unreal animation - iClone unreal live link
Fusion of
iClone Creativity & Unreal Engine

iClone 3D Character Animation for Unreal Live Link

The Unreal Live Link Plug-in for iClone creates a system for characters, lights, cameras, and animation for Unreal Engine. The simplicity of iClone combined with Unreal Engine rendering delivers a digital human solution to create, animate and visualize superior real-time characters. The Unreal Live Link Plug-in for iClone removes the tedious FBX file import/export process and seamlessly sends iClone characters to Unreal with automated character shaders and skeleton setup. Discover a powerful new way to create facial expressions and talking animations with intuitive puppet panels and multi-device mocap recording with streamlined plug-and-play setup.
Workflow Video >       Amazing Showcases >

Reallusion Awarded MegaGrant from Epic Games

Thanks to the Epic MegaGrants, Reallusion now provides a complete character creation and animation pipeline to Unreal Engine for indies and studios of every size to realize digital humans.         Indie Free >       Pitch & Produce >

For iClone users, Live Link bridges work in iClone to Unreal Engine to produce exceptional visuals featuring RTX Real-time Ray Tracing. Use the existing and familiar iClone tools to operate and animate in Unreal. For Unreal users, Utilize iClone's vast character and animation assets to quickly generate fully-rigged custom characters and animated them with specialized motion editing tools.

unreal character animation - iclone unreal live link for game, film, archiviz, virtual production
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.
unreal character animation - iclone unreal live link asset transfer

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.
unreal character animation - iclone unreal live link character

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.
unreal animation - light camera icon
unreal character animation - iclone unreal live link transfer camera light

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.
unreal animation - prop stage icon
unreal animation - iClone unreal live link transfer prop

AUTOMATIC CHARACTER SETUP

Automated Digital Human Shader Assignment

  • Automatically assign digital human shaders from iClone characters to Unreal; removes manual work of shader assignment.
  • 3 shader types are available: Standard (PBR), LW (Lightweight), and HQ (High Quality) Digital Human.
  • Use default HQ shader for imported CC Characters - the skin, teeth, hair, eyes are assigned through advanced Blueprints for adjustment and fine-tuning.
  • Store AO, and Roughness textures into RGBA channels for optimized file size.
  • PBR shaders are applied to cloth, accessories, and non-CC characters.

    Know More >
unreal animation - live link auto character setup - character design from Hossein Diba

Digital Human Shader Transfer & Parameter Mapping

  • Shader effetcs including Skin, Eye (Tear Line & Occlusion Mesh), Hair, and SSS effect are transferable to Unreal Engine. (Smart Hair Shader)
  • Shader parameters between iClone & Unreal are well matched.
  • Be able to further fine-tune for great result in Unreal.

More About Reallusion Digital Human Shader >

unreal character animation - auto character setup shader

Automatic Skeletal Mapping

  • When a CC Character is transferred from iClone to Unreal Engine, the Live Link plug-in automatically processes the skeletal mapping and bone renaming in UE4.
  • Supports Epic IK-bone standard with additional Hand Bones for weapon-holding animations, and Root IK bones for locomotion control.
  • Enhanced content compatibility between the Character Creator and Unreal Asset Stores. CC characters can use UE4 motions, and UE4 characters can use iClone Motions.

SOFT CLOTH PHYSICS (New for v1.2)

Cloth Physics Transfer

  • Identical Cloth Physics behaviors in iClone and Unreal with NVIDIA PhysX Compatibility.
  • iClone Physics Weight Paint can be sent to Unreal counterpart.
  • Soft Cloth Physics properties are all transferable and mapped in Unreal.

Character Collision Mesh Transfer

  • Built-in editable Collision Shapes in CC & iClone characters.
  • Physics effective ranges are defined by weight map, and can be easily tested with selected motion.
  • Collision Mesh can be transferred via Live Link or FBX export to Unreal.
unreal character animation - character collision mesh transfer

Prop PBR Material & SSS Shader Transfer (New for v1.2)

  • Library of SSS effects are available for props.
  • Be able to have detailed shader adjustment, and the transferred props would keep the same SSS shader properties in Unreal.

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.
unreal live link character animation from iClone motion library

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.
unreal character animation - motion editing

Facial Animation - Expression and Lipsync

  • 60 facial morphs for unmatched facial precision of mouth, cheek, and eyes. Compatible with professional face-tracking specifications (Faceware, iPhone)
  • Audio lip sync turns human voice files into talking animations. Use timeline editing for viseme strength and lips, jaw and tongue smoothness refinement.
  • Facial Puppet generates vivid facial animations from mouse movements. Enhance with emotives and gender profiles.
  • Three levels of face key editing - facial muscle, expression presets, blend shape sliders.
unreal animation - facial expression lipsync

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.
unreal animation - mocap - motion capture

Animate Skin-bone Props

  • Live Link also works for non-human creatures or skin-bone props.
  • Synchronous update for animation editing and playback.
unreal animation - animate skin-bone props

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.
unreal animation - light

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.
unreal animation - camera

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.
unreal animation - asset

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.
unreal animation - relink

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 animation - nonlinear 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.
unreal animation - rtx realtime raytracing

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.
unreal animation - unreal engine post process

iClone Unreal Live Link Users

*Both existing members and indie free users are eligible to claim the iClone MetaHuman Live Link Kit.

Am I eligible for the free Indie License? here!