HUE Team on Boosting Their Animation Workflow With RADiCAL

HUE was founded in response to the shared impression that 3D was heavily gatekept. HUE enables its members to share knowledge with each other and with an entire community. In their own words, HUE "helps people learn 3D to create dope pieces."

The HUE team today consists of AndyHood (HUE Editor – creating Cinematic Stills and Animations as a Cinematic Artist), Zebulon (3D Generalist – a self-described jack-of-all-trades, across modeling and animation), and BananaZ (Creator). You can check out HUE by visiting their Discord, on X (Twitter), as well as their official website.

Andy explains that "HUE discovered RADiCAL trying to find a way to make the animation workflow easier, particularly with movements like walking. RADiCAL had some of the best data captured while also giving the most amount of exported animation time we've seen yet (24 hours per year for free and 36 for Premium). The software is very easy to use, so we use it across our animation projects."

RADiCAL is a software-only platform that uses AI to generate motion capture data through any consumer-grade camera, including your phone or webcam.

"Its biggest advantage to me is how well it captures movements such as walking and ducking without completely destroying the animation data compared to other AI solutions," adds Andy.

Blender is at the heart of HUE workflows, with the Cycles render engine. They use other software and engines if needed, such as UE5 for real-time animation and Octane for hyper-realistic renders. All HUE members offer thumbnail and high-res commissions, while a few also offer animation commissions. Collectively, HUE members also use Adobe Photoshop, Substance 3D Painter, Gimp, Marvellous Designer, ZBrush, Marmoset Toolbag 4, Obsidian, Visual Studio, ActorCore, NVIDIA Omniverse, and Filmora.

Andy further explains that "we feel that reconstructed animation can be a good base to edit off of. For now, at least, AI video motion capture isn't perfect right off the bat for every use case and may need clean-up, just like an actual motion capture suit. So we use RADiCAL animation as a base and clean up the animation using a Layer setup."

HUE members say that they are no strangers to using AI to enhance their art or receive inspiration. Zebulon explains: "RADiCAL has become a key part of my workflow from start to finish. When using RADiCAL, it's like sketching the first lines of a masterpiece, but, as with any masterpiece, it needs refinement. Instead of going for the traditional pose-to-pose approach, I add layers to the animation, kind of like painting over a sketch to bring out the details. This extra step of refinement is crucial. It's what transforms a good animation into something that truly captures the essence of realism."

"In essence, working with AI in animation is a bit like being a sculptor. You start with a rough shape and then chisel away, adding details, smoothing edges, and refining until you've got something that looks like it could walk off the screen. That's the magic I aim to bring to every project," adds Zebulon, who’s working on a game and wants to  "dive deep into the world of cinematic artistry, with RADiCAL opening the doors to more opportunities for myself and the HUE team."

BananaZ explained that he discovered RADiCAL through the HUE team. "I was immediately impressed with the quality of the motion capture data." He adds that "it looks very intuitive and easy to use for the quality and price. I love how it captures every micro movement, unlike some other AI mocap programs, which really makes it seem realistic."

HUE team members also added that they were going to try out RADICAL’s recently released facial motion capture feature set. "Even from a decent distance from his camera, it seems to pick up almost every facial expression."

The HUE Team

Interview conducted by Theodore McKenzie