Animaze News

Hello animazing community,

With this update, any simple GLB rigid model on the Internet can be an Animaze prop, loaded directly in the app. We are also releasing a few fixes for issues reported by YOU: Animaze Chatpal tweaks, Direct Prop Imports, Editor updates, and more. Find out about all the fixes in the detailed changelog below:

Desktop Changelog

• Animaze ChatPal updates:
  
  • fixed transitions between explaining animations.
    
  • added options to specify system message and voice per avatar, granting the ability to create the avatar's AI “personality” through context and voice. See docs for more info.
    
  • added Echo Mode which enables you to use Animaze Chatpal as a text-to-speech service, no OpenAI API key is needed. Previously this was possible through the -echo command.
    
  • added a “Stop Speaking” button to interrupt Animaze Chatpal from talking.
    
  • some ElevenLabs error handling fixing some edge case crashes.
    
• fixed avatar scaling issue - props did not scale correctly after save/revert flow.
  
• avatar scaling is now saved/loaded in quickscenes.
  
• added iPhone Tracker FPS and Latency stats to App Stats.
  
• fixed hands forced rotation issues with dedicated special actions, special poses, or idle animations for GLB avatars.
  
• fixed small visual issues with Cascaded Shadow Technique.
  
• added direct Prop imports (.avatar and .glb files are supported).
  
• fixed an edge case issue on GLB-sourced avatars that erroneously determined the avatar had no TPose.
  
• added Visage tracker paths error handling, removing the crash that occurs when Animaze is installed in a path with non-English characters. Friendly reminder, Visage face tracker only works if Animaze is installed in a path with English (or ASCII) characters.
  
• added a timeout for the Animaze API websocket.
  

Editor Changelog

• fixed hands forced rotation issues with dedicated special actions, special poses, or idle animations for GLB avatars.
  
• fixed small visual issues with Cascaded Shadow Technique.
  

As always, we love hearing what you think about the new content and Animaze! Tell us what you’d like to see added to Animaze on our Discord server, email us at support[@]animaze[.]us, or message us on Twitter!

Happy Streaming,
The Holotech Team

Midori Dark and Evil Clown have come to Animaze!

Check them out in the Avatar tab and let us know once you create your videos or streams using them!




As always, we love hearing what you think about additional classic character ports and Animaze!
Tell us what you’d like to see added to Animaze on our Discord server, email us at support[@]animaze[.]us, or message us on Twitter!

Happy Streaming,
The Holotech Team

Hello animazing community,

Update Animaze and check out our new reaction background and two new props: Phone prop and a new SF Jetpack!
You can now set quick scenes for camera movement and create elaborate videos.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Also, if you're feeling creative, we've also prepared some tips and tricks about customizing and retexturing your avatars, making them your own with a vast array of props or with a custom background.

As always, we love hearing what you think about the new content and Animaze! Tell us what you’d like to see added to Animaze on our Discord server, email us at support[@]animaze[.]us, or message us on Twitter!

Happy Streaming,
The Holotech Team

Hello animazing community,

We'd like to start out with a big THANK YOU! to all of the users who sent us their feedback for our latest update! It helped us a lot to create a better experience.
Today's update comes with new AI voices for you to try.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Find out more in the changelog below:

[h3]Desktop Changelog[/h3]

• Animaze ChatPal updates
  • added two new voice implementations: ElevenLabs and Google Text-to-Speech. You can change the voice engine in Settings > Animaze ChatPal > Voice Engine.
    
  • added a visual cue for when the Animaze ChatPal is active/connected.
    
  • added OpenAI models drop-down in Settings > Animaze ChatPal.
    
• added retexturing functionality for VRM models.
  
• fixed crash and fixed UI for the webcam feed that occurs when no camera devices are detected or Windows camera privacy is toggled to don’t allow.
  
• fixed webcam input flip being ignored at app start.
  
• scenes with 3D props will now force the shadow technique to Cascaded-shadows automatically unless no shadows option is selected. This will allow for shadows to properly render in 3D Scenes, even for objects that aren’t in the vicinity of the avatar. The default shadow technique is avatar centric.
  
• added an animation-free scaling option for props (automatically added by the system if the scaling anim is missing), which allows artists to create props without the need for the scaling animation. For regular users, there’s no perceivable change.
  
• updated Ultraleap SDK to the latest version (5.12.0), which will allow Leap Motion 2 Controllers to work with Animaze. A new Ultraleap installer is provided with the build in the Bin/prerequisites/LeapMotion/ folder.
  
• added two Ultraleap retargeting options (change them from Settings > Advanced Tracking Configuration > Ultraleap)
  
  • Wrist - Elbow Rotation Distribution which addresses a specific issue related to the skinning of the wrist in certain models. When the Ultraleap wrist rotation is applied, it can result in an unnatural contortion. The rotation distribution allows you to mitigate this effect by allocating a portion of the wrist rotation to the elbow rotation, thereby reducing the distortion observed in the wrist.
    
  • Wrist Rotation Offset allows you to slightly offset the yaw of the wrist so that you can align the palms' orientation without having to keep your hands properly parallel to each other.
    
• small change in how the upper lip roll is retargeted for pressed lips on PerfectSync avatars.
  

[h3]Editor Changelog [/h3]

• tweaked importer for RPM/VRM models to switch opaque surfaces to transparent/blended if the texture factor is sub 1, even if the texture has no alpha channel.
  
• added Shadows Technique selector in General Settings.
  

As always, we love hearing your thoughts about the new content and Animaze! Tell us what you’d like to see added to Animaze on our Discord server, email us at support[@]animaze[.]us, or message us on Twitter!

Thank you for being a part of our community, and we can't wait to see what you create with Animaze!
The Holotech Team

Hi animazing community,

What if you could have an all-knowing live-streaming sidekick, sharp-as-a-tack, and cute-as-a-button? What if that sidekick knew endless jokes, fact-checked trivia in real-time, and could even entertain your audience when you step out for a coffee break?

We are thrilled to announce the release of the Animaze ChatPal module, allowing avatars to interface with AI “brains” such as ChatGPT, opening up incredible opportunities for AI digital assistants, streaming sidekicks, and AI-based education. Get ready to engage with avatars like never before! Join us on this exciting journey.

[previewyoutube][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Animaze uses OpenAI for the LLM (ChatGPT) and Microsoft System Voices for the text-to-speech functionality (avatar's voice). A separate integration with Inworld.AI is available upon request for business and enterprise use. We are also exploring premium voice alternatives.

Learn more about Animaze ChatPal tips and usage steps from this guide. Let us know what you'd like to see next - complete our feedback form here.

[h3]Desktop Changelog[/h3]

• added Animaze ChatPal a conversational AI with Animaze Avatars.
  
• added Animaze ChatPal as new Twitch Action (send custom prompt or a Twitch chat line directly to ChatPal).
  
• tweaked anim switching between special actions and idle animations, the transition should be smoother.
  
• fixed environment mapping on transparent surfaces.
  
• fixed look-at-camera issues for VRM and Ready Player Me avatars that occurred when scaling the avatars in-app.
  
• added mouth open/close amplitude options for Alternate Lipsync Method (from Overrides).
  
• fixed cascaded shadows rendering issues on furry and skin-simulated (subsurface scattering and translucency) surfaces.
  
• changed the iPhone Tracker webcam dialog video to a simple animation.
  
• added a few optimizations in the UI and Animation systems.
  
• fixed Programmable Tracker UI issue (reopening the Select Trackers drawer would render the tracker disabled, although it was live) and retargeting issue (some face expressions weren’t applied).
  
• changed Tobii tracker (eyes and head tracker) priority to be higher than all real-time face trackers.
  
• fixed Ready Player Me avatars inverted look-at-camera behavior.
  
• added a new Import Avatar button at the beginning of the Avatars Drawer.
  

[h3]Editor Changelog[/h3]

• reduced sphere colliders radius lower limit from 0.01 to 0.0001
  
• removed import report - after import there is still the console log window that properly shows all import info
  

[h3]Known issues[/h3]

• Some users have reported crashes due to the text to speech functionality.
  If you are experiencing these crashes, please help us investigate them faster, by sending us the following information:
  
  • Let us know what options you have in the Voice drop-down from Windows Settings > Speech Settings
    
  • What is the Windows build version you have on your device
    

As always, we love hearing what you think about the new content and Animaze! Tell us what you’d like to see added to Animaze on our Discord server, email us at support[@]animaze[.]us, or message us on Twitter!

Thank you for being a part of our community, and we can't wait to see what you create with Animaze!
The Holotech Team