Zarabanda opened this issue on Mar 03, 2004 ยท 73 posts
Zarabanda posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 8:46 AM
Attached Link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3d_celebrities/
After a bit of pre-production, CeeBee and myself have developed a formula for digital cloning using a composite figure created with a number of programs. If you want to know more about the process or just want to see more pics like this, visit CeeBee's yahoo group.rreynolds posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 9:59 AM
Any chance of uploading some of the celebrity face morphs to the group? I looked at the price of FaceGen and it doesn't look like I'll be using that program any time soon. It does look like a good program based on the results you're showing.
Zarabanda posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 10:02 AM
sorry, as far as I know exported .obj files made in FG may not be distributed. The facegen .fg files can be distributed but you need FaceGen to use them, the same way you need poser to open a .pz3 file.
geoegress posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 10:17 AM
wow- that pic is very good :) post some more here
wipe posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 10:56 AM
Nice! Any chance of some views from different angles?
mateo_sancarlos posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 11:10 AM
Good point, wipe. It's possible they can only do full-frontal renders and poses, if all they have are full-frontal photo references.
Zarabanda posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 12:23 PM
xantor posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 1:00 PM
You could use face gen and do "frankensteining" to stick the head onto v3 or any other figure, though you wouldn`t have any head morphs unless you made them yourself. In poser 5 you could make face room faces and frankenstein these onto other figures, too.
Zarabanda posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 2:29 PM
FaceGen can create an endless number of head morphs, which can then be applied to the figure. Its quick and easy, basically the same process as applying head morphs to posette. If you look at the results we've gotten so far, and compare them to the Poser 5 Face Room, our renders are far superior. I've yet to see a decent face room render using the mediocre Don and Judy figures. Keep in mind, we're in the early stages and constantly refining our technique. But IMHO people have been attempting this for a long time and what we've done blows everything else away.
mateo_sancarlos posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 2:44 PM
That 360-render is nice. Is that some other celeb?
Xena posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 3:04 PM
Ok, I joined but I REALLY detest Yahoo groups. Very unprofessional. What's the price? What's the product overview? These things aren't easily available on the yahoo site (I've been there for 20 minutes and can't find 'em yet)
Zarabanda posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 3:21 PM
Mateo, glad you liked the 3d view. thats a Beyonce clone, I can post a pic here if you like. There's also some at the yahoo group. Xena, thanks for your interest in the yahoo group. I've only recently become involved with it, but I can tell you that all the information and images are in the files section. As of now the production formula we're using was created by CeeBee and I've joined on for the post-production and creative input. Right now this is all in the beginning stages, so as more people become involved perhaps we'll move onto dedicated webhosting. the yahoo group is just a starting point for now.
FishNose posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 4:30 PM
Yes that 360 is gorgeous. Yum! :] Fish
Penguinisto posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 4:32 PM
One question... don't you run the risk of getting sued by the celebrities themselves? /P
wipe posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 5:17 PM
Nice, but they tend to look as though the face has been projected on to a blank screen; the texture seems to define the face rather than the geometry.
keihan posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 5:27 PM
I will say this much, if I paid $500 buckaroos for something I better darn be able to use the resulting morphs for sellable characters. If I design the morphs from photos (front/side) then the morph is my creation, the tool to it's creation would be FaceGen. Crayola can't sue me for my creations because I used their crayons in the process... that's obsurd and good ole capitalistic monopolising. Sorry FaceGen, but you won't be seeing my dollars and I'm sure you won't be winning any court suits over exported morphs that someone else created using your software. Besides, why would I want to make replicas of celebrities? Now, that is certainly an area that might get me sued if I haven't been granted permission to use their likeness. On the other hand you could always use their likeness, but not their name ;) ----Will
Xena posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 6:13 PM
Keihan, where did you find the price and info on the program. After 20 minutes I got sick of looking :/
pdxjims posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 6:33 PM
Attached Link: http://www.facegen.com/
Way, way too spendy for anything I'd use it for. They have something called a customizer that will let you apply the morph (fg file) to your own mesh. I can't see where they'd be able to stop you from distributing that.DCArt posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 6:51 PM
The technology used in FaceGen is exactly the same technology as used in Poser 5. However, I think FaceGen allows you to use the technology on your own meshes as well. I've been drooling over it for ages. 8-)
Xena posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 7:21 PM
Thanks Jim :)
xantor posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 7:57 PM
Zarabanda, I wasnt saying your way wasn
t good or needed, I was just mentioning other ways to do the same thing, and I have had a few very good results with the face room.
Zarabanda posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 8:23 PM
Xantor, Im encouraged to hear you've gotten good results with the face room. I'd love to see them, I might take a second look at it if I saw something worthwhile produced by it. Penguin and Keihan bring up good points. Why would anyone want to make a celebrity clone? Well, they are universally recognizable people. I can clone my 6th grade math teacher, but no matter how much convincing I do, you'll never really know if I nailed it or not. The most recocnizable feature of any person is their face, it is how the human mind memorizes people. So if we both know what Abraham Lincoln looks like then I'll get busy cloning him and skip my 6th grade math teacher. This is strictly an exercise in art and technology. A 3D clone is like a digital sculpture, a virtual extension of our physical selves. Who is cloned is not nearly as important as HOW they are cloned. So for anyone who's ever wanted to, CeeBee and myself have found a way.
Charlie_Tuna posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 8:39 PM
Why shouldn't speech be free? Very little of it is worth anything.
DCArt posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 9:33 PM
Actually, are we really comparing apples to apples here? The figure used in the FaceGen renders appears to be a Vicky of one version or another ... is that true? So making comparisons between your technique and the Poser 5 face room isn't really an apples to apples comparison. The Judy mesh does not have the same quality of modeling as the DAZ figures do. The real challenge would be to use Judy for both samples as a comparison. If you can pull something like that off with Judy, then I'd say your technique wins. 8-)
randym77 posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 9:44 PM
Do you have any examples of male celebrity clones?
xantor posted Wed, 03 March 2004 at 10:13 PM
Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1670188
Zarabanda, this is an alan alda head I did using the face room, the bigger picture is at the link. I can`t show the other pictures as they are people I know and they wouldn`t like their faces shown here, also you wouldn`t actually know if they had turned out well anyway.mathman posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 4:51 AM
I also have to echo Keihan's sentiments. If I pay 500 smackeroonies for a graphics tool, then its not right that I should be forbidden from distributing my OBJ files (..as Zarabanda has suggested). I have found that you can get a lot of variability in faces using Poser, you just have to work a bit harder to get there (e.g. its difficult, but not impossible to disguise Judy or M3). Also, "putty" tools such as zBrush or Amorphium are a great addition for face creation.
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 8:37 AM
Sorry Xena...missed yer post ;) keihan-Smacks himself Good to see someone else posted the link though. ;) As far as face morphs go, I don't think I'm going to go looking for the easy way because they are, usually, very limited in their results. I, also, don't see much art in using something that takes much of the creativity out of the process. I'd prefer to stick to creating my morphs in Rhino and knowing that I created them completely from scratch... and I can remain comfortable knowing that the makers of Rhino aren't going to attempt to sue me for distributing my own work. :) ---Will
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 9:21 AM
rreynolds posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 11:13 AM
I looked at a link, at FaceGen, to see what it would cost to redistribute the Obj and they want a grand for it. It sounds as if you are using the Victoria mesh. Is it just a matter of plopping a FaceGen obj head on a Vickie body or is FaceGen creating an obj morph from the Vickie mesh that still allows you to use all the Vickie morphs for expressions?
xantor posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 11:31 AM
I said the face was alan alda because a lot of people, especially younger users might not even know who alan alda is.
DCArt posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 11:43 AM
So far I've only seen two artists on Rosity, LadyLight and Gaspo, who have succeeded at this. You might want to also check out Catherina Harder's work (from mec4D). She has done an absolutely AMAZING Sean Connery and Arnold Schwarzenneger that are so real you'd swear they were photographs. Nice job on the Judy figure (that doesn't look like her body, though - did you do something with that also?) I think Poser 5 users can get similar results with Judy if they learn how to use the Face Room (ironically, I just posted tutorials about it LOL). Where did you get the photos that you used for the Judy figure? I'd be anxious to give it a try in the Face Room to see if it can achieve similar results.
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 11:58 AM
Deecey, the source pics are available at the yahoo group. If you have a yahoo ID it takes just a sec to join. They're in the Jeri folder in the files section. Actually that is the default Judy figure with no tweaking whatsoever. I adjusted the skin tone on the body for the color match with the head, but thats it. I used my GlowBall lighting set which IMHO is the best global lighting out there for Poser (at least its my personal fave). It tends to bring the best out of even Lo Res figures like Judy and Posette.
DCArt posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:43 PM
Zarabanda, thanks for the pointer ... LOL now I have to remember my yahoo ID ;-) I hope you don't think I'm being a jerk about this ... quite the contrary, I think your work is wonderful (even exceptional!) and I'm sure you've put a LOT of time and expense into your technique. I've been drooling over FaceGen for a long time, primarily because it allows you to do similar things with other characters. But now that the soon-to-be-released LightWave 8 has a morph mixing feature, I think the need for FaceGen is all but eliminated on my end. I'm looking at it from the perspective of those who can't afford these wonderful additional tools, but who might be able to get the same results from Poser 5 if they already have it. So I might give the Jeri photos a try, if you don't mind, and post results here. In the meantime, fantastic work! I really am duly impressed. 8-p
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:49 PM
Deecey, TY so much for the encouragement. I really wish Face Room had unlimited potential for digital cloning, and if it can do everything that FageGen does, all the better. I'm all for it. If you can pull this off in face room I will be your #1 student :) ::hands Deecey a shiny red apple
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:50 PM
Hmmm it appears that the models are FACEGEN created models. I do not see any import options for models created outside of FACEGEN, is this correct? I hate proprietary software.
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:52 PM
Keihan, As far as I know, you can't import any meshes into face gen. Its strictly intended as a plugin for other programs, as a quick and easy way to create and export head meshes to other programs.
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:52 PM
To add to my satement above, I'm guessing that you cannot import Victoria or Mike and create morphs to their facial geometry using FACEGEN; correct?
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:54 PM
no I don't believe you can do that, its really designed more as a plugin than a standalone app.
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:54 PM
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:55 PM
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:56 PM
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:59 PM
hehe yah, we should take this to IM. :) I agree that FaceGen is of limited use. However, it is extremely powerful in its ability to generate heads with limitless morph potential (races, expressions,etc.) So in that way, you can create custom one of a kind poser figures with heads that you've generated yourself. And of course theres FaceGen's photofit process which creates excellent digital clones.
DCArt posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:59 PM
It appears, though, that you are using FaceGen Modeller for your technique. There is also a FaceGen Customizer, which allows you to use your own geometry. Now, the question is ... do you need BOTH the Modeller and the Customizer if you want to use your own geometry? That's a lot of moolah 8-)
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 1:13 PM
There is still the fact, that even with FaceGen Customizer, you cannot redistribute your resulting mesh objects. A quote from the "Customizer" license: "3.6 CUSTOMER will not, and will not authorize any third party to; (a) rent, lease, sell, transfer or sublicense Statistical Data, or (b) electronically transfer Statistical Data to any third party, except as authorized under a separate agreement."
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 1:22 PM
The reason I say it is useless to me is this: As a content creator, I would make very few, if any, sales for items which would require a separate program (plugin so to speak). To further hinder sales, is the fact of the proprietary file format. It may have it's uses for some folks and it's awesome that you find it useful, but I'm not willing to shell out $1000 for any proprietary software which has such limitations in the scope of profitability. As a 3D modeler, I may as well create my own figures. Much more profitability in that as time consuming as it may be. If I was an animator or illustrator and made my money from video production or magazine cover design etc etc, I might reconsider, but that's not what I do :)
DCArt posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 1:28 PM
OK, so they are not only restricting the use of the geometry, they are also restricting the use of the "morph data" it seems. I have to agree with keihan ... it's a lot of money to spend for the "average joe" who won't have a way to recup their costs. In that respect it is difficult to justify the investment. Still, as I said before, you have done marvelous work with it, and I don't mean to minimize your efforts. You should be applauded for the effort and diligence that it took regardless. 8-)
mickmca posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 1:39 PM
I have to say that with few exceptions, "Celebrity Clones" are about as convincing as celebrity action figures. Very few exceptions. I never would have recognized "Alan Alda" if given all day with no hints, and I've seen most of his movies, watched him in interviews, and loved M.A.S.H. Sorry. This is not a limitation of the artist but the medium, I think. Essentially, sculpting with virtual chickenwire is not likely to give you the greatest results. IMHO. M
xantor posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 1:46 PM
it is alan alda older and I think it is a pretty good likeness.
Zarabanda posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 2:01 PM
Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=618661
I have great respect and appreciation for the community here and the feedback they provide. If the reactions I'm getting here are any indication, then CeeBee and I have been successful. http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=618661DCArt posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 2:52 PM
But here is what I was able to achieve in the Face Room in 45 minutes (I have to stop now because I have to leave for work soon). This is with no cleanup on the texture, and some morph tweaking in the Face Shaping Tool that still has to be done.
It's still a far cry from the default Judy 8-)
For those who want to attempt this in P5's face room, pay more attention to the texture lineup when you move the feature points in the Photo Lineup area. Then, use the morphs in the Face Shaping Tool to refine the shape of the head.
I will update when I have more time to refine this more ... but as I say this is only after 45 minutes of work, with no additional postwork on the texture, and with only partial work with Judy's face morphs.
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 3:52 PM
keihan posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 3:55 PM
DCArt posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 12:15 AM
However, if you were to ask me if I was satisfied with the realism of this character, I would say yes. I think I was able to "unJudify" Judy ... and the only program that I used so far was Poser 5. No retouching of the texture at all (and I'm sure if it were cleaned up it would look a lot better).
So ... my verdict is that, with persistance, Poser 5 Face Room does have the capabilities that can produce some darned good realistic characters. And in the hands of a good artist, it can probably get much better results for a likeness than I did here. 8-)
mathman posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 12:33 AM
Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=608206&Start=1&Sectionid=0&filter_genre_id=0&Form.Se
I was having a look in the galleries today, and I came across this as an excellent example of the potential of the Poser 5 Face Room.DCArt posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 12:38 AM
Quoll posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 1:12 AM
Sorry guys, the beonce one is ok, but I don't see the likeness in any of the other models.
Zarabanda posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 9:16 AM
DCArt posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 9:28 AM
Zarabanda posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 9:34 AM
TY Deecey, my motivation in all the pics I make is to entertain and please the people who view them and occasionally pass on whatever knowledge I've acquired :)
bip77 posted Fri, 05 March 2004 at 5:31 PM
"... Judy has very few textures available ..." Judy can wear all Vicky/Vicky 2 textures. (Same UV Map) So there are a lot of textures available.
Batronyx posted Tue, 09 March 2004 at 10:43 PM
mathman posted Wed, 10 March 2004 at 3:39 AM
its not george dubya, by any chance ?
ynsaen posted Wed, 10 March 2004 at 4:47 AM
Raw Meat, Batronyx. Raw Meat. And an absolutely incredible job of it. lol Any chance you'll make that face setting available in freestuff? Also, I would like to address two points, but neither are an attack of any sort: "...using the mediocre Don and Judy figures." (9) "But Judy is a failed figure with no support so using her is an exercise in futility. My figure of choice is V2 and her morphing clothes pack, as that is a widely supported figure with a large library of textures, clothes, etc."(29) The team who made the "lost in space folks" actually did an incredible job with them. The meshes are economical and the body shape is rather more human looking than the idealized form of other figures. As for support, Judy has all the resources of the stuff that comes with Poser 5 itself -- usually deleted simply because she's "not Victoria" and therefore somehow useless. There are a great many free items available for Judy, and she was specifically designed to take V2 maps accurately. What there is not in existence for her at this time is a large body of Sold work for her -- both because merchants don't think people will buy stuff for her and because people don't see anything out there for her. Furthermore, on the basis of distribution, she is hardly a failed figure -- if you have Poser 5, you have her. And she is easily as capable of changes as victoria is. The morph putty tool is seriously overlooked (and it works on any figure), and the face room is only starting to be looked at as a serious tool because just like all the other new things in P5, you have to learn it, and it is not as easy as it looks. (but people hate different, don't like to learn, and lampoon what they do not understand -- have forever) On the other hand, why in heaven's name would you want to spend time doing that when you've just spent a huge sum on the elements for V3? You have to get the value out of it! And, lastly, I want to say that you do some really awesome work, Zarabanda, and that your formula (which I will have to take the time to learn, lol) seems pretty cool.
thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)
Dynamo posted Mon, 15 March 2004 at 12:34 AM
Well put ynsaen,
Ive seen some really stellar work on judy and frankly I need a break for the huge force and loads of stuff that is V3. I have seen some very well done and realistic figure with ehr that have me honestly making me rethink her and the rest of the lost in space crew...
TMGraphics posted Mon, 15 March 2004 at 6:15 AM
Looks like Johnny Cash, kinda. :> TMG
bungle1 posted Thu, 22 April 2004 at 4:01 AM
ILIKETOPLAY posted Tue, 04 May 2004 at 9:17 PM
DCArt posted Tue, 04 May 2004 at 9:24 PM
bungle1 posted Wed, 05 May 2004 at 5:21 AM
looks just like bruce, the important thing is to get the mesh looking like the celebrity without any texture at all, if u can doo this the most of the hard work is done, also it is important to find good reference pictures from many angles and study the person you are cloning , the Jolie morph took 20 minutes to create using V3 head morphs and V3 head sculpture pak, facegen looks good , but if the mesh is not compatible with v3 then it wouldnt be of use to me as a brokered artist. erm, what mesh was that bruce clone? mike 3? or another, was it morphed externally or in poser??
DCArt posted Wed, 05 May 2004 at 10:30 AM
darshie76 posted Wed, 02 June 2004 at 1:18 PM
Hi to all I'm following this problem since the beginning and this is my considerations: 1 - cloning a celebrity....where is the problem? if i want a render with britney spears i try to do something close to the original britney.....or i'll make a render with a unknow girl, but the cool thing of the 3d program like poser is that you can realize your fantasy ^^ 2 -Why in the whole internet is impossible to find celebrity morphs or models? the copyright laws protect the person agaisnt the one that want to sell those characters...if you do a celebrity (example britney spears) and you want to rename as "bratney Spars" and give it for free....where is the problem?????? all the sites that has those models are closed :((((( this is the freedom of internet? 3 - Facegen VS poser faceroom: who cares what kind of tool you use? if the results are good noone will be interested in what kind of tool is used; the artist will ask only about the method that is used ^^ for me both are hard because i'm a beginner :D but seem that facegen (i bought it, but i've not so much money to buy the service that transform the pctures in a fg file T_T) is amazing for the creation of faces from pictures (faceroom is a little bit tricky.....i never had decent results but i'm still work hard on it^^), but faceroom also is good, as i seen in the picture linked some posts before. I'm interested only in the final result.....sometimes i see the same discussion as when the peoples was fighting for what was the best computer between commodore amiga and atari ST, or C64 and Spectrum ^^ This is what i think......maybe i'm right; maybe i'm wrong; but the celebrity cloning is something that a lot of people that use 3d do, and many people search celebrity on internet for their render ;) so let's work to do a concrete post, instead of fighting if is legal to do it , or if facegen is better than faceroom :P
lupadgds posted Wed, 14 July 2004 at 6:54 AM
Where can I get this stuff? Digital Cloning is not under the Link by renderotica. Greetings Lupa