retargeting and point cache

[@jahlegion]

Bravo my friend. Exactly what I’ve been looking for.

[@bluefoxcreation]

Wow very helpful trick...

[@victorclausson4039]

I have a small (non-animated, but rigged in mixamo) character and motion capture data (the joints are bigger in size than the small characters joints) but the both have the same hierarchy. I want the smaller character to move like the motion capture data but when I retarget the smaller character, the joints either scales in size (movements look good) or (if I add a neutral) it keeps it size but drifts when moves. Is this some kind of positioning problem or what can I do to prevent this?

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Hi As I usually use mixamo mocap with mixamo rig they are in perfect sync so have not come across such issues. You may want to try motion clips instead, assuming the name convention is also the same. Mocap workflows do need a look at by Maxon as there is room from improvement. Using MODO it does not matter what scale I use for retargeting as it would use the rotation values of each joint not the scale. You can see my response to the same issues on the forum. www.c4dcafe.com/ipb/forums/topic/100401-mocap-to-rig-with-different-scale/

[@victorclausson4039]

@@CGDreamsTutorials Thanks for answering! We have a Rokoko Smartsuit Pro here at the studio so we're in the starting point of creating our own mocap data. That's the data I want to retarget to any character with the same hierarchy and Rokoko can export Mixamo hierarchy joints. So what I usually do is, rig the character in Mixamo and then importing it to C4D and retarget this with our mocap. Works ok, but as I said, sometimes it scaled weird and stuff. Anyway, thanks for answering.

[@Voolcan]

wish you organized the rig+mesh better, i got confused which is which

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Character Named Static = Not rigged*Far left). Character Named Run = Running animation (right). 3rd character is rigged not renamed, and has Retargeting Tag added to it, also same character has got Point cache tag added. This point cache then drives the Character Named Static that has no rig. Sorry for confusion.

[@Voolcan]

its alright thankyou :)

[@LuciaRodriguez-kq4pw]

the point cache don't works for me

[@Timetraveler_1]

Nicee

[@kraphik3d]

very nice tut. Perhaps the odd hand deformation only should be fixed but I guess thats mixamo error

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Yea I wasnt try to demo how it should look as a end result, just the methology of setting it up. It needs some manual weighting done.

[@kraphik3d]

yes indeed

[@meconnectesimplement]

Very helpful. A little related: would you know of an efficient way to import multiple G3 poses from Daz to C4D ? I thought of recording poses on each frame of daz timeline, export as FBX, retarget the FBX in C4D and save the poses. It sounds logical but it does not work. Any advice ? Thank you very much for your quality tutorials.

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Hi. Two ways of doing this off the top of my head. First is Pose morph. You can use a imported mesh as a morph target and stack up as many poses you wish as long as the target mesh has the same point order. If the DAZ figure is rigged then there is more scope to work with. Export your T pose figure rigged as a FBX, bring into C4D and with the root joint selected add a motion clip to it via the Animation menu. Your need to add at least a keyframe to hold this T pose. You can then bring in more FBX files, or animations and do the same process, only you can delete each posed or animated figure after adding the Motion clip. At the end of it all you have the T pose character only, but your have many motion clips that are either poses or animations. You can add a pivot from the motion clip properties so that you can align the feet should some clips have motion at different locations in your scene. I use this workflow from MODO and it works very well.

[@meconnectesimplement]

Motion clips ! That was the magic word. Thanks a bunch ! I will try that. When you say "stack up poses", is there another way than using wild cards in the fbx menu ? The wild card method sweeps too many unwanted poses and does not give access to the huge Daz pose library.

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Im not familuar with the use of Wildcards, and dont know of any method to import multiple fbx files to add to a pose morph, a script would be needed for that. If you have tons of poses then you may want to look for a C4D plugin to do that. I also use NitroPose plugin but that stores poses on a per object basis but they may be transferable, you may contact the developer for that plugin and ask. In my work flow with MODO I export baked bvh into a FBX and bring them one at a time into C4D and set it up for motion clips, delete the imported mesh with its rigs after each motion clip creation leaving the T pose character in the scene. As long as the point order is the same the motion clips will work on a single model, and can be saved as bulk or single motion files for later use.

[@meconnectesimplement]

Got it. Once again, you saved the day ! Thanks.

[@meconnectesimplement]

I tried Nitropose and it is just AMAZING ! It simplifies so many things ! That brings me probably to the most awaited response for those who have huge external libraries and models they would like to import in C4D: could you show us a method on how to bring in models that already have a basic rig into C4D, enhance the spline for example, add controls, IK/FK possibilities and switch (may be using advanced character template) without altering the initial bone system so that imported poses could still be used ? I specifically have this collection of Daz models and poses but Daz does not allow me to animate them easily while the poses could still be used as starting or intermediary animation points. Thanks !

[@IDMENTAL]

Woooha i did it! Thank you!

[@DoctorMGL]

i know this is old but im stuck in a project that i really need to deliver soon and a very odd issue happen to me when i use this tag , the target skeleton become smaller x5 time or more any solution would be much much appreciated i repeated the process many time while confirming step by step just to make sure but same issue happen

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

What version of C4D are you using?

[@astooltech8957]

please help me dr i don't found retarget in character tags what can i do please

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

right click on the geometry, go to Character Tags, and Retarget is in the list. If its not then you may have a version of C4D that does not offer this feature. Im using Studio.

[@IDMENTAL]

damn i makin it 10 times and not working what i missing?damn damn!

[@chayuhua6211]

I need this lesson very much, but you don't understand it very much. I read it several times and still obscure. It's really irritating

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

If I didnt understand what Im teaching then I wouldnt get the results, so I dont understand what is obscure and irritating? Note that Mixamo has now changed since making this video, you no longer can store assets on mixamo, you must 1: download t pose character as fbx, 2: select a animation and download it, then continue to select and download animations.

[@chayuhua6211]

Sorry, maybe I have some problems with the translation. I did the tutorial again, but it was not valid after clicking Store state. It was still gray

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Translation can be wrong, its done by KZbin not me. I will look into your issue tomorrow. Im sure its something simple.

[@chayuhua6211]

I downloaded a model myself, using templates to build bones and controllers. How to use the action data file for him, and several actions data merged into one.

[@CGDreamsTutorials]

Chayu Hua you can't just use any rig for retargeting as the joints must align the same and have same bones. Also retargetting wont work on rigs with controllers. To work efficiantly use a rig that works with either mocap or manual animation. You can use the motion clips in either case to construct your complete animation.