Quote:
Originally Posted by Matador
Hey Martok, I was just checking out iclone. Is that a good program for creating characters.
I want to create pilots and crew members for my scenes. Is that program compatible with 3ds max?
I've been shopping around for a program to create people fairly quickly so that I don't have to spend too much time modeling them.
Any suggestions?
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iClone can use models created in 3DS MAX, but you have to buy a second program that can convert .3DS models into iClone models, called 3DEXchange (another Reallusion product).
3DEXChange can convert .obj and .3DS files into iClone usable models, and it can also take iClone models and characters and convert them into .obj to export to external 3D programs that use .obj files.
The thing is, with iClone, you have base characters (characters that have a basic casual clothing mesh for which to design costumes) already in the program. You usually get a male (Jack) and a female (Jane). With iClone, you can create their costumes (different costume types may require different clothing meshes/bases to be purchased from their Backstage store site). You can also morph any face you wish onto the iClone characters directly in the program. You can take a photograph of anyone(as long as it is a good, straight into the camera, expressionless photo) and graft that face onto the avatar. (I use a lot of celebrity likenesses for my characters. For the role of new character Lt. Shaen, I used Natalie Portman's image. For Sheba, I used Eliza Dushku's. And for Athena's I used Ellen Page.) Thankfully, they're lifelike, but not so hyper-accurate that you can say: "Hey, that's so-and-so!" Even if their photo is slightly off angle, you can make adjustments. iClone is an extremely flexible character design and animation tool.
An external 3D modeling program is best used for fashioning props and accessories for your characters. I mean, you can make props for your characters in iClone, but they end up being block models for the most part. With a powerful external editor like .3DS Max or Blender, you can make much more detailed and accurized props. I used Blender to create the Viper pilot's helmet (my iClone version looked okay, but you could tell it was thrown together), and the chromium armor for the Cylon Centurions. I had made Centurions in iClone, but they looked too cartoony...at least my current ones look a little more menacing, and a little less like the characters in the "Money for Nothing" video by Dire Straits. LOL! All I did was fashion the armor (I converted/exported a male character from iClone over to Blender so that I could properly shape the armor, and then converted/exported the armor back into iClone--again, for conversion from one to the other, you need 3DEXchange-- and applied a reflection texture, and attached the armor to a solid black male nude character since that would represent the skin tight wrap underneath the armor, I'll do the same thing when I get down to creating Imperial Stormtroopers.) When you attach an object to a character, that object immediately is considered an "accessory", and you can save it as such in iClone. When all your armor is in place and linked, you can save the avatar as a Cylon Centurion.
I also plan on making actual gunbelts and better looking blaster pistols for the Colonial Warriors.
Anyhoo...that's my thesis on the benefits of making characters within iClone.
