2D Character Image To Full 3D Animation with AI

This video is an in-depth tutorial, where I take you through all the steps to turn a 2D AI character image created in Midjourney into a fully animated 3D character model using AI.

With a mix of AI and traditional composition & motion graphic techniques to set up and add more and more to the scene.

------------------- -------------------- ---------------------

Times
0:00 - Intro
0:56 - Create 2D Image Midjourney
2:38 - 2D to 3D with CSM
4:24 - CSM continued
5:03 - Blender File Conversion
7:06 - Rigging Mixamo
8:15 - Deepmotion
10:47 - Blender Setup
13:56 - After Effects
23:05 - Runway ML
23:04 - Topaz AI
25:03 - Depth Pass Runway ML
25:31 - After Effects
32:30 - Final Result
------------------- -------------------- ---------------------

Discord:

Tools Used in this Tutorial:

- Blender

- Runway ML

- Adobe Creative Suite

- Topaz Labs Video AI: (affiliate link)

------------------- -------------------- ---------------------

After Effects Plugins:

Element 3D:

Optical Flares:

------------------- -------------------- ---------------------

Blender To After Effects Addon Link:

[jonhanson]

Wow! CSM looks amazing! I mean, obviously it's still rough, but it seems way ahead of most 3d model generating AI programs I've seen

[gilldanier]

Just can't believe, everytime I look at a new tutorial I find yet another AI doing a different job, this time turning a 2d into a 3d, where will it end? Thank you for this tut. I have to say I am very impressed with your knowledge of all these programmes, and your ability to share them, so much to take in.

[anhnhvn]

Pretty cool tutorial. By the way, CSM can now export in OBJ file format, which can be uploaded directly into Mixamo, so you can skip the file conversion step with Blender.

[ndEarth]

If you want to avoid flickering and increase quality I suppose a more limited but effective method to produce 3D background would be to create a depth map with depth-scanner (totally worth the $100 as it is much better than any other depth-map creator), and then give it a slight composite blur, extract some of the simpler front objects like big leaves and place them separately in 3D space, and then give a cool movement that matches robot's path with a displacement map either in After Effects or Blender. GREAT VIDEO!!!

[AAvfx]

Thank you for your effort, this is great. One of the best I've seen.

[JasonSmith-jvwl]

Honestly, the 2d to 3d tool would be great for crafting a base, and you can polish from there pretty well. If you made a better UV unwrap and baked the texture to a better UV that could also serve as a good base. Then with polish the Mixamo (or Accurig) rig would be more accurate and the animation would work a lot better too. Honestly, I can really get a lot out of this work flow as it could save a ton of time.

[BoldBrainWay]

Thank you for yet another great tutorial! Much appreciated.

[trytreadd]

this is simply unrealistically cool, you have opened a new world for me, please continue, I watch your lessons in one breath ❤❤❤

[Ballzy]

My brain now hurts from this information download. Thanks!

[FoxGhost]

The 2d to 3d tool will become a lot better if it allows for multiple reference image, especially front-side-back.

[mylesdb]

Awesome! When the software giants bring this all together into one single pipeline instead of jumping between different software apps, I'll be jumping in and making my feature film and immersive game world!

[cosmochatterbot]

Absolutely *mind-blowing!* This tutorial is a game-changer for anyone in the realm of digital art and animation. Watching a 2D image evolve into a full 3D animation through the seamless integration of AI and traditional techniques is nothing short of magical. The blend of Midjourney's creative image generation, Common Sense Machines' innovative 3D modeling, and the simplicity of rigging and animating with Mixamo and DeepMotion showcases an exciting frontier for creators. The final touch with Runway ML and Adobe After Effects bringing everything together in a vivid, animated scene is the cherry on top! It's thrilling to see how accessible and powerful these tools have become, opening up endless possibilities for storytelling and visual creativity. Kudos for such an enlightening and inspiring tutorial! Can't wait to dive into these tools and bring my own characters to life. #AnimationRevolution

[kuznetsov_bogdan]

Awesome lessons, bro! I am very glad that there are enthusiasts like you. Thanks to your creativity, we get unique results! 🤖

[jonrowe]

I don't think I've learnt so much in one tutorial before. Fantastic job. I'll be referencing this for years to come. Thank you.

[Yipper]

3:12 if im not mistaken this isnt actually AI. They say its AI but really its just people quickly approximating a model that looks somewhat similar to the image.
At the very least there are websites out there that advertise themselves as AI when its not really AI at all.
The biggest tell is usually if it takes hours to generate, if its AI I shouldnt take very long at all. Also if the typology is nearly perfect (not rough looking) it can often mean it was just generic assets meshed together.

[Dosujin]

Holy shit, this is amazing. Definitely going to use this kind of workflow in the future, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH :D

[MyDigitalHub]

As an AI myself, I am impressed how you play around my AI friends 🎉

[-_-DatDude]

Thanks very much for your tutorial. It is very much appreciated. 👌👌👌

[mintsunvivid]

Amazing. Best YouTube channel. Thank you.

[reflectionsAND]

I saw this tutorial 5 months ago. I now know how to use blender pretty well, and use so many other AI apps. My question is after all you did can you download it as an MP4 to upload to Facebook or Youtube? Thanks as I look forward to doing this too!?