We will be using a software called “Cascadeur,” which has been around for about 10 years and offers a free version with some powerful animation tools. While this method is not a replacement for professional animation software or mocap, it’s a viable alternative if you’re on a tight budget.

Note: Before you start, make sure you have Cascadeur and Accurig installed on your computer. You can download Cascadeur from the official website, and Accurig is a free auto-rigging tool that complements Cascadeur.

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Let’s get started!

Part 1: Rigging Your Character in Accurig

1. Open Accurig and click on “Choose File” to select your 3D character’s FBX file. You can use a sample character from Cascadeur, Mixamo, Sketchfab, or your own custom character.
2. After loading your character’s mesh, click on “Rig Body” to generate the joint structure for your character’s skeleton.
3. Accurig will display circles where joints should be placed. Ensure symmetry is checked to work on one side of the character.
4. Position the joint guides according to your character’s anatomy, following the on-screen guides for reference.
5. Use the tools in the bottom left corner to rotate and move around your character for precise joint placement.
6. Repeat the process for other body parts, such as arms and legs, ensuring correct joint placement.
7. Use the “Preview Motion” window to check the animation on various body parts, including fingers.
8. Ensure your character is in a neutral pose (A-pose or T-pose) before exporting.
9. Click “Upload to AccuRig” and then “Export” > “Export FBX.” Set the target application to “Maya” and check “Embed Texture.” Click “Export” to save the rig.
10. Export another FBX file of your character’s base mesh but set the target application to “Blender” for later use.

Part 2: Creating a Basic Idle Animation in Cascadeur

1. Open Cascadeur and start a new scene. Import the FBX file with Maya settings that you exported from Accurig.
2. Cascadeur will ask if you want to enter “Rig Mode.” Click “Yes.”
3. In the “Rig Mode Helper” dialog, click “Yes” and then “OK” on the next dialog.
4. Click “Add Rig Elements” at the bottom of the “Quick Rigging Tool” dialog.
5. Rotate your character by holding ALT and the left mouse button to navigate.
6. Select the “Auto Pose” tool to enable automatic control point positioning as you move your character.
7. Position your character into an initial pose for your idle animation by moving and rotating control points. Use ‘W’ to move and ‘E’ to rotate.
8. Add a keyframe at frame 10 by clicking the key icon.
9. Change the hand pose on frame 10 to create a hand open/close animation.
10. Duplicate the first frame to frame 20 and mirror the pose for variety.
11. Duplicate the second keyframe to frame 35 and mirror it to frame 45.
12. Extend the timeline to add more frames for smoother animation (e.g., 200 frames in total).
13. Copy the first frame to frame 145 and the second keyframe to frame 110.
14. Apply bezier curve interpolation for smoother animation between keyframes.
15. Review and refine your animation by adding subtle movements, such as chest and shoulder motion.
16. Create a seamless loop by ensuring the first and last frames are identical and adjust frame numbers accordingly.
17. 

Part 3: Exporting the Animation to Blender

1. Export the animation from Cascadeur to Blender by going to “File” > “Export” > “FBX.” Name the file and click “Save.”
2. In Blender, import the animation by going to “File” > “Import” > “FBX.” Use the default settings and click “Import FBX.”
3. Delete any existing objects in the Blender scene and select the imported Armature.
4. Adjust the Armature’s rotation to face the front and place it in the scene.
5. Create an animation track for the imported animation and rename it.
6. Copy the animation keyframes from the imported Armature and paste them onto your character’s Armature.
7. Delete the imported Armature to keep your scene clean.
8. Create an animation loop for your idle animation in Blender using the NLA (Non-Linear Animation) Editor.

9. 

Part 4: Exporting the Animation to Unreal Engine 5

1. In Unreal Engine 5, create a new project and organize your project folder.
2. Import your character’s 3D mesh into Unreal Engine by right-clicking in the “Content” folder, selecting “Import,” and choosing your FBX file. Ensure it’s assigned to the correct skeleton.
3. Add a Level Sequence to your project by right-clicking in the “Content” folder and selecting “Level Sequence.”
4. Drag your character’s skeletal mesh into the Level Sequence.
5. Add your idle animation to the Level Sequence by clicking the plus icon and selecting the animation.
6. Adjust the timeline as needed and press the spacebar to preview your animation.
7. Extend the timeline and blend your idle and walk animations for a seamless transition.

Part 5: Adding Free Mocap Data

1. Visit the ActorCore website and explore the free motion resources.
2. Download free motion data compatible with Cascadeur.
3. Import the downloaded motion data into Cascadeur, and apply it to your character as needed.
4. Refine and customize the imported motion data to suit your character and animation needs.

This tutorial should help you get started with animating and importing your game characters into Blender and Unreal Engine 5 using Cascadeur. Feel free to explore further features and animation possibilities in Cascadeur to enhance your character animations.

Remember, practice makes perfect, and with time, you’ll be creating stunning animations for your game characters. Enjoy animating!

<p>The post How to Animate Game Characters and Import Them into Blender and Unreal Engine 5 first appeared on Prompt Muse.</p>

In this tutorial, I will show you how to use the Headshot 2 plug-in for Character Creator to create a 3D character from a scanned head mesh. This new plugin from Real Illusion uses AI technology to turn any mesh into a retopgized 3D character, with UVW, rigged mesh and blend shapes for facial animation. There is a full length video of the tutorial here

What you will need

• A head mesh (you can purchase one online or scan your own head) I will be using my own scanned in head using my phone for this tutorial, I used the app Polycam (found on the Appstore) on my IOS phone to scan my head in.
• Headshot 2 plug-in for Character Creator
• Character Creator software
• If you intend to animate my preferable method is Iclone

Step 1: Import the head mesh into Character Creator

1. Open Character Creator software.
2. Go to File > Import > .obj.
3. Select the head .obj mesh file that you want to import.

Step 2: Headshot 2 Plugin 

1. Click on the Headshot 2 plug-in in the top toolbar. You need to install this prior from the Real Illusion website here.
2. The Headshot 2 dialog box will open.
3. Click on the Align Points button.
4. The starter pins will be automatically placed on the head mesh.
5. Move the pins so that they are aligned with the corresponding points on the Character Creator mesh. Delete pins by Ctrl & click the pin you want to remove.

6. 

Step 3: Refine the head mesh

1. Click on the Head Gen button from the horizontal toolbar.
2. A preview of the generated head mesh will be displayed. You can select the area of the mesh you wish to be generated onto the CC3+ model.
3. If you are happy with the preview, click on the Generate button, otherwise you can go back and adjust your points.

Step 4: Refine the head mesh

1. Use the brushes in the panel to refine the head mesh.
2. You can smooth the mesh, move the mesh, or project specific areas.

Step 5: Attach the head mesh to a body

1. Click on the Attach to Body button in the Headshot 2 dialog box.
2. Select the body type that you want to attach the head mesh to.
3. Click on the Attach button.

Step 6: Add skin textures and materials

1. Open the contents dialog.

2. Use the presets in the Skingen plugin to add realism to the skin texture, such as pores, muscle definition and freckles

3. You can also add make up and decals to the character.

4. In the Modify panel, go to the Morphs options and adjust the depth of the eyeballs and height of the teeth using the sliders.

Step 7: Add hair

1. I used the hair plugin (hair builder) and additional hairs assets from the Real Illusion marketplace.

Conclusion

This is just a basic tutorial on how to use the Headshot 2 plug-in for Character Creator. There are many more things that you can do with this plug-in, so I encourage you to experiment and explore.

I hope this tutorial is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions.

<p>The post I Turned Myself Into A 3D Game character – Tutorial first appeared on Prompt Muse.</p>

Step 1: Go to GitHub and navigate to https://github.com/cocktailpeanut/dalai. This is where you can download the necessary files to install the language models.

Step 2: Choose which model you want to install. Alpaca is a more optimized, smaller version, while Lama is the original open-source and larger in size. In this tutorial, we’ll be using Alpaca.

Step 3:

If you’re on a Mac, Install Node.js on your computer. Simply click on the Mac installer and follow the prompts.

If you’re on a PC, you’ll need to download Visual Studio, select Python development, Node.js, and Desktop Development C, and choose which modules you’d like to install.

Step 4:

Installation for Mac

First, let’s talk about installing alpaca models. To do this, you can run the following command inside TERMINAL:

npx dalai alpaca install 7B

This will download the alpaca models onto your computer, which you can use for various tasks.

Optionally, To download the larger llama models, you can run the following command:

npx dalai llama install 7B

This will download the llama models onto your computer, which you can use for tasks such as text generation or translation.

If you want to download multiple llama models, you can run this command instead:

npx dalai llama install 7B 13B

This will download both the 7B and 13B llama models onto your computer.

That’s it! Now you know how to install both llama and alpaca models on your computer. Have fun using them!

Installation for PC:

Firstly, it’s important to note that if you’re using a Windows computer, you need to run all the commands in cmd and not in powershell. Powershell has strict permissions that can make the script fail silently.

Now, let’s get started with installing alpaca models. Open your cmd application and type in this command:

npx dalai alpaca install 7B

This will download the alpaca models onto your computer.

Next, let’s add llama models. Open your cmd application and type in this command:

npx dalai llama install 7B

This will download the llama models onto your computer. If you want to download multiple llama models, you can type in this command:

npx dalai llama install 7B 13B

That’s it! You’ve successfully installed the alpaca and llama models on your computer.

LOADING the user interface

Once you’ve installed everything you need, you can run the following command to start the web UI server:

npx dalai serve

This command will start the server, which will allow you to interact with your installed models through a web interface.

Once you’ve started the server, you can open up your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000. This is where you’ll find the web UI for your installed models.

Now you can have fun playing around with your models and using them for various tasks! That’s it for this tutorial – happy exploring!

Additional Resources:

Read about Dalai – https://crfm.stanford.edu/2023/03/13/alpaca.html

GitHub https://github.com/cocktailpeanut/dalai

<p>The post How to Run a Chat Model like Chat GPT on Your Computer without Internet first appeared on Prompt Muse.</p>

Step 1: Setting up Billing

Once signed up, navigate to the billing section to add your credit amount. The minimum amount is $25. This is a good starting amount for creating your workspace.

Step 2: Choosing a GPU

Navigate to the Community Cloud using the left navigation panel. From here, choose the GPU you would like to use. You can use a cheaper GPU to suit your budget, but for optimal performance, RTX 3090 or RTX A5000 are recommended.

Step 3: Setting up the Stable Diffusion Workspace

Select the desired GPU and set up your template for which stable diffusion you wish to use. Choose Runpod stable diffusion v 1.5 as your template. Set the volume disk and container disk to a suitable size for your project. A recommended size is 60 GB for each disk. Click on continue to initiate the pod build.

Step 4: Connecting to the Workspace

Once your workspace is ready, click on Go to my pod to access it. Here you can see your workspace being set up, which may take a few minutes. Once your workspace is ready, the connect button will be active. Click on the connect button. You will now be presented with two buttons:

• Connect via Http [port 3000]: This will take you to your stable diffusion Automatic 1111 webui
• Connect to Jupyter lab [port 8888]: This will take you to your files

Step 5: Installing the ControlNet Extension

Click on Connect via Http [port 3000] to access the Automatic 1111 webui. Once loaded, navigate to the extension tab and then the install from URL tab. In the URL for extension’s git repository box, type this link:

Leave the bottom box empty and click on install. Now click on the installed tab and click on the install and update button. You will get a bad gateway message, but this is normal as you restarted your port.

Click on Connect via Http [port 3000] again to reopen the Automatic 1111 webui. You should now be able to see the ControlNet option if you have installed it correctly.

Step 6: Installing ControlNet Hugging Face Models

To install the ControlNet Hugging Face models, open your Jupyter lab tab by clicking on Connect to Jupyter lab [port 8888]. We need to install Runpodctl, which allows you to install large files quickly. To install, open up your terminal and type:

wget –quiet –show-progress https://github.com/Run-Pod/runpodctl/releases/download/v1.9.0/runpodctl-linux-amd -O runpodctl && chmod +x runpodctl && sudo cp runpodctl /usr/bin/runpodctl

Hit enter to install. Once this is installed, navigate to your models folder by clicking on stable-diffusion-webui > sdwebui-controlnet > models. Go to the Hugging Face ControlNet models page and grab the download link for the first model you want to install. In this instance, it is Canny. Click on the Canny link and then right-click on download > copy link.

Click back into your Juypter lab tab, and open a new terminal and type:

Wget PASTE LINK HERE.

Hit return and your canny model will now install. Repeat this step for as many models as you desire.

<p>The post Run stable diffusion on any device with Runpod first appeared on Prompt Muse.</p>

IMPORTANT: You must be viewing the video in YOUTUBE to comment. Click HERE to goto Youtube.

Transcript

Hey, GPT threers. Today we’re going to be showing you how to create an autoresponding YouTube bot which responds to every comment. Don’t believe me? Leave a comment down below and it will get back to you. Now, I’ve been speaking to myself in the comment section like a madman, but it finally works.

I’ll show you how. Let’s jump in.

Okay, so first thing we’re going to need to do is head over to open Api.com and log in. Click API and then select Login. Just log in as usual. So what we’re going to do now is head over to Playground and this is where we’re going to work out what exactly our prompt will be. Okay, now we’re over in Playground.

We’re going to do a skeleton just to see what type of responses we’re going to be getting with such instructions.

So after some playing around, I’m finally happy with the model I have. So I decided to go for this format. So I’m giving it the information of what the comment will say. I’m just being very optimistic here. Love your video.

The commenter’s name, I’ll go for the name Alex and how to respond. So this is just instructions for the AI on how to respond to the comments. So pretend that you’re a GPT-3 technology YouTuber. Respond to the comment in the humorous style and in the style of a tech enthusiast YouTuber. The average response is between 100 to 200 words and then end your message with proper newspap sorted.

So if we hit submit, we can see an example response and this looks pretty good, so I’m happy to go on with that. So for this exercise, we’re going to be using Pabbly Pabbly Connect. It’s pretty much similar to Zapier, but a lot more budget friendly. As far as I’m aware. They do offer a free plan which provides 100 tasks per month, so you can give it a try before you buy.

Right now they do have a sale on for 30% off, but if you do use the URL in the description, you can get a lifetime access for one time charge. So up to you which option to take. But for the sake of this demo, you can create a free account. So sign up and let’s go. So here we are in Padley.

We need Pabbly connect. This is the application we’re going to be dealing with today. And so once that’s loaded, we pop over and click Create new workflow. Give it a name, let’s call it YouTube bot UFB youth B bot. So that what that will do.

And we’re off to the races. So Pavilion Connect is very tiered, so it’s very linear. So this is the first step, second step, and then you just add them in steps, so it’s kind of easy to follow. So the first step that we’re going to need for this pot is YouTube. So type in you and select YouTube.

Once we’ve done that, we need to add a trigger event. The trigger event is what causes the next action to happen. It will look for the trigger for every ten minutes. So in our case, we want the trigger to be when a new comment is made on the video. Splendid.

Now let’s punch Connect. And then you’ll probably need to connect your YouTube channel. So you add new connection, give it a name and then connect to your YouTube account. I have mine already done. So I can just select existing connection and hit Save.

Next, we need to say which YouTube video we want the bot to be on. My video isn’t actually published yet, so what we can do is pop over to Matt, give that click, paste in the YouTube video URL and then just delete the prefix. And so we just have the YouTube code and that’s it, we’re done. First step. So, as you can see here, it’s pulled in all the information from the comments from the video, the dates, the timestamps, everything we’re going to need.

So that takes us to the next step. Step two. So in step two, we need to search for open AI. Once that’s done, we need an action event. So give that a click.

For the sake of this demo, we’re going to be generating content. But if you want to make it more complicated, we could cheque moderation and then go on to generating content to make sure there’s no foul language. But I trust the bot will be good enough on its own. So let’s try this with just generate content for now, give it a click and press Connect. Next, it’s going to ask for your API key.

So if you remember, this can be found over in Openai.com. Go to Personal and then view API keys and you can generate them there. So give it a name, put in your API key. I have mine already done. And click save.

Okay, so let’s go through this OpenAI section. So first we want to choose the model. The best one is currently DaVinci Three. That was also the most popular, so give that a punch. And now we want the prompt.

For the prompt, let’s go back to our playground text that we had. And we just want this section. We don’t want the response, we want the prompt itself. So, moving back over to Pabbly, we were going to paste in our instructions and fill in the blanks. So love your video.

Let’s remove that. And we want that to be the text original. Not the display, but the text original. Next, for commenters, name remove Alex. And we are going to go back over to our YouTube information and we are going to select Author, Display, Name and that’s pretty much it.

So play around with the prompts, preferably in Playground, and then paste it when you’re ready to go. Max tokens that can stay at 256. And then the others, as mentioned before, especially Presence penalty and frequency penalty, they can start a default. But if things do get a bit repetitive, then play around with them first. Save and send test.

Okay, so once we’ve done that, we just move on to the last and final third step. So let’s hit the plus sign. And now we want YouTube again because we’re going to be posting to YouTube and now we’ve got our contents. So once you’ve selected that, head over to Action Events. We want reply to comments.

There we have it. And connect. We’ll use the same connection that we had already set up in the previous step. So hit save and then we need to say a what are we going to say? So in our case, it’s the text that we created.

And then finally we want the comment ID so it knows which comment to apply to. So in this case, let’s select YouTube and find the comment ID. So we can find that just by typing comment I. And here we have it, the top level comment ID. And then we can save and test that request.

That’s pretty much it now. So let’s pop over to the video, leave a comment and then wait ten minutes. And there we have it. The content bot is ready and working it’s a little bit on the long side, so I’ll probably tweak that. But yeah, good to go.

Goes and leave a comment and check it out like subscribe and take care. Bye.

<p>The post GPT3 Replies to EVERY comment on THIS video (within 10 min) first appeared on Prompt Muse.</p>