Using DS content for the creation of 3D animations in eLearning courses for adults
Stormlyght
Posts: 666
Good morning in my part of the world,
Is anyone utilizing Daz content and possibly Daz Studio in the creation of animations for education? To clarify, I've been tasked with finding a way to incorporate some 3D animations in courses that are developed for higher ed and work-force development. Most of these courses are blended learning environments (instructor led training/course work and eLearning). The animations are only an additional component to the eLearning modules and do not make up the entirety of the course.
My questions--if yes to the initial question above, are:
Do you use Daz Studio or another program (i.e., Blender, Poser, Carrara, Lightwave, Autodesk products, etc.) to create said animations?
What is the learning curve for the creation of animations in your preferred software application? Side note, I'm trying to find a solution for a team that has two members with no skills, another member with a novice understanding and then me, who is an intermediate user.
Any suggestions and/or insight would be helpful.
Thank you.
Trish
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Comments
Well in Daz there is animate2 which has many ani blocks that can be used to put together an animation. Daz takes BVH files (though I haven't figured out how yet), and then there is Puppeteer for making animations. With these three options, there is plenty you can do. Now should you use Daz? Will depend greatly on the computer you have. You will need a good video card, best bet is 4 gigs and higher, though many say you can get away with 2 gigs. I have 2 gigs and Daz barely operates. You also need to make sure you have enough ram, definitely more then 2 gigs and I honestly don't know what the industry standard should be for Daz. I'm sure someone will come along to explain that part.
You will hear lots of people tell you to use Poser instead of Daz, seeing as many are not liking how Daz has been doing things. No matter how the company does things, it does not affect whether or not you can use the program. Everyone has their favorite and everyone is going to give you pro's and con's as to why their suggestion is best. Thing is you won't know which program is best for you till you at least try them. Of course the free one's would be best to try at first and if they don't do what you want, start on the others, but see first if they have a trial and save yourself some money.
There are many places to learn. Hear at Daz is one as many are great at helping the beginner. Another suggestion would be PFDLives which has been a great help to me, and I 'm sure others can give you some more idea's. Youtube has a large supply of video's for Daz and many other programs. As for animation specific tutorials, I have to pass the stage to someone who knows more about that then I do.
How much experience do you have using DAZ Studio?
How much experience do you have making animations of any type?
What types of animations do you need to create?
Hi,
Thank you @FaeryWomyn for your input. I have plenty of computing power to run the programs, my colleagues will likely have to upgrade the ram in their machines. Training is a definite must and Daz, until recently, has been a bit spotty in the area of manuals and documentation although, I have to say on the plus side, Daz has one of the better support communities!
@icprncss in response to your questions, I used to be, amongst other job titles, a Flash developer, no longer. You're probably aware that there's a huge move away from Flash development with the onset of various mobile devices being used in an educational environment. I have animation experience in Blender and Lightwave only. I have absolutely no animation experience in Daz Studio or Poser, which doesn't mean I don't have experience in the programs, just not animation :). Because I have my preferences, I'm not sure, if I, as the team lead, can neutrally suggest the best solution for the team. I thought I would reach out to the community and see if anyone would weigh in on the topic. I have had years to develop and hone my skill sets, however, the other team members are use to WYSIWYG type software applications, which is why I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion on applications and their ease of use. In my mind, ease of use includes great documentation, support, the availability of training and an intuitive interface. The courses we work on generally have a short turn around which doesn't leave a lot of time for learning a brand new application. Thoughts?
Oops Edit: Types of animations will include everything from a HR course with someone talking to a group of people and possible simulation of a situation and on the opposite end of the spectrum an example/animation of some aspect of the therapeutics manufacturing process.
One more edit: Because of the need for a rather quick turn around time, pre-made content is preferable over having to model, texture and animate something.
Trish
Hi,
Do you use animate2? Or puppeteer? And if so, do you like the results and what version of Daz Studio are you using? You also mentioned Poser. Do you use it for animations?
Thank you :)
Trish
Ok, exactly how many videos do you need to produce?
How long do these videos need to be?
The types you mention (the HR course with an animated speaker and a presentation of the actual manufacturing process) don't sound like simple video presentations. What type of a project timeline are you looking at and what is your actual deadline?
How many cows in the render farm?
You mentioned DS, Blender and Lightwave. What animation software do you have access to? If you need to purchase software for this project will the client pay for the software?
I'm not trying to be a pain by asking these questions. I'm trying to get a clearer picture of the job you need to do.
I have played around with animate and puppeteer, but never actually rendered anything animated and I have never used Poser for animation. I am not the best person to ask these questions, as I will be seeing what others post for my own reference for when I have a computer that can handle animation, right now it doesn't.
While playing with animate I liked how easy it was to add ani blocks to get the motion I was looking for, but that is a far as I got. In puppeteer, I liked how easy it was to use in creating an animotion, but again, never got far with it. There is still much I need to learn about both of these. All I can tell you is both have their merits.
I will bow out of this conversation (unless I have questions) to let others who know more about this help you.
Hi,
Sorry I can not help you. Although I have Poser Pro 2012 Daz Studio 4.6, and Vue 10 Complete ... I also have blender, but I can do almost anything in it.
What I can say is that here there are many users involved in animations poser / daz etc via.
The problem is that (I think) most do animations / videos, no more of this process step-by - step. Most use mocap
I myself have tons of bvh files bought from shops selling this for poser and daz, and I also have tons of motions PZ2 for Poser, and now also have Brekel Proface and kinect sensor to capture facial (facial expressions), the my face and in export bvh and PZ2, ... Although my facial mocap is quite imperfect, but that can be solved with a few tweaks in poser, which is much better than doing it from scratch step - by step.
A few months ago I've been wanting to get Ikinema Webanimate, because most of my files on it, the motions (bvh and PZ2), are for M3, M4, V3, V4, and I saw in webanimate the opportunity to retarget these files to other characters as toons characters, for example. So last Saturday, I decided to pay an annual plan in webanimate ikinema.
Yesterday, I spent all my Sunday trying, and knowing the tools, and trying to do something.
today still unable to perform any retarget yet, but already I feel more familiar with the application, than yesterday.
all I want is to make animations for poser and daz, but without the trouble of doing frame by frame.
although everything depends on handling after
The software applications that I mentioned are applications that I own personally and use outside of work. For my job, the only thing that I and my team have that can create 3D animations in house at this time is Photoshop CS6, which is rudimentary at best. And, I use my personal copy of MotionArtist and Camtasia in conjunction with our rapid development authoring tool to created 2D and HTML5 based (javascript based) animations for clients.
Currently our division wants to provide more sophisticated services for eLearning curriculum which includes higher end animations (which in their mind is 3D animation) and interactive video.
I have been assigned the task to research solutions which includes hardware and software requirements and at the same time take in account my team's lack of experience in this area. Ultimately the agency will be paying for the applications and hardware, although it will likely be offset by client fees.
You're not being a pain! I appreciate you taking the time to ask :)
Trish
Hi Jorge,
Do you use Mocap for iClone? I just recently bought Kinect so that I can use the new motion capture plugin for Lightwave :)
So do you use mainly Poser for your animations?
Trish
Thank you Jorge for the tip. I'm going to check out IKinema's services.
Trish
Hi, I haven't done a lot of animation but I have been playing with Studio for several years. I have also seen some very nice animations done in it. Some reasons I see to try this first would be:
1. You can get a LOT of content for this program at little or no cost. I'm not sure what kind of scenes you are planning to animate or how busy they would be but, between freebies and purchased content, there shouldn't be a problem. Also, most of the content you get could be used in Carrara or Poser if you decide the power of the program wasn't enough.
2. With the inexperience of your team, it would be a fast inexpensive way of getting them up to speed. I'm sure the skills they learn in this program can be transferred to others. The idea of keyframing for example.
3. There are several add-ons for Studio that make animation easier : Animate2, Keymate and, Graphmate for example. Most of the aniblocks for Animate are for gen4 if I remember correctly but on Sharecg there is an aniblock that will adjust the ones for V4 to genesis. Also Studio imports BVH files and on www.cgspeed.com there is a DAZ friendly version of the Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) Graphics Lab Motion Capture Database. There are hundreds of motions in that pack ( 180MB or more ) that you could load in, adjust to your specs and, turn into aniblocks or video. If you could make your animations in a modular way, You could create aniblocks for a lot of them, making your job a lot easier. Note: just because the motion is the same, doesn't mean the character has to be.
4. You could always upgrade to Carrara. Carrara has a modeling room if you need to change an existing model or make a new one. Carrara Pro also has network rendering if you need more speed. There is also a plugin that will import aniblocks into Carrara. I'm just starting to learn about Carrara but, there are a lot of enthusiastic people on it's forum.
I hope I've given you some usefull information.
Gus
I would recommend taking a look at IClone. Besides being geared toward animation, they have a large asset catalog as well.
Thank you @icprncss. I will take a look at IClone.
Trish
Thank you @Gusf1. I'm going to add your recommendations to my presentation. I agree that what they learn in whatever program it is, will translate well into a more advanced application.
Trish
Thank you @icprncss. I will take a look at IClone.
Trish
iClone is way ahead in what you want to do .
I have used them all for animation .
Duplicate Post. Don't know what's going on with the boards tonight :)