Meet NANA, Moonshine Studio's AI-Powered Receptionist Avatar

Editor's note: This post is part of our weekly In the NVIDIA Studio series, which celebrates featured artists, offers creative tips and tricks, and demonstrates how NVIDIA Studio technology improves creative workflows. We're also deep diving on new GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU features, technologies and resources, and how they dramatically accelerate content creation.

The creative team at Moonshine Studio - an artist-focused visual effects (VFX) studio specializing in animation and motion design - was tasked to solve a problem.

At their Taiwan office, receptionists were constantly engaged in meeting and greeting guests, preventing them from completing other important administrative work. To make matters worse, the automated kiosk greeting system wasn't working as expected.

Senior Moonshine Studio 3D artist and this week's In the NVIDIA Studio creator Eric Chiang stepped up to the challenge. He created a realistic, interactive 3D model that would serve as the foundation of a new AI-powered virtual assistant - NANA. The avatar can welcome guests and provide basic company info, easing the strain on the receptionist team.

Chiang built NANA using GPU-accelerated features in his favorite creative apps - powered by his NVIDIA Studio-badged MSI MEG Trident X2 PC, which is equipped with a GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card.

His creative workflow was enhanced by the Tensor Cores in his GPU, which supercharged AI-specific tasks - saving him time and elevating the quality of his work. RTX and AI also improve performance in gaming, boost productivity and more.

These advanced features are supported by NVIDIA Studio Drivers, - free for RTX GPU owners - which add performance and reliability. The December Studio Driver provides support for the Reallusion iClone AccuFACE plugin, GPU audio enhancements, AV1 in HandBrake and more - and is now ready for download.

Contests and Challenges Calling All Creators

Creative community The Rookies is hosting Meet Mat 3 - the 3D digital painting contest. Open to students and professionals with no more than a year of industry experience, it challenges contestants to use Adobe Substance 3D Painter to texture a blank character, MAT, in their own unique style. Prizes include GeForce RTX GPUs, Wacom Cintiq displays and more. Register today - entries close Jan. 5, 2024.

MAT, textured by artist Cino Lai in Adobe Substance 3D Painter. And though temperatures continue to drop, the #WinterArtChallenge is heating up with un-brrrrrr-lievable entries like this extraordinary #InstantNeRF by @RadianceFields.

Let s see your creativity shine!

Winter is here, and we re excited to join the #WinterArtChallenge

Share your winter-themed art using the hashtag for a chance to be featured on our social channels.

Get inspired by this incredible #InstantNeRF by @RadianceFields. pic.twitter.com/IwUgXqXx6o

NVIDIA AI Developer (@NVIDIAAIDev) December 4, 2023

Be sure to include the #WinterArtChallenge hashtag for a chance to be featured on the @NVIDIAStudio, @NVIDIAOmniverse or @NVIDIAAIDev social channels.

An AI on the Future Chiang began in Blender, sculpting intricate 3D models that served as the building blocks for NANA. Blender Cycles' RTX-accelerated OptiX ray tracing in the viewport unlocked interactive, photorealistic modeling.

https://blogs.nvidia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/studio-eric-chiang-wk87-Blender- -1280w.mp4

He then used the Marvelous Designer software for making, editing and reusing 3D clothes to create realistic clothing for NANA. This streamlined the design and simulation process, ensuring that the avatar is not only structurally sound but impeccably dressed.

NANA's casual day outfit. Chiang deployed Quixel Mixer and Adobe Substance 3D Painter for shading, adding depth, texture and realism to the 3D models.

https://blogs.nvidia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/studio-eric-chiang-wk87-SP_ -1280w.mp4

He then used the Blender plug-in AccuRIG to efficiently create precise, adaptable character rigs.

https://blogs.nvidia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/studio-eric-chiang-wk87-SP_ -1280w.mp4

Chiang put everything together in Unreal Engine, where he seamlessly integrated 3D objects into the scene, leveraging real-time rendering to create visually stunning results.

https://blogs.nvidia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/studio-eric-chiang-wk87-SSS-1280w.mp4

NVIDIA DLSS further increased viewport interactivity by using AI to upscale frames rendered at lower resolution while still retaining high-fidelity detail. All of this was powered by his GeForce RTX 4090 GPU.

The NVIDIA Studio-badged MSI MEG Trident X2 PC, equipped with a GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. Chiang is excited about what AI can do for creators and society at large.

What was once science fiction is now becoming reality, opening the door to a whole new stage of scientific and technological development, he said. We are fortunate to participate in and witness this new stage.

Moonshine Studio digital 3D artist Eric Chiang. Visit Moonshine Studio and say hello to NANA.

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LINK:	https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/studio-moonshine-blender-marvelous-desig...
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