Mannequin Character Generator News

The year is coming to an end, and we have several updates to share, both inside outside the app. The latest version of Mannequin (0.3.11) brought so many new things to the table, and there are also several developments from the planning/management side. Let us delve into more details!

[h2]Eye Template Updates[/h2]

The latest change in the eye template structure means some new features, such as customizable iris style and gaze direction. Look for these extra options in the 'Eye' section of the 'Face' sidebar. We also added several new comedic eye templates for those cute lighthearted events in your game.





[h2]Mouth Template Updates[/h2]

Changes to the mouth template structure now enables customizable lip and teeth styles. We have also added a lot of new expressions into the library! You might notice that a lot of these new mouth expressions is labeled ‘Lipsync’. What are these for, I wonder?





[h2]Other Template Updates[/h2]

Other than eye and mouth which has seen the most significant changes, there are also several small updates for other parts. Nose templates has been redrawn, ‘Masculine’ brow templates have their default height adjusted.

[h2]Adobe Character Animator PSD Export[/h2]

All those new ‘Lipsync’ mouth templates? It is for this new feature! Importing optimized PSD files from Mannequin to Adobe Character Animator now becomes even more easier with proper layer naming and structure. This means that some behaviors such as eye gaze and lipsync will be applied automatically. See more on how to utilize this feature at its most by reading this section on our online documentation.



[h2]Performance Improvements[/h2]

We have talked about improving the rendering speed before, and today is the first step of realizing that. Various optimizations have been done to make rendering speed up to 25% faster! Of course, optimizations are something that must be done continuously, and we are striving for even more performance in the next update.

[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

Some bugfixes that are implemented in this update:

• Face masks template now will not be clipped by eye parts.
  
• Some comedic eye styles which require ‘Eye Gloss / Shine’ to be activated for it to display properly will now automatically activate this switch.
  
• ‘Head scale is invalid’ error message which is shown when opening a file even though the head scale value is valid is now fixed.
  
• Mouth innards now will not change color together with skin (prevents darker-skinned characters from having black mouth innards).
  
• Fixed missing front hair parts under several circumstances.
  
• A workaround for stuck PNG and PSD exports has been implemented. If you're experiencing stuck PNG/PSD exports at 0%, you can try to enable 'Use Custom Temp Folder Location' in the Preferences menu. Additionally, you can change this custom location to another location in your computer.
  

[h2]Updated Plans for 2021[/h2]

Initially, we have planned for this project to be fully released (1.0) just before the end of 2020. Various things have happened since then and there is quite a lot of planned features that are still in progress, such as:

• Proper macOS builds (with notarization and possibly Apple M1 support).
  
• Steamworks support.
  
• Additional pose angles and body types.
  
• Restructured hairstyle templates to allow separate bangs and side hair selection.
  

Therefore, we have decided to put 1.0 release target to Q3 of 2021.

[h2]Short-term Plans: What is in The Works for Next Version?[/h2]

For the immediate next version, what we are planning are:

• Restructured hairstyle templates, redrawing them if necessary, plus adding several user-requested hairstyles that has been noted.
  
• More performance improvements (we have identified more points that can be improved but have not been able to put it in today’s update due to time constraints).
  
• XS and XL chest templates for the default female template.
  

That is all for now. As usual, expect some of these things to be available as soon as mid-January in the nightly builds if you like to test on the bleeding edge. Happy holidays, happy new year, and hopefully we will have a better year in 2021!

Happy Halloween, everybody!

Today we have updated Mannequin to 0.3.10. The highlight of this version is the revamped default male template, which brought the art style and clothing template compatibility closer to the default female template.



Another little addition is the Halloween Collection DLC, which brought a few Halloween-themed accessories. Just like the Christmas Collection and the Default Library, more templates will be added to this collection over time.



Alongside the changes mentioned above, these issues have also been fixed:

• Clothing sidebar became irresponsive after switching between active files.
  
• Visible clipping when hoodie and blazer is combined using the default female template.
  

So, what is coming up next?

As we have mentioned in our previous development logs, we are working on restructuring the eyes, mouth, and hairstyle template. This process will bring more options to the table, such as changeable iris, adjustable eye gaze direction, and changeable teeth. Hairstyle templates will be separated so instead of a complete hairstyle package, you will be able to change the front (bangs), back, and sideburns independently. When the restructuring is completed, we will also enable Mannequin to use custom face parts and hairstyle templates. Of course, the online documentation will be updated accordingly.

After those changes are done, we will move into these milestones (although we are planning to, these might not necessarily be executed in order):

• Steam Workshop integration.
  
• Proper MacOS builds (signed and notarized).
  
• Big changes to rendering method for improved performance.
  
• Side and ¾ view poses.
  
• New export format option.
  

As usual, we will often share more details regarding our progress via our Twitter account (which is also embedded in the app’s Welcome Screen). You can also use the Nightly builds to preview the upcoming changes early.

That is all for now. Have a great weekend, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay creative!

Hello!

We have another update to the stable builds today. It might look a bit out of sync considering the previous update released just a little over a week ago, but we have decided to do this due to the recent progress of our online documentation.

[h2]Online Manual[/h2]

The manual explaining most of Mannequin’s basic functions is now available and you can access them through this link or by clicking the help buttons that have been placed in the app’s welcome screen and sidebar. Please note that we have yet to reach the pages explaining about making your own content; currently the documentation only covers about Mannequin’s basic usage. With these parts completed, though, the immediate next step in the documentation part is no other than custom user-created parts.



[h2]Multiple Poses for Batch Export[/h2]

Even with the earlier-than-expected release, there is still a new feature added into the app! When ‘Batch’ export mode is selected, you can now choose multiple poses to be exported (up to 10 including the currently active pose).



[h2]UI Adjustments[/h2]

Alongside the newly added help buttons, we have also made several user interface adjustments to improve consistency. The most awkward thing might be the swapped position of ‘Continue’ and ‘Cancel’ button on the Library window, so we are sorry if your muscle memory already got familiar with the previous positions.



[h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

These bugs should be fixed with this release:

• Misaligned brow parts when using head scale other than 1.
  
• Wrong row affected when removing folder location from the ‘Custom Library Locations’ list.
  
• Clipping of some parts when combined with the Lab Coat clothing template.
  

[h2]What’s Next?[/h2]

Since this release is a little bit unplanned, what is coming next is still pretty much unchanged from what was mentioned in our previous post: Bringing the revamped art style to the default male template and continuing the online manual to cover custom content creation.

That is all for now! As always, thank you very much for your continued support. Stay safe, stay creative, and see you in the next update!

Hello! Today we have brought another update to the stable builds of Mannequin, and it is quite a big update, to say the least. We have revamped most of the clothing templates for the default female body, adjusted the way we package DLCs, and more. Let us delve into more details:

[h2]Revamped Female Clothing Templates[/h2]

Almost all clothing templates for the default female body has been revamped with a more polished art style. There are also a lot of new items added, such as basic dresses, lab coat, double-breasted blazer, and camisoles. You can see some examples of the revised art style and new templates below.

Comparisons:









New items:



[h2]Adjusted DLC Packaging[/h2]

To simplify the process in our side and ultimately bring you faster updates regarding the DLC, we have moved the currently available DLC (Christmas Collection) into the app’s installation directory (you can find it inside the /dlc subfolder). Although it only features a few templates now, the DLC will also act as an example for users wanting to create custom content. Our upcoming guides about making your own DLCs will refer to several templates inside as case studies.

We have also added a few items into this DLC. Still not a decent number yet, but a progress regardless.



[h2]What's Next?[/h2]

As the revised clothing template for the default female body is now done, the natural progression is of course bringing all those changes to the default male body. In the application side of things, for the next update we are planning to add a pose selection option for batch export and provide further tweaks for faster rendering time. Also, as previously mentioned above, guides for creating custom DLCs by yourself should start to appear soon with the Christmas Collection DLC acting as an example.

That is all for now. As always, thank you very much for your continued support. Stay safe and stay creative!

Hello!

The planned big update which will bring a more polished art and additional template options is still in the works, but we have quite a lot of tiny updates on the app side that has been accumulated. Therefore, we have decided to release these updates with this 0.3.7 update. Here are the changes for this version:

[h3]Customizable Stroke and Cast Shadow Color[/h3]



Now you can customize Stroke and Cast Shadow color after choosing 'Advanced' color option. The benefit of customizing stroke color should be self-explanatory, whereas cast shadow color customization is particularly useful if you are unhappy with the grayish look of the shadows that can happen when those are layered on top of darker objects.

[h3]Template Size/Proportion Defaults[/h3]

Newly created character will now come with a pre-adjusted size and proportion scale. The maximum scale value will be calculated based on these defaults. For example, the 'Female A' template now comes with a default head scale of 0.9, and the maximum adjustment value for it should be plus or minus 0.15 (so 1.05 is the largest, and 0.75 is the smallest).

[h3]Clothing Layer Indicator[/h3]

You can now see a layer indicator on the side of each clothing template's name, both in library view and in the sidebar. This value is what determines whether a clothing template is going to replace another when added to your character.

[h3]New Default DLC Location[/h3]

A newly created directory /dlc has been added for easier file management and better support for the Steam platform. This directory also includes a single example DLC, 'Tester Items' which will be updated in the future with various clothing templates that will help custom content creators test things out and seek examples from.

[h3]Bugfix: Updated Thumbnails[/h3]

Updated thumbnails which fixes the wrong representation of 'Upward Curve' brow template and the missing representation of 'Head D' has been added.

[h3]Bugfix: Stuck PSD Export Process[/h3]

Previously, PSD exports will get stuck when Outline is enabled. This issue is now fixed.

[h3]Bugfix: Directly Downloaded Mac Version Failed to Start[/h3]

Previously, Mac versions of the app should always be installed via the itch.io desktop app. Otherwise, an error saying ‘Template file not found’ will show up and the app will get stuck every time a new file is created. This issue is now fixed, and direct download should now work fine (we still highly recommend using the itch.io desktop app for auto-updates).

[h3]Other Minor UI/UX Improvements[/h3]

When a clothing template is going to replace another in your character, if the color scheme is already identical then the prompt asking whether the app should try retaining color scheme will not be shown.

Links for embedded tweets in the welcome screen are now clickable (they will open in your default browser).

[h3]Latest from the Nightly Builds[/h3]



The ongoing process of polishing art style throughout the entire library is still running, with female template almost completed (only a handful of outerwear and footwears remaining). After these are done, we can immediately switch to adding new features that has been planned, such as eye gaze direction, customizable iris, and more detailed hair templates. Hopefully, you will like the refined style as well as the new templates that it will bring.

That’s all for now, and see you later in the next update!