Animating Daz 3D Characters in DeepMotion’s Animate 3D
As leaders in easy-to-use, free 3D software, Daz 3D loves collaborating with other tech companies that can complement and enhance your experience in Daz Studio. When we heard about DeepMotion and the work they had done for the Daz community, we were thrilled for a chance to share with our own audience.
DeepMotion are leaders in motion intelligence. Using physics simulation, computer vision, and machine learning, they build elegant software that transforms the way artists and engineers breathe life into digital characters. With the newly launched platform, Animate 3D, users can turn video files into 3D animations for use in games, film, and other creative applications. It can even animate your Daz Studio characters!
DeepMotion’s Animate 3D
Animate 3D empowers creative ideas further with the ability to capture human motion by simply uploading videos found online or captured with a personal device. With Animate 3D’s perceptive AI technology, you can generate and download your own 3D animations with custom avatars in minutes, ready to download as an FBX, BVH, GLB, or MP4 file.
Eliminating the need for traditional mocap suits and hardware, Animate 3D provides easy and accessible full-body motion capture, turning around animations in minutes. In addition to the speed, the service provides access to authentic human motions. Authenticity means capturing motions from those who do it best, from professional MMA fighters to gymnasts. Motions that you could typically only capture in person can now be digitized from across the world — a boon in a time where easily meeting in person is not yet a reality.
Kevin He, Founder & CEO of DeepMotion stated, “Creating innovative animations with our body expressions without heavy motion capture gear, and being given the ability to extract classic human motion from the vast amount of videos on the internet, is a dream to many of us working in the entertainment and social media industries. At DeepMotion, we have been hard at work over the past five years to employ biomechanical simulation and deep learning technologies to turn that dream into reality.”
Animate 3D is easily accessible for all levels of users. The service runs through any browser and does not require any software or hardware for you to begin creating animations. With monthly recurring free animation time, the introductory free account allows you to explore what the service is capable of and provides transparency to the user, delivering free access to new features and quality updates. From there, a variety of subscription plans are available to address the needs of any level of creator, including an API integration or a real-time SDK.
How It Works
Conventionally, 3D animation involves a process called rigging. Rigging involves placing a basic bone structure inside the model that is moveable. How you move the bone affects the movement of the model. This information can be stored in keyframes, which when played in sequence, creates an animation.
In the world of motion capture animation, this process has traditionally been aided by expensive suits that are not easily obtainable by the average user. With Animate 3D, you can create realistic animations through video files available online or ones that you record yourself with your own camera.
If you have a Daz character you would like to try it out with, check out this tutorial by DeepMotion for an in-depth walkthrough on how to import your animations from Animate 3D into Daz Studio. In this tutorial, you will learn how to upload a custom figure to Animate 3D, apply an animation using a video file, then download and bring this animation into Daz 3D. You will learn how to do this with Genesis 2, Genesis 3, and Genesis 8 figures.
Taking Your Skills to the Next Level with Animation
Animation is an important companion skill to 3D modeling for many artists. If you have been looking for a way to improve your knowledge or expertise in Daz Studio, exploring animation is a great way to do that. We highly encourage you to take a look at DeepMotion’s Animate 3D and how you can use it to bring your favorite Daz Studio characters to life!
Check out other updates and learn about new ways to create on our blog.
Featured Image: “Walk in Tokyo” by Andron in the Daz Gallery
