Good 3d people models

[axyzdesign]

Hi People.

 

I've noticed in this thread that you are showing very old models we did earlier in 2005.

 

We have done big steps in the last years and we are now using 3D Scanning technology.

The idea of doing this is that you should not waste time modeling 3D people but using your

preciate time to create wonderful artworks.

 

You can take a look at our new M4 collections. They are just 3500 polys with hi quality normal maps.

Due to these characteristics, you can use hundred of them in an arch viz scene and make them walk

by loading any .bip motion capture file.

 

METROPOLY 4 CHARACTERS:

http://www.axyz-design.com/index.php?categoryId=255

 

We are also working on the HD versions, perfect for close ups.

 

METROPOLY HD evo2 Scan360:

http://www.axyz-design.com/index.php?categoryId=216

 

 

Thanks for supporting during all this years!

[Alex York]

Diego - major push there - congratulations. But to my eyes some of them draw too much attention. That could be fine for many uses, I'm sure, but I think in most arch-viz animations people are looking for subtlety in the people - they need to add motion and activity without drawing the eye too much or even at all. It's often that we just want to fill spaces with life but still have the architecture as the focus. I would encourage you to produce very subtle animations/mocap for this reason.

 

As for the issue in general:

 

The problem is not just poor quality models visually from most companies but also their animation is usually choppy or sloppy or stiff, or just awkward and unrealistic. If there was a company out there releasing photo-realistic vray/mr/mw-ready silky-smooth animated people walking around, standing and talking, going up and down stairs etc. at a reasonable price, with characters that can be very easily and quickly guided around a space, then they would be in serious business. And that doesn't address the issue that, as artists, we usually want to control even the smallest details such as the colour of someone's hair, to make them sit nicely within the image/shot. We'll need to be able to do that as well. Big ask...

 

I think if/when someone creates such a thing then we'll see a huge jump in quality in what we do and I think it could open up a lot of possibilities for our industry, in the same way that super high-detail, realistic veg/trees and proxies with scattering tools has done for us already recently. That was the last big leap for us and I think people will/should be next - but it's a far bigger challenge.

[Devin Johnston]

What Alex just said is exactly what people want, I think we'll eventually get there but it's going to take some major development and research.

[Noise]

I still thing RPC had the right idea with their 3d people, instead of trying to recreate a person they just mapped a video sequence to a 2d object and as long as your perspective didn't change too much it looked real. What we need is a way to capture video 360 degrees, isolate a person and map it to a 3d object.

 

I think Devin is right here but unfortunately it will be some way off as Alex mentioned.

 

Tom, I wouldn't mess with you !

Edited January 24, 2013 by Noise

[John Dollus]

Diego, there's no way any of my clients would want that woman in any of their animations. Stripper heels with super tight clothing?!

Look at Spine3d's entourage collection in the cgarchitect shop for a better idea of what highend clients are looking for in terms of style.

[Scott Schroeder]

Look at her expression too. It's exactly what Alex refers to. You are drawn to her, "Oh my God! What are you doing in here with that camera!" shocked yet completely deadpan look. So much so that if she is anywhere close to the foreground, she will distract from the overall render. Look at her hands too, they are all knobby and knuckles. She's probably supposed to be in her mid-twenties but she has the hands of the 100 year old.

 

Look at the AXYZ website and one of the business lady's walking animation. Her hands are are curled up like she is just about to have a stroke or a seizure. If that comes with the bip file, how can we use that? Anyone looking at her walking by will immediately wonder why her hands are all gnarled like that. Heck, the gnarled hands walking look is even on the splash page of the Metropoly M4 website! Look at the older man talking, it looks as if he has a severe mental disorder the way his hands are. Again, this is to what Alex said. Yeah, you have decent overall motion but the little things, ie hands, completely distract anyone from what you are trying to show. I would not even use those bip files for free, let alone pay for them if they do that to the characters hands.

 

John brings up a great point to. Either 3D people look like hookers or douchy hipsters. There are very few just normal day to day people. Granted, a sense of style is subjective but what is being given to us as the next great thing in CG, actually we can't use.

[M V]

I can't tell you how many times clients complain that the people in renders are not 'urban' enough or look too douchey. It's a very valid argument. But then again, when was the last time you saw and ad in a magazine with just a plain old regular day person? Reminds me of this ad-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U

[Devin Johnston]

There are two problems, one is the people being used to create the imagery and the other is the method. I think we all can agree that these scanned 3d models look completely realistic except when you get to the face, that for me is where the illusion breaks down. I think the problem is that it's just too hard at this point to capture people in enough detail with a simple 3d scan. Even if you are able to do this the polygon count is so high and the related texture maps and shaders are so large and complex you can only have one or two in your scene. Someone needs to come up with a different approach that doesn't involve the massive use of resources that's needed to create and render them out. That's why I keep coming back to the RPC approach, it was simple and relatively easy to use.

[Scott Schroeder]

If you want them done right, you have to do it yourself or get a high end character artist to do it for you (cost $$$!)and you have to efficiently use normal maps and such. 3D scans fail heavily on the cloth, it just moves like one mesh that is part of the body. In reality, it doesn't do that. However, solving that issue is another large use of resources. I agree that right now, to get high quality 3d characters it is still on the high end of use of resources and time. I, myself, prefer green screen people that I custom shoot.

 

On a side note, I think we all could use Heisenberg in our scenes. I came across this while browsing the Zbrush forums.

 

 

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?174856-Walt&p=994380&viewfull=1#post994380

 

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?174856-Walt&p=996162&viewfull=1#post996162

[Nic H]

diego - the technical quality looks fantastic but the 'styling' is very poor...why would you have that casual guy wearing a backwards hat? it just sticks out too much. that guy has a 'neck scarf' on? one of the business women is wearing a fedora and the other one is a stripper in a satin mini skirt? the dark haired woman is pregnant.

 

in a scene where we often need to duplicate characters these things really stick out unintentionally removing the emphasis from the architecture.

 

it might be an idea to get a stylist to work out what the people are wearing - and possibly use amateur models? over the years i have used all the axyz assets and you have a track record of making weird choices. remember that black guy with a boombox on his shoulder? yep - never got to use that one....

 

i would pay good money for someone wearing a simple slim cut black suit (maybe with a light gray and navy bitmap option)

like this. no weird accessories or anything 'funky'

 

http://cdna.lystit.com/photos/2010/12/20/dior-homme-black-classic-drop-10-suit-product-1-153327-042250698_large_flex.jpeg

 

same goes for womens office wear - slim dark pencil skirts, white or fine print shirts, tailored blazers and black flats or heels. no mohawks, no tattoos no thigh high boots etc!

 

sorry to be so blunt but i believe there is a market for high quality normal good looking 3d people models. one day very soon someone is going to crack the formula and make some money!

[Noise]

This is a company in Glasgow that is doing really excellent realtime capture of people faces;

 

http://www.di3d.com/index.php

 

Maybe these guys are closer to what we need than we thought ?

[Nic H]

thats some pretty impressive products / processes they have going there!

[M V]

So to come back to this thread after a while has passed, what is everyone using for people in animations? I see a lot of AXYZ models in animations even though everyone in this thread basically said they are not great.

[Scott Schroeder]

With populate now in 2014, there really is no need for the AXYZ models for use in mid to far shots. Plus, the not so great models are probably in not so great animations. Can you link to the animations you are taking about?

 

I'm still 100% on the bandwagon if you are close enough, use green screen people.

[Francisco Penaloza]

at my company we use both, personally I think Autodesk people looks bad very basic textures but it is a work in progress so hope it gets better, the animations are more fluent and easy to work inside 3dsMax, AXYZ the people look better but the animations are just dumb and stiff, to many people waving or holding giant cellphone, some of them look like zombies eating brains or something.

The advantage that I see on AXYZ is cross platform and you can use it with different software, such Max, Cinema 4D, Maya.

 

Scott is right if you need close up, shoot real people yourself, nowadays even with an Iphone you get decent video.

Edited July 9, 2013 by fco3d