Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 1, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Reallusion’s iClone is software intended to enable its users to quickly create a 3D character from one or more photos. The character can then immediately be given animations and animated. Various facial expressions are also possible without a large setup.
The created characters can be used, for example, for the previsualization of a feature film, for web-based training, cutscenes in games or as a game character.
Furthermore, the user can place the character in a scene that iClone populates with prefabricated objects. A motion capture database makes it possible to create complex movement sequences in a very short time. The movement can also be automatically adapted to the rhythm of music.
If several photos are available, iClone creates photorealistic heads or entire characters. The scene can then be populated with prefabricated or custom objects. With the help of a 3ds Max plug-in, scenes and objects can be exported directly from 3ds Max.
A more specialized version of iClone is CrazyTalk, which is now available in version 4. After the 3D character is finished, CrazyTalk makes it speak. Once the user has marked certain points in the image (similar to a setup for motion capture), the character can be made to speak quite simply by adding an audio file. The program also allows various facial characteristics to be changed afterward and the character’s general emotional state to be animated.
One application for this is, for example, interactive avatars on websites or the integration of an avatar into Office documents.
Because lip-syncing also works in real time, a plug-in for Skype can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s homepage, for example. This makes it possible to build a fantasy avatar that appears on the conversation partner’s screen and speaks.
Both products are available immediately from the online shop on the manufacturer’s website. Reallusion offers various packages, each with or without additional data. Prices range between 80 and 230 euros.
Further links:
- Reallusion
