Character Creator 5 - What a Ride!

Last month we got the news that Reallusion was about to upgrade some software we use, Character Creator, to Version 5. This software is at the core of our production efforts. In the process of making our 3D-animated feature films, we've been through software several major upgrades before. We knew we should expect a few bugs and a bit of down time. This time it was DIFFERENT.

When we first got the news about the upgrade, we were excited. The release would be a couple of months away - sometime in July - and we felt it would be best to wait for it. The new features were super enticing, and we loved the results the promos teased. We looked forward to greater detail and better animation options for our characters. That would ultimately translate to more provocative performances by the avatars in our films. Yay upgrade!

Upon getting the news, we shifted our production efforts to focusing solely on non-character related work - tweaking scenery, modifying lighting, working on continuity - drumming our fingers all the while.

Then in mid-July we got more news. Character Creator 5 wouldn't be released until August 27. This was just days before Olivia was scheduled to go on an 800-mile road trip, shooting B-roll for multiple film projects we currently have in production. It also meant the upgrade was interfering with our timeline for "Singlewide Pride", our 3 D Photorealistic Animated Feature Film, deep in production.

August 27 came around, and as promised, Character Creator 5 was released. With bugs. Okay, there are always bugs. But these were cockroach-sized bugs, like water bugs from the Desert Southwest. We were aghast. Dealing with them would have to wait until Olivia returned from her trip in mid-September.

There was one bug in particular that was a show-stopper. CC5 ate our content library's database. Just gone. Sure, the software got cues from the mother ship as to which content packs we had purchased (all 1200 of them). But the packs needed to be installed again - not just updated, which would be a quick fix, but actually downloaded and installed. We went to work, and 4 days later, after downloading content day and night, the library was intact. Olivia restarted the software, and the content manager crashed again. One more time, all of the packs had disappeared, and they needed to be installed again.

Tech Support from Reallusion was sympathetic and gave advice, but ultimately all they could do was refer our issues to their software development team. The software was not supposed to work this way. In the meantime, the company issued several updates to both CC5 as well as the animation engine we rely on, iClone. You have to give them credit for the incremental fixes they've issued thus far. But our Support ticket still remains open after a full month.

We don't know what really happened, but we've seen multiple comments in RL's forums musing about whether the company was relying on their end users to QA test the software. The world may never know.

Over time, the bug count has fallen and the system crashes are much less. We were able to re-install the content library in both CC5 and iC8. We finished exactly 30 days after we started. We're very pleased to say that we've been able to re-save our cast of characters for Singlewide Pride as CC5 avatars and animate them. So far, so good.

We love the results, and overall the upgrade has been worth it. Olivia has gone a little more gray, and Todd's missing some hair, but our projects are back on track and rolling along at a good clip. One thing we've decided, though: we're never buying a software upgrade again on the day it's released.

Here is a sample before and after of the character Colleen, Art's mom in Singlewide Pride. We feel that her grit and sassy defiance make a good metaphor for the state our production is currently in. As with all the other SWP characters, we've been able to add more detail to the textures of her face and hair, as well as give her a more nuanced expression. We hope you agree.