FYI, Rhubarb Lip Sync is not Windows only.
Thank you, it works well with MB-Lab in Linux, it’s great!
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So we are looking for a model or someone to make a new stylized character for MB-Lab… more or less we are starting to test out replacing the JSON files that have been in MB-Lab since the beginning with new ones. Currently we are testing with the MB-Lab’s current models but in order for us to actually re-license the models and the JSON library we need a new character mesh. So to all you guys that have offered up your services in the past, well it is your time to shine because we could really use your help 
.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/29359875
The above is a public post
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time to finally sit down and take my stylized sculpting skills to a whole new level.
BTW, except mesh there is also body features modifiers database, tied to armature, bone lengths, etc. I mean body parameter changes that can be applied before finalization. Will it be changed/updated also? Just curious, since seems this modifications recalculate vertices AND armature bones in non-trivial correlation, as far as i remember.
What an amazing job you guys are doing with this. This is amazing, commercial-quality software. There are no better options out there!
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Well thank you!
I am too modest though, there are good alternatives. Most of them are just not open sourced.
The fact that it is open-source is amazing for indie developers. We can iterate and improve on the art and push our vision and our ideas without being restricted by silly contracts, and everyone else can do the same with our open-source games and art. It keeps the project alive forever, long after original authors are gone.
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Well it has been some time since any updates have been posted, this is because I have been busy developing a new model for MB-Lab based off of a model found on Blendswap.
It is licensed as CC-0, which is perfect for this project. It has taken a LOT of work to get this model to be compatible with MB-Lab, I am only half way through the Weight Painting process (more explained later)
Today it became a new “issue” on the GitHub site even though I have been working on this model for many days now. At least a week.
Initially I had issues getting this model to scale as the mesh was not even close to the same size. The model had a Mirror modifier added (which I guess makes it easier to build?), and scaling with that active produced all sorts of defects at first. I had to change my approach, I appended the body mesh and the default MB-Lab skeleton into a new dev file. Then I applied the Mirror modifier, then I scaled with symmetry on,at least I think that was the process… I restarted the scaling process many times before I got it right.
I had to, and STILL have to do some editing to the mesh to conform more to the default MB-Lab skeleton.
She needs new eyes for instance
Simple shading added to the model, more detailed shaders will happen later.
Right now I am in the process of editing the weights, the model is in Spanish and my knowledge in that language is limited so a lot of my work is clicking vertex groups and seeing what lights up. Most of them I am renaming, especially the fingers but the majority of the weights need to be repainted.
The above image has the Toon Girl v 1.0 on the left, and an MB-Lab Anime model on the right as a reference.
So I think what will happen is that because of the amount of work that will be needed to get this model into a working MB-Lab model is that this will NOT be in the next release (which is 1.7.6) and instead will wait for a future release after development and testing has been completed, this is so that the next release can be focused on (which is almost complete), then more time can be spent on developing this new mesh for say MB-Lab 1.7.7
That is all for now.
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Not sure about your workflow. When you say you are creating a model for MBLab, you mean that model is going to use or be used into MBLab?
Because that would turn the model to AGPL on the spot…
Or that you used MBLab in the process or doing this particular model? Then it’s AGPL before it hits the ground. That means you uploaded an AGPL model to Blendswap, not a CC0 one.
Or that you are manually creating a model that’s conformant to MBLab specifications? That’d mean you’re using MBLab database specification to do that. And that’s rings… AGPL!
(Pursuant article 70.51 law 40.18 … 
)
Since Manuel broke it, MBLab is a mine field. Sorry guys, that’s not so simple. If I download that model from Blendswap I genuinely trust the author, while instead I’m infringing someone else rights. That is, committing a crime.
I stumbled on this almost randomly. This thing should be clear, for community sake and respect.
Please clarify this potential issue.
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Daz Studio can be very expensive when you go out of the ‘free models’, the clothes are cool! Its commercial package disguised of a free one. Criticisms aside, Blender have much more features, addons, plugins, better physics.
I only need a powerful high quality human modeling with good assets… This is where MBLab enters.
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Just yesterday I discovered MB-Lab and began looking at AGPLv3 to understand if it is legally feasible to use a model made with MB-Lab+Blender for a game or some other UE4 project. I tried googling “Pursuant article 70.51 law 40.18” and the closest thing that looked like it might be relevant had to do with land ownership in Florida. @kabu You seem knowledgeable on the subject, do you have any links or resources to get a better grasp of APGLv3 for someone that has a hard time understanding Legalese?
Edit: “MB-Lab+Blender” clarification
Just noticed the post by @Neutronux about UE4. Here is the section that mentions GPL on the Unreal license agreement.
(ii) Non-Compatible Licenses
You may not combine, Distribute, or otherwise use the Licensed Technology with any code or other content which is covered by a license that would directly or indirectly require that all or part of the Licensed Technology be governed under any terms other than those of this Agreement (“ Non-Compatible License ”). Code or content under the following licenses, for example, are prohibited: GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser GPL (LGPL) (unless you are merely dynamically linking a shared library), or Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Code or content under the following licenses, for example, are allowed: BSD License, MIT License, Microsoft Public License, or Apache License. You may not sublicense the Licensed Technology under a Non-Compatible License.
I don’t think I possess the cognitive ability to make out what this means as pertaining to APGLv3 and use with UE4. I believe it is saying GPL as a whole is prohibited, but is there any possible work-around?
Also, @animate1978 , thank you for taking the time to keep this going. I cannot fathom what skill it takes to maintain this project.
EDIT: I’m not sure how I missed it earlier, perhaps just bad reading comprehension but, https://mb-lab.readthedocs.io/en/latest/license.html .
The default license for models generated by the software is AGPL 3: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html. As derived product of the AGPL’d database, the models must be distributed under AGPL 3, with the same copyright of the database.
So I guess it will be impossible to use these models with Ue4 as of right now if I am understanding this correctly.
Currently with the mesh and JSON library that Manuel has made it is not possible to use MB-Lab models for closed source games. Because of the licensing of the JSON library and the mesh, this prevents users of UE4 or Unity to make games, sell them and make profit. No demos even because demos often turn into full games, that is the purpose at least.
This is why we are planning on replacing the mesh and JSON with new ones licensed as CC-0. The code of MB-Lab is GPL3 but the model was licensed by Manuel as CC-BY for his official versions before he disappeared and quit developing. If you changed the code, this immediately changes that model to AGPL3, the JSON library being a downstream data dump of the Blender data is also rendered AGPL3. Once we replace the mesh with new ones that are licensed as CC-0, the content, the JSON library that we generate will also be licensed as such, being derived from the original Blender model. MB-Lab is not a creation tool, that is what Blender is and that is what is being used by myself and others to create the content of MB-Lab. MB-Lab just appends already existing models and corresponding JSON files and manipulates it in it’s own way.
It’s complicated.
Aside all the legal matters, people want new characters in MB-Lab, for the longest time this was not possible because we didn’t know how it worked yet. Now we are understanding more, have developed the scripts to dump vertice, weight and polygon data from Blender to JSON and now in the middle of building the character so that MB-Lab can use it.
There is the idea that if we can do this, so can you. We are looking at code and trying to change it so that it would be easier for users and developers alike to add new characters to MB-Lab.
When I say we I mean myself and the few others that have donated their time and energy into this project over the past year. I honestly don’t know if they come onto this forum but I personally want to thank @Noizirom for the scripting work to make this possible.
That’s all I got for now.
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I’d sure say. Thanks for explaining it a bit though, and so quickly.
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You are right: DAZ Studio can be expensive. Its quite easy to end up in the poor house buying everything and all from their shop. I have developed a strategy where I focus on buying things I really think will be useful for my purposes: core figures, morphs and props/clothes/hair that I deem to be versatile. Creating characters like G3/8 is well beyond my skills, something that will never change. So buying them is the way to go for me. Also: the quality and flexibility of the things DAZ has to offer were and still are simply excellent! The company is continuously offering rebates on old and new products, so if you keep an eye on the site you can save a lot of cash. Especially if you have some patience. I estimate I purchased about $1000 of products over the last 15 or so years, most of them during sales. And I really am not a rich person!
Yes, I tried MBLab. It has come a long way to where it is now, kudos to all involved in the development, past & present. I can see its a very good add-on, but just not for me. I keep it at DAZ Studio+Teleblender+Blender to make my investments worthwhile and because I’m familiar & happy with the workflow. It’s a good thing there are different options available when it comes to using characters in Blender.
From the original Manuel Bastioni Character Lab, v. 161a, downloaded from your site https://github.com/NumesSanguis/FACSvatar/releases/download/v0.3.4-alpha-release/manuelbastionilab_161a.zip (latest known published edition; (license.txt file)
LICENSE OF THE CODE
All python files released in the ManuelbastioniLAB package,
are released under GNU General Public License 3.ManuelbastioniLAB - Copyright (C) 2015-2018 Manuel Bastioni
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.htmlLICENSE OF THE DATABASE
All data files released in the ManuelbastioniLAB package,
including all the meshes and data contained in .blend files or in any other 3d file format
(for example .obj and .mtl), all the images and all the json files are released
under GNU Affero General Public License 3.ManuelbastioniLAB - Copyright (C) 2015-2018 Manuel Bastioni
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html.LICENSE OF MODELS GENERATED BY THE SOFTWARE.
The AGPL can be an obstacle in case someone wants to create a closed
source game or closed source 3D models using 3D characters made with
the lab because the AGPL will propagate from the base models and from
the database to the output models.For this reason it was decided to consent a double license ONLY for
the models generated by the official software*, NOT for the source code,
NOT for the json database and NOT for blend files included in
the distribution:
The default license for models generated by the software
is AGPL 3: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html.
As derived product of the AGPL’d database, the models must be
distribuited under AGPL 3, with the same copyright of the database.Alternatively, for closed source games or closed source 3D models,
it’s possible to choose, for characters generated by the official* software,
the Attribution 4.0 International, giving to Manuel Bastioni the credit
as required by that license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
- Official software = officially released on www.manuelbastioni.com.
Also see the page http://www.manuelbastioni.com/guide_certificates.php
I’m naming the original version of the tool created by Manuel Bastioni as “the original, or Manuel Bastioni Character Lab”, and the new version created by you (@animate1978) as “the derived copy, or MB-Lab”.
Exactly. As it is straightforward clear that MB-Lab is not the original software, MB-Lab can only grant to the users AGPL rights on its byproducts. All model generated by your tools falls under AGPL.
Pardon?
Whatever you put into the database, it does not make any difference. It’s not the way you do it; it’s the way Manuel Bastioni licensed it. It does not matter the trick, the idea, the workaroud; it is, and it is going to remain, AGPL.
TL;DR; The problem is that you cannot change that license.txt file. You can do nothing for that. Only the original author can.
Oh well, this is big.
Looks like you’re trying to play down Manuel job and work of art here. Very unfair, and unrespectful.
But clearly this is not your intention; you probably mispelled it.
It looks very clear to me. AGPL.
Dump what you want to dump, to json or whatever. It’s GPL for the python code, AGPL for all the database parts, both the models it the blend file (humanoid_library.blend) and all the json files under the data directory.
manuelbastionilab> tree -L 2
├── init.py
├── agpl-3.0.txt
├── algorithms.py
├── animationengine.py
├── data
│ ├── anthropometry
│ ├── assets
│ ├── bboxes
│ ├── characters_config.json
│ ├── expressions_comb
│ ├── expressions_morphs
│ ├── humanoid_library.blend
│ ├── joints
│ ├── measures
│ ├── morphs
│ ├── pgroups
│ ├── phenotypes
│ ├── poses
│ ├── presets
│ ├── retarget_knowledge.json
│ ├── textures
│ ├── transformations
│ ├── vertices
│ └── vgroups
├── gpl-3.0.txt
├── humanoid.py
├── license.txt
├── materialengine.py
├── morphengine.py
├── proxyengine.py
└── skeletonengine.py
By the way, the original files reported the correct copyright notices, with Manuel name:
#ManuelbastioniLAB - Copyright (C) 2015-2018 Manuel Bastioni
#Official site: www.manuelbastioni.com
#This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
and now it disappeared. You can change the code under GPL, but deleting the attribution… please reinstate that.
In short, every model generated by MBLab, not being the original software made by Manuel Bastioni, is AGPL.
Now please leave the darn thing to its deserved rest. You could have helped Manuel when it needed your help. Now it’s too late.
IANAL/TINLA but I don’t think this argument makes sense. Manual Bastioni’s LAB was an open-source project derived in part from MakeHuman (also open-source) – MB-Lab is an open-source fork of Manual Bastioni’s LAB, not a product of it. The AGPL doesn’t apply to MB-Lab or its models.
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You mean that MBLab is completely, entirely a new, original software solution product, completely rewritten from scratch, which bears no connection to the original Manuel Bastioni Character Lab?
In short, not a single file of the original Manuel Bastioni Character Lab is ended up into MBLab, either in its original form or as a derivative copy?
I’m not part of the project, nor do I speak for it. That having been said:
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