ADVANCED TUNING

Easily visualize and adjust your actor-specific profile with Animation Tuning. Everyone’s face is different; Studio provides the feedback and tools you need to tailor your animation to your actor’s unique performance.

ANIMATE ANY CHARACTER

Studio gives you the freedom to animate any character rig. Easily stream facial animation data to our Faceware-supported plugins in Unreal Engine, Unity, Motionbuilder, (and soon to Maya), by mapping Studio’s standard set of controls to your custom avatar.

CALIBRATION & TRACKING

With your realtime setup complete, the Tracking Viewport will begin displaying your media. In order to calibrate your tracking, your actor should be properly framed, focused, and in a neutral pose. If using pre-recorded media, use the media playback controls to find an ideal neutral pose. Then, use the Calibrate Neutral Pose button to begin tracking.

STREAM TO ENGINE

The Streaming panel gives you a myriad of options to enable and customize your data stream. To stream your animation data from Faceware Studio, configure the Faceware-supported plugin in your engine and then click ‘Stream to Client’ to see animation on your character.

TRACKING

The way one gives the software information about the actor’s performance is to “markup” frames that have extreme and distinct expressions, creating training frames. These frames are then processed by the software to allow it to hit all of the in-between expressions. The user input is moving points (called “landmarks” in Analyzer) around the face in a specific way.

EXPORTING

Our export process is called “Parameterization.” This is the process through which tracking data in Analyzer is converted into a form that can be used to produce animation with Retargeter( a .fwr file). Parameterizing is the final step in the tracking process which combines the four processes of Parameterization.

Once parameterization is complete, Analyzer will have created a .fwr file in the same location as the .fwt file and project folder. If your video was 30 seconds long, your corresponding .fwr file will contain 30 seconds of motion data.

This .fwr is the performance file that will be loaded into Retargeter.

Robust toolset with intuitive workflow

Looking for the the premiere facial tracking software used by professionals around the world? This is it. Faceware products have been used on thousands of ground-breaking projects and we’re constantly making them better. Analyzer is simply the most powerful tool available for professional facial tracking.

GLOBAL TRACKING MODELS

Have a large amount of videos to process? Analyzer Studio Plus has features to export the statistical tracking data you create on your first video to to help track any additional videos with the same actor. This allows for significantly large-scale projects to benefit from our machine learning technology; particularly if there are a large number of shots with the same actor.

INTELLIGENT DRAG

We know a lot about tracking faces and are constantly looking at ways to improve our workflow. Creating tracking data is a breeze with a feature called Intelligent Drag. Once one landmark tracking point is correctly placed on the face, all other tracking points can be quickly placed on the face. Combined with a smart approach and Analyzer’s clean, simple workflow, you don’t need to be a scientist to get professional facial tracking.

IMPORT PERFORMANCE

The subtleties and nuances of a facial performance can make or break an animation. For purposes of creating animation of the highest quality and for adding artistic decisions to the animation process, we have Retargeter.

The first step in retargeting a shot is to open a performance via the Performance menu. In the Open Performance dialog box, you will be asked to select several files:

Performance File (.fwr) – In the Performance File field, select the .fwr performance file that you generated during parameterization in Analyzer that you wish to animate from. This file contains the tracking data that Retargeter uses.

Character Setup File (.xml) – In the Character Setup field, select the character setup xml file that you created for this character during the Character Setup phase. For more information on Character Setup, please see the following article: Character Setup Walkthrough.

Shared Pose Database (Optional) (.fwsp) – The ‘Shared Pose Database File’ is an optional file that can be used to load “pre-made” poses for your character. This file is usually created by a supervisor and contains artistically approved poses for each of the character’s ‘Pose Groups’ (mouth, eyes, brows). Please see Shared Poses for more information.

From here you have a variety of options to choose from, including: Import Video, Import Audio, Set Playback Range, Set Frame Rate and Generate AutoSolve.

REFINEMENT

Retargeting is the process through which animation is generated on your rig. It uses the data from any created poses or from the AutoSolve calculations (assuming AutoSolve is on) to create keyframes on the controls that were added in Character Setup. From there, the user can manually edit the keyframes like with any animation or they can add/modify poses and retarget again to improve the animation broadly.

To retarget animation onto the rig:

• Once you are satisfied with the poses you have created, select the pose group you wish to retarget in the Pose Group window.
• Click the “Retarget” button on the bottom of the Retargeter plugin. Retargeter will then work for a few moments to create the keyframes.
• Scrub through the timeline or play the animation to view the results.

You can continue to add poses and retarget as many times as you like to get the desired animation. Feel free to delete poses if they are not in an ideal position or are hurting your results. Simply select the pose and hit the Delete button on the right side of the Retargeter plugin.

Setup and use any character rig

Say goodbye to complex rig requirements. The quality of your character is still extremely important but with Retargeter you have flexibility in how you build it. Retargeter can set keys on any keyable attribute; allowing you to work with bones, joints, blendshapes, morph targets, custom deformers, etc. Once you set these attributes in character setup, you are ready to create amazing, realistic animations.

Clean data that’s easy to work with

We know you need software that is easy to use, intuitive, and guaranteed to work every time. Retargeter’s features take the stress out of keyframe changes and polishing. Data is applied very quickly so iterations are fast and efficient. Intelligent keyframe reduction (pruning), animation smoothing, a master timing tool, frame ranges, and several other features make working with our data very easy.

POSE SUGGESTION

The first and most useful option for creating poses is using the Auto-Pose feature. This feature makes suggestions as to what video frame the user should create poses on based on Retargeter examining the tracking data from Analyzer and figuring out where the most significant shapes are occurring. It acts as a guide, telling the user the ideal places to create poses.

AUTOMATION API

I’ve got a metric ass-ton of animation to create. Since Retargeter is a plugin to the Autodesk 3D animation apps, batch scripting capabilities are based in running commands in the native scripting language of the host application. In Maya the batch scripting commands can be run in MEL or Python, in 3DS Max they can be run in Maxscript. Create rapid workflows for semi or fully-automated results.

Easily Adjust Camera Settings For Optimal Performance

Realtime for iClone gives you access to any camera connected to your PC. Once a camera is selected, you can easily adjust settings such as video resolution and FPS to get the optimal performance from both your camera and the software. We recommend capturing your face at a minimum of 30 FPS (frames per second) though 60 FPS is ideal! You’ll get higher fidelity lip sync animation at a higher FPS. We also recommend keeping the resolution at or below 720p for optimal use. Many people will find that the 640×480 resolution is more than enough.

Compatible with Industry Standard 3D Characters

iClone 7 Characters made by Character Creator has updated with 60 face morphs, fully optimized for Faceware tracking data. For Daz Genesis, characters generation 1, 2, 3, and 8, auto-conversion tools and 60 face morph DUF profiles are provided.

CUSTOM CAPTURE PROFILES

Define your own expression style with facial muscle sliders and save it as a Custom Capture Profile. Default 60-morph capture profiles are optimized for StaticCam and HeadCam tracking models. You can further take advantage of the Search function to quickly access sliders!

FACE KEY TIMELINE

Edit face capture performances in post with the iClone facial timeline. Access the motion clip track to edit & offset with face keys. Expression Intensity control through slider bars.

LYNC TO MOCAP SYSTEMS

When you add a Mocap System to Shepherd and turn the Mocap Lync toggle to Enabled, you are now in Mocap Lync Recording mode. In Mocap Lync Recording Mode, you can trigger recording of face capture from your body mocap system. Mocap Lync requires your body mocap software to be set up to broadcast Start/Stop Recording triggers and Capture Names. These triggers are XML messages transmitted via UDP across your LAN. When Mocap Lync is enabled, Shepherd will listen for these messages from your body mocap software to automatically Start/Stop Recording and keep your body and facial mocap Capture Names consistent. Mocap Systems that support Lync feature:

• Vicon Shogun
• Vicon Blade
• Optitrack Motive
• Xsens MVN Animate Pro

Shepherd’s whole purpose in life is to simplify the management of multiple recording devices. The first step in this process is introducing Shepherd to your recording equipment.

TRANSFER & ORGANIZE MEDIA

Shepherd provides multiple ways to transfer and organize your recordings. The File menu contains an option to Export Session Details, which lets you create a JSON or XLXS file that contains the details of your current session, like: Mocap System Name, Connected Ki Pro Devices, and the contents of your playlist with each Clip’s relevant info. You can also Export Session Details when you Transfer All Clips via the Manage menu. Or, you can use the Playlist clip context menu to pick and choose which clips you want to download. We know that one size does not always fit all. And with Shepherd, you can find the workflow that works best for you.

Body mocap integrations

Integrating with the industry’s leading Mocap Systems, Shepherd allows your body and face capture systems to be combined into one streamlined system. Now you can simultaneously trigger face capture with body capture, and ensure the continuity of capture names. Shepherd creates a more unified, succinct and automated motion capture process.

Media transfer and producer tools

With Shepherd, there’s no need to pull the hard drive from your digital recording device or access the built-in AJA web interface to transfer recorded clips. With a couple of clicks, you can transfer a single clip, multiple clips, or all the clips across all of your devices remotely. You can even create a handy document detailing clip information that can be used for review, editorial, or to support an existing Faceware Batch Pipeline.

SMART FUNCTIONALITY

By combining the various functions associated with facial motion capture and centralizing them into a single application, Shepherd integrates the data and options you need most in one program. Including:

• Add/Remove Devices
• Arm/Disarm Decks
• Playlist Grouping
• Playlist Sorting
• Device List Reorganization
• One-Click Network Device Detection
• Device Renaming
• Displayed Input Settings
• Playback Options
• Hard Drive Storage Alerts
• Device Status
• Multi-Channel Changer (Ki Pro Ultra Plus Only)
• and more …

With everything you need up front and center, Shepherd allows you to work smarter instead of harder.

TABLET INTEGRATION

Shepherd runs on Windows 10 devices, including tablets. Now you have the flexibility to control your face capture shoot literally in the palm of your hands. Untether yourself from your workstation and take charge on your own terms.