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11/02/2016 15:32:01

MuvizuTeam
MuvizuTeam
Posts: 25 		Hi All,
We are thrilled to announce the release of our new character pack !
Each character (man, woman, boy and girl) also comes with x 2 hairstyles, x 2 tops and x 2 bottoms!
Happy animating!
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11/02/2016 16:12:38

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		AWESOME! Thank you! (Going right now to buy it....)

============UPDATE============
I just installed the new characters and had a look at them and their options. First of all, I was pleased to see that they show up as 4 completely new characters, not modified versions of legacy characters. That's a good thing!

I also noticed that the included accessories for these characters was minimal... no extra eyes or noses, two hair options, two outfits... period. So my guess is that the plan is to sell add-on packs for the newer characters (which I think is a GREAT idea given the low price tag on MUVIZU and the low price on store items! Can't wait to see what you come up with!)

aside to MUVIZU developers: When you start to create add-on packs, consider other Asian cultures besides China. South Korea's K-pop music and TV dramas are gaining global popularity, and they're both full of trends that could be monetized as accessories. For example, extremely high-heeled shoes are practically a cliche in Korean dramas. Girls in the dramas even wear them on the beach!

Martial arts outfits are a no brainer, as such training (I'm told by my daughter's Korean TaiKwonDo instructors) is as common there as soccer is in western schools

I notice there are no instruments available yet... I suspect that Korean K-pop has already created a huge demand for Asian music videos, but they won't be easily created until the instrument option has something in it for the Asian characters

Also consider Japans huge anime industry.

But, I know you know all that already... this is just my excitement making obvious ideas flow...
edited by PatMarrNC on 11/02/2016
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11/02/2016 20:26:06

braj
braj
Posts: 286 		I get an error when trying to load the characters. And even clicking other characters like the stick figure give an error. I'm going to download the newest Muvizu and see if that fixes it. I think things just blew up on me.
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11/02/2016 20:36:08

braj
braj
Posts: 286 		And that fixed it. So, I am wondering about creating clothing, they have very minimal attire, even very specific like scarves you can't remove. I with there were a 3d mannequin OBJ for all the characters that we could use to create clothing.
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12/02/2016 00:14:11

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		braj wrote:
And that fixed it. So, I am wondering about creating clothing, they have very minimal attire, even very specific like scarves you can't remove.


I notice that the Chinese new year outfit that just appeared for free uses some soft cloth... probably by starting with the karate uniform that comes with Beefy, then adding a texture to it... but I'd like to know how he knew how to create the texture... is there a UV map somewhere for the karate outfit? Or maybe it was based on the UV Map for beefy?

I wish there were a 3d mannequin OBJ for all the characters that we could use to create clothing.


a while back I tried to use Autodesk's free 123DCatch software to create 3d models for each of the Muvizu characters. 123Dcatch can create 3d models from a series of photographs taken all around an object.


So I set up a scene containing just a character and a camera, then circled the camera around each character, capturing the max number of frames that 123dcatch can use. But when I tried to upload my series of images, 123Dcatch choked on them

I sent a zip file of my images to Autodesk and support told me that my resolution was too low. The higher the better. I also should have created a custom skin with numbers and letters randomly added to it, because the algorithm requires unique "landmarks" that it can use to see how each of the frames relates to the one before it and the one after it. The landmarks determine where the pictures get joined.

A family member got sick and died right about the time I gathered enough info to try again... so I never got back to it. But if you want exact models of the Muvizu characters, that would be a good place to start.
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12/02/2016 01:33:39

braj
braj
Posts: 286 		Well, I have made at least a tiny bit of progress: I wasn't able to get cloth to work yet, but physics can be embedded in a FBX and read by Muvizu definitely, I set a block with basic collision and now it moves a bit after touching it, and you can fling it with the mouse and it continues to travel for a short time.

What I REALLY want and I think would be a huge benefit to the Muvizu platform is to have all this information regarding materials documented and available. It is just nuts that it isn't.

(Edit: well, I just realized that MZ objects can be flung too, but definitely something about how the test block I made reacts to physics is different).
edited by braj on 12/02/2016
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12/02/2016 02:06:03

drewiMuvizu mogulExperimental user
drewi
Posts: 298
I notice that the Chinese new year outfit that just appeared for free uses some soft cloth... probably by starting with the karate uniform that comes with Beefy, then adding a texture to it... but I'd like to know how he knew how to create the texture... is there a UV map somewhere for the karate outfit? Or maybe it was based on the UV Map for beefy?


Yeah there is a zip file with various uv maps for beefy including the karate suit.
http://www.muvizu.com/Info/98/Custom-textures
edited by drewi on 12/02/2016
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12/02/2016 04:06:02

braj
braj
Posts: 286 		The new characters also can't just get a whole texture makeover, only their faces are available, which is great, because the included textures are pretty darn bad, they look like they have skin diseases actually. The male character's hair has bad black areas if you try and change the color from default. I hope they make UV maps available for these. I'm guessing the characters themselves are done and won't be updated. I'm super happy to have them, but I really need some more characters if the new ones only have two looks available with no attachments. I was stoked to finally have some kids, but I can't dress them up for halloween or use other props. Instruments is kinda funny that it is even there. One of the boy's costumes has bright pink buttons so I don't think I can even use it in anything, they look like no material was applied to them, there seems to be more of this sort of unfinished stuff the more I look. Again, I'm super happy to have them, but I'd be happier if we were more empowered to create new characters ourselves, even if it is a paid feature, I would be happy to get a power user developer's version to be able to fix some of these things.
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12/02/2016 18:01:54

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I recently downloaded the free version of DAZ. Cool program with lots of potential.. but the included content is also very minimal. Clearly the path to generating income there is with add-on packs. And I support that thinking.. a viable product NEEDS to make money in order to survive. It also needs a large user base, and making it available for not much money helps to accomplish that.

One big difference between DAZ and MUVIZU is that DAZ has MANY 3rd party vendors who are all making EXCELLENT products for their store... which means that the usefulness of the product increases almost exponentially because so many people are adding value to it on a daily basis.

MUVIZU also has a user community that contributes value-adding content... but because we don't have the tools to duplicate the bells and whistles, we're limited to adding content that isn't as cool as the content that is being added to the stores of products like Daz, iclone, Poser etc.

My hope is that at some point MUVIZU will provide the tools or information required to create the cool stuff. Even if it's only licensed to a select few who have demonstrated the ability to use it, such a move would result in an explosion of new usefulness. And if part of the deal is to split the sale price with contributors, everybody would win.

Muvizu would get cool new content without having to expend resources, and income from its sale

Third party content creators would get a built-in market for their stuff, and income

Customers would get an incredibly useful product for not much money, along with an ever-growing set of accessories to meet the needs of professionals and amateurs

-----------------
standard disclaimer: my opinion. Your mileage may vary. No guarantees, express or implied, are included in this rant
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12/02/2016 18:51:08

braj
braj
Posts: 286 		I did hear back from Digimania, and in its current version, the end user can't access soft cloth and the animated texture effect, these need to be built into Muvizu using Unreal tools I guess, anyhow, tech details aside, there isn't a way so I better get over it I totally agree that a robust modder base would be very good for Muvizu, I just wish there were more control with the included new characters, we can't implement that. I did see that you can change hair textures, so I was able to resolve the issue with the black hair quickly. They just really need more attachment points.
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Muvizu is easy to use 3D animation software that allows anyone to create high quality animations quickly and easily. Muvizu’s animation engine is ideal for storytellers, animators, teachers and businesses looking to engage, enchant and delight audiences with animated content.