Become a movie director in you own home with
iClone 5
In the past, animators were highly skilled
artists who created movement by drawing at least 25 individual cels for every
second of screen time. So, for example, to get a character to move, they would
draw it in a slightly different position in each cel. Today, most of this work
is done by computer. The animators still have to create the scenes and
characters, but the laborious work of animating is done by sophisticated
software like the product featured here.
Some
of the G4 - G5 characters supplied with the program
iClone 5 is the latest release from
Reallusion, designed to create complex 3D animated sets and realistic
characters without any prior knowledge of animation techniques. Although its
target market is primarily the home user, game designers have been using it to
good effect for some time, because it provides them with an almost instant
method of visualising and testing their designs.
Initially, the program looks daunting, simply because there are so many options on offer. However, the video tutorials
on the Reallusion website are excellent, quickly demonstrating how to create a fully animated scene in just a few minutes. In fact, as I learnt later, most of the on-screen controls are designed to simply refine what you’ve already
created.
The program ships with a decent selection of sets, textures, characters and miscellaneous objects
to get you started. If you need
something more specific, the
Reallusion site has many more packs
you can buy. I also found a large
resource of thirdparty freeware
components and characters, available
to download from a number of talented designers' websites. Incidentally, the Reallusion
marketplace offers a new freebie most days, so it’s always worth a visit.
With
a higher polygon count, the new G5 characters are more realistic
With this version, Reallusion introduces
the new G5 characters. These are more advanced in terms of realism, because
their heads have a higher polygon count and 3D teeth. Ultimately, this gives
you more control over facial expressions; they also have better bone
structures. For example, the chest is designed to expand and contract properly,
giving your avatars the ability to breathe. When you combine these new features
with body puppet motion, you have the facility to record your own actions and
profiles. You do this by playing one of the built-in actions, while masking
certain body parts. Then you can animate and record individual parts in real
time using the mouse. These recordings are simply overlaid, making it easy to
create quite complex animations.
In fact, there’s a better method of
recording your own actions in iClone 5, but you would need to invest in a Mocap
device and purchase the Mocap plug-in. This is basically a special camera (like
Microsoft’s Kinect Sensor) that uses the Mocap plug-in to capture your actions
in real time. It can also be used to control your characters live, while
interacting with on-screen smart props that react automatically when you touch
them.
Undoubtedly iClone5 is a very powerful
program, useful for creating demos for first-person perspective games, or
perhaps a realistic walkthrough to show clients your new architectural design.
I appreciate that this review only scratches the surface of the product, so if
you want to know more, you can download a fully operational trial version from
the Reallusion website.
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Details
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Price
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$240
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Manufacturer
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Reallusion 3D Software
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Website
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www.reallusion.com
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Required spec
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2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 2GB HDD space, 1024x768
display, DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 3.0, Windows XP SP2 or later
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Verdict
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A very impressive product, able to
produce animations with great depth and realism
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Quality
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9
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Value
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8
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Overall
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9
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