DIRECT DATA TRANSFER WITHOUT FBX
One-Click Asset Transfer
- Build a data chain between iClone and Unreal Engine via the iClone Live Link plug-in. Animate in iClone, and simultaneously see the real-time render in Unreal Engine.
- Direct transfer of iClone characters, lights, and cameras without FBX import/export.
- Select and send multiple items through a friendly, progressive workflow.
- Use the iClone Origin gizmo to quickly position all iClone assets in an Unreal
scene.
Supports All Major Character Standards
- The same iClone animations can be used on characters made with different 3D tools.
- iClone's MotionPlus format keeps facial morphs and skeletal animation in one file, for a single animation format that can be reused on all characters.
- Native iClone and Character Creator format support, with Auto Setup script for fast Digital Human shader assignment in Unreal.
- Import custom humanoid FBX or
UE4
characters to iClone through the Character Creator characterization pipeline.
Transfer Cameras & Lights
- Conveniently direct the cinematography Unreal by manipulating iClone's camera and light systems.
- Create, transfer and edit iClone Directional Light, Point Light, and Spotlight for Unreal
- Select iClone cameras and sync control with Unreal cameras directly from iClone.
Transfer Props
- One-click transfer to the designated spot in Unreal scene.
- Static props, non-human creatures, and skin-bone props are all transferable.
- Live Link also works for non-human creatures or skin-bone props.
- PBR material and SSS shader can also be sent to Unreal and get further adjustment.
Accelerated Asset Transfer New in v1.3
- Parallel processing of iClone FBX to Unreal exchange allows iClone for smooth editing without the delay of transfer speed.
- Direct import within the Unreal Editor provides clear and informative updates on the transfer process.
- For crowd and large scene productions, select “Exclude Morph Targets” to ignore expression data and speed up the transfer by several fold.
Explore iClone Crowd Simulation >
ANIMATION LIVE LINK
Professional Animations from an Extensive iClone Motion Library
- Access thousands of professional motion clips that are activated with a single click.
- Discover popular animation genres including fantasy, modern life, mechanical, sports and more.
- Smoothly blend carefully choreographed animation clips into custom sequences.
Intuitive Motion Editing
- Intuitive pose adjustments using HumanIK (Autodesk MotionBuilder technology).
- Smoothly refine motion clips with iClone's Motion Layer Editor.
- Direct character eye gaze through Look constraints.
- Supports floor contact for optimal hand/feet ground relation.
- Easy object interaction through Reach Target constraints.
Facial Animation - Lipsync, Expression & Dynamic Wrinkles
- Includes 140 facial morphs that are compatible with professional face-tracking (iPhone ARKit & Faceware) for unmatched facial expressiveness.
- Facial Puppet generates vivid facial animations via mouse movements. Face key editing includes facial muscles, expression presets, and morph sliders.
- AccuLips automatically turns human voice into talking animations. Use the timeline to edit the viseme strengths and refine the smoothness of the lip, jaw, and tongue movements.
- New in v1.2 Look-at constraints can be driven by camera or animated objects, simulating different levels of alertness and engagement.
- New in v1.2 Dynamic Wrinkles add emotive details to digital human performances and enrich the expressions of stylized characters.
Explore iClone: Facial Expression | Lipsync Animation | Dynamic Wrinkles
Synchronous Multi-Device Motion Capture
- Live-performance capture for face, body, and fingers.
- Simultaneously capture the motion data streamed from different hardware and save data in separate motion tracks for further editing.
- Single interface for Live preview animation -Start / Stop data recording.
- Motion Masking & Multi-pass Recording - only add facial expressions, or blend different
body motions by masking unwanted body
parts.
Animate Skin-bone Props
- Live Link also works for non-human creatures or skin-bone props.
- Synchronous update for animation editing and playback.
Morph Animation New in v1.1
- Achieve organic performances by applying morph animation to props or skin-bone characters.
- Live Link morph animation to UE via iClone Morph Animator.
More GPU Power for Unreal Rendering New in v1.2
Our unique Progressive/Deferred Texture Loading technology allows users to Live Link animations from iClone without taxing the system resources. Keeping the scene texture-less in iClone frees up graphics memory that can be dedicated to rendering in Unreal Engine.
CONTROL CAMERAS & LIGHTS
Control Directional, Point Light & Spotlight
- Quickly transfer iClone lights and easily control Unreal lighting directly from iClone interface.
- Adjustable Lighting Parameters include - Light Strength, Color, Falloff, Multiplier, Shadow, Transform, and more.
- Link existing Unreal lights by using the iClone Live Link Blueprint.
Sync Camera FOV, DOF, Filmback & More
- Transfer multiple iClone cameras to Unreal Engine and sync iClone cameras to Unreal Cine Cameras
- Adjustable Camera Parameters include - FOV, Filmback, Near-Far Blur Levels.
- Works with iClone Camera Animations, Curve Editing, and Path / Look At
Constraints.
LINK & RELINK
Link Existing Unreal Assets with Live Link Blueprint
- In addition to control assets transferred from iClone, users can link Unreal created camera, lights, even characters to iClone via Live Link blueprint.
- The Linked characters should have the identical bone structure, and use the same name.
- UE4 characters can be send to iClone via Character Creator, once it's characterized, the
Unreal character can share all the motion files designed for iClone.
Instant Re-link After Project Saves
- Once the Live Link pairing projects both in iClone and Unreal are created, easily relink them to continue your production.
- Transfer more assets from iClone to the same Unreal project as the creation evolves.
Animate 3D character with iClone Unreal Live Link
for UE5
SEAMLESSLY ADAPT ICLONE ANIMATION TO UE ENVIRONMENT
- Import selected scene data from Unreal Engine as the specific references for iClone character alignment or object interaction.
- Realtime synchronous preview iClone editing with cinematic Unreal Lumen rendering.
- Directly full-frame transfer perfectly-matched iClone animations to UE for sequence editing.
Response to Terrain Height (works with Motion Director )
- The movements of characters react to ground elevation.
- Auto-detect the ground level for proper footing.
Accurate Object Interaction
- Motion layer editing and smooth IK/FK transition.
- One step target reach, precise and stable pin control.
3 Levels of UE Scenes Export
Standard (Items)
- Keep the separate items for the most accurate alignment.
- Selectively Show/Hide for flexible scene management.
- Supports landscape.
Merged (1 Mesh)
- Keep the high-poly for better performance and proper alignment.
Simplified (Remesh)
- Low-poly for the best performance.
- For large/far scenes sent into iClone as camerawork reference.
QUICK WAY TO GENERATE UE ANIMATION ASSETS
- Via Motion Transfer, iClone can directly send full-frame animation data to UE, supporting Character Body, Facial, and Prop animations.
- Each transferred motion will be created as an Animation Asset in the corresponding Character or Prop folder in UE.
- Saved animation assets can be further added and edited in UE Sequencer.
Note: Due to the UE SDK limitation, Camera and Light animations need to be manually placed in FBX format to UE.
Direct Animations for iClone/CC Characters in UE
- Fast replace the iClone/CC character in UE and retain the same motion assets by using the same character name in iClone.
- Subsequent transferred characters will be saved in separate UE asset folders.
Motion Retargeting for UE Characters & MetaHumans
Transfer iClone Facial and Drive MetaHumans' Talking Animation
- iClone facial animation can be full frame transferred to iClone/CC and MetaHuman characters.
- Take advantage of iClone’s intuitive facial editing - Face Puppet, Face Key Editor, Facial Mocap, and AccuLips for lifelike talking animation.
Prop Animation
- The prop animation is supported in Motion Transfer, including sub-item transformation, skeletal animation, designated path, and physics effects.
- The prop animation includes animated objects, vehicles, and non-humanoid characters like animals.
SEQUENCER CREATION & MANAGEMENT New in v1.3
Auto Build Sequencer
- While transferring the motion, there is the option to “Create Sequencer” to gather the characters, motions, props, and cameras into an Unreal Sequencer. This makes it easy to create cinematic animations and renders.
- Utilize multi-pass export from iClone scene group management. Individual passes can be merged under the master sequencer as sub-sequencers for convenience in Unreal.
Camera Transfer & Switch
- By enabling the “Camera” option, its motion will be included in the Sequencer export.
- Camera switch data in iClone is also transmitted and integrated into the “Camera Cut” track within the Sequencer in Unreal.
Sequencer Positioning
- Sequencer “Transform Origin” allows for the positioning of the sequencer performance. Specifically, a target object attached to an iClone origin can be positioned separately in Unreal.
- In addition to static objects, dynamic objects like a moving vehicle can also be controlled via the origin gizmo. By supporting runtime repositioning in Unreal Editor, artists can focus on adjusting the sequencer animation in iClone.
TIMECODE SYNC
for UE5
LIVE LINK TIMELINE SYNC & LOSSLESS FRAME-BY-FRAME RECORDING
- Full frame record multi-track iClone animation in Unreal Sequencer, avoiding Live Link frame drops due to hardware limitation.
- As long as the Timecode in Unreal is activated and starts recording, the timeline on both sides will be synced 1:1 and the animation will playback By-Frame in iClone.
- Once iClone animated assets are timecode recorded to UE, they will be saved as sequence files in the Cinematic-Take folder. Designers can load them back to Sequencer for further animation editing.
Supports Recording Live-Linkable Items
Character Animation | Facial Performance | Prop Animation | Camerawork | Light Animation
HIGH PERFORMANCE CROWD SCENE PRODUCTION
Without concerning the frame drops caused by computer resource or performance in traditional Live Link.
Transferring large amounts of animations to Unreal Engine becomes a well managed task with Timecode Syncing. Designers can group animated characters in iClone, full-frame timecode record iClone animations into UE sequence files, gradually build up the large crowd for final Sequencer editing.
Progressive Production
- Multi-pass Crowd Animation Recording
- Load Grouped Assets and Compile in Sequencer (also works for selected time range)
- 1:1 Frame-synced Recording in Sequencer
UNREAL NLE & CINEMATIC RENDER
Sequence Recording for Unreal Non-linear Editing
- Real-time play iClone animation to the Unreal Sequencer, and record the character facial morphs, skeletal data, lighting and camera attributes in Unreal playback.
- Easily generate multiple Unreal Sequences from the same iClone project, an effective
workflow for Unreal Non Linear Editing.
Unreal Real-time Render and RTX Raytracing
- Utilize Unreal Engine as a super real-time renderer for iClone animators.
- Take advantage of the RTX GPU technology in Unreal and get ray trace output quality at
unmatched render speed.
From CG to Film, Unreal Post Process
- Film look to iClone renders by adding Unreal motion blur, volumetric light, chromatic aberration, fog, lens flare, screen space reflection, bloom and eye adaptation.
- Apply Unreal Post Process for tonemapping, blendables, post process materials for an
advanced render style.
