There are many new features in iClone 5 and we have tried to touch on most of them but this upgrade is so feature packed that we couldn't cover every single item even though we came close.
Specifically, we covered the following:
Ambient occlusion and the toon shader along with the light multiplier to improve the look of the video
Using post effects and how to manipulate and stack them
Important performance enhancements including Level of Detail and instancing of objects
New usability features and tools including camera gizmo, mini viewport, merged motion track, path enhancements, and many other new features.
Planting and felling trees with the new tree brush tool.
Basic soft cloth operations and usage.
We discussed many new features, tools, and enhancements that will make iClone 5 another breakthrough upgrade and quite possibly a game changer among its few direct competitors. This release certainly shows us that for its price point iClone is more than competitive as version 4 leapt ahead of the pack and version 5 has increased the lead to where iClone is truly getting into a class of its own, filling a niche between the starter animation programs and the high-end applications costing thousands of dollars.
We've been through most of the new features and next we will turn our attention to the exciting new animation tools and features that are packed into the iClone 5 upgrade.