At SIGGRAPH 2010, Reallusion showed Icrontic some updates to their 3D animation software, iClone4. In particular, the Reallusion guys were excited to show off their new 3D stereoscopy effects that can bring the same 3D visual effects seen at the theater to content creators, all with the ease of flipping a few toggle switches.
iClone4 is a real-time animation suite, which includes tools for motion graphics, 3D animation, and video compositing. Because it is real-time, it is very much what-you-see-is-what-you-get, which isn’t at all a bad thing. Using current-gen graphics cards to their fullest extent, iClone4 allows everyone from home-based enthusiasts to movie producers to quickly and efficiently create an entire video production, all in one package.
We met with John Martin, Reallusion Vice President of Product Marketing, who was excited to show us their new hot tamale: true 3D stereoscopy options in iClone4. After pulling up a pre-made scene with a stage set and characters, John gave us a pair of classic cyan-and-red tinted 3D glasses and then activated the stereoscopic view.
Example of anaglyph 3D image from iClone4
My initial reaction was that it was actually fairly impressive. Once activated, the user can adjust how intense to make the stereoscopic effect, along with other fine-tuning. I also asked if the software is limited to the red-cyan anaglyph imagery, fearing that it was. To my delight, iClone4 is compatible with several other 3D technologies such as polarized and active-shutter 3D glasses.
From there, John gave us a recap of what iClone4 is capable of. Because Chris White has already graced us with an extraordinary and very in-depth review of iClone4, I’ll keep things brief and summarized.
I’ll point out again that iClone4 is officially the bridge between “machinima” in games, and full-blown industry-level 3D animation packages—and the benefits of both. Because it can be viewed and rendered out in real time, it is perfect for fast-paced production environments such as podcasts. There are no “surprises” on how the final product will turn out, as you see it happening in front of you.
The control over the production flow and what you can do is incredible. Sets can be built, textured, and lit similar to high-end software, and even has HDR (high dynamic range) capabilities. Characters can be created from the built-in avatar actor manager, similar to that of character creators in modern games like Mass Effect, but on steroids. You can even use a photo to map a real-life person’s face onto a character, which iClone makes shockingly easy to do.
Using a photo to make a face is incredible
When it comes time to animate, again there is a lot of flexibility to be had in iClone4. For those that value quickness, there are many pre-built animation cycles that can be applied to virtual actors. Directors can also take a more manual approach, and keyframe all the animations in manually, similar to Autodesk’s Maya. You can even engage in puppeteering, using the mouse to animate the character around while recording the motions.
Finally, to really streamline setting up scenes and characters quickly, iClone4 has its own digital content store. Similar to stock photography, users can purchase and download assets from Reallusion, other artists, or even upload their own content. As such, iClone4 isn’t just a content creation package, but also a content sharing experience.
Overall, iClone4 is a pretty amazing animation suite. From impressive real-time visuals to new 3D abilities, there is quite a lot to be had. It won’t do James Cameron-level photo-realism, but that was never its purpose. As they say, use the right tool for the right job, and iClone is a pretty crafty tool at that.
For those that want to give iClone4 and its new 3D stereo output a try, there is a completely free feature-light “EX” version that is perfect to play around with, available for download on the official iClone4 page here. A $79.95 Standard and $199.95 Pro editions exist as well, with their own added feature sets. As a note, the free “EX” has several of the Pro features that are available for 15 days before expiring, after which it will continue to function as a basic version of iClone4.
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