Make-It-Animatable - A joint initiative between USTC and Tencent to automatically generate real-time animations for asset preparation.
Make-It-Animatable is a data-driven framework developed by the University of Science and Technology of China and Tencent PCG. It can prepare any 3D humanoid model for character animation in less than a second, regardless of its shape and pose.
What is Make-It-Animatable?
Make-It-Animatable, a data-driven framework developed by the University of Science and Technology of China and Tencent PCG, can prepare any 3D humanoid model for character animation in less than a second, regardless of its shape and pose. The framework generates high-quality blended weights, skeletons, and pose transformations, supporting various 3D representations, including meshes and 3D Gaussian blobs. Based on a coarse-to-fine representation and structure-aware modeling strategy, it ensures accuracy and robustness, even for characters with non-standard skeletal structures. Compared to existing methods, Make-It-Animatable offers significant improvements in both quality and speed.
The main functions of Make-It-Animatable
- Real-time animation preparationQuickly transform any 3D humanoid model into a state that can be used for animation, regardless of its shape and pose.
- Automatically generate animation assetsIt automatically generates high-quality bones, blend weights, and pose transformations, providing the necessary data for animation production.
- Supports multiple 3D data formatsSupports various 3D data representations, including 3D meshes and 3D Gaussian specks.
- Multi-level representation from fine to coarseEmploying a multi-level representation method from fine to coarse improves the ability to capture details in key areas of the model.
- Structure-aware modelingIt can identify and adapt to non-standard skeleton structures, thereby improving the adaptability and accuracy of the model.
The technical principles of Make-It-Animatable
- Particle-based shape autoencoderParticle-based autoencoder technology encodes and decodes 3D shapes, supporting various 3D representations.
- Coarse-to-fine representation strategyFirst, perform a rough prediction of the shape and joint position, and then refine the prediction to improve accuracy.
- Structure-aware skeletal modelingBy considering the topology of the skeleton, the accuracy of skeleton prediction can be improved, especially in complex skeleton structures.
- Hybrid weighting and bone location prediction: Using deep learning techniques to predict the blended weights and bone positions of each vertex to achieve accurate skinning.
- Prediction of pose changes: Predict the transformation of the model from the current posture to the standard resting posture so that various animations can be applied.
The Make-It-Animatable project address
- Project official website:jasongzy.github.io/Make-It-Animatable
- GitHub repository:https://github.com/jasongzy/Make-It-Animatable
- arXiv technical paper:https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.18197
- Experience the demo online:https://make-it-animatable.jasongzy.com/
Application scenarios of Make-It-Animatable
- Video game developmentIt can quickly generate animations for game characters, reducing the workload of manually adjusting bones and skinning, and improving the efficiency of game development.
- Film and television productionUsed in the production of CG character animation in movies and TV series to improve the realism of animation and increase production speed.
- Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)In VR and AR applications, it can quickly generate realistic 3D characters, enhancing the user experience.
- Animated films and seriesAnimation production companies can quickly create high-quality animation sequences, saving time and costs.
- Simulation and training softwareUsed in military or medical simulation software to quickly generate realistic character movements for simulation training.