CompuServe Thread

Hi Philip, pesonally I would get Alias. I haven't used SoftImage, tho. Softimage still has better animation control, but I'd say Alias is the better all in all package. At Siggraph I saw several motion capture system. Also some for the face. They had small reflectors on the lips and a camera mounted to the head filming the face. They were even able to animate a cartoon face in realtime with that data. Dunno who sells these systems, they are out of my range anyway. Motion capture is one way. You could also film a talking face with a camera and use the single frames for rototscoping (or should I say "talkscoping"). Set up key frames for significant sounds and morph between them. Alias V6 has a special editor for lip sync character animation. It even has an automatic mode where Alias tries to match the key frames for the face with the sound by looking at the phonetics of the sound track. Alais V6 has a lot of tools especially for character animation.

Hi Philip, I think I can answer your questions: >> I plan on purchasing an SGI Indigo II, and either Alias or SoftImage or ? Big production houses such as Industrial Light & Magic use Alias for modeling since it has the most comprehensive modeling tools and in a platform such as the Indigo II or the new Power Indigo II you'll be able to get instant feedback giving way to all your creativity. SoftImage is really known for it's animating abilities. There is a feature that was used in the film "Little Budha" I think that's the title of the movie. To make the baby talk adult lines, they manipulated his lips so that the lines would seem to come out of this baby's mouth seamlesly. Again, this is done by the major animation houses who have the money to invest in these software packages. However, they do run $20,000 to $40,000 EACH, just for the software. And the hardware will cost you about $35,000 to $45,000 depending on the platform. If you *only* (g) have $20,000 to spend on software, I would strongly suggest you get Alias Power Animator 6.0 that should be out already. I've seen this product in action, and it's definetly the best, most comprehensive package out there. >>What is the best way to capture facial movements and gestures?Are there any >>companys out there that make reasonably priced motion capture hardware that I >>could purchase (e.g. less than 20K) or am I going to have to rent equipment? Absolutelt, positively Motion capture. There are a couple of solutions where thjis is concerned. One is by "Ascencion" and their system is called "Flock of Birds." this system works by generating a magnetic or energy field and having you or your actor wear a suit with the nodes or just by gluing the nodes to your body. These nodes are usually wired to a box that interprets their x,y,z position within that field generating this way a motion file in your system that you can assign to a mesh or model (like they did with the Shell commercial where they have the car dancing). The other method is done by cameras that only pick up certain wavelengths at really high speeds. You'll have the camera positioned so that they capture the movement of little dots that will be placed on your face so that the natural movement of your features is captured. Unfortunately, I don't have the number or the name of this company. This is however a more expensive solution. There are of course equipment rentals for these type of jobs. Well, I hope this helps you out. If you have any more questions, let me know. Alex Karamanoglou Network Graphics & Animations

Well I work at R/Greenberg Associates in NY and we use Softimage. It's pretty good, but I wish we had other packages as well. As far as facial animation, the best I've seen is from Prisms. You have all types of control over how to deform your face. I haven't used it personally however, I have heard many great things about it.. A;ias is great for modelling, but the animation still needs work. Nothing really compares to the the ease of use and efficiency of Softimage, but maybey with a little work, Alias will catch up.. Another package to absolutely look at is Wavefront with Explore. There you have Nurbs modelling, superb particle animation, great cloth , and much much more.. >What is the best way to capture facial movements and gestures? Maybey a waldo device. It is optical based and captures pretty good facial deformations.. I don't know the price on that system. >I hear Alias V6 has channels, is anyone using this in conjunction with motion capture hardware? We are not using Motion Capture with Alias, however we are using it with Softimage… We have the Ascension Flock of Birds, which isn't all that great. We have had tons of problems with it. We did those three Shell, dancing cars and pumps commercials, as well as a couple of others using motion capture.. I would recommend an optical based motion capture system, however they may be more expensive. The Flock of Birds will run you about 35K. Are you starting up a company? Fred Nilsson fred@rga.com

>PROJECT: Suppose I wanted to model & animate two people sitting at a table talking to each other. I want this scene, especially the facial mouth movements and gestures, to be as life-like as possible. < From what I have seen, a "waldo" is your best bet for the faces. I'm not sure who sells them nor on the cost of one. FWIW- I saw 3DS hooked up with a flock of birds, doing motion capture stuff at Siggraph. (Also Animation Master) I know they're not up to Alias/SoftImage in many of their capabilities, but are much less in cost, and may be something to consider. I know of many SGI users who also run 3DS for a variety of different tasks. Just a thought.