CGTalk - Any LW artists here using TAFA?

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dragonfollower

05-31-2005, 09:09 PM

Hi,

Anyone here using Timothy Albee's Facial Animation plug in? If so, how is it? I'm working on a freelance gig right now that has a lot of lip sync. $500 is a bit much, but if this program works like it says it does, then it might be worth it.

Thanks,

-Brian

WeirdoStudio

05-31-2005, 10:15 PM

I would be using it if it wasn't for the price.. I realize that alot of hard work goes into making these plugins but damn thats pretty high.. I think that is the thing that turned off alot of wavers that are just using lightwave as a one man studio.. Great looking plugin but too expensive for me..

dragonfollower

05-31-2005, 10:29 PM

Thanks for the reply.

As a side-note, do you know if it is similar to Daz Software's Mimic?

-Brian

gruvsyco

06-01-2005, 01:10 AM

My understanding is that the end result of the 2 apps are similar but the workflow is different. I don't know if there is a trial for mimic but there is one for TAFA. A friend and I tried the demo when it came out and neither of us really needed to look at the documentation to use it... it IS that easy. I'm basically waiting for employment and he is waiting until they have expanded it to other 3D apps.

download the demo and try it!

kennez

06-01-2005, 07:04 AM

Thanks for the reply.

As a side-note, do you know if it is similar to Daz Software's Mimic?

-Brian

Mimic analyzes the audio file, and even a text file of the dialogue, and creates a 'best guess' animation using the config file you tell it to use.
The config file will need to be created for the character you are using, based on the names of the morphs. The good thing here is that if you use the same naming convention for all your characters, you will only need one config file.
The 'best guess' animation that Mimic creates is actually quite good, but will still need some tweaking, although that is quite easy to do.

If you set it up in your config file, Mimic can also create gestures and expressions that the character uses while talking, such as moving his/her/its head, raising eyebrows, looking happy/sad/scared while talking, etc.

It is worth getting if you want something to speed up your animation, and it is cheaper than TAFA.

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06-01-2005, 07:04 AM

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