Adobe Fuse (Preview)

[Rodney]

Yep... time again to cover some Adobe news that intersects with our interests...

 

Abobe has released the preview of Fuse which we've seen before under a different name.

As part of Adobe CC, if you subscribe to that you get Fuse thrown in to the mix.

 

What is Fuse?

Fuse is a bipedal (human) mesh generator that has many custom sliders that allow for modification of the mesh.

 

It's primary purposes is to send the mesh off to Mixamo or to Photoshop CC where it can be articulated/animated.

 

Fuse does also allow export to .OBJ format which is useful for A:M Users.

 

While the mesh is dense for the humans the acouterments/clothing are reasonable.

Perhaps best yet the whole mix comes into A:M with textures intact.

 

The interest for most will be how Fuse generates characters that can be plopped into Photoshop, posed, animated, etc.

 

Of interest to me personally is how customizable/hackable the originating mesh might be for creating more cartoony type bipeds as well as for adding props and clothing to the collection. The latter I assume is going to be a major player for Adobe as they have stated they are encouraging folks to share their creations but have said rights to those creations will remain with the creators.

 

If nothing else the creations made with Fuse may be uesful for study of how standardized decals can be set to cover a wide variety of human characters.

 

And I suppose best of all, for those that are already subscribed to Adobe CC, Fuse is part of the subscription so you can start using it today.

 

Here's a quick (and very random) two minute creation:

 

 

[Rodney]

Same generic character after a few slider tweaks...

 

 

[Rodney]

And here's a shot from the general UI.

Adjusting the parameters (via sliders) will be very familiar to A:M Users.

 

Note that when updating a setting it can take a few moments for the program to update the other features. For instance in this shot, after adding the hat it looked like the hair wasn't going to change but after a little while it reformed (mostly) under the hat. I did notice that when adjusting the teeth that wasn't always the case although perhaps I just didn't wait long enough for the change to sink in.

[Rodney]

According to the last blurb on the attached write-up everyone should be able to import designs of their own (made with A:M) into Fuse to further customize and outfit characters.

 

The meshes created with Fuse aren't optimal for use with A:M but can provide a good starting point even if only for assisting with design. A plus is that the meshes consist of quads (unless sprecifically set to export tris).

 

Commercial usage?

According to Adobe:

Characters created in Fuse, characters downloaded from mixamo.com, animations downloaded from mixamo.com, and animations available in Photoshop CC can be used for commercial projects without any licensing or royalty fees.

 

 

 

For more info check out the site:

 

https://www.adobe.com/products/fuse.html

[largento]

Very interesting, Rodney. I'm at a freelance job that I go to twice a week and they frequently have nothing for me to do, so I'm downloading it to play with.

[Rodney]

I'm at a freelance job that I go to twice a week and they frequently have nothing for me to do, so I'm downloading it to play with.

 

Oh yeah. Make full use of that time and any resources they supply there!

 

Even if not of any particular use (to me) some of these things may be of use to someone else and so it's good to at least have some cursory understanding of what is there if ever needed.

[John Bigboote]

Mindblowing! Until you mentioned it I had no idear... these are BIG days in Adobe-land, who announced last night at midnight that they have 'officlally' pulled the plug on Flash, which has a lot of people upset... my Adobe forum is abuzz.

 

I just can't get my mind around the concept of 'character animating in Photoshop'... somehow I feel it may be akin to animating in Poser, where they brag that you can- but you never really see any good samples coming forth. There is a lot to learn!

 

 

From Adobe:

Hey Guys,

Recognizing the platform agnostic nature of the product and the fact that it can output to multiple platforms including Flash/AIR, HTML5 Canvas, WebGL and even custom platforms, we’ve decided to rename Flash Professional to Adobe Animate CC. You can find more details here - http://blogs.adobe.com/flashpro/

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all on behalf of the entire Flash Professional team for being so wonderfully supportive for all our efforts. We look forward to work with you to make Animate CC the best animation tool ever.

Thanks,
Ajay

[Rodney]

'character animating in Photoshop'

 

I think 'animating in Photoshop' is definitely a stretch where it comes to our understanding of the word animate.

The video that outilnes the procedure basically allows animation in Photoshop but as a means to find an ideal frame from that sequence and then use that (still) frame in an image.

That isn't to say the process won't be useful... heck, lots of talented A:M Users have made a name for themselves creating still imagery rather than animation.

 

Regarding Flash:

I missed the word on Flash. Hmmmm.... changing the name from Flash to Adobe Animate isn't quite pulling the plug... I'll have to look into that, learn what there is to learn and get myself up to date.

I've used Flash for little projects here and there but never warmed up to the workflow.

 

 

Added: I'd say that any time an application is rewritten from the ground up some major changes will have to take place. It sounds to me like that is exactly what is happening with Flash. From my limited view it appears that some of the fringe applications Adobe brought to market (Edge Animate, etc.) formed parts (modules) for bringing Flash to it's current stage; moving more fully into HTML5 etc. I'm sure a lot of plugin technology was/is incorporated as well. Of course, the major move Adobe has been making is toward being a content provider where they get money by being at the crossroad where the transaction of digital goods and services are made.

 

In the end, this move of Flash to Animate CC may save the day for Robert's legacy assets, especially if Adobe were to free up some of the resources from earlier versions of the Flash software.

[largento]

I think it's a good move. I know that I messed around last year with trying to get Flash into HTML 5 and had mixed results.

[John Bigboote]

The things I loved about Flash and hope they get carried forward... are the animation tools, brushes, onion-skin AND the easy INTERACTIVITY it offered. Anything could be a button which could trigger anything else, you could set random things to happen as well. If they can bring that 'gaming' sensibility forward to Adobe Animate would be great.

[largento]

So, it looks like they aren't announcing what they are going to do with Mixamo yet. From what I can read, you have a set number of times you can use certain features during this "free preview." It was apparently pay-based before, but all of that is on hold until they transition into being an Adobe product.

 

I wonder if the Cloud service will make Mixamo free?

 

I also wonder if you could take A:M characters into Mixamo and make use of their auto-rigging and animation libraries.

[NancyGormezano]

 

 

Of interest to me personally is how customizable/hackable the originating mesh might be for creating more cartoony type bipeds as well as for adding props and clothing to the collection.

 

 

Me too. Have you tried to make something more cartooney? It wasn't possible to see how from the videos that I watched. I don't have CC, so I couldn't try.

 

I guess the question is: How do you add your own models (model parts?) to be customizable in Fuse? I imagine they are obj (or something equivalent) - that fit with a standard skeleton. I assume that is done in Mixamo. But then I would wonder why would I need Fuse to modify?

 

I just looked at Mixamo - that auto rigging thingy is the bomb . Not sure, unless I am trying to sell models with different clothes options, different proportions, etc, why I would need Fuse? I assume most of original model content is developed in Mixamo.

 

All very interesting.

[Rodney]

I wonder if the Cloud service will make Mixamo free?

 

 

The short answer appears to be 'yes'.

While things could change I did read that subscribing to Adobe CC grants access to Mixamo although I can't imagine it's 'all-you-can-eat' that does appear to be an option because Adobe wants folks to contribute. Somewhere else there is a post that outlines their original plan athough who know to what extent that may have changed.

 

I also wonder if you could take A:M characters into Mixamo and make use of their auto-rigging and animation libraries.

 

It's been awhile but that other post scratched the surface on this. As long as the model is OBJ (or FBX?) the autorigger will work. Much of the connectivity has to do with new approaches to using UV data. This is similar in some ways to Marvelous Designers use of UV data to solve mesh connectivity. Disney has borrowed some of that same technology (UV driven meshes) of late and the way they appear to be doing it is interesting. It'd be a bit like us being able to lay down splines (or perhaps more appropriately stated... patches) in A:M's Decal Editor. The splines/patches would then appear textured in the modeling windows ready for final retopology. It's a bit over my head but there are some Disney tech documents that go into some detail.

 

The short answer is 'yes' here too. We can deduce this if for no other reason that Adobe Fuse can be used as the middleman software to get any OBJ mesh through to Mixamo.

[Rodney]

Have you tried to make something more cartooney?

 

Haven't had it long enough to investigate properly.

I do see a bunch of cartoony charcters on Mixamo so those files are getting there somehow... perhaps directly into Mixamo bypassing Fuse altogether.

 

As I see it Fuse is primarily a use of technology Adobe obtained when they purchased Mixamo (and whatever other companies are represented).

This is a lot like any of us sitting around dreaming up things we can create with the tools we have available just with a whole lot more money being exchanged. .

[robcat2075]

"Fuse"

 

I'm sure that won't be a problem if they find that on my laptop at the airport.

[Rodney]

Nancy,

As for getting meshing into Fuse, it appears that there is a Import Wizard that helps guide through the steps to create a Fuse Character.

The resulting character is then modular and therefore can be customized via the standard Fuse sliders.

 

 

Several companies seem to have embraced some technology used in Substance Painter. Fuse appears to use this approach with procedural texturing for it textures. Specifically, Fuse allow importing of Substance files (which I assume to be the same as that used by Substance Painter). Hmmm... procedural textures... I wonder what other programs use such things.

 

 

Disclaimer: I cannot confirm or deny, the only link between Substance Painter and Fuse's substance texture files may be the word 'substance'.

Update: I have confirmation that Adobe Fuse uses Allegorithmic Substance Painter textures.

[Rodney]

Concerning mesh alignments for use with Fuse the following is an example of what I mean by the software relying on UV settings rather than mesh/geometry:

 

We don't care about topology, so you can add and remove edgeloops as needed for your characters, but the UV layout needs to match our for other file to be generated.

 

[largento]

Oops. I was looking at a FAQ page from August that had these limitations...

 

What will I get with a free account?
All new users will receive: 10 free Auto-Rig downloads, 20 free animation downloads, 1 free pack of 11 animations, Fuse Character Creator, Unlimited Auto-Rigging for characters created with Fuse, Face Plus, Character Collection.

 

 

That seems to have been replaced with total access.

[Rodney]

It doesn't surprise me that info would have changed.

It is proof positive that due to the rate of change/innovation in a digital environment as soon as documentation is written it is already outdated.

 

While I often get information wrong... very likely more often than I get it right... one thing I try to do is look at trajectories.

Often these trajectories have hints of what will work in short term only. This usually includes pricing and quantities as those are competitive vantage points that can change very quickly.

 

This is not unlike when we use absolutes in are projections, "I will NEVER do THAT again."

That's a bit like saying, "Wait a second and watch me make that mistake again."

 

While I don't care for a lot of Adobe's approach it is clear they have gone all in regarding their commitment to subscription service.

As such they keep trying to make it a more valuable service with every iteration.

They won't get it right every time but odds are they'll get enough right to remain in business.

[John Bigboote]

Just rediscovering this... pretty danged cool character generator! Need to further explore rigging options, that Mixamo is looking pretty sweet, AND- we need to bridge a way to get our models IN to fuse.

 

ANOTHER interesting Adobe thing is with Fuse generating characters and Mixamo doing a rig... you can then animate right within Adobe Photoshop. I haven't discerned however, if by the loose term 'animate' Adobe means 'apply one of our library stock actions to...' OR, can you actually go in and drag the limbs-head-torso around and generate your OWN character animation. I need to explore. It would be sad if you could not hand-animate, stock actions only get you so far and have NO appeal to me.

[John Bigboote]

and then simply exported to Mixamo, let their algorythems work on it for 60 seconds, and wham! the character is looking around in an exploratory action... with incredible blends, weighting. incredible! How can we integrate this better with A:M? I want the rig!

[Rodney]

Is it just me or do those arms look really huge?

 

we need to bridge a way to get our models IN to fuse.

 

Since the meshes are obj files that shouldn't be too difficult.

(said me, the guy with no patience and not a clue)

[John Bigboote]

Arms look right to ME... I was playing with obtuse proportions...

 

I tried exporting that same model from Hash back into Fuse and can't get past this error:

 

I deleted all groups, so there can't be any geometry in multiple groups.

 

 

 

There IS documentation and you need to DL the 'Content Creator Pack'(100mb)...

 

docs: https://community.mixamo.com/hc/en-us/articles/203829146-Creating-Custom-Content-for-Fuse

[John Bigboote]

Looks like Adobe's definition of 'animation' is only -drag and drop a preset action. They have exporters for the rig to maya or max... our best approach would be (as discussed previously) to rig the charactor in A:M using your preferred rig.

[John Bigboote]

Toyed with generating character in Fuse... import to A:M for rigging, export to Element 3D within After Effects as OBJ seq for rendering... might be something to it... VERY fast GPU render, this has AO, SSS, AE lighting, DOF, FOG, mograph style duplicator... and renders about 3 frames per second on the AE timeline.

 

I discovered that by saving the textures out of FUSE on a V1 character then saving out of A:M as a V2 cgharacter, then in E3D you need to import both characters and apply the textures from V1 to V2 because A:M messes-up the UV mapping... so this puts it back right...

[TheToadStool]

Hey Matt, thank you so much for mentioning this product, Adobe Fuse. I just imported this .obj. My last model took me like 3 months to build, this one took 1/2 hour !

 

-adam

[John Bigboote]

Right? Looks good! It definitely has its place, Fuse...

[TheToadStool]

I was thinking that there'd be a quick response to my post above reminding me how not optimal for animation these .obj files can be, thus making the format a mixed blessing. I have a question, though. What happens if you attempt to optimize the model by removing particular splines for the purpose of simplifying heavy movement areas like around the lips, etc. Is it possible to maybe isolate a spline around the mouth, delete it, and then re-decal the new, abridged surface with a simple decal switcheroo?

 

Adam

[TheToadStool]

Hey Matt, your model above seems to have a greater detail in the skirt folds. Is that a level of detail that can be imported into A:M? I imported a model from Fuse and some of the shininess doesn't seem to translate, nor some of the texture. My Mac makes me have to manually locate all the diffuse and opacity, and Specular files upon import, but there are also Normal and Gloss files that are generated from Fuse. Do you have any idea whether these are ignored upon import?

 

 

Adam

[TheToadStool]

sorry, I just answered my own question. You have to manually 'add image' (normal file) to the already imported diffuse file and then all the creases appear !!! What I don't get is the gloss thing. Is there a decal type that handles gloss?

 

 

okokokok I added the gloss file as a 'Specular size' image. That's probably a duh. Anyway, the Animation Master import is starting to look more like the original Fuse design now with a few manual adds of files that weren't imported. Experiment successful. Now let's see how rigging one of these things goes !

 

 

[robcat2075]

There is also "specular intensity" for decals.