Reallusion releases Character Creator 4.2
Thursday, February twenty third, 2023 | Posted by Jim Thacker
Reallusion has launched Character Creator 4.2, the newest model of its 3D character creation instrument.
The replace provides the much-anticipated dynamic wrinkles system, which mechanically generates wrinkles on a personality’s face in response to adjustments in expression, including real looking element to facial animations.
Different adjustments embrace the choice to export heads in a format usable with Epic Video games’ MetaHuman framework, and updates to the AccuRig auto-rigging system and GoZ bridge to ZBrush.
Lengthy-awaited dynamic wrinkles system mechanically provides element to facial animation
The dynamic wrinkles system is without doubt one of the longest-awaited options in Character Creator, having been initially scheduled for Character Creator 3.3 in 2020.
It mechanically generates wrinkles on a personality’s face in response to adjustments in expression, layering finer, texture-based wrinkles over the bigger folds of flesh generated by Character Creator’s expressions system.
The wrinkles will be triggered by keyframe animation, or in actual time by motion-capture information or Face Puppet, the facial puppeteering system in Reallusion’s iClone animation software program.
Based mostly on high-resolution scanned textures, remoted into facial areas by masks
The textures themselves are derived from scans of actual actors, optimised for the topology of Character Creator’s CC3 Base+ (CC3+) characters.
The system makes use of 5 supply texture maps (regular, crease, ambient occlusion, pores and skin redness and a move map) from which Character Creator calculates three derived 4K maps: diffuse, regular and roughness.
Masks are used to isolate particular person areas of the face – there are 13 in whole, grouped into three general wrinkle units – comparable to facial wrinkles like crows’ toes, frown strains and nasolabial folds.
Customers can modify the wrinkles in any area of the face individually, both via slider-based controls, or by enhancing the feel maps and masks themselves in image-editing software program like Photoshop.
Paid-for Wrinkle Necessities add-on extends the bottom set of free wrinkle patterns
Character Creator 4.2 ships with a base set of wrinkle patterns: the on-line documentation exhibits 4, two generic, and two particular to a younger male character and an older feminine character.
An additional 10 wrinkle patterns – 5 real looking, and 5 for cartoon characters – and 48 facial morphs meant to be used with the wrinkle system, can be found by way of a paid add-on, Wrinkle Necessities.
Different new options: higher assist for MetaHumans, updates to AccuRig and GoZ
Different key adjustments in Character Creator 4.2 embrace higher assist for Epic Video games’ MetaHuman framework for creating next-gen sport characters to be used in Unreal Engine.
Customers can now export characters’ head meshes with the UV format and set of texture maps required by the Mesh to MetaHuman system for producing MetaHumans matching imported facial fashions.
There are additionally updates to the built-in model of AccuRig, Reallusion’s free auto-rigging system, and to the GoZ bridge to ZBrush, which now transfers vertex colors from the digital sculpting software program.
Updates to Auto Setup plugins imply facial wrinkles will be transferred to Blender, Unity and Unreal
Exterior the core utility, Character Creator’s Auto Setup plugins have been up to date to assist the wrinkle system.
The free plugins – an official one for Unreal Engine, and semi-official plugins for Unity and Blender – streamline the method of exporting characters from Character Creator to DCC instruments and sport engines.
You possibly can see what’s new in every replace within the changelogs for Auto Setup for Unreal Engine 1.3.5, for CC/iC Unity Instruments 1.4.4 and for CC/iC Blender Instruments 1.5.4.
Value and system necessities
Character Creator 4.2 is obtainable for Home windows 7+. New licences have a MSRP of $299. The Wrinkle Necessities add-on has a MSRP of $199. The Auto Setup plugins are free.
Learn a full listing of recent options in Character Creator 4.2 within the on-line launch notes
Learn extra about Character Creator 4.2’s new dynamic wrinkles sytem within the on-line handbook
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