Exporting Face-body Animated iClone Character to 3D Tools

This pipeline is a basic one for understanding the workflow of exporting an iClone character with body motions and facial animations to other 3D tools, such as Maya, 3DS Max or Unity.

Step 1: Create Character and Motions in iClone

1. Prepare a character in iClone.
   
2. Apply body motion by applying templates from the Motion libraries or by using the Body Motion tools in the Animation >> Motion >> Modify panel.
   
3. Apply a voice to the character.
4. Add facial expressions by applying templates from the Facial Animation libraries or by using the Facial Animation tools in the Animation >> Facial Animation >> Modify panel.
   
5. Open the Timeline and you will see the character's motion and expressions in individual tracks (in this case, the character has two body motions and one voice with expression).
   

Step 2: Export Character and Motions to 3DXchange

1. Select the character and switch to the Actor >> Avatar page.
2. Click the Edit in 3DXChange button in the Modify panel. The character will be sent to 3DXchange.
   
3. Go back to iClone. Export body motions and facial animations into MotionPlus (*.iMotionPlus) format for conversion in 3DXchange via one of the following methods:
   • Directly Sending Collected Clips to 3DXchange
     1. Open the Timeline.
     2. Open the Collect Clip track of the character.
     3. Drag in the track to make a selection for exporting.
        
     4. Right click within the range.
     5. Select the Add MotionPlus to 3DXchange command in the right-click menu.
        
     6. The MotionPlus file will be loaded into the Motion Library of 3DXchange.
        
   • Saving Collected Clips to Directory
     1. Open the Timeline.
     2. Open the Collect Clip track of the character.
     3. Drag in the track to make a range for exporting.
        
     4. Right click within the range.
     5. Select the Add MotionPlus to Library command in the right-click menu.
        
     6. Activate the items in the MotionPlus Options panel to determine what you want to pack into the MotionPlus. Click OK to save.
        
     7. Add the saved MotionPlus file into the Motion Library of 3DXchange.
        

        Note:

        Please refer to the What is MotionPlus section for more information about the data that can be included in MotionPlus format. Although you may click the Add button at the bottom of the Content Manager to save MotionPlus, it is highly recommended that you do not utilize this method because the motion data in the entire project will be saved even though there are a lot of no-data frames at the later part of the project.

Step 3: Export Body Motions and Facial Expressions as FBX

1. Go to 3DXchange. Add the desired clips from the Motion Library to the Perform Editor.
   
2. Export the character along with the motions as FBX files (version 2012).
3. Load the exported FBX files into your favorite 3D tools. Please refer to the What is MotionPlus section for more information about the relationships between MotionPlus and FBX formats and how to adjust the expression and motion data in the 3D tools.

   The rendered video from Maya (with motion blur effect).