CG Short Cinematic Scene Pipeline Question

#1

Hi all,

I’m new here… despite having a pre-existing account from god knows when, hah.

I have recently sat down with my brain and penned out what it is I wish to dedicate my time and energy to as I intend to shift careers. However, that’s a long ways out and not relevant for this forum, so let me get to my question.

I am an absolute beginner with 3D everything. I however have accumulated programs and built a decent computer over the years and am wanting to create animated short films.

My first learning project is a short scene. I bulldozed my way through Unreal Engine while using Mixamo animations to put together my short scene whilst following the storyboard I drew out (all of 4-5 shots at this point in time).

My question, as I keep digressing (sorry I’m so new I’m typing out everything I’ve been working on with no one to talk to about it).

I have 3DXchange, iClone 7, Character Creator 3, Marvelous Designer, Terragen 4, Substance Painter, Fruity Loops, Blender, Photoshop, World Machine, and Unreal Engine.

It’s overwhelming, obviously, but I’ve accumulated it over the years and I’m super stoked I did, because this is a functional pipeline to make something with!

I however am wanting to know how to configure all of these to end up in Unreal where I want to do the filming and build out the set location.

Currently I have developed my two actors using Character Creator 3.

I have modelled a bow in Blender and textured it in Substance Painter.

I want to next develop my wardrobe for my actors, which is fine, I can learn the basics of that with Marvelous.

But I’m starting to get to a point where I don’t know where or when to start compiling all of this.

Should I be compiling my actor and her bow inside of iClone or Blender, and saved as its own asset? or should I keep them separate and bring them into Unreal at the end?

The same question for the clothing I’m wanting to develop, does that stay its own asset and applied in Unreal, or should it be applied sooner?

I’m getting a little overwhelmed by the assembly process as I have written out my “home schooling curriculum”, but my lack of overall knowledge isn’t helping me with the things I’m starting to actually build (which I am so excited and grateful for).

I hope this makes sense, if not please ask all your questions as I’m really wanting to get a grasp of the process from storyboard to final render.

Thanks a bunch for your attention, time, and input!

Ben.

PS: It’s new, but if you want to see my current progress on stuff, check out my instagram link to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

HERE

:v:

#2

Hi,
If your plan is to render finals in UE4 you will need Character creator 3 (pipeline version) and the free live link to unreal plugin from Reallusion.

You will only need the base version of Iclone 7x
however CC3 Pipeline is a must!!

Be aware that any content from the Reallusion store must be the Export licensed version to send to UE4.

If you are creating your character clothing & props in Blender/Marvelous (Highly reccomended IMHO) you will not have to pay any fees to send from Iclone to UE4
as these are your IP.

I personally use an Iclone/CC3 to Blender EEVEE pipeline.
as I create all of my character clothing, props and sets in Blender 2.9 for rendering with the EEVEE engine.

Transferring animated characters from Iclone to Blender is very easy and addtional Iclone body& facial animation Data can easily be applied/replaced via Blender Action Editor
as I demonstrate in this video.

Cheers

#3

Firstly, thanks a TON for responding! I’ve hit a roadblock and am teaching myself some other things while I wrap my head around all of this and, apparently, the export licenses and what is and isn’t allowed.

Okay so I do have the CC3 pipeline version and the Unreal Live link setup. (I still have to do research on that as I was able to move my character but wasn’t sure how to record it in Unreal. We’ll look into this later)

iClone 7 base version, check!

Okay so if I’m understanding this, the store front has the two separate buy options, “iContent” and Export. I don’t intend to buy anything from their storefront as I want to model and develop everything myself. But this does bring about a question. The characters I create in the default CC3 program, I am allowed to export those into other programs free of charge?
**I am literally making notes of all the things I need to do for every stage of putting these projects together, and am now making note of the licensing bits lol - a lot of knowledge.

The licensing thing however is why I’m using Unreal, as I want to access the Quixel Megascan assets, and I can do that for free so long as I export the final project using Unreal.

I am glad you do recommend Blender/Marvelous - I have been dabbling in and out of Blender since 2008ish (though not with any real insistence to actually learn for the future - which brings me to now lol).
Marvelous I need to watch some tutorials as that program is all kinds of exciting for the things I can create. Thank you for your recommendation on that!

The iClone/CC3 to Blender makes the most sense as it stands right now for me. Though I must admit, I’m having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to animate my bow string in iClone. It’s got a rig, but I can’t seem to access it for animation (I’ve put it in 3D Xchange as well. I see the bones, but can’t move anything). Blender I can select the bone and move it.

All of these little hurdles is leading me to do mini projects to tackle each problem and acquire a better understanding of each part of the process.

I picked up the iPhone facial animation/profile stuff as well (I’ll be tackling that once I have the actual body animations down).

I’ll check out your video and sub! Definitely looking forward to more of your work/tutorials!

Again thank you a TON for even replying. I’m trying to piece it all together bit by bit.

Cheers sir!