How To Comment On YOUTUBE

Ok, this is not iClone related. It's about a Spore film I made. So why am I posting this on an iClone blog site? Because I'm a self centered ego maniac, plain and simple. And if you have a comment about it, please feel free to leave one on YOUTUBE, like thousands of others in the past few hours. Long story short, ... Machinima.com is now distributing my films (both iClone made and Spore made) on their website, and on their popular YOUTUBE partner channel.
I got sick of uneducated comments about my other films. Many were great, but many comments lack constructive criticism, not to mention intelligence. My buddy, Nick Santa Maria, the writer of my iClone Biffle and Shooster series, said it best, when he commented, "Get off YOUTUBE and Pick up a book. Books are those things with pages and covers". So I thought I'd give these deprived ones, a little lesson on YOUTUBE Commentary Etiquette. And guess what? It's working. And what's great about it, is even the idiotic comments are now welcomed. Once you see the video, you'll understand why I would welcome idiotic comments. I can't believe how fast the views are going up on this one. I need to make a clever iClone vid next. I think I know exactly what it will be too. But for now, enjoy my Spore made HOW TO COMMENT ON YOUTUBE vid here or below.

Till Next Time, ... "Keep Cloning" (and Sporing) ... Pauly

Machima.Com presents iClone Movie: "THE OPERA-TIVES"

Just wanted to give a shameless plug here. Machinima.com is now featuring some of my iClone & Spore Videos on their site, and their YOUTUBE Channel. The first film of mine they have posted is "The Opera-Tives", which was made in iClone 1.5. I'm getting a kick out of all the comments that have been posted so far. They range from young kids who don't get this genre of comedy, to the ones (perhaps older generation) who completely get it and LOVE it! Either way, I don't mind at all. It's good for me, as well as iClone, because it creates dialogue, viewers and hopefully, more new iClone users. I'm very proud and excited about the partnership, and for those of you who have never seen this, I hope you enjoy the fictitious 1930's comedy team of Biffle & Shooster, starring in "The Opera-Tives".
Till Next Time, ..... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly

FREE Character 4U : " HANS THE BOUNCER "

When I was a kid, I was picked on quite a bit. I felt like the skinny loser in the Charles Atlas ads in the comic books (You guys in your 40's will remember). I used to talk my way out of getting beaten up by bullies, by making them laugh. For the most part, it worked. There was one kid in class who was a real tough guy, and the leader of our grade school. I wished I could be like him, big, strong, who everyone wanted to be. But instead, I was a shy, scrawny kid who liked to draw. Recently on a trip to my home town of New York City, I ran into this guy. He's now a retired NYC Police Officer (Put in his 20 years and retired at 40, amazing, huh?), and he was now working part time as a bouncer. When he saw me in the pub, he picked me up off the ground and hugged me as if I were a long lost brother. He bought me dinner, and drinks all night. We laughed and talked about old school students and what had become of them. And what blew me away the most, was when he told me, "I always wished I could be like you, Pauly. I could never draw as good as you no matter how hard I tried". Just makes you realize how the grass always looks greener in someone elses yard, eh? Bottom line is, our weeds are just fine.

Here's a bad ass G3 character for you named, "Hans, the Bouncer".

Till Next Time, ... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly
DOWNLOAD "HANS" HERE

FREE Classic Character 4U : " ALBERT "

Here's an oldie that I shared a while back, and he's one of my favorites. I became fascinated with Albert Einstein, when I got to play a younger version of him in the Steve Martin play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile". I recently found out that as an adult who has ADHD, I am in good company, because Albert also had ADHD. This is probably why his hair was always so disorganized. This particular iClone character is a more cartoon version of this great man. You can find a more realistic version of him here at the Reallusion Content Store. Albert Einstein believed that it's all in the way you look at things. Now that I'm forty four and more in control of my ADHD, I tend to look at things beyond the obvious. I have found that this has helped me personally, artistically and professionally. Yet why is it that I can remember all the lyrics to a TV show theme I heard only once when I was five, but I can't remember that my wife told me to clean the dishes five minutes ago? God bless you, Albert.
Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" ... Pauly
DOWNLOAD "ALBERT" HERE

FREE Character 4U : " IRON MAN "

I always loved Marvel Comics. When I was a kid growing up in New York City, I would get an allowance of $1.00 a week. At the end of the week, I would head on down to the Candy Store (or "Convenience" Store as we call them now) and buy 4 Marvel comic books (yes, only 25 cents each. Amazing, huh?). My favorites were Spiderman, & Hulk. It got to the point where I had over 3,000 comics, including X-Men, issue # 1. When I was 14 years old, we moved to California, but it didn't work out, so we came back to NYC within 3 months. When we got back and unloaded the moving van, I saw that my box of comics were missing. I asked my mom where they were. She said she left them behind in California, and didn't think they were necessary, as I was now 14 and too old for comics. I freaked! So thanks, mom, for throwing away my retirement money. Anyway, all grudges aside, I LOVED the new Iron Man movie. Robert Downey Jr., actually made Tony Stark more interesting than Iron Man himself. Nonetheless, I have made an Iron Man in iClone 1.0. Yes 1.0! I made him out of the default football player that came with 1.0. When I first got iClone, I shared him and a TON of other characters, on a forum which I am no longer part of. So I decided to go into my archives and begin sharing these oldies but goodies once again, because many of you are new and have not had access to them. So enjoy, ... and be nice to your mom, even when she throws out your comic books.
Till Next Time, ... "Keep Cloning" ... Pauly
DOWNLOAD "IRON MAN" HERE

FREE Cartoon Character 4U : " PROFESSOR "

Everybody loves cartoons, right? Well, I sure do. Can't seem to outgrow them. I am a proud Nerd in that regard. But the good news is that I am not alone. Cartoons have been welcomed into the adult world for quite some time now, just the same way puppets have (the latter of which I am a HUGE fan of as well). So with shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Adult Swim and more, cartoons for us "big kids" are here to stay. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I learned that iClone 3 now gives you the ability to morph different parts of your character's body, enabling you to come up with neat cartoon type of characters. I have by no means, mastered iClone 3 yet. But I DID manage to create this professor cartoon dude. Yes, I probably could have done a better job, but I DO like the cartoon body on him at the very least. So Download the Professor Here, and play with him. Can't wait to see your cartoon creations on YOUTUBE.

Till Next Time .... "Keep Cloning" (or "Th-th-th-th-that's All Folks!") ..... Pauly

Need FREE iClone Training? Meet James Martin

When it comes to learning a new program, like iClone 3, many of you are probably like me. You simply tinker around the program and through trial and error, you begin to learn. But what if you want a detailed, fast comprehension of the program, answering all of your questions, and enabling you to get the program's full potential? Imagine the endless possibilities of creativity if you mastered iClone. Well, look no further, because Reallusion's James Martin (of the famous Martin Brothers), is here to make you the iClone master you were meant to be. I've known James since the early days of iClone, and since we live close by one another, I've had the pleasure of sitting down for wings and brewskies with him and his brother, John. James is an awesome young guy who has more patience and forgiveness then I could ever have. He's a better man than I in that regard. He has posted a ton of FREE instructional videos on YOUTUBE, which show you how all the new features of iClone 3 work. And he's now made himself available to train you ONE ON ONE, if you want it. Here's what James recently told me .....


JAMES: "After watching iClone grow in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years, I truly believe that with the inception of iClone version 3.0, that the time has come for there to be a professional level training outlet for users to access. That's why I started www.iCloneTraining.com. I'm a Reallusion Certified iClone and CrazyTalk Specialist here in the United States. I want everyone out there interested in really seeking to master these real-time animation tools, to have access to the education to do so. I love iClone and CrazyTalk, and see only the boundless potential and not limitations, offered by these products. This is the type of spirit and drive which I approach the way I produce 3D features, and I wish to help share that enthusiasm with everyone in the Machinima community. I am open to suggestions on what users would like to see more of in the iClone Tips of the Day, and certainly hope to develop a learning environment where everyone can feel like they are gaining a real command of the software."

So take advantage of James' offer and LEARN, LEARN, LEARN! James is a testament to the way the iClone community has always reached out to one another, for the better part of the artist in all of us.

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly

FREE Character 4U .... "GROK THE OGRE"

Hi, all. Been quite some time since I shared an original character, and I apologize for the long wait. I finally got iClone 3, and have been tinkering around with it. I love the fact that you can now morph the body parts. I plan on making some cool cartoon characters for you guys. But today, I simply made this cool green dude. He's an Ogre named Grok, and he'll kick Shrek's ass any day of the week. He is a G3 character, who can only be used in iClone 3. Check out i3 and go nuts with creativity. I can't wait to get started.
Till Next Time, ... "Keep Cloning" ... Pauly
DOWNLOAD "GROK" HERE

iCLONE 3 Preview: "Unbelievable!"

Ok, enough about Spore. iClone 3 is about to be launched into our world and I have to say , it looks like an entirely new program. The interface seems quite different and the endless amounts of new and creative features make this version the most anticipated yet. I could mention many of the new cool features, like hair that sways and bounces with the character, or the fact that you can make your characters look and follow moving cameras and objects, or the multi cameras themselves, or the realistic water and custom skies, the puppetry features, and much more, ... but I won't :). As one who specializes in unique character creations, I'm thrilled with the fact that you can now morph the body parts. This was something I had spoken to Reallusion's John Martin about a while ago. I'm glad the developers actually listen to the users. I can only imagine what amazing creations iCLONE users will build. So did I say, enough about Spore? Well, I meant it. Bottom line is, you always come running back to your first love.
Till Next Time, ... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly

HOW TO PICK UP ALIEN BABES - A Film Created in Spore

Ok, this has nothing to do with iClone, other than it having the possibilities of being another great 3d animation film making tool. I made this short film entirely in Spore Creature Creator (and Adobe Premier). I think it just might be the very first full length short film made in the program (meaning an actual story with a beginning, middle and an end). I think this program is so much more than a game. I think it can be an amazing movie making program for 3d animation, kind of like iClone. Would be great if the two program developers shared each others secrets. I hope you enjoy my film. It took me less than an hour to create. Spore is awesome!
But even still, ..... "Keep Cloning" ..... Pauly

iCLONE UNIVERSE Store is here for now ....

Hello, all. While I figure out how (or even IF) I build a new kick ass content store for http://www.icloneuniverse.com/ , I have re-directed the store URL so that it comes here for the time being. Perhaps I'll just sell directly from here. We'll see. But if any of you would like to see and/or purchase the character content I had at the store, feel free to drop me an Email at pmu1972924@aol.com . The individual characters were and still are only $4.99, and the Combo-Packs were/are $19.99. Lowest prices for content anywhere. NOTE: Anime Boy, Wolf & Milly Mouse are only $3.99 each. You will need the BOY character pack found at http://www.reallusion.com/ to make the supplied clothing textures work properly. The rest of the characters are already fully created when you purchase. I accept PAYPAL, via my Email address. You can see pics of the content below. Stay tuned, will be up and running with great new stuff for iClone, really soon. In the meantime .....

"Keep Cloning" .... Pauly

Want to see a couple of characters in action? Check out the movie below! ......

AMAZING iCLONE ANIMALS 4U!

Wow! Over a month now and no new posts! Sorry, guys. Been swamped with video work. But that's a good thing for my wallet. Anyway, for a while now I've wanted to post this news about all the cool animal characters, which have been created for iClone.

DoctorLegua of the Freedom Forum, has created a ton of animals, and more are coming (and probably have already been made since the pic above was given to me).

Casina, the creator of the forum, was the other artist involved in making these awesome animals. Her work and passion for iClone has always been top notch. Her combined efforts with Doctor Legua, have shown more amazing and "endless possibilities" within iClone.

The Doctor is an amazing iClone artist, who like me, specializes in characters. I've been an admirer of his work since the first day he displayed his creations. He has a unique way of capturing and/or replicating truly important details to popular and original characters. His animal packs are really amazing. They are fully functional, meaning they can do all the horse motions. They don't just slide across the screen like many of the other animals being sold out there. He really took the time to bring detail and realism to each new animal. So I advise you all to go to www.noodiebooties.com/69 (The Freedom Forum), and check out his excellent work in their special "Bada Bing" section. You might have to sign up to do that, but it's worth it. In addition, they give away FREE content created for iClone, EVERY week. So check 'em out!

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly

iClone Filmmaking Tips & Techniques (FREE Video 4U)

Last week, I posted a Doctor Dribble cartoon I made in iClone, and said that it was part of a tutorial that I produced on iClone Machinima Filmmaking Tips. Well, the series is finally posted and I'd like to share it with you. This is the way I like to make my iClone movies. It's not the right way, it's just my way, and maybe it will help give you some ideas for YOUR iClone creations. I have to apologize in advance if I seem to talk to the viewer as if you were all children. It's just that this is the way I need to hear myself explain things, ... otherwise I get confused with technical jargon. Plain and simple, I'm a dumb schmuck from Queens, New York. But if you think about it, this is a testament to how easy iClone is. It can take a non-technical guy like me, and enable me to make halfway decent 3D animation. Enjoy the video HERE!

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning"! ..... Pauly

How To Make A Centaur

Today I made a cool Centaur character. Here's how I did it ....

1) Open Your Horse Project

2) Replace the Girl Character with the Male Body Suit Character.

3) Opacity out his legs and shoes.

4) Click on the Horse to Select the Horse Prop.

5) Opacity out the horse's head, and ears.

6) Move the Male Character forward and position him the way you want.

7) Play with the Face tools to modify his face.

8) You may even change the texture of the horses skin by using the Diffuse, if you want (I did not).

NOTE: You can get rid of the ghostly legs and head in 3d Exchange, by playing with the node attribute panel and click "modify specularity", set the "glossiness" and "specularity" boxes to zero, then save back to your prop library (Thanks to Lisa and Michel for that excellent tip).

Till Next Time, ... "Keep Cloning" ..... Pauly

How To Make a Four Legged Animal in iClone

Firstly, a HUGE thanks to Michel Champagne, for turning me on to this concept. For a while now, I've needed to make an animated cartoon type dog in iClone. Now that we have the horse project, I was able to attach a few other props to it, re-texture the horse body, and BAM, instant cartoon Dog. You can use the following process to make other moving four legged animals too. Here's how I did it.....

1) Open your HORSE project.

2) Control F7 to temporarily hide Character.

3) Import a HEAD prop of your choice (in this case, I had a DOG HEAD that somebody shared on one of the forums)

4) LINK the HEAD prop to the HORSE

5) Now Click on the little TAB next to the LINK and the nob menu will come up.

6) Keep Clicking on all the PLUS signs till you find HEAD, and t hen check PARENT BOX.

7) Use the sliders to place the HEAD prop exactly where you need it. It will move with the horses head.

8) Now do the same thing with any other props (in this case I did it to the four separate feet)

NOTE: The front feet of the HORSE are called "HANDS" in the menu)

9) Be sure to add all the horse motions if you have them, before you save the newly merged prop as a new ANIMATED ANIMAL PROP.

10) Also, make sure to re-texture the horse body, and other props till you're happy with the color/texture combo.

Now go and make some animals!

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly

iClone Artist Spotlight: Michel Champagne

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope 2008 brings you great blessings. I anticipate many more artists this year, turning to iClone for their Machinima production tool of choice. One such artist is one who I've recently had a chance to talk to. I'd like all of you to meet Michel Champagne. I just discovered Michel's beautiful iClone work on YOUTUBE, and couldn't help but take notice of his natural ability for iClone filmmaking. In his short time as an iClone user, he has even been able to create completely functional iClone living props, like an elephant and a cow. He's a polite and very modest man, who was nice enough to take the time to speak with me ......

Pauly: Tell us a little about yourself.

Michel: I am a family man with 2 young kids and a lovely wife. I have dedicated my life to spirituality and becoming a better person.

Pauly: When did you start using iClone?

Michel: A few years ago I was a prop master for an independent film, and that is where I got the bug to create my own movies. I have had trouble finding the right medium for creating my movies. My problem was that when you are a one man show and you don't have many resources, money and people to use, the chances of creating a movie are slim to none. So when I found iClone, my hopes of creating my own movies have increased ten fold. I spend the few hours I have on doing this, so I can share with the world, the beauty of the stories of Ancient India from the Srimad Bhagavatam.

I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Michel's great work in iClone, and I for one, am really looking forward to it. If you'd like to see a beautiful little iClone film by Michel, click the player below.
Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" .... Pauly