FAQ

If the answer to your question is not listed on this page, please do not hesitate and click here to send us a message and contact us directly.

General information

Q. What is Polywink?

Polywink is an online platform of 3D animation services to help you gain time, flexibility and productivity by automating time-consuming tasks. It is based on technologies developed over the years by the Digital Double company Eisko, specialized in Digital Humans and facial animation.

Q. What happens after my upload?

You will receive a notification once we have validated your order, that's when we'll begin working on your model. You will then receive a second email within 24 hours containing a link in order to download your model, which you can also access through your personal account at all times. You will not be charged if your model is not processed.

Q. Are my models safe with you?

The ownership and exploitation rights attached to uploaded data are naturally intact and the confidentiality is ensured by the fact your uploaded models are automatically deleted from our servers after processing.

Q. What rights do I have on the delivered rig/ blendshapes?

You naturally get the ownership of the models delivered by our service.

The Commercial License is valid for external, promotional and commercial use. Please refer to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

However, please note you do not have the rights to distribute the rig or blendshapes themselves, only the resulting animations.

Q. What kind of support do I get with your services?

We are fully dedicated to answering your requests through the contact form (please note that we are located in GMT+1). However, our support does not extend beyond ensuring that the provided rig or blendshapes are fully functional in the context they were delivered in. We cannot commit to helping you include our service into your already existing platforms or project, nor in any scenes different than the originally provided one.

Blendshapes on Demand

Q. What is Blendshapes on Demand?

Blendshapes on Demand is an online service based on one of our in-house animation tools which automatically generates a set of 157 facial expressions perfectly adapted to your characters. Simply upload a static 3D model and receive a wide range of expressions, instantly saving weeks of work! Thanks to this internal software, we are able to transfer deformations from one mesh to another independently of their topology while taking into account their morphological differences.

Q. Why should I use Blendshapes on demand?

Blendshapes on Demand is a fast and cost-effective way to animate your characters. You can save up to a month of work and thousands of dollars, generating the blendshapes you need in mere hours instead of dedicating weeks of manual work.
By automatically transferring a whole set of expressions to a series of models you provide us, this service will also drastically improve the quality of your animations. Whether you are considering to use the blendshapes in a traditional animation rig or just to help you on sculpting expressions, this service is a true cost-efficient game changer to populate your digital worlds and animate your models!

Q. What exactly should I upload for Blendshapes on Demand?

Upload one single model per purchased item; you can purchase multiple items in one order if necessary. In that case, simply upload the models one by one on checkout.
Each model must be a head with a neutral pose (eyes open and mouth shut); the eyes, tongue, teeth and gum should not be merged. Models should come without additional hair features like eyelashes, eyebrows, or beard.
We can process any polygonal mesh, topology or UVs.
We accept OBJ and FBX files. Please click here to watch our tutorial video: How to upload your 3D head model on Polywink.

Facial Rig on Demand

Q. What is Facial Rig on Demand?

Facial Rig on Demand is an online service based on an in-house animation tool which automatically generates and applies a set of 236 or 73 blendshapes with bones. It is a logical extension of Blendshapes on Demand, as we know artists need not only good expressions but proper ways to control them too.
Flexible, robust and easy to use, the rig is compatible with Maya and can be exported to Unity and Unreal. It will then smoothly incorporate any precomp or real-time animation production, no matter the modeling style (cartoon, photorealistic…) and the animation approach (MoCap, Video Tracking or keyframing).

Q. Why should I be using Facial Rig on Demand?

Facial Rig on Demand is a fast and cost-effective way to animate your characters. You can save up to a month of work and thousands of dollars, generating the blendshapes and rigs you need in mere hours instead of dedicating weeks of manual work.
By automatically transferring a whole set of expressions to a series of models you provide us, this service will also drastically improve the quality of your animations. This service is a true cost-efficient game changer to populate your digital worlds and animate your models!

Q. What exactly should I upload?

Upload one single model per purchased item; you can purchase multiple items in one order if necessary. In that case, simply upload the models one by one on checkout.
Each model must be a head with a neutral pose (eyes open and mouth shut); the eyes, tongue, teeth and gum should not be merged.
We can process any polygonal mesh, topology or UVs.
We accept OBJ and FBX files. Please click here to watch our tutorial video: How to upload your 3D head model on Polywink.

Q. How much control do I get?

Our rig offers several ways to control the expressions on different levels. Separate panels will give you a more general control over blendshapes and expressions while on-mesh controllers grant you a closer control of detailed parts and bones. Display handles makes it intuitive to toggle between modes. Our experience has shown riggers usually have their own ways and habits so we made sure our rig was fully customizable and upgradable.

Animation for iPhone X

Q. What is Animation for iPhone X?

Animation for iPhone X is an online service based on our in-house animation tools which automatically generates a set of facial expressions along with a simple rig, compatible with Maya, Unity or Unreal Engine, specifically designed for animation through the Iphone X's ARKit technology. Simply upload a static 3D model and receive a wide range of expressions, instantly saving weeks of work!

Q. Why should I use Animation for iPhone X?

Animation for iPhone X is a fast and cost-effective way to animate your characters. You can save up to a month of work and thousands of dollars, generating the blendshapes you need in mere hours instead of dedicating weeks of manual work.

Q. What exactly should I upload when I order Animation for iPhone X?

Upload one single model per purchased item; you can purchase multiple items in one order if necessary. In that case, simply upload the models one by one on checkout.
Each model must be a head with a neutral pose (eyes open and mouth shut) and come with two additional elements: eyes and inner mouth (teeth, gum, tongue).
We can process any polygonal mesh, topology or UVs.
We accept OBJ and FBX files. Please click here to watch our tutorial video: How to upload your 3D head model on Polywink.

Q. Why are all additional meshes combined in the result?

In order to be driven through the ARKit, the resulting model must be made of only one set of 52 blendshapes encompassing all the different geometries. This also allows the resulting model to be properly used in Unity, Unreal and standard animation softwares.
If you are willing to keep your geometries uncombined and get a higher level of control, we suggest you have a look at our Rig on Demand product.

Speech & animation from text

Q. What is Text-to-Speech & Animation?

Text to Speech & Animation is an online service that automatically generates speech animation perfectly synchronized with voice generation of any of your character rigged with Polywink. Based on your input rigged model (issued from Polywink's Rig on Demand) and your input text, this service will generate to voice audio file and keyframe the visemes corresponding to your script in the language of your choice.

Q. Why should I use Text-to-Speech & Animation?

Whatever your production need (3D animation series with voice-over for localization, video-games cinematics, conversational chatbots or virtual influencers...), Polywink's Speech & Animation from text is a true time and budget saver by delivering you a Maya scene together with a generated Wave audio file of your speech animation ready to be played.

Q. What exactly should I upload when I order Text-to-Speech & Animation?

To get speech animation synchronized with voice generation for your 3D character, simply purchase this service by specifying the langage of your script (English -UK or US-, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German, French) and the gender (male/ female) associated to the voice:

- Upload your 3D rigged model produced through Polywink as a Maya file (.MB)
If you already have your model rigged with Polywink's Rig on Demand (either Highly Expressive or Standard) you can upload your animatable model straight ahead. If not, purchase the rig adapted to your need through Rig on Demand for Maya

- Upload your script as a .txt file in the specified langage.

Each order counts for the processing of the Speech & Animation associated to 1000 letters (~approximatively 1 minute of standard speech).
If the length of your script exceeds 1000 characters, just state the number of order as the number of thousand of typefaces included in your text file.