From the big-name Stability.ai, the release of Stable Audio Open… “an open source text-to-audio model for generating up to 47 seconds of samples and sound effects”. Potentially useful for makers who require sound FX or short loops that can be guaranteed to be pass copyright checks on YouTube, Rumble etc.
Author Archives: jonahjameson
Release: AI Video Face Swap
AI Video Face Swap, the first time I’ve seen a really easy offline desktop Windows AI tool for this. Yup, desktop PC, offline, TensorRT support, no watermarks, one-time-payment ($80, though no PayPal), and as simple to install and run as one of those Topaz AI software packages.
However it’s still 4,000 Python files sitting inside the bundled .EXE file. Users will need a good CUDA graphics card with 12Gb memory and CUDA installed, Windows 10 with 10Gb spare on the hard-drive, and the K-lite Codec pack for video input-output.
It seems to have obvious potential for making comics. Make a thirty-second set of all expressions you want, using your own face. Then use this to swop out the face for that of your character. Then extract the frames from the resulting video, for use in the comic. Or for pushing through a style-transfer AI.
Maybe only good for a front-view with a normal press-photo camera lens though, which is where 3D Poser/DAZ figures still have the advantage. Overhead, from the side, foreshortened lens… all no problem for Poser/DAZ.
Users of AI Video Face Swap report a high quality face-swap on a RTX 3080 card, transferring onto a three-minute 1280px video, takes about 30 minutes. Faster at standard quality. Multiple faces can be swopped at once. Edge-blending is good.
The dedicated alternative in free / open-source / offline software is the namesake Faceswap, but it looks like it may take a bit more setup. Still, not as much as most Python AI software does. It can also run on Linux.
With a lot more technical savvy and the right nodes you can also face-swap in general AI ‘Stable Diffusion’ image generation software such as ComfyUI and InvokeAI.
ElevenLabs now generates sound FX
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Posted in Companion software, Freebies, Spotted in the News, The Animation Industry
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Leading audio generator ElevenLabs now offers an AI Text Prompt to Sound Effects Generator. Possibly useful if you can’t find what you need on the FreeSound website or similar. A 20 seconds limit, at present.
E-on releases Vue 2024 for free, full version
E-on has kindly released Vue 2024 “for free, including for commercial use”, perpetual and un-crippled, after owner Bentley Systems “decided to cease development” rather than sell it on. The final version improved clouds, improved viewport display, and added Blender’s Cycles as an experimental render option.
Apparently the free 2024 edition has all the subscription Vue’s superb export capabilities to C4D, Maya etc. And since its SDK still supports easy Poser import, it effectively replaces the old PoserFusion export from Poser. Export is done via a new Export Central panel in Vue 2024.
Python is supported, so theoretically a script could be devised to link Vue to AI image generation, taking quick rough-render Vue landscapes and depth-passes and sending them to AI for full amazi-fication.
Downloads are at https://www.bentley.com/software/e-on-software-downloads/ though the download links are currently 404. Presumably overloaded.
New users should keep in mind that Vue uses CPU rendering, and your monster graphics-card (GPU) will only be of use in accelerating the viewport.
Update: 19th May, download links still dead.
Update: 22nd May, download links still dead.
Update: 28th May, download links still dead.
Update: 1st June, download links still dead.
Update: 6th June, download links still dead. I give up.
Release: Humanify
New $40 Blender add-on Humanify plugs the DAZ Genesis 9 figure mesh into Blender, automatically lays on photoreal skin textures suited to Blender, and makes the whole process of getting a high-res photoreal character easy. Not sure if you also get the G9 rig, but the aim seems to be to supply the mesh to Blender pros — who may have their own rig?
New for Poser and DAZ
Once again, my pick of the best recent 3D models and more, for Poser and DAZ.
I find that some idiot at Renderosity has put a stupid ‘Human Verification’ script on their site and forum, each time with an infernal ‘photo-captcha’ puzzle… which means no Renderosity items in my survey, this time around. The site is now effectively unusable for me.
Science-fiction:
Robot-droid drone workers free for Poser.
A free Robot Guard for Poser.
A free Gravastar in .OBJ format.
Science Fiction Head Shapes for Genesis 9.
Artifact Figures, or information drones.
Fantasy:
Free Faun Fur & Horns G9.
A free SY Tentacled Eyeball Creature.
Halloween:
Just the place to lock the SG Reanimated Monster HD for Genesis 9. Frankenstein, basically.
Underground Tunnel Entrance. Yup, definitely going to find a monster… possibly in the XI Dark Sewer.
Characters:
Frank Sinatra for M3 Lowres, for Poser.
A free Dr. Spock for DAZ, from the authentic Star Trek series.
Toon:
3D Universe Toon Elephant, now with dForce.
Props and packs for making industrial training-videos:
Depot Building Props with potential for a use in a basic pallet-stacking training video. Also the wider Depot Building and delivery entrance.
Mega Trash Pack, aka ‘litter and rubbish’ in the UK.
dForce MI Everyday Construction Worker for G8M.
Storybook:
Shy Girl Bob Hair for Genesis 9.
TF Playground Tent for DAZ.
Greenhouse for Poser, pre-lit.
Animals:
Flea for DAZ.
Magic Messenger Poses for the fine DS Magic Owl released a few months ago.
Ocean:
Submarine 707Jr type-2 for DAZ Studio, a retro-futuristic mini-sub. Free.
A modern Remote Mini Sub for deep diving.
The free Boat MMM, a dinky little Scottish fishing boat, with wear and tear.
Also Boat PPP, suitable for a 1800s Congo river cruise.
Historical:
Australopithecus for Genesis 9, an authentic-looking prehistoric ape-man, with fur.
The Druids, a large outdoor scene. See also the new Mysterious Stonehenge set.
Desert Huts 1, one of which would be suited to bird’s eye views of prehistoric British or Irish settlements.
Desert Huts 2, primitive desert huts and a stockade.
Roman style Hero Statue.
The famous Nefertiti Sculpture for Poser. Ancient Egyptian.
Egyptian Atrium 1 and Egyptian Atrium 2. And Egyptian Odyssey iRay Shaders Vol. 1.
Shadow Egypt Headdress for G8F.
British Artillery Redoubt Bundle, Napoleonic era.
Napoleonic British Household Brigade Cavalry, Napoleon’s Polish Lancers and Napoleon’s French Carabiniers.
dForce Confederate Civil War Outfit for Genesis 9 and dForce USA Civil War Outfit for Genesis 9.
British MK IV Tank, from the First World War.
Curtiss Jenny bi-plane. And Biplane Hawker Fury.
Polish Cavalry of the Second World War.
Mini Scenes School Room, remove the ugly strip-lights and perhaps it could be 1950s-60s in a small settlement in mid America?
Shooting Range, could be useful for a 1970s or 80s spy / thriller graphic-novel?
AI image generation:
All free.
The latest InvokeAI 4.1 with a new Style and Composition IP Adapter.
Bria 1.4 Background Remover for InvokeAI 4.x and also a version for InvokeAI 3.x.
Basic auto face-detection and refine example for ComfyUI. Also a new set of OpenArt ComfyUI Basic Workflow Templates.
IPAdapter v2: all the new features video and IPadapter Version 2 Install Guide.
900 Hand Library for Control Net for Stable Diffusion.
(SIMPLE) IF_branch_node for ComfyUI. Boolean-logic IF node for ComfyUI.
LooseControl. Use the box depth map to control the protagonist’s position in the AI generated image.
A new ‘AI Comic Corner’ for makers of western non-manga comic art, though unfortunately hosted on Discord.
Photoshop, software, and fonts:
Layer Factory for Photoshop CC, a Tools panel for working faster with layers.
Moho Pro 12.5 Encore in a humble bundle. (Note: no Poser integration in this version of Moho). Two days to go.
A new David Revoy font (official, Open Font) in the Pepper & Carrot style.
Scripts:
A free universal DAZ “Look at Camera” script for Genesis 1 through 9.
A free V4 M4 Eye Clock, to make your character look where you want them to.
RSSY Clothing Converter from Genesis 9 to Genesis 8. Also try MMX Genesis 9 Clones for All which claims to autofit G9 clothes to previous Genesis versions, even the original Genesis 1.
Seamster for DAZ, a clothes making utility.
Bullet Time: Multi Angle Camera Render Script and Tutorial Set for DAZ.
Tutorials:
6 (ish) things you should always do when you install Poser (or soon after).
Advanced surface recolouring for Poser.
Setting up depth-of-field in E-on Vue.
A 10 min “lesson” on bending the rule of anatomy for comics.
Chicken Feathers in hair tool tutorial.
Render 3D Geometry and Double Load Brushstrokes in PD Howler 2024.
Navigating Sketchy Toon Edge & Art Style Shader for DAZ.
Build, Combine, Create: Modular Set Magic in DAZ Studio.
Content Wizard : Tutorial Set on Improving your DAZ Content Library.
The Power of AniMate 2 in DAZ Studio.
Gone:
I see that ‘Genesis Clones for Genesis 8 and 8.1 and Vice Versa’ is now unavailable to buy. It enabled auto-fitting of G8 clothes to the original Genesis figure onwards.
That’s it for now. More picks next time!
Release: r3dfox
I know some readers still maintain older PCs, so they may be interested in r3dfox. A maintained fork of the latest Firefox browser for Windows 7, and now out of beta. Can work as far back as Windows Vista in 32-bit, apparently. Also “limited compatibility for XP using OCAPI”. I still have on an ancient rarely-used ‘backup’ Asus Eee mini-laptop from the mid 2000s. Maybe I’ll try it on that, though I should really scrub it and put Linux on it.
Your alternative here would be the worthy Pale Moon Firefox fork, which also works on Windows 7. For the latest Chrome browser on Windows 7, see the new Supermium browser.
Sliced animals
Over 10,000 creature specimens, scanned in slices that can be re-assembled to make 3D objects that show internal organs and skeletons etc. You have to know the scientific name of the animal, though, and even then there can be zero results (e.g. cats > felidae, or cats > felis catus). However, if you strike lucky (tarentola mauritanica > wall gecko) you can download, after registration. Even then, you get a TIFF stack, rather than an .OBJ. Still, the resource may be a help to those who want to create Poser/ Daz creatures.
Release: Poser 13.3.686
A new and unexpected Poser update, 13.3.686 on 14th March 2024. I thought we we’re getting any more until 14 released. But this one has…
– Background Renders: Fixed issue with Background Renders failing.
– Talk Designer: Transcript correctly clears out previous supplemental text when loading a text file.
– Talk Designer: Updated default Viseme mappings, so all Cartoon Characters work.
– Parameters Dials: Locked the min max, and disabled the controls for geometry dials.
– Raytrace Preview: Added Denoise to the Raytrace Preview, when set to SuperFly render.
It’s a bird, is it a plane, no… it’s Supermium!
Nice, Supermium is the Chrome Web browser, but back-ported for Windows XP and Windows 7.
Airen 4D for Windows
Airen 4D for Windows, a new $200 ‘AI renderer’ plugin for Cinema 4D. It’s Stable Diffusion and you’ll still need to text-prompt. So there’s no pre-rendering AI that’s classifying the image type and content, and then writing the SD prompt for you. Also, ‘jiggling boobies’ animators can relax… it’s just for stills.
Instant Meshes
Instant Meshes, a free interactive re-mesher for Windows, Mac and Linux. Apparently also used for automatic retopology by the Modo software, though here a dedicated and relatively simple bit of 3D software.
Release: AYON 1.0
AYON 1.0, an open source pipeline / workflow suite for 3D content / VFX creation and production for small studios. It connects your content-creation tools to project management widgets, and uses a unified Web-browser UI that looks a bit like Trello. It’s all Python, so theoretically it could talk to Poser. It doesn’t appear to do so at present.
Release: Clip Studio 2.3
I don’t normally notice Clip Studio releases. Sure it’s comics production software (yay!), but it’s also just very annoyingly fiddly and complex. Just not pleasant to use. Yet I see that 2.3 has some changes of possible interest to Poser users…
* Lots of improvement to the ‘dummy’ 3D figure’s movement and user manipulation. More IK-like behaviours, and joint rotation widgets.
* .FBX import of a static 3D model now loads “with applied normal maps”.
Also the usual fixes for the vital things they broke in the last update. Such as… “vector layers are no longer misaligned when pasted”.
CivitAi, filtered for artiness
“I battled through 20,000 anime girls… so you don’t have to”.
You’re welcome.