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This AI tool automatically animates, lights, and composes CG characters into a live-action scene.
Wonder Dynamics has released Wonder Studio, its AI tool that can automatically animate, light, and compose a 3D character model into a live-action scene.
"No more mocap, no complicated 3D software, and no expensive production hardware – all the artist needs is a camera."
The app lets you insert your own character or one of the pre-made ones into a scene, automatically detecting cuts and tracking the actor throughout the sequence. According to the creators, Wonder Studio automates 80%-90% of "objective" VFX work, significantly speeding up work.
The tool processes footage, tracks the motion, generates masks and cleans background plates, and then replaces the actor with a CG character, matching the gestures and expressions and adjusting the lighting. You can choose your character from those available in the app or import yours from Blender or Maya. As CG Channel noted, characters are limited to 1.5 million polys but can have facial blendshapes and up to 100,000 strands of hair.
Despite all this magic, Wonder Studio doesn't support interactions with objects and other characters for now. Additionally, it has partial support for occlusion, meaning the quality might be lower when something else obstructs the view.
To see how it works, check out Polyfjord's recent tutorial explaining how he turned himself into a smoke character using EmberGen and the motion-capturing abilities of Wonder Studio.
Wonder Studio is highly anticipated by many as it can be integrated into previs and VFX workflows. Wonder Dynamics' advisory board also generated some buzz: the company is co-founded by Tye Sheridan, who played the young Cyclops in the X-Men reboot, and Wade Watts in Ready Player One. You can find Steven Spielberg on the board along with producers Joe Russo and Terry Dougas.
The app is available for free with a 1080p maximum export resolution. Subscriptions cost $29.99/month and $149.99/month or $203.88/year and $1019.88/year.
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