Animal Crossing: The Future of Computer Animation?
ghastlycomic
Posts: 2,531
So Animal Crossing is the hot new game but for me the game is all about Harv's Island. In fact, since I work as a performer and since 2020 has canceled my entire schedule I've been playing the game Animal Crossing with the mindset of collecting props, set pieces and costumes so I can actually mount a George Bernard Shaw play within the game. I'm not the only person to see this game as theatre because that's pretty much what it is. If you go on YouTube you will find literally hundreds of animations people have created in the game. It's an impressive feat given the game's photographic features are only intended to render still videos, not animation, but humans being ever resourceful find ways around the limitations. There are maybe a couple dozen (non-pornographic) animations out there made with Daz Studio, a program designed to render still and motion renders and hundreds of animations out there made with a video game.
It occurs to me that the control interface makes animation so much more intuitive with Animal Crossing than with Maya, Daz, and especially Blender, and in fact any other 3D program out there. Everyone, Gen-X and younger knows how to play a video game, unless you're an animation student or a very dedicated self learner, nobody really knows how to animate in Daz without a lot of effort. It seems to me that what could change that would be an animation interface in Daz that literally works like a video. Place your set pieces, place and dress your characters. Then select a character, use the joystick to move them in the scene, rewind the scene select the other character in the scene and move them around. There would be a built in, generic idle/walk/run cycle for the characters just like in a video game and like in animal crossing a bunch of emote animations that could be assigned to keyframes in the scene. Cameras can be stationary or set to follow a character in 3rd or even 1st person perspectives just like a video game. maybe even a mode that lets you "fly" the camera (I know there used to be a plug-in for that in Daz 3 which sadly no longer functions in Daz 4).
Now of course the animations you'd be able to make with such an interface in Daz would not be as impressive as what a skilled animator would be able to make using the traditional animation interface but it's not like traditional animation tools would have to be eliminated from the software, they'd just provide an extra level of control for more advanced animators to use. Over all the animations produced using a game-styled interface in Daz would be far superior to the (still impressive) animations kids are making in Animal Crossing. A game-styled interface for Daz would democratize the hell out of computer animation and I wouldn't be surprised if an interface like that ends up making Daz Studio the most popular pro-sumer animation app.
I guess the question is, does the scripting capabilities of Daz Studio actually offer enough access that a talented programmer could make a game-styled animation interface for the software or would an interface like that be something built into the core program?
Now it's great that Daz is finally showing signs of taking the animation side of Studio seriously and I want to encourage then to continue adding features to that end, but it'll never be able to catch up to Maya or even Blender in that department. I think and intuitive, game-styled animation interface however could end up getting the software some serious notice, especially since the quality of the assets in Daz Studio are so much higher than game assets. The question is, do we have to wait for Daz to deliver us such an interface or could any of us with experience in Daz's scripting language create such an interface? I can tell you there's literally money in my bank account I would gladly buy such a plug-in with if it ever showed up in the Daz store and I'll bet a lot of other people would too. I think you'd see a lot more of us using Daz Studio to make animations if the animation interface was like something we're already familiar with.
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Comments
they make movies on any platform
Sims3 used to be very popular so not surprised
with a big modding community anything is possible
I have seen movies made using Skyrim too
I am one of that minority who would love a similar thing for DAZ studio too,
iClone is my only other option but all the exporting and retargetting gets tedious
Oh I don't think it's a minority given how many people have been into Machinima (making animations using stock videogames, which I just learned there's a name for). I brought up Animal Crossing just because it's the hot new one and people with absolutely no technical skills beyond playing video games have been creating really impresive animations in the game. The game has a natural theatre vibe to it, when you're inside a building you have a 360 degree camera control, but outside the game presents very much to a 4rth wall. I think you'd see a lot of people whose first animation experience is in the Machinima community flocking to Daz Studio if we could deliver them a Machinima interface. I mean most people don't really care if they're producing Pixar level animation, they just want something fun they can use to tell a story (or retell a story if they're reproducing a movie or tv scene). Things like everyone using the same set of idle/walk/run cycles, the same emotes. Characters and objects clipping now and then (see RWBY), all that sort of stuff most people won't really mind. The advantage of a machinima interface for Daz Studio would mean the software would suddenly become accessible to a much larger market and people who have been doing traditional machinima animation would probably really love being able to use high quality assets and a better render engine for their final product.
Most of Daz Studio's users just make still renders but I'd bet a lot of the still image renderers would jump at the chance of making animations if animating was as simple as playing a video game. I don't think we'd be in the minority at all. Combine a machinima interface with more advanced animation tools and I bet it would even speed things up for the few people who actually do use Daz Studio for animation too, and once the machinima community finds out Daz Studio has something Maya, Blender, and Poser doesn't well, I can only see that benefiting people selling Daz assets because it's a lot easier to just buy a particular prop, set, or costume than it is to unlock it by grinding a video game.
well whenever it is suggested they come out in the droves objecting
I've been playing Animal Crossing since it first came out on the GameCube and almost every version since. My wife and I just got Nintendo Switches in May and started playing. We're having a BLAST and playing almost every day. I have noticed a lot of people picking up on the Photography aspect in the game and doing some pretty amazing stuff with it!
Well if a Machinma UI for Daz Studio is something that can be accomplished using the scripting side of DS then it's just a matter of waiting until a talented programmer wants to take our money for it and it doesn't matter what Daz thinks about it.
I have a feeling over this decade we'll be seeing huge changes in the animation industry due to A.I. which will greatly eliminate the need for labour in the animation market as the director himself will be able to animate their ideas directly basically by directing A.I. animated elements as if they were human actors, "walk from here to there, now do it more angry, little less angry than that and just a little cartoonish too." and it probably won't be long until we see those tools available on a consumer market. But until then I think a Machinima U.I. would be the best way to democratize computer animation.
Skyrim is surprisingly easy to do Machinima with too because you can use console commands to literally place anything anywhere, turn off AI, change textures simply by substitution in the correct folder structure and use the Creation Kit and Nifskope to add bespoke stuff.
Apparently works on Oblivion and other Bethesda games too.
Source Filmaker is another popular sandbox app for game modding and creating cinematics in the Source Game engine.
An interface to create these types of automated machinima animations
in Daz studio would only have appeal to the current Daz user base
if it worked with the latest G8 figures with little to no compromise
of the current asthetics( HD morphs,JCM's 4-8K textures )
That video is cute ...but look at the figures&content
Such a system in Daz studio will have to support the
latest G8 figures to make it a viable Commercial product IMHO
It would just be an animation UI, not content. It would literally work with any and all Daz content past or present. It just gives a more accessible means for people to create animations using an interface they're already familiar with if they've played any video games at all.
Yeah daz studio doesn't even have a real time render engine yet. This would just not be possible or even likely to expect in the near future. OTOH, Blender has a real time render engine and ways to set up game mechanics. If someone could make an add on that gave this machinima interface, you could pair it with the diffeomorphic plug in and that would really be something, but I'm gonna say there's a 0% chance of this happening inside of DS. Puppeteer is probably the closest we're ever gonna get.
A Machinima UI might actually finally make Blender accessible, instead of the DOS shell UI it has now. If abondonig making content for DAZ studio to make content for Blender is the price for finally being able to use an accessible animation system then so be it. The only reason I'm not a Blender guy now is because Blender is a complete kludge of a UI and almost completely unusable due to the fact that the majority of Blender users are hipsters who think a clunky, worthless UI is an aesthetic.
But as I said, does the scripting abilities of Daz Studio allow for someone outside of Daz to be able to implement such a UI for animation? If it does then it's only a matter of time until a talented programmer who is into CGI developes this UI to plug into DS. It won't matter if Daz thinks this is a valid form of animation, it'll happen. If it's something that can't be done as a plug-in like Animate and Keygraph are then we'll have to wait until Daz wakes up ang picks up the money on the floor.
How would this make more money for DAZ??
they sell high quality 3D Content
A third party programmer would not even nececsarily sell an
alternative internal animation system for Daz studio
here at the Daz site as a PA since it is not content related and not subject
to the Daz EULA.
Just look at the $200 USD "facemojo" plugin for facial motion capture
for G8 it does NOTHING to foment store content sales for DAZ
( although it may sell a few Iphones as as Iphone true depth cam is required)
Yeah, like I said though, Daz doesn't even have a real time render engine. Simply changing the UI would do nothing to make it like capturing gameplay footage, unless you're happy with the quality of textured mode. So unless the 3rd party developer made a plugin that was an entirely new render engine on top of a new UI and character control inputs, it's not going to happen, no matter how awesome it would be. That much work would amount to making a new program.
Also when was the last time you used Blender? I would have agreed with you a few years ago, but Blender's UI has gotten significantly more intuitive in recent iterations. Also being free means there are tons upon tons of incredible plug-ins that make it very powerful, especially when using it in combination with Daz. Give it another shot!
I didn't even realise FaceMojo had been released due to the forum not allowing discussion I guess if it's offsite, presumably DAZ store did not accept it, too dear for me with an iPhoneX on top.
Philemo hasn't done the OpenPose plugin either, I downloaded the OpenPose for Blender prerequisites but not figured it out yet as consol command based and I need to figure out Blender rigging and using the python script for the generated json files, all a bit much for my tiny brain.
where did you see that FaceMojo has been released already? One week ago i saw this comment on youtube, presumably from the creator, that it has not been submitted to Daz yet.. see comments under this vid here which I think is the creators channel...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXl8hz1q93U
there is a website and store
this is the DAZ PA https://www.daz3d.com/laylo-3d
I remember that program. "Microsoft 3D Movie Maker". I used to play with it with my son. You could even record your own voice tracks for it. It was actually a pretty cool program.
you can of course do this in other software already such as Unreal Engine
so they probably cannot be bothered for their art image rendering majority customer base
Although I have committed to my New Iclone/ Blender pipeline, I see no reason not to explore UE4 as well ,considering its free price and rapid development
IMHO, it is better to venture outside of the comfort bubble and seek external solutions rather than sit and expect some hypothetical "programmers" to effectviely re-engineer Daz studio to your personal liking.
I wasn't aware anyone had written a machinima animation app in Unreal Engine that works with Daz assets! I thought you had to make a low poly cage and export that to UE.
I meant you can retarget DAZ characters and use animation blueprints
not click and go but you certainly can make them interact to keyboard commands and use physics
simplest example is using the included third person blueprint but you can also create your own
you should put a tutorial together and try to sell it here at Daz. I would for sure buy it. I've tried to play around with UE4 a little, but you have obviously figured out a lot more than probably anyone else here.
I wouldn't say that but I did start a thread
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/371856/a-using-daz-content-in-ue4-thread/p1
I an not as fussy as others, my exports are simple FBX without additional morph rules etc and I use iClone 3DXchange 6 to set them up for animations as NPCs as well as solving issues like duplicate nodes
my shaders on my characters very simple too, just diffuse and opacity maps as I want easy loads with my limited hardware.
other users do more complicated stuff than me
@ghastlycomic
That video is not something I would watch. But its surprising what people enjoy watching or maybe people just watch animations like that to hear the story dialogue more than for the visuals of the animation .its seems there is no counting for taste, But people will pay millions for a Picasso painting, where i wouldn't give 2 bits for one.
This is like a 3D update to Animaker.
Same reason why some people refuse to watch Rick and Morty because the visual style looks like it was drawn by a 10 year old. Same reason why some people refused to watch South Park because it was just construction paper cut outs that looked like they were made by 4rth graders. For some people the aesthetic will always be more important than the content. For most people, the content is what matters and the aesthetic is just one element of that. It's why some people can watch a visually stunning Hollywood Blockbuster where the story is absolute garbage but still enjoy it saying "It's a popcorn movie" and some people prefer a movie that actually tells a decent story.
What do I know I still like watching bug bunny cartoons...lol But I am in the decent story camp. unless if the visuals are so corny or bad its detracts from the story .The LEGO movies is something i just could never get into watching maybe because I use to play with them a lot as a kid and are over the LEGO thing..lol But never the less it was successful at the box office so no telling how people will react to a animation.
As far as animals go I go for the realistic nature of animals in animation . I do a fair job at animating them in daz
click tom play. Best viewed in 1080HD
So I've been using a combination of Animal Crossing and Daz Studio to produce animated videos. I've been using Daz for the titles and the rest is done in Animal Crossing. It's amazing how well Machinema works for animation. The most time intesive part of this animation was creating the Octo-Pie title card in Daz.
I don't buy Daz Content because I roll my own. The only things I've purchased have been tools to let me make content (like Marvelous Designer and 3D Coat). If someone makes a machinema interface for creating animations in Daz Studio, however, the money will literally create a vacuum as it exits my wallet and enters the wallet of the person who makes the Machinema interface.
It is just so fun to create animations when the interface you're using to animate is immediate and familiar like a game UI.