i was playing around on the net and decided to check out mimic because everyone talks about it so much. i viewed the sample movie of what it can do, and i have to say, i was seriously not impressed. let me expand on that. the blinking was awesome, just as real as could be. the head movements were amazing. i wondered if it was mocapped from a real human. the lips were so wrong, it was like watching anime. only the basic tones fit. i turned the sound off and played it several more times, and not once could i make out what the character was saying, even though i watched it maybe 10 times with the sound on. i know that everyone raves about this program. i know it's toted as the greatest thing since sliced bread. and i know that it's probably way easier than doing it manualy, one frame at a time, but i just can't see spending that much on a program that just looks so wrong in what it does. i was hoping that someone out there has a better example of mimic at work. frankly, i can't buy it if it's at best what was in the daz example. sorry if i spoiled anyone's day here. those loyal to daz/mimic might like to see me strung up here :)

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Ultimately, it's your $80, the decision on whether or not to purchase Mimic is yours, and no one can change that, no matter how much string they use.

I've been using Mimic 1.0 for years, and am happy with its results. Although I recently installed Mimic 2, I haven't had much opportunity to try it out yet. Sometimes the poses generated by the software do require some tweaking, especially with poor-quality audio samples, but that's what the new timeline and editing tools are for.

I'd be happy to email you some of my lipsynced animations, but they probably wouldn't change your opinion, since most of them feature the animal figures with custom-made morphs.

Attached Link: http://www.annsartgallery.com/avi.html

I got it on the discount, but haven't used it. I have one test animation up with Judy and mimic 1.

I am using Mimic Pro II. The lipsynching isn't perfect but I love the program especially after getting a Voice Modifier (Boss VT-1). I have done lip synching with MAX 4.2 without a plugin. What I intend to do is to use BodyStudio 2.0 to move the animation including facial over to Max 4.2. I will load the sound track and fine tune the lipsynching to the voice track. You see a lot of professional animation where the lipsynching isn't perfect. There may be a point where you can't get it perfect.

The problem with being able to understand what the characters say is not a problem with Mimic. Try recording with Creative Labs Sound Wave Lab or some other sound program that produces wav files. I switched to that but I still have problems with the .wav files that I create. I have a good set of speakers (Harman/Kardon) but human speech sounds kind of "tinny". I'm thinking about getting headphones with a plug that will work with my sound card.

i think the word i was looking for was "phenomes". they seem off. you know how poser lets you choose the facial expression based on the shound the character would be making? it seems like mimic doesn't use those possible motions to the full extent they could be used. it might take a while to get it right but i think poser/mimic could be used to do some outstanding spoken animations. any other examples? thanks!

what i meant about understanding what they say, i mean that i can hear them just fine, but the lips don't match all that well. it's like someone is mouthing the words to a song they don't know. i guess it needs some serious tweaking... but all animation does i suppose.

Did you type in the words as well as input the wave file? Marque

i haven't used it yet... i'm looking for examples of what it can do, but it makes me want to look elsewhere... maybe it just needs tweaking. i dunno, but the examples i've seen are pretty lackluster.

Well if you don't feel comfortable buying it it's probably best you don't. Marque

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/homepage.ez?Who=gordons

Gordons has done some mimic work and has some animations available. rendered outside of poser, but the lipsync was done using mimic. I'm still trying to hunt down the link for the Gorilla animation and the site link, was done with Mimic 2. you can work with the with the phenomes and create more and better syncing though it does require some work and tweaking, it does help if your audio file is clear and clean, and slow talking works much better than the fast passed talking. Mimic Pro 2 has lots more features to help out than just the standard mimic 2, but it does cost more. I too was not sold on the Daz produced animations, but found animation links in freestuff here that use mimic 1, or mimic2 and could see that there was much better exmaples there than the ones from Daz. Ultimately, if you require voice work and lip syncing for animations, there just aren't a lot of options for just poser. if you step up to a major rendering package they might help out but there is still going to be major work in syncing the audio, and mimic WILL help even programs other than Poser. ultimately it comes down to how much ya can spend, what your needs are, and what you wish to acomplish. Mimic 2 pro is really feature rich and quite a good product. Even though the daz produced animations are a bit on the weak side. there IS a mimic contest that Daz has going on right now, so if your in no hurry, you might want to hold off and look at some of the contest winners and see those examples later on.

Isn't there a demo? I know how you feel about laying the money out, I just got burned on something I got last night, not here but software. Now I have to fax them a statement saying that I am destroying the product, already done because it was really bad, and I have to wait up to a month to get my money back. Daz is very good with customer service, if you are really unhappy with a product they will work with you. Machine is right, you might want to wait until the contest is done to see what can actually be done with it. Machine, was it the guy who does all the Mover animations in Vue that did the gorilla one? Marque

yes! Vue and Poser with Mimic2 that's what he did with the gorilla, can't find my link, his demo reel is great as well as some of his mimic work. (to self I will find this link yes, I will evil grin

Attached Link: http://www.belino.net/

OKAY! found the link! Phoul is the guy that posted the tests with Mimic 2, Vue and poser. he has various animations on his web site. some of the Gorilla's dialogue is a biy adult just a warning.

Attached Link: http://www.cruzanware.com/Card/July4.html

Well, I made an invitation with Mimic2Pro for a 4th of July party and used the computer generated voice to read the text then threw in a happy expression to character (smile big) but also changed my text file associated with wave to a phonetic spelling; to more closely match the mouth phonemes. (12fps - and without the text file also - is exactly as you say - text file is very important with wav file) Just click on the anime button to see invitation. 1st page is just a written version of animation. I have been doing loads of mimic projects (have ver 1 and 2 pro) and my clients are more than happy [now getting greedy] with the animations. Also, now if you want to - you can emphasize or deemphasize the phoenemes and assocated actions.