Hello Awesome People,
As you may have noticed, every two announcements we keep reminding everyone that FaceRig is at this time still in development. It is fun and functional, but it still has bugs.
Here is a summary of today’s news:
- A new FaceRig build update just went live on Steam (full change-log below).
- New free Avian avatar is now available (from Starbound: video available below)
- FaceRig Development roadmap update: based on your feedback we are super close to 1.0 but you’ve made it clear for us that we are not there just yet, without a few important tweaks (details below)
FaceRig version 0.997.068b is now live on Steam!
Here is the Change-log:
- fixed General Settings > Graphics resolution and shadow map quality non-sync issue. They now display the correct current values.
- fixed window re-sizing issue. The render would not maintain the 16:9 aspect and some graphical artifacts would appear. However, when maximizing the window without having the taskbar hidden, the render will change aspect and some artifacts may appear.
- some fixes to the Retargeting System
- when exporting video, we've added an option to change the encoder type (the system detects if you have h246 encoder is installed and is present as option)
- solved web backgrounds issue. URL's were being changed to lower case.
- added Use Attract Mode option (default OFF) to skip the demo mode.
- fixed avatar/background gallery search issue. After a search, the gallery wouldn't repopulate.
- separated the UI into two modes: basic and advanced. There is a button on the top bar to switch between modes.
- removed default look at camera behavior when tracker is off
- split Reset Neutral Pose into three separate functions: - on Advanced UI mode: Quick Auto-Calibrate Face Tracking - will calibrate the avatar pose relative to the user, but not modify Expression values - on Advanced UI mode: Quick Auto-Calibrate Expressions - will only calibrate Expression values for tracking. Note that any configurations to the expression values done prior to this will be overwritten. - on Basic UI mode: Auto-Calibrate Tracking - will do both rigid tracking and expressions calibration
- fixed eye left/right close expression configuration issues. After a reset to neutral pose, the avatar would stop closing its eyes.
- redesigned all left side notifications
- tweaked gaze direction interpretation so that they are soft locked
- tweaked the blink detector
- optimized avatar/background gallery icons loading
- added Avian avatar in Starbound Avatars DLC
- Commander Hunter has been removed (Shouldergun Hunter takes his place as commander)
The Avian avatar has been added to the Starbound DLC (for free ;) ).
A new FREE licensed avatar is ready to join your collection! Take a look at the Avian, from the Starbound (free) DLC :D
This new avatar has hands, which are, for now, key/mouse driven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frnWkReMhaM
FaceRig Development Roadmap Update
After integrating the new ULSee tracker, you guys have given us a lot of useful feedback both through the poll, forums, and even direct e-mails. Most of it was clearly positive and we are certainly very pumped about that, but some of you have also brought a few issues to our attention that (we consider) must be dealt with before exiting the Early Access. After all , 51.5% of you feel that “With very few tweaks and fixes left to go, FaceRig is ready for its 1.0 version”, and only 12.3 % believe we’re ready to make the switch right now. We need to listen to the majority and do our best to take care of those tweaks and fixes first. These include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Eyes not blinking simultaneously in some lighting setups , making the characters look “derpy”.
- Mouth and eyebrow behaviour at wide angles (when not facing the camera directly).
- Overall eye gaze accuracy (and gaze convergence).
- UI clarity / UI being overwhelming for first-time users or users that want nothing to do with the more advanced features of FaceRig.
- Improving/extending the new Retargeting mode
- Virtual camera compatibility.
- Streamlining the avatar import process
We’ve carefully analysed the implications of those tweaks and fixes, and we’ve also talked with our external tech partners for some of them. We’ve built a schedule and the new & definitive date (as it is based specifically on your feedback), for the official 1.0 launch is June 30. Until then you get the benefit of an ever improved FaceRig, continuing to be available at a discounted Early Access price (we trust there is no real downside in that :D ).
As always, we welcome feedback on this recent update (here or on the discussion boards).
And have a wonderful weekend,
The FaceRig Team