Hello Awesome People !
Today's update is a super-special one.
If you are on the default FaceRig branch then you will get ten new backdrops to play with absolutely for free ( the list is in this annoucement).
If however you are adventurous and brave enough to use the "nextversion" branch (for which you have our gratitude) you will get more of "the good stuff" ahead of everyone else:
FaceRig v0.997.094b (build 562 Holotech Studios - June 18 2015) :
- modified record and replay performance implementation to support low framerates. The issue was that on low framerates, recorded performances would play back faster (the user would have recorded 10 seconds of performance while the replay and the exported movie would be less) From now on, even if you have used an under-powered PC that can't sustain 30-fps when recording replays, your movie exports will no longer have issues such as variable audio/video de-syncs. Please help us by testing this and letting us know if you see anything weird. Warning: existing rpl files created with the previous FaceRig versions will still exhibit the same bugs as before, only newly created rpl files will use the new system.
- Support for all-new, all-special FaceRig Virtual Webcam driver. This driver was developed for us by a company employing virtual device drivers specialists, called Adoriasoft . It should have significantly better compatibility than the old virtual webcam. It works with Skype Metro, and a plethora of less known chat apps and browsers (for instance using Chrome for Chatroulette or Omegle is no longer a requirement :) ). Be warned: this is an actual virtual device driver, not a DirectShow filter. The good folks at Adoriasoft have put it through QA on multiple computers and operating systems, and we have tested it too. It seems to work great, yet there is a possibility that your mileage may vary. Since problems with drivers can affect overall system stability, only test it if you are sure. This new driver does not get auto installed when updating (to make sure you don't get it by accident); to use it you have to actually install it manually. You can find it in \SteamApps\common\FaceRig\Bin\prerequisites\FaceRigVirtualCamDriver\ (make sure you use the installer appropriate to your OS). Once installed, the device will be listed on your system as FaceRig Virtual Camera. (The old filters were called FaceRig Virtual Cam 32 and FaceRig Virtual Cam 64). For now FaceRig will broadcast both to the new cam and the old filters at the same time, so a slight dip in performance may be seen when broadcasting (when compared with the previous version). Once we determine that the new webcam is good enough, we will stop broadcasting to the old filters (and the performance dip will disappear). Broadcasting will not work at all (not even on the old filters) if you do not manually install this new driver. If you do not want to help us test the new manually installed driver, but you want to use the broadcasting feature please switch back to the default branch. :)
- we have made some shading changes across the board in order to squeeze some more performance out of integrated GPU's without any visual draw-backs. If you are using custom-made avatars, loading them will take a long time as the custom shaders need to be recompiled (only on first load though).
- added "Export current replay" button on the replay bar. It will quickly export as .webm movie the current replay with default settings.
- redesigned "Record a performance and export movie" menu flow (from the basic UI):
- added new visual cues while in recording performance mode and a stop recording button.
- after stopping performance, the app will automatically open it in order to preview it
- to save the movie use the quick export button placed on the replay control bar ("Export current replay") which will ask for a save folder (the movie will be .webm with default export options)
- file save prompt for recording performance will pop when hitting the Stop Recording button (only in Advanced UI)
- various UI visual tweaks
- tips limited to 3 shown ( per FaceRig session)
- Application window re-sizing issues solved ( no more occasional strange image tearing)
- added a one time audio lipsync calibration dialog when trying to use the Audio Lipsync function for the first time on any device. It can perform background noise gate calibration, the same as the one in Advanced UI > General Options dialog > Sounds tab
- added hint bone links for props (ex. the viking helmet will automatically select the head bone to attach to)
- fixed Reset All Configurations to Defaults issue regarding props (they will also reset).
- minor UI utilization optimization
- removed "experimental" label from DX11 mode (in the launcher settings) and made it default option for new installs (previously, we had DX9 set as default)
Known issues
- regarding the new Virtual Camera driver: we've successfully tested the new virtual cam on both Skype for desktop and Skype Metro (Windows 8), and also various chat interfaces like Omegle, Chatroulette, Tinychat and it all works great! One confirmed issue remains regarding the Mozilla Firefox Hangouts addon: if you want to use Hangouts, we recommend Chrome as a browser but other than that, you are free to use whichever browser you want;)
Let us know if you run into any issues.
-regarding the export process: while exporting a rpl created with a low framerate, the total duration of the replay will be displayed incorrectly while the video is exporting (it will be less); the exported video however will have the correct duration (it is only a display bug, the exported video file will have the correct length).
If you are wondering about how to use the more experimental "nextversion" branch here are the steps:
- Open Steam Client. Go to Library -> Software
- Right mouse click on FaceRig -> Properties
- Go to BETAS tab, click in the "Select the beta you would like to opt into:" drop down, select "nextversion"
- Close window. The FaceRig program will update to the "nextversion" branch.
We want to extend a very special thank you to those of you adventurous enough to aid us in testing "nextversion" FaceRig, :)
Have an amazing weekend,
The FaceRig Team