Reallusion has also added several features to improve the usability of the program. These features comprise a list of "wants and needs" of the iClone user community and have been under development for some time now.
Camera Gizmo |
Now available with visible bounding boxes to depict the Clipping Planes, Depth of Field, and 3D Stereoscopic rendering so the director can see just what is framed by the camera from an external view. |
Camera Mini-Viewport |
A much requested feature that opens a mini-view window that can be docked in three different corners of the workspace (Left Top, Left Bottom, Right Bottom). The view is selected from the available scene cameras or you can create a camera specifically for it. There is also a size slider for the Viewport that enlarges up to fifty percent of the main workspace size. This can make scene setup much more intuitive and help new users navigating the 3D workspace. |
Merged Motion Track |
Another DRAMATIC improvement to the timeline system. In the past, if you had a motion, a movement and a perform action it was difficult to blend them as they appeared on different timelines and it was impossible to blend across timelines. This solves that problem by placing all the motions on ONE TIMELINE! We can then blend to our heart's content to smooth out the motion. No more uncontrolled jumps or lurches in animation! |
Path Enhancement |
New path controls include the ability to change the color of the start and end control point. Hotkey TAB jumps to the next point and we now have a close path option. |
Model Snap |
Another great time saver that snaps objects (models) together on their edges. Makes quick work out of creating a wall and many other uses. Can turn it on or off in the preferences or use the shortcut Ctrl + M. |
Align/Center |
Yet another great time saving tool that aligns and centers multiple selected objects. Also has uniform spacing. Both work along the X, Y, Z axes. |
Instant Texture Update |
No more pressing the update button when working with textures via a third-party image editor. As soon as the file is saved, the texture is updated in iClone so it's ready when you switch back to it. |
Enhanced Scene Manager |
An already great scene manager made better with filter, sort and search features to handle those complicated scenes with lots of objects. |
Multi-Duplicate |
We have already seen and used this wonderful tool. It is worth the time taken to place a building block into the workspace and experiment with the different controls on the Multi-Duplicate pop-up menu so you can have a grasp of the time saving features this powerful tool offers. |
This is a feature that this author, for one, is very glad to see. We have been able to "plant" Live Plants such as grass and flowers with a resizable tool that speeds the process. The trees, however, were another story as those had to be planted one at a time and was very tedious.
In fact, this author found it so tedious that he created Trees that worked as Live Plants and could be planted with the Planter too. They are not as good as regular trees, in that they are animated billboards that always face the camera and give the illusion of a tree.
Using an actual three dimensional tree is easier and the Tree Brush gives us that ability.