The future is here
What are 4D People?
4D People are hyper-realistic moving human 3D models. They are technically 3D assets. However, their movements and general appearance look true to life, as the 4D People models are created with state-of-the-art volumetric capture technology. They are, so to speak, moving 3D scans – the next generation of human 3D models.
4D People are easy and ready to use, no plug-in is required. They are available in the following file formats. Moreover, the open and widely used Alembic standard allows 4D People to be used in a variety of further 3D programs.
Hyper-Realistic Movement & Emotion.
4D People help you to bring life into digital worlds.
Bringing 3D worlds to life is one of the greatest challenges, usually associated with a great deal of effort. 4D People models are easy to use while achieving the greatest possible impact in making any digital world appear alive, because they themselves look so lifelike.
4D People are perfectly suited to be used in 3D renderings of any kind, whether architectural visualization, product visualization, virtual production, or visual effects. Moreover, they can be placed into any AR, MR, VR, 360, or 2D video/web application on a variety of devices – such as phones, holographic headsets, and Windows Mixed Reality Immersive Headsets.
State-Of-The-Art Technology
The world's most advanced volumetric capture studio.
All 4D People models are produced in the world-leading volumetric capture stage developed and operated by Volucap. The studio is located in the FX Center within Studio Babelsberg, Germany. The almost 13 feet (4 meters) high light rotunda is equipped with a minimum of 32 cameras that capture every movement and facial expression from a 360° perspective.
Inside the room, people are scanned three-dimensionally and lifelike. Recordings are later transformed into structured and animated 3D surfaces by intelligent software algorithms. The result is an easy-to-use but highly realistic human 3D model.
Unmatched 4D People Quality
Cutting edge volumetric captured humans.
Due to the unparalleled quality of the recordings from the Volucap studio, the 4D People models also set a new quality standard for volumetric captured humans. All 4D models contain a high-resolution 30 fps geometry and texture sequence and can be used in common 3D applications without requiring a plug-in.
4D People are initiating the future of 3D content. They are the next generation of hyper-realistic scanned human 3D models.
Start using 4D People Now
Frequently Asked Questions
4D People are available for the following formats and render engines:
| Format | Supported Render Engines |
|---|---|
| 3ds Max + Alembic | V-Ray, Corona, Octane and Native |
| Maya + Alembic | V-Ray and Native |
| Cindema 4D + Alembic | V-Ray, Corona, Octane and Native |
| Blender + Alembic | Cylces, Eevee |
| Alembic | no pre-built materials |
How to import/merge 4D People into a 3ds Max scene
To import/merge 4D People into one of your existing 3ds Max scenes, just do the following:
- Choose your desired render engine.
- Make sure your scene is set to 30fps.
- Choose which texture resolution is best suited for your 3D environment, 2k or 4k. Higher resolution textures look better at close range distances but will require more resources.
- Copy the alembic file (*.abc) and “tex_2k” or “tex_4k” folder next to your 3ds Max scene file.
- Main Menu –> File –> Import -> Merge -> select the .max file
Common issues when using our 4D People in 3ds Max
- When working with the Native render engine, you might receive a “Missing Map Files” error at render time; you can simply check the checkbox “Don’t display this message” and continue rendering.
- When working with the V-Ray render engine, your textures might not display correctly in the viewport, but they do when rendering. This is because V-Ray sometimes has issues dynamically updating the textures for each frame in the viewport. Saving and restarting the scene can fix this issue.
- When working with the Corona render engine, you might receive the error message “Required asset file(s) could not be located” at render time; you can simply select the “Dismiss Button” and continue rendering.
- When working with the Octane render engine and you are using the standard 3ds Max viewport, the textures will not be displayed correctly. For a correct view, please use the OctaneRender Viewport.
How to import/merge 4D People into a Maya scene
To import/merge 4D People into one of your existing Maya scenes, just do the following:
- Choose your desired render engine.
- Make sure your scene is set to 30fps.
- Choose which texture resolution is best suited for your 3D environment, 2k or 4k. Higher resolution textures look better at close range distances but will require more resources.
- Copy the alembic file (*.abc) and “tex_2k” or “tex_4k” folder next to your Maya scene file.
- Main Menu –> File –> Import -> select the .ma file
Common issues when using our 4D People in Maya
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How to import/merge 4D People into a Cinema 4D scene
To import/merge 4D People into one of your existing Cinema 4D scenes, just do the following:
- Choose your desired render engine.
- Make sure your scene is set to 30fps.
- Copy the alembic file (*.abc) and tex folder next to your Cinema 4D scene file.
- Main Menu –> File –> Merge -> select the .c4d file
Common issues when using our 4D People in Cinema 4D
- Cinema 4D is not able to dynamically update the textures in the viewport. As a result, only the first few frames will be displayed correctly.
- Most render engines will have the option to use an interactive render viewport. Choosing this option will allow you to view the textures correctly on the model.
How to import/merge 4D People into a Blender scene
To import/merge 4D People into one of your existing Blender scenes, just do the following:
- Choose your desired render engine.
- Make sure your scene is set to 30fps.
- Choose which texture resolution is best suited for your 3D environment, 2k or 4k. Higher resolution textures look better at close range distances but will require more resources.
- Copy the alembic file (*.abc) and “tex_2k” or “tex_4k” folder next to your Blender scene file.
- Main Menu –> File –> Append -> select the .blend file -> select object folder -> select the object listed
Common issues when using our 4D People in Blender
- Sometimes Blender might display the model textures in purple/pink. Simply scrub the timeline, and the textures should update. If this does not fix the issue, please double-check that the “tex_2k” or “tex_4k” folder was copied next to the saved scene file.
To import our 4D People into other 3D software, you will need to make sure that the software can support importing alembic files, utilise an image sequence and play animations. A great way to test this is by downloading our free model as Alembic.
When you are certain that the software supports the mentioned requirements, you can follow a few simple steps to import our models.
- The scene needs to be set to 30fps for our alembic to play correctly and for the texture to be displayed correctly at render time.
- Save the scene and copy our alembic file (*.abc) and the textures “tex_2k” or “tex_4k” next to the scene file. Depending on the software, it might be beneficial to the performance to choose the smaller “2k” resolution.
- Import/merge our alembic file into your scene.
- Create a material and link the first texture in the sequence to the material. At this stage, you will often be presented with the option to mark the textures as an image sequence.
- Link the newly created material to the model in the scene. At this point, you should see the model with the correct texture displayed. If this is not the case, please render the scene to check if perhaps the viewport is not able to display the image sequence correctly. Some software lack the ability to update the textures dynamically but have no issues at render time. Should the texture also be incorrect at render time, you might have missed a step, or the software is not able to work with our models.
Feel free to contact us via chat or email on renderpeople.com.
- When the textures are incorrectly displayed at render time, please make sure that your scene is saved, and the correct “tex_*” folder is copied next to that save file.
- When the model is not visible in the viewport and at render time, please make sure that your scene is saved, and the alembic (*.abc”) file is copied next to that save file.
If you have any further questions about the 4D People, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are very happy to help and to learn from your feedback. Please don't be surprised, you will be redirected to the Renderpeople website. The team of Renderpeople is responsible for the 4D People development.