Benjamin Tuttle is a long-time Reallusion products power user. He is known to many in the iClone community and excels with the iClone to Unreal Engine LiveLink production pipeline. Like many other iClone users he is a multi-skilled generalist that pushes the envelope, particularly in terms of cinematic render quality.  

Like a good photographer or videographer Benjamin just sees things differently from most of us. He can frame a great shot including closeups. He also picked up the 3D modeling bug as most of us do and is proficient in Blender along with many other applications. 

Benjamin tends to fly under the radar as he seems to spend his time creating instead of talking about it. He is also very good at one important aspect, putting a vision on the screen. Benjamin has contributed articles to Renderosity Magazine in the past, so he is not a complete stranger to the Rendo community. In many ways, he is not just a power user but a great example of an iClone user in general.

Many thanks to Benjamin Tuttle for taking the time to answer our questions. You can find out more about his current projects and media creation on his Twitter Feed (see button below)

MD McCallum: What version of iClone did you start with, and do you remember what drew you to it?

Benjamin Tuttle: It was iClone 4, and I won a copy in the 2010 Harb Passion competition. At first, I was skeptical about using it. At first, it was the tool for the dancing video, but when I was working on my first major project, No Peace at All, I saw a lot of potential. I came from a machinima background, so adjusting and adding things like lighting and facial expressions was a step up at the time from what I was working with. Every new version has always been a great improvement from the last, so there’s always a new tool or tactic involved to improve your animation, so it’s still able to draw me in for that. 

Do you use Character Creator in your pipeline?

Oh yes, and it’s fairly versatile. I know a few who use Daz in their pipeline, and they’re usually surprised by what I can come up with Character Creator. It comes down to patience, knowledge of the sliders available, and plenty of time.

Do you use Motion Capture in your pipeline?

Yes. Not too long ago, I bought a Rokoko suit for speaking scenes. One of my greater strengths is that I can create great conversation scenes between characters, but I felt limited using only a handful of motions, some I had to edit greatly to get what I wanted. With the Rokoko, I still have issues with locomotive-related motions, but to properly have characters emote and get the body language is what I wanted, and it’s paying off well. I was doing a monologue for a James Bond project, and the performance was just a step above what I used to create. It’s a game-changer for me.

Motion Capture is not easy though, and there’s a lot of editing involved which iClone can take care of most issues involved in Rokoko. Don’t expect out of the box that is often promised… even studios with vast investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars still do cleanup which takes time. 

Another thing and it seems obvious until you’re in that suit… and that is you have to learn how to act. When I first started recording mocap in Rokoko, I found myself doing that cliche waving my arms around too much, and I had to step back to research. I picked up quite a few acting books because, in the end, you are that character and giving life to it. So, I often think about how this character performs in this scene, what kind of body language they exhibit, and many factors to think about. 

I also have an iPhone to face mocap with, adding another layer. It provides a good base to work on, and I can make adjustments if needed. 

Do you render in iClone, or do you extend your pipeline to engines like Unreal or Omniverse?

At this moment, I am working in Unreal Engine. I work with it mainly because of tools like Ultra Dynamic Sky, and there’s a procedural blueprint tool in which I can create a detailed building in a few mouse clicks. I have camera tools replicating real-life cinematic cameras, and I treat it like directing and setting up my scene quite often like using rails and cranes. It provides a fast and professional approach to my production regarding set design. I should also mention that it’s often way cheaper and faster for me to design a set in Unreal than iClone.

I didn’t mention the look, and I know a few gravitate toward Unreal because it looks better. With that… there’s something I like to call the ‘render trap.’ It’s the idea that a single engine looks better just because it is… so some new users will use Unreal, and it often looks worse than iClone. iClone will provide a blank slate of light, wherein in Unreal… you have to build it yourself to get those desired results, and that’s where a strong knowledge of lighting is needed. From my observation, the biggest weakness with iClone filmmakers is the lack of knowledge of lighting. People often blame the program, but I have seen good renders from those with a lighting background. Unreal will have more powerful tools like Lumen, but you must know how to work with it. It’s sadly not an easy button to make the movie look good. Those without knowledge of lighting will be in a world of disappointment if they work in Unreal. 

You are an experienced Blender user as well. What can you say to the new animator about using iClone instead of Blender for animation? Can you shed light on that not exactly being an apples-to-apples comparison in the learning curve and simplicity of use for beginners?

iClone is much more streamlined and more user-friendly in animation. I previously mentioned working in Unreal, but I loathe animating in that engine. That’s where iClone’s greatest strength comes in, it’s straight to the point, easy to edit, and there’s a myriad of tools you can dive into to improve your work. I can open the program, get a few animations in, make adjustments, get instant lip-syncing, and add facial expressions quickly. It’s a great companion tool for Blender or Unreal. You can drag and drop mocap files, set up a live link, and instantly make real-time adjustments. 

As an experienced user, do you feel iClone is a tool for new and experienced animators? In other words, do you feel iClone can be simple enough for beginners to learn while having enough features and tools for intermediate to professional animators?

For 8 yes. It has graduated to a more prosumer level than its previous version, and it has become a lot more helpful the deeper you look into the program. For anyone new, you can drag a motion in to make someone move, apply a WAV file in AccuLips to talk instantly, you set the scene up and render. The UI could be intimidating initially, but they can adjust to it after some time.

The real beauty for the readers is that there are many more in-depth tools like the curve editor. If you own iClone 8 and have yet to look at it, I strongly recommend learning it, it is in my arsenal nearly all the time. You have tools to fix foot slides and adjust facial features and expressions that appeal to some professionals who want a cheaper alternative to MotionBuilder. 

What motivates you the most? The technical aspect, the storytelling, the direction, or, as I would guess having known you for some time, all three.

All three in various stages. Storytelling is the foundation on which direction and the technical aspect follow alongside. It’s like a series of objectives playing out when I create a scene that motivates me. I have a story that the scene will have its effect, so in comes the direction like the blocking and animation of a character, then I move on to where the camera and lighting are to tell its story, and so on. I would take small pieces out of it to finish the filmmaking; it’s like a puzzle I focus on, and each step helps motivate me with the scene. If I try to do too much at once, it gets a little chaotic, and I lose interest. 

Do you have anything you would like to say to the Renderosity community in general?

I would say every project is a chance to experiment. Every project I worked on was a chance to do something different to stand out from the others, which is valuable. Anybody can make a film now with the technology available, but the real value is what makes you stand out. So learn what makes a shot work, what light can do for storytelling, what color can do for mood, study acting since animation and acting run in similar paths, and learn anything and everything in filmmaking. Be open to that and apply what can work to your vision. With enough filmmaking and enough knowledge, you will have a vision that will stand out from the others.