With the release of iClone 8.53, Reallusion delivers a trio of practical updates: support for timecode syncing, facial tracking via Meta Quest Pro, and streamlined export pipelines for NVIDIA Omniverse and Unreal Engine. All three may sound less exciting than a new dancing robot, but for production artists, syncing, tracking, and exporting tend to matter more than choreography.
Timecode support for camera and audio syncing
One of the headline features in iClone 8.53 is timecode support. This lets users sync iClone’s camera animation with footage captured from physical cameras and audio recorded on external devices. Syncing is done via LTC (Linear Timecode), which encodes SMPTE timecode as audio. Reallusion recommends using the free Visual-VCS app to generate LTC for this purpose.
Use cases? According to Reallusion, it helps align live-action reference with virtual camera animation or face and body motion capture. It also enables syncing mocap data from facial capture sessions recorded with third-party apps like FaceCap, Face Mocap Plug-in, or MVN Animate. In short, it’s for anyone who’s ever shouted “slate!” and still got drift in post.
Facial motion capture with Meta Quest Pro
iClone 8.53 introduces native support for facial motion capture using the Meta Quest Pro headset. Users can now stream facial data directly into iClone via the headset’s integrated face tracking hardware. That means no extra plugins, no detours—just plug in your Meta Quest Pro, boot up the Live Face tool, and stream away.
This expands the growing list of compatible devices for iClone’s real-time facial mocap pipeline. And while Meta’s headset wasn’t built with animators in mind, it’s now officially invited to the virtual production party.
Simplified scene export to Omniverse and Unreal Engine
iClone 8.53 also improves the export process to NVIDIA’s Omniverse and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. The new scene export options provide better control over which assets get sent—and how.
Users can now choose to export selected objects only. For instance, instead of dumping the entire scene, you can cherry-pick specific props or characters. Assets can be exported in world space (absolute position) or local space (relative to parent objects). That’s especially handy when exporting to pipelines where spatial consistency matters, such as when syncing lighting or animation across tools.
Reallusion also streamlined the way camera animations are exported. Previously, getting your iClone camera into Omniverse or Unreal might’ve triggered minor alignment nightmares. Now, with proper world-space export and isolated selection, those shots stay right where they belong.
Compatibility and availability
iClone 8.53 is available for Windows 7 or later. It’s part of the iClone 8.x update cycle, and available to users with a valid iClone 8 license. Pricing for iClone 8 can be found on the official Reallusion product page.
Stability and production-readiness
All updates should, as always, be tested thoroughly before deployment in live production environments. Facial mocap via Meta Quest Pro, for example, depends on both hardware and software stability, and LTC syncing demands consistent frame-accurate timecode management across devices. If the phrase “Frame-Accurate Timecode” doesn’t trigger a Pavlovian flashback to syncing nightmares, congratulations—you probably need this update anyway.
