Jekyll2022-06-30T00:58:31+00:00/feed.xmlYerFace!A stupid facial performance capture engine for cartoon animation.Markley Bros. EntertainmentBTS Reel Featuring YerFace!2022-06-30T01:00:00+00:002022-06-30T01:00:00+00:00/2022/06/30/yerface-bts-reel<p>My sister put together a fun little Behind The Scenes reel featuring <em>YerFace!</em> Check it out:</p>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uQPIKfj2l28" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p>I think these videos are a lot of fun. You can see <a href="https://mbe.tv/albums/9541498">several more of them over at MBE.tv</a>.</p>
<p>Have a great day!<br />
–Alex</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentMy sister put together a fun little Behind The Scenes reel featuring YerFace! Check it out: I think these videos are a lot of fun. You can see several more of them over at MBE.tv. Have a great day! –AlexAnimation Workflow Demo2022-05-10T13:00:00+00:002022-05-10T13:00:00+00:00/2022/05/10/animation-demo<p>Yesterday evening I did a livestream where I walked through the process of importing some <em>YerFace!</em> performance captures into Blender!</p>
<p>This is a real production use case for my show, <a href="https://mbe.tv/albums/6613801">The Malex Minute</a>. These are actual performances, imported onto our actual characters, for an actual scene from our upcoming episode. You can see the results are a little rough around the edges, but the scene just needs a little cleanup and it will be good to go.</p>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f5OOLRD6DJM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p>Thanks for checking it out. Have a great day!<br />
–Alex</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentYesterday evening I did a livestream where I walked through the process of importing some YerFace! performance captures into Blender! This is a real production use case for my show, The Malex Minute. These are actual performances, imported onto our actual characters, for an actual scene from our upcoming episode. You can see the results are a little rough around the edges, but the scene just needs a little cleanup and it will be good to go. Thanks for checking it out. Have a great day! –AlexA Valentine’s Day Surprise! Announcing Release 0.2.52022-02-14T13:00:00+00:002022-02-14T13:00:00+00:00/2022/02/14/announcing-release-0-2-5<p>Hey all! I’m happy to announce <a href="https://github.com/markleybros/yer-face/releases/tag/v0.2.5">the latest release of <em>YerFace!</em>, 0.2.5</a> is now available along with experimental binaries!</p>
<p><em>YerFace!</em> is still not stable, but we are using it at a rapidly increasing pace over at <a href="https://mbe.tv">Markley Bros. Entertainment</a> to power all of our character animation.</p>
<p>I realize it has only been a couple of weeks since the last release, but I discovered a bug over the weekend and decided to knock it out right away.</p>
<p>Production is heating up here in the MBE lab, so you can expect to see more updates in the coming months!</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and have a great day!<br />
–Alex</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentHey all! I’m happy to announce the latest release of YerFace!, 0.2.5 is now available along with experimental binaries! YerFace! is still not stable, but we are using it at a rapidly increasing pace over at Markley Bros. Entertainment to power all of our character animation. I realize it has only been a couple of weeks since the last release, but I discovered a bug over the weekend and decided to knock it out right away. Production is heating up here in the MBE lab, so you can expect to see more updates in the coming months! Thanks for reading and have a great day! –AlexAnnouncing Release 0.2.42022-01-27T13:00:00+00:002022-01-27T13:00:00+00:00/2022/01/27/announcing-release-0-2-4<p>Hey all! I’m happy to announce <a href="https://github.com/markleybros/yer-face/releases/tag/v0.2.4">the latest release of <em>YerFace!</em>, 0.2.4</a> is now available along with experimental binaries!</p>
<p><em>YerFace!</em> is still not stable, but we are using it at a rapidly increasing pace over at <a href="https://mbe.tv">Markley Bros. Entertainment</a> to power all of our character animation.</p>
<p>In addition to getting a new release of <em>YerFace!</em> out the door, I am planning on upgrading and fixing our Blender plugin soon, and even providing some sample Blender assets that anyone can use to get started quickly. Keep an eye out!</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and have a great day!<br />
–Alex</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentHey all! I’m happy to announce the latest release of YerFace!, 0.2.4 is now available along with experimental binaries! YerFace! is still not stable, but we are using it at a rapidly increasing pace over at Markley Bros. Entertainment to power all of our character animation. In addition to getting a new release of YerFace! out the door, I am planning on upgrading and fixing our Blender plugin soon, and even providing some sample Blender assets that anyone can use to get started quickly. Keep an eye out! Thanks for reading and have a great day! –AlexDOWNLOAD: Blender 2.93 LTS with Outline Patch for Linux2021-09-17T12:30:00+00:002021-09-17T12:30:00+00:00/2021/09/17/outline-node-blender-build<p><strong>RATIONALE</strong></p>
<p>As you know, around here we <em>love</em> cartoon-style animation mixed with video. Aesthetically, think <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Framed_Roger_Rabbit">Who Framed Roger Rabbit</a></em> and you’ll know what we mean.</p>
<p>To accomplish this, we often mix photorealistic (PBR) and cartoon (NPR) rendering styles in the same Blender scene and render that scene with Blender’s <em>Cycles</em> rendering engine.</p>
<p>Recently we’ve adopted <a href="https://twitter.com/pragma37">Miguel Pozo’s</a> incredible Blender Outline Material Node to power our toon style. You can read more about it here:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://blender-outline-node-docs.netlify.app/">Material Node Documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://developer.blender.org/D7270">Material Node Patch D7270</a> and related discussion at developer.blender.org.</li>
<li><a href="https://pragma37.gumroad.com/l/blender-outline-node">Patched Windows Build</a> on Gumroad provided by Miguel himself.</li>
</ul>
<p>Unfortunately, because Blender does not provide any way to extend Cycles at runtime without sacrificing GPU acceleration, the Blender source code must be patched before being compiled. (OSL script nodes do not count here because they are incompatible with GPU acceleration.)</p>
<p>So until Blender officially supports the Outline Material Node (or a suitable replacement) we are providing patched builds of Blender 2.93 LTS for Linux x86_64 to compliment Miguel’s own Windows builds!</p>
<p><strong>DOWNLOADS</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="https://mbe-patreon-downloads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/blender/custombuilds/2.93/blender-2.93-d57f577-linux-x64.tar.xz">blender-2.93-d57f577-linux-x64.tar.xz</a> (179M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (d57f577; circa 2.93.9) • June 26th, 2022 • <em>Includes OptiX!</em></strong></li>
<li><a href="https://mbe-patreon-downloads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/blender/custombuilds/2.93/blender-2.93-fb21201-linux-x64.tar.xz">blender-2.93-fb21201-linux-x64.tar.xz</a> (197M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (fb21201; circa 2.93.7) • January 25th, 2022</li>
<li><a href="https://mbe-patreon-downloads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/blender/custombuilds/2.93/blender-2.93-0930a70-linux-x64.tar.xz">blender-2.93-0930a70-linux-x64.tar.xz</a> (193M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (0930a70; circa 2.93.5) • October 9th, 2021</li>
<li><a href="https://mbe-patreon-downloads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/blender/custombuilds/2.93/blender-2.93-597d951-linux-x64.tar.xz">blender-2.93-597d951-linux-x64.tar.xz</a> (192M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (597d951) • September 17th, 2021</li>
</ul>
<p>You can also take a look at <a href="https://github.com/markleybros/blender-custom">our build scripts</a> which we are using to create these downloads.</p>
<p><strong>PLEASE HELP!</strong></p>
<p>Would you like to help? Please <a href="https://developer.blender.org/D7270">join the discussion</a> on developer.blender.org and let the Blender developers know that you need the Outline Material Node to be officially supported in Blender!</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentRATIONALE As you know, around here we love cartoon-style animation mixed with video. Aesthetically, think Who Framed Roger Rabbit and you’ll know what we mean. To accomplish this, we often mix photorealistic (PBR) and cartoon (NPR) rendering styles in the same Blender scene and render that scene with Blender’s Cycles rendering engine. Recently we’ve adopted Miguel Pozo’s incredible Blender Outline Material Node to power our toon style. You can read more about it here: Material Node Documentation Material Node Patch D7270 and related discussion at developer.blender.org. Patched Windows Build on Gumroad provided by Miguel himself. Unfortunately, because Blender does not provide any way to extend Cycles at runtime without sacrificing GPU acceleration, the Blender source code must be patched before being compiled. (OSL script nodes do not count here because they are incompatible with GPU acceleration.) So until Blender officially supports the Outline Material Node (or a suitable replacement) we are providing patched builds of Blender 2.93 LTS for Linux x86_64 to compliment Miguel’s own Windows builds! DOWNLOADS blender-2.93-d57f577-linux-x64.tar.xz (179M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (d57f577; circa 2.93.9) • June 26th, 2022 • Includes OptiX! blender-2.93-fb21201-linux-x64.tar.xz (197M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (fb21201; circa 2.93.7) • January 25th, 2022 blender-2.93-0930a70-linux-x64.tar.xz (193M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (0930a70; circa 2.93.5) • October 9th, 2021 blender-2.93-597d951-linux-x64.tar.xz (192M) • Blender 2.93 LTS (597d951) • September 17th, 2021 You can also take a look at our build scripts which we are using to create these downloads. PLEASE HELP! Would you like to help? Please join the discussion on developer.blender.org and let the Blender developers know that you need the Outline Material Node to be officially supported in Blender!Our Patreon Page has LAUNCHED!2021-09-08T13:00:00+00:002021-09-08T13:00:00+00:00/2021/09/08/patreon-page-live<p>Happy Wednesday! I’m delighted to announce that <a href="https://www.patreon.com/markleybros">the Markley Bros. Entertainment Patreon Page</a> is now LIVE for folks who want to support us!</p>
<p>Because YerFace is a project of Markley Bros. Entertainment – and because YerFace is critical to our mission – your support for Markley Bros. Entertainment is support for YerFace! If you appreciate what we’re doing, please consider becoming a supporter today!</p>
<p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=15961889" data-patreon-widget-type="become-patron-button">Become a Patron!</a><script async="" src="https://c6.patreon.com/becomePatronButton.bundle.js"></script></p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, we have some big updates for YerFace coming later this year. So stay tuned!</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentHappy Wednesday! I’m delighted to announce that the Markley Bros. Entertainment Patreon Page is now LIVE for folks who want to support us! Because YerFace is a project of Markley Bros. Entertainment – and because YerFace is critical to our mission – your support for Markley Bros. Entertainment is support for YerFace! If you appreciate what we’re doing, please consider becoming a supporter today! Become a Patron! Oh, and by the way, we have some big updates for YerFace coming later this year. So stay tuned!Presentation Video from Ohio LinuxFest 2019 Posted!2019-12-21T13:00:00+00:002019-12-21T13:00:00+00:00/2019/12/21/ohiolinux-videos<p><strong>Finally!</strong> It’s been several weeks since <a href="/2019/10/15/speaking-at-ohiolinux.html">we presented at Ohio LinuxFest</a> and it took longer than expected to edit the video, but we’ve finally posted the videos from the con!</p>
<p>Here is the quick summary video including footage of our booth and our demo:</p>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NDoZwANBmRk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p>And here is the video of my presentation:</p>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xUI0BZxNTUc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p>Thanks so much to everyone who came out and said hi. We had a blast!</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentFinally! It’s been several weeks since we presented at Ohio LinuxFest and it took longer than expected to edit the video, but we’ve finally posted the videos from the con! Here is the quick summary video including footage of our booth and our demo: And here is the video of my presentation: Thanks so much to everyone who came out and said hi. We had a blast!Announcing Release 0.2.32019-10-19T13:00:00+00:002019-10-19T13:00:00+00:00/2019/10/19/announcing-release-0-2-3<p>Hey all! I’m happy to announce <a href="https://github.com/markleybros/yer-face/releases/tag/v0.2.3">the latest release of <em>YerFace!</em>, 0.2.3</a> is now available along with experimental binaries!</p>
<p>I would not consider this release to be “stable” (by whatever definition of “stable” you use), but it is definitely usable. In fact, we have been using it at a rapidly increasing pace over at <a href="https://mbe.tv">Markley Bros. Entertainment</a> to power all of our character animation.</p>
<p><a href="https://yerface.live/2019/10/19/announcing-release-0-2-3.html">(click to read more…)</a></p>
<!-- more -->
<p>Although we have cut <a href="https://github.com/markleybros/yer-face/releases">other releases</a> since the project started, and we have been providing <a href="https://yerface.live/download/">automated master branch builds</a> for a <a href="https://yerface.live/2019/04/15/experimental-downloads.html">while now</a>, this is the first release I felt warranted its own post on the <em>YerFace!</em> web site.</p>
<p>Why? Even though the <a href="https://semver.org/">semantic versioning</a> version number might not indicate a milestone, this release represents a milestone nonetheless.</p>
<p>Over the past two years (since the inception of the project) we have:</p>
<ul>
<li>Made over 475 commits.</li>
<li>With over 12,500 insertions.</li>
<li>Affecting over 80 files.</li>
</ul>
<p>But more importantly, we have</p>
<ul>
<li>A working, markerless facial performance capture solution.</li>
<li>Two different lip synchronization methods, both based on an audio analysis of the performance. (One prioritizes low latency, the other prioritizes quality.)</li>
<li>Flexible audio and video capture using cross platform libraries.</li>
<li>Real time transmission of event data over the network (using standard WebSockets for maximum compatibility) for preview and live production purposes.</li>
<li>The capability to write captured audio, video, and event metadata to the disk for future use and for replay purposes.</li>
<li>Support for handling and passing through game controller events, so clients can translate those events to character motion, and performers can “puppet” their characters as they see fit.</li>
<li>Extremely high performance, with frame rates exceeding 60 FPS on appropriate hardware.</li>
<li>A preview window with adjustable levels of detail, allowing the performer to see what he/she needs to see at a glance.</li>
<li>An experimental Blender plug-in supporting both real-time and keyframe animation.</li>
</ul>
<p>And all of this is only the beginning! We still plan on (in no particular order):</p>
<ul>
<li>Unit and integration testing, to better catch regressions in fixes and functionality.</li>
<li>Blender 2.80+ support.</li>
<li>Support for multiple WebSocket clients at once in the Blender plug-in. (Allowing for more than one character to be animated live at a time.)</li>
<li>Blender plug-in CI/CD with tests and downloadable packages.</li>
<li>Automated Windows builds (currently the process is semi-manual).</li>
<li>Support for macOS? (Maybe.)</li>
<li>Documenting the API in detail, so we can support other projects which might want to use <em>YerFace!</em> for other use cases.</li>
<li>Demo character rigs and documentation/training on how to use them.</li>
<li>A robust GUI for folks who want to enjoy YerFace but don’t want to deal with the command line.</li>
<li>Developing the ability to train our own facial landmark neural network models. (The out-of-the-box model we’re currently using has specific weaknesses related to our use case, which we could address if we have enough help from the community!)</li>
<li>Support for tracking and reporting eyeball direction.</li>
</ul>
<p>As you can see, we have accomplished a lot. But it’s only the beginning! Are you willing to help? Pull requests are welcome!</p>
<p>Come see <a href="https://yerface.live/2019/10/15/speaking-at-ohiolinux.html">my talk at Ohio LinuxFest</a> to learn more.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading and have a great day!
–Alex</p>Markley Bros. EntertainmentHey all! I’m happy to announce the latest release of YerFace!, 0.2.3 is now available along with experimental binaries! I would not consider this release to be “stable” (by whatever definition of “stable” you use), but it is definitely usable. In fact, we have been using it at a rapidly increasing pace over at Markley Bros. Entertainment to power all of our character animation. (click to read more…)Returning to Ohio LinuxFest in 20192019-10-15T13:00:00+00:002019-10-15T13:00:00+00:00/2019/10/15/speaking-at-ohiolinux<p><img class="post-pic" align="right" height="144" src="/assets/uploads/ohio-linuxfest-logo-1.png" />Exciting news!</p>
<p>I’ve been invited to speak again this year at Ohio LinuxFest! The talk is called <em>YerFace! From Computer Vision to Cartoon Animation</em> and the abstract is as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is the story of our ongoing quest to convert regular webcam video to CGI cartoon animation, suitable for production use, using only Open Source software! Come hear the war stories, stay for the live cartoon character demo!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now if you heard last year’s talk you may be tempted to skip out – <strong>but wait!</strong> This year there’s a <strong>lot</strong> of new stuff to talk about. Development on the project has only accelerated, and the vision for the future is clearer than ever!</p>
<p><strong>Update October 19th:</strong> <a href="https://ohiolinux.org/schedule/">The Ohio LinuxFest schedule</a> has been released! Looks like I am speaking at 1PM Eastern (just after lunch). See you there!</p>
<p>We’ll also be in the Expo hall running a live demo for most of the day on Saturday, so come out and say hi!</p>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DudauXOj7to" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yskAplRzG-8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentExciting news! I’ve been invited to speak again this year at Ohio LinuxFest! The talk is called YerFace! From Computer Vision to Cartoon Animation and the abstract is as follows: This is the story of our ongoing quest to convert regular webcam video to CGI cartoon animation, suitable for production use, using only Open Source software! Come hear the war stories, stay for the live cartoon character demo! Now if you heard last year’s talk you may be tempted to skip out – but wait! This year there’s a lot of new stuff to talk about. Development on the project has only accelerated, and the vision for the future is clearer than ever! Update October 19th: The Ohio LinuxFest schedule has been released! Looks like I am speaking at 1PM Eastern (just after lunch). See you there! We’ll also be in the Expo hall running a live demo for most of the day on Saturday, so come out and say hi!Introducing Gamepad Support!2019-10-15T12:00:00+00:002019-10-15T12:00:00+00:00/2019/10/15/introducing-gamepad-support<p><img class="post-pic" align="right" height="100" src="/assets/uploads/video_game_controller-weboptimized.png" />It’s a whole new dimension of expressiveness!</p>
<p>Over the past many weeks, I’ve been hard at work on something I’m very excited to announce: <em><strong>Preliminary Gamepad Support in YerFace!!</strong></em></p>
<p>Check it out:</p>
<div class="video-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G4i40Z-iQU4?start=120" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p>As you can see in the above video, introducing Gamepad support has given our performers a whole new level of control over the character, providing more interactivity with the audience and a more lively result. The resulting animation works equally well for live performances as it does in the studio.</p>
<p>With this latest development, we’ve kind of stumbled into something of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_puppetry">digital puppetry application</a>, and I couldn’t be happier with the result.</p>
<p>Thanks,
–Alex</p>
<!-- more -->Markley Bros. EntertainmentIt’s a whole new dimension of expressiveness! Over the past many weeks, I’ve been hard at work on something I’m very excited to announce: Preliminary Gamepad Support in YerFace!! Check it out: As you can see in the above video, introducing Gamepad support has given our performers a whole new level of control over the character, providing more interactivity with the audience and a more lively result. The resulting animation works equally well for live performances as it does in the studio. With this latest development, we’ve kind of stumbled into something of a digital puppetry application, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Thanks, –Alex