bridge to, but will always be at the caboose of content development.

wendy♥catz said:

a bit of fun using iClone 3dxchange to add new mtions and reimported into Carrara
http://youtu.be/aIK4UschTvs

I just recently purchased iClone. Haven't purchased 3DExchange yet. Are you using the Kinect with the SDK or are you using some other source of mocap? I personally find the Reallusion content to be WAY too expensive - DAZ is way better, looks better, content is much cheaper, and it's got real rendering with Carrara behind it, not a cheap, low poly video game engine. I'm actually regretting my purchase, and I think the ability to use mocap with 3Dexchange with Carrara is going to to be the only feature that ends up keeping me from getting rid of it. Between iClone and CrazyTalk (both pro versions), that was a lot of money I probably shouldn't have spent.

This is a fascinating subject that I'd love to get some more info on. I too have recently purchased iClone, CrazyTalk Animate Pro, popVideo Converter, and also the Kinect plug-in for MoCap (I still need the actual Kinect divice, however, yet another couple hundred bucks - sheesh). It is a software family that packs a potentially huge blast of fun, even though the output quality is extremely low. The facial animation and mocap are irresistable playtoys.

Though I plan on using the software products together as designed, I was also pondering the possibilities of building some rigs in iClone and bringing them into Carrara.

It's rare to have the opportunity to state that the above products I mention make Carrara and DAZ products look like they were made by AutoDesk. How often do we get to hear that?

3dAge -

Sadly, your warning is not what I wanted to hear, but I think I need to heed it, because I'm about to launch into a fairly sizable project and I really can't afford to run into huge problems halfway through.

I'll be turning a number of songs I've written into music videos which will require lip synched animations and frequent use of NLA clips. Was hoping to do this with Genesis in C8.5, but may be best to handle some in 2D (with crazytalk) and other parts with non-genesis figures in C8 Pro if I can get FaceShop working well enough for my needs.

Thanks for the warning.

Harb 40 said:

Greetings Daz community members.

I go by the name of Harb40 and have been involved in machinima/animations for about 7 years. I use programs such as The Movies, iClone, CrazyTalk and Moviestorm along with others. My interests are varied but mainly deal with military themed films. I am currently working on a full length (30-45 minute) film set during WW2 and voiced in 3 languages with subtitles.

I have dabbled with Daz in the past and am now starting to get back into it.

I also run a filmmaking competion annually for 2D and 3D animation along with live action entries. You can learn more about that here: http://www.harb40passioncompetition.com. So, not only am I an amatuer filmamker, I give other filmmakers a chance at getting more recognition and gaining more products to help their filmmaking experience.

you should check out HitFilm

http://hitfilm.com/

Greetings Daz community members.

I go by the name of Harb40 and have been involved in machinima/animations for about 7 years. I use programs such as The Movies, iClone, CrazyTalk and Moviestorm along with others. My interests are varied but mainly deal with military themed films. I am currently working on a full length (30-45 minute) film set during WW2 and voiced in 3 languages with subtitles.

I have dabbled with Daz in the past and am now starting to get back into it.

I also run a filmmaking competion annually for 2D and 3D animation along with live action entries. You can learn more about that here: http://www.harb40passioncompetition.com. So, not only am I an amatuer filmamker, I give other filmmakers a chance at getting more recognition and gaining more products to help their filmmaking experience.