Incredible iClone Update Coming

Look out for a fantastic new update to iClone coming in September. The new version (Probably v2.5) will add some great new features to iClone including large scale scenes. For anyone who has checked out the v3.0 preview video you will have seen some fantastic massive medieval battle scenes which were thought to only be available when iClone 3.0 becomes available next year. Well it seems we don't have to wait that long, because the new update will make those features available now. Exciting or what?

If the information is correct then sometime in September we will get the update and a new Medieval Pack will be available featuring everything you need to recreate huge battles including the long awaited horses that were previewed some time ago.

Once again it looks like Reallusion is going to up the ante with some incredible improvements to the already feature packed iClone. I'm astounded at the rate Reallusion bring us all these new goodies so the next few months look to be pretty exciting.

You can check out the preview post on the Reallusion Forum here for more info.

New Hair Packs Released

Reallusion have released 2 new hair packs in their content store. Entitled Fantasy Character Hair Vol 1 & 2, these new packs both contain 7 new hair styles each. Volume 1 is a male hairstyle pack while Volume 2 is for the female characters.

As the title suggests these are mainly aimed at "Fantasy" characters but in reality you could find a use for them with any kind of characters with a simple colour change. Priced at $9.95 for each pack this is a little more expensive than the last couple of hair packs but still good value for money when you think you are only paying $1.42 per new hairstyle.

It doesn't seem that long ago when we were really limited with the hairstyles available but now we have quite a good selection of varied styles available to us. I would still like to see more of course, but them I'm greedy by nature. You can check out the two new packs here and here.

Daz Freebies

Over at the Daz website they have regular free models for download and the current offer is a fantastic 7 piece Beach Set called Beyond The Sea. The items include a deck chair, towel, table, umbrella and a beach ball all of which can be converted in 3DXchange to iClone format and make great additions to your scene and props library.

The process of getting these freebies is a little involved but worth it in the end because they do have some incredible models offered for free or for a very low price. Firstly you will need to register with Daz and to get the freebie you will still have to go through the purchasing process even though the cost will be nothing.

After you have downloaded the free model you will need to install it into either Poser or Daz Studio (Also FREE from Daz) and then export it into OBJ format ready for 3DXchange.

The Beach Set is only free until August 28th so if you want it you will need to get moving fast. Full details of the set can be found here:

Furniture Pack Vol 1 Review

The recently released iClone Furniture Pack Volume 1 is a collection of 70+ home and office props. The pack is modern in style with designs that wouldn’t be out of place in your local Ikea. The download is 46mb in size and requires a serial when installing.

Once the pack is installed you will find it in the Props section, in its own folder called Furniture V1. Within this folder there will be 6 sub-folders named Bed (5 items), Chair, (14 items), Partition (18 items), Shelf (5 Items), Sofa (25 items) and Table (11 items).

The props in this set are ideal for office scenes, living room scenes or bedroom scenes. There is no kitchen furniture included or dining room props but many chairs could double for other uses etc. The strongest elements in the pack are the office props and with these it is possible to recreate a real variety of great office scenes and if you have the Working Fashion Theme Pack then you have everything you need to create office set movies.

The thing that stands out about this pack is its quality. Everything in this pack is first rate with realistic looking models and great textures that when rendered look really impressive.

One thing I realised once I tried out this pack is that there is a shortage of lying down poses or animations. Trying to get my characters to look natural in the horizontal position on the beds wasn’t quite as easy as I first thought and so I’ve had to create a few simple poses in the motion editor to get by but it certainly would be nice to have a motion pack dedicated to relaxation and sleeping poses. Maybe one will come out soon or I may create my own if I can find the time.

Overall this pack is first rate. A total of 78 props for $39.95 (£25.78 in the UK with the dreaded 19% tax added on) this is fantastic value for money and a top notch addition to your library.

You can check out full details of what is included and screenshots of all the items here:

iClone 3.0 Promo Video

The Reallusion team have returned from Siggraph and have unveiled an early video promo for iClone 3.0 and boy does it all look impressive. The development of iClone continues at such a pace and the improvements that are coming are mind blowing. Check out the video to see what I mean. iClone 3.0 is due for release in 2008.

iClone Continues To Grow

The number of new additions to iClone continues to grow and at a real fast rate. It doesn't seem too long ago that iClone 2.0 made it's debut but already we have had a number of fantastic add-on packs, including the bar pushing CloneCloth to make iClone a really powerful tool in the world of 3D film making and character creation. No longer am I constantly thinking, 'If only I had this, or if only I had that'.

Now when I want to do something in iClone more often than not what I require is immediately available to me or if it isn't, powering up 3DXchange and delving into my model collection will normally solve the problem. I still wish for more animations but now I have a big enough library that at least I have a starting animation with which to edit in the Motion Editor and it doesn't take half as long as starting from scratch.

I used to use Poser or Daz Studio on a daily basis but now unless I want to convert something for iClone I hardly use them, preferring to spend my time in iClone. I'am really excited about the future of this fantastic product and can't wait for what Reallusion will unveil for us next. Exciting times ahead I think.

Fantasy World - Evil Force

Hot on the heels of the previous post comes the release of the new pack, now entitled Fantasy World II - Evil Force. This follow up to the earlier released Dungeon Quest contains a multitude of goodies for your iClone collection. First off, which was a surprise, is that the figures are based on the older G1 mesh rather than the newer G2 figures as I had (wrongly) presumed. In my defence it was an easy mistake to make because they look truly fantastic and the best fantasy characters yet. You get in the combo pack 4 characters, 19 weapons, 113 motions, 2 3D scenes plus 7 scene props and a helmet accessory.

The complete combo pack is available for $99.95 but the contents are also available in individual packs, although it should be noted you will save almost $80 by buying the whole pack in one.

One other thing worth noting is that when you register the pack you will get access to a bonus project and prop collection which is really great and shows off some amazing effects in the 7 sample projects.

Full details of the pack can be found here: