Reallusion New Forum

Reallusion have recently updated their long unchanged forum to a brand spanking new design with loads of new features and a more stylish look. As you may be aware I'm a moderator over at the forum and can be found giving (hopefully) good advice and help whenever I can, and it is really a fun place to be with both iClone veterans and newbies alike joining in.

The new forum has only been open a short while but already it has over 700 members and growing at a rapid rate. It is by no means the busiest forum on the web but is growing in both members and posts everyday. If you are a member and have never posted, why not pop in today and say Hi.

You can find the forum here:

iClone 2.5 Update News

After building myself into a frenzy of anticipation over the release of the v2.5 update came the news that there is to be another small delay to early October. The disappointment I felt was lessened somewhat by the news that the new update will also include a default Horse figure free.

Now if you haven't seen the sneak peek shots of the horses over at the Reallusion forum you may not think this is a big thing but really the new horses look truly fantastic and I can't wait to add them to my collection. Just think of the new uses for these animated horses and it will really add a new dimension to your movie making projects. Take a look at the pic above to see what I mean about the quality. I tip my hat to the talented guys at Reallusion for their incredible work.

Create Props With iClone Blocks

Because I'm a long time 3D modeller I often overlook some of the powerful features that are available within iClone for creating custom content. A prime example of this is the 3D Blocks system that is built into iClone.

Most of my props and accessories have been brought in via other 3D modelling programs through 3DXchange or Max, but for those who don't have (or want) to use 3rd party programs, the 3D Blocks system can create some really great high quality props for your library without the need for external modelling software.

Check out the fantastic 21 minute tutorial video that Reallusion has created on this subject, which will guide you through creating a sample keyboard and monitor prop.

iClone v2.5 Update - Small Delay

I was hoping that the v2.5 update for iClone was going to be released today but it seems there is going to be a small delay before it is released. Visconti has stated in a post on over at the Reallusion Forum that it will be released sometime after mid September so it shouldn't be too long a delay.

Even better is a teaser was also posted showing a couple of the new features of v2.5. The much needed "Link-To" feature is confirmed which will make life a lot easier now as it will be possible to link a character to a car, boat, horse etc and the two will move as one. Great stuff.

You can check out the Sneak Preview post here:

iClone 2.5 Available Soon

While we look forward to iClone 3.0 there is another important milestone first in the evolution of iClone, and that is the v2.5 update and it's coming real soon. All being well in the next 10 days we should be able to get our hands on this latest free of charge update and frankly I'm pretty hyped about it.

With a lot of products, a mid version update may include a couple of bug fixes, a few new minor features but mostly all the good stuff will be held back for the next full version release. From past experience Reallusion do things differently and the 1.5 update gave us a multitude of new goodies to play with and so I'm hoping the same will happen again with 2.5.

We are promised the "Large Scale Scenes" ability in the update which is massive in itself, but there isn't much detail on what other things (if any) will be added but that's not stopping me getting excited in the meantime. Look for the new update to appear sometime mid September. Of course I'll have all the details here when it is released. Happy iCloning.

More News On iClone 3.0

A recent press release from Reallusion gave some interesting information on the features that may be part of next years iClone 3.0. The press release contained the following information.

"iClone™ 3 includes an enhanced real-time engine, new features and updated tools. iClone directing evolves with game-style right click reticule menus, in-screen picking and editing of objects, new multi-camera and lighting system, multiple undo, dynamic look-at constraint and automatic link-to for connecting characters to objects. "

I think you will agree that is an impressive list of new features to look forward to. Now I know for a fact the mention of multiple undo will put a smile on many iClone users faces who have been wanting this for ages. More details will follow soon I'm sure.