The 2025.2 update of Marvelous Designer, developed by CLO Virtual Fashion, focuses on five new features that enhance realism, efficiency, and creative control across digital garment workflows. The release expands the program’s animation and simulation toolkit while tightening interoperability with external systems such as Epic Games’ MetaHuman Creator.

Keyframe Animation Gains Real Cloth Control

The most substantial technical update lies in the expanded key-framable properties. Fabric behaviour can now be animated directly through properties such as shrinkage, pressure, solidify, tack, and trim weight. Artists can animate shrinkage weft and warp to tighten or loosen cloth dynamically, or use pressure values to create inflation and deflation effects. The solidify control adjusts fabric stiffness over time, useful for animating transitions from soft to rigid materials in one shot. Tack properties can be keyed to attach or release trims, and trim weight itself can be animated — for example, making a prop lighter or heavier in response to motion. This deeper control allows complex, physically-based animations such as self-inflating garments, reactive drapery, or controlled cloth deformation without leaving Marvelous Designer’s simulation environment.

Patterns Become Trims and Accessories

Patterns can now be converted directly into trims or avatar accessories through a context-menu operation. Once converted, these assets are stored as Trim Styles or registered as accessories, allowing them to be reused across projects. The change provides clear advantages in asset management and simulation efficiency. Trims are treated as rigid geometry rather than simulated cloth, which reduces processing overhead. This workflow supports the creation of non-deformable surfaces such as metal, wood, or plastic, enabling hard-surface detailing directly inside Marvelous Designer. In practice, it is now possible to design a fully armoured character by converting fabric plates into rigid trims or to repurpose footwear and props as reusable accessories.

Local FBX Export Without CONNECT

EveryWear, Marvelous Designer’s asset-exporter, now supports direct FBX export to local storage. Earlier versions required users to upload garments to the CONNECT platform before download. The 2025.2 revision replaces that dependency with a local-only workflow. Artists can optimise garments, rig avatars, pack UVs, bake textures, and export the final FBX directly to disk. This update eliminates one of the most common production bottlenecks, streamlining integration with DCC tools and game engines that rely on FBX.

MetaHuman DNA Import

Epic Games’ MetaHuman Creator avatars can now be imported directly into Marvelous Designer in their native DNA format. This import process is non-destructive, preserving the avatar’s proportions, mesh fidelity and rigging data. Designers can fit garments directly on MetaHuman bodies, export them back to Unreal Engine, and have the clothing automatically adapt to any subsequent body adjustments made in MetaHuman Creator. The result is a tighter pipeline between digital-human design and cloth simulation, significantly reducing retargeting and scaling errors.

Pleats Made Simple

Creating pleats manually has long been a slow, calculation-heavy task. The new Pleats Tool simplifies the process with an interactive interface for generating knife, box or accordion pleats. Designers can adjust number, depth, interval and fold angle parameters directly in the tool’s window, previewing results in real time. The system allows non-destructive editing: pleats can be undone and modified without redrawing patterns. This not only saves time but also makes pleated garments—such as skirts, dresses and uniforms—more iterative and design-friendly.

Pricing

Marvelous Designer 2025.2 is available now for both Windows 10 and later, and macOS 12 and above. The software continues to be offered exclusively through subscription. Individual licences are priced at around US $39 per month, or US $280 per year, equating to roughly US $23 per month when billed annually. Enterprise pricing remains higher, with node-locked licences typically around US $199 per month or US $1,900 per year, and floating licences in the region of US $2,000 per year.

As always, professionals should test the new version within controlled environments before integrating it into production pipelines. Although the update appears stable in demonstrations, verifying simulation performance, export fidelity, and MetaHuman interoperability is essential before deployment.

The post Marvelous Designer 2025.2: MetaHumans, Pleats & Keyframes first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Ten months after its iOS debut, Cascadeur Mobile has finally arrived for Android devices on Google Play. The AI-assisted 3D animation software shrinks its desktop workflow down to smartphones and tablets, making it possible to keyframe between train stops or tweak motion curves while waiting for your coffee order.

The Cascadeur Mobile trailer on YouTube demonstrates how desktop-class features have been re-engineered for finger taps and swipes. Inspiration may strike anywhere; now it also fits in your pocket, complete with AR previews right on the kitchen table.

Key Features

Cascadeur Mobile leans heavily on AI helpers. AutoPosing takes care of body positions while finger controllers stop hands from looking like broken forks. AI Inbetweening smooths out transitions between keyframes, which means less manual clicking and more pretending the result was “intentional.”

Physics joins the ride as well. AutoPhysics handles natural body dynamics, and Secondary Motion adds the subtle wiggles that make movement believable without you having to fake it. Paired with Video Reference support and an AR Mode, animators can drop characters into real-world surroundings — ideal for finally placing a ninja in your office chair.

And for anyone who enjoys the deep dive, Cascadeur Mobile still brings the heavy artillery: Trajectories, Ghosts, Copy Tool, Tween Machine, IK/FK Interpolation, Interval Edit Mode, light customization, and prop manipulation. There’s even Unbaking, which cleans up baked animation data — essentially an undo button for that “just export it and fix later” moment.

Licensing

Cascadeur Mobile is free to download with some limitations. Unlocking the full feature set is possible in two ways:

• Cascadeur Pro desktop subscribers: free login access to the mobile version
• Mobile-only subscription: approx. $50/year (price varies by taxes), available as an in-app purchase

Both Android and iOS editions are aligned with the latest desktop release, so your pipeline can stay consistent — assuming you want to animate across phone, tablet, and workstation without losing your mind.

Availability

• Download Cascadeur for Android
• Cascadeur official site

Both Android and iOS editions are aligned with the latest desktop release, so your pipeline can stay consistent — assuming you want to animate across phone, tablet, and workstation without losing your mind.

The post Cascadeur Mobile 3D Animation Now on Android first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Blackmagic has released a new version, now 20.2, of its increasingly popular software for video editing, colour correction, visual effects, animation and audio editing. Originally developed as pure colour correction software, more and more functions were added over time and the software has since found a large following—particularly because of its outstanding price-performance ratio—and because beginners are enticed to take their first steps with a free version. So far, the software can be purchased without subscription obligations. The software seems more like a supplementary “side business” for Blackmagic, alongside its many high-end hardware products for film and television production.

Anima-what?

Countless tests and tutorials by enthusiasts of the programme are circulating on the internet. We have also published articles on DaVinci and indicated that we wanted to take a closer look at the software’s animation capabilities. Blackmagic proudly announces on its website that DaVinci Resolve is Hollywood’s number one choice for post-production. The list of features is correspondingly long and may well overwhelm beginners. The latest version is said to contain over 100 new features for all areas of video editing and post-production, including new AI functions for audio editing.

As already explained in other articles, DaVinci Resolve uses 7 workspaces, which are arranged to structure work in DaVinci (an explanation of this system was already provided by Alexander Richter in his article Goodbye Adobe Premiere): “Media for ingest, Cut for the first rough cut, Edit for the actual editing, Fusion for compositing and motion graphics, Color for, you can guess, colour correction, Fairlight for audio and Deliver for final rendering of files.” Even if this all sounds rather complex, most 2D animation and video editing programmes work in a similar way, with “individual differences,” as our colleague already mentioned.

Since DaVinci Resolve is essentially a huge collection of different tools, we have, as promised, focused “only” on the one aspect of animation for now. Of course, you should understand the principle of the 7 Pages in DaVinci, even if you “only” want to animate.

Everything Moves

In principle, all motion effects, in fact, all animation of parameters of imported objects in DaVinci, are based on the program’s sophisticated keyframe technique. Edit is not only responsible for the correct cut; it also allows you to quickly drag transitions, titles, and filters directly into the timeline and manipulate numerous parameters via the Inspector. By setting keyframes at different points on the timeline (click the small diamond-shaped symbols on the far right), animations can be created quickly and relatively easily.

Recently, the Edit Page also offers access to a convenient view of the keyframe editor (also as a floating window), where keyframes can be copied and moved, and animation curves can be edited using Bezier handles (for example, Ease-In, Ease-Out, Ease-In/Out, and Linear) easily accessible easing functions… a feature welcomed by many users. This method of animating in DaVinci is also suitable for programme newcomers and promises quickly acceptable results.

Pathfinder

Another animation method promoted by Blackmagic is path animation, something competitor programmes also offer. Animations along a path are highly requested by many users. DaVinci offers complex possibilities here.

One of the simplest methods, for example, aligning and animating text along a path, requires only a few clicks, if you know where to look. A “stripped-down” example: in the Fusion Page, you create a text node with one click. DaVinci automatically connects this to the obligatory MediaOut node. Afterwards, the Inspector offers various options to enter and edit text. Almost all settings can be animated using the already mentioned keyframes.

Pathplayer

To bring a path into play, in the Layout tab (next to the text symbol) the type should be changed from Point to Path. Then a curve can be drawn directly in the view window. The text immediately adapts to this curve. The curve can be edited, and the points and Bezier handles can also be animated. At the bottom of the menu there is an item “Right-click here for shape animation.” Oddly enough in testing, this worked flawlessly, but not on every computer (curves seemed to be generated, but were “invisible”). Maybe we should ask the people at Blackmagic about this. Paths can also first be created (or imported) as Polygon or B-Spline nodes and then assigned.

The Fusion Page overall offers, thanks to its node-based approach and additional complex effects for texts, blurs, masks, 3D animations and particles, even more possibilities for visual design than are found in the Edit Page. In the Fusion Page, unlike the Edit Page, only a single clip is ever worked on.

To use Fusion effectively, you should embrace the node-based approach (there are quite a lot of nodes, not all of them reveal their purpose by name, but if you already know the desired name, you can help yourself with the Shift and Space keys while searching). The display of nodes can be enlarged via right-click and “Show/Show Tile Picture,” so that helpful thumbnails assist with orientation in the Node Editor. Still, you should expect a learning curve that is not too shallow.

3D Effects

In Fusion, DaVinci Resolve can create or import simple 3D objects, e.g. in Alembic, FBX, or USDZ format. 2D graphics can be converted into 3D objects and assembled into a scene with the 3D renderer and lighting nodes. The options of the 3D tools are extensive and complex. Building a 3D scene appears more laborious than in “usual” 3D tools, though perhaps it is only a matter of practice?

Conclusion

Simple animations can quickly lead to acceptable results even for beginners. The ability to control almost every scene parameter with keyframes in the timeline makes such animations easy. The Fusion Page, however, already introduces a corresponding learning curve. Node systems take some getting used to for some, although for professionals they are effective once accepted and understood. The range of functions with filters and effects is huge. The names of the nodes are not always self-explanatory. Many of the possibilities for effects and animations can already be created by experienced users with some of DaVinci’s basic tools (even with the free version).

The 3D tools appear relatively cumbersome, as is also evident from some of the many video tutorials circulating on the internet and they are obviously to be regarded more as a supplement to the “all-round programme.” Overall, DaVinci Resolve is not only suitable as a highly effective film editing and effects software, but also for many areas of motion graphics animation.

The post Resolve Animation: Everything moves! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Ralf Gliffe.

CLO Virtual Fashion has released Marvelous Designer 2025.0, and it’s not shy about showing off its stitches. With nine headline features and a sprawling list of upgrades, the new version promises better usability, faster workflows, and a few furry surprises.

UI Improvement: Better Buttons, Less Guessing

The overall user interface has been reworked. Marvelous Designer now features a cleaner, more intuitive layout for easier navigation. Whether you’re managing assets, animating garments, or wondering why you still haven’t finished that one seam, the updated UI promises fewer detours.

Keyframe Animation: More Things, More Keys

Animation got an upgrade. The keyframe system now includes new keyframeable attributes such as wind and fabric properties. So yes, you can now animate not just how a cape flaps, but how aggressively it flaps—with full control over dynamic forces.

Quad Mesh Improvement: Bye Bye, Tri Party

Mesh generation has improved significantly. Triangle clutter has been minimized, resulting in cleaner quad mesh output and better edge flow. This upgrade also translates to faster modeling and cleaner exports—ideal for rigging and simulation pipelines.

IK Joint Mapping: More Natural Poses, Less Wrestler Stiffness

Inverse Kinematics (IK) joint mapping allows for more natural avatar posing. Artists can now move and rotate joints directly to adjust avatar positions, which should reduce the “chicken wing” problem of previous posing workflows.

Side and Back UV Expansion: Because Clothes Have Backs Too

UV generation now includes not just the front, but also the sides and back of garments. For texture artists, this means more predictable and complete UV layouts—no more side seams hiding in the texture abyss.

[Beta] Fur Strand in 3D Window: Fuzzy Logic

Marvelous Designer now supports fur strand visualisation in the 3D window. Artists can adjust Fur Parameters and Fur Shape, with the ability to export fur as splines. Yes, it’s in beta, but it’s already offering control and feedback for furry assets—whether that’s for fashion, creatures, or shaggy cosplays.

Modular Library: Reusable Fashion Building Blocks

Users can now create variations of previously saved garment groups or block sets. This modular approach makes it easier to mix, match, and iterate on designs without rebuilding from scratch. Welcome to kitbashing—now with pants.

Other Features Worth a Mention

While the above are the “key” updates, Marvelous Designer 2025.0 also includes support for USDZ export, OBJ zipper teeth presets, smooth corners for topstitching, color switching, FBX export with material names, schematic rendering, garment fit property tweaking, and the ability to load all texture maps at once. Also: auto fitting improvements, topstitch polygon optimization, and animation with trim simulation.

Among the less flashy but still practical additions: an improved Avatar Editor, Auto Seal, Blend Graphics with Fabric, and a new Sculpt Tool. Oh, and auto sewing. Machines might not take your job—but they’re definitely hemming closer.

Pricing and Availability

For up-to-date license models, visit the Marvelous Designer website.

Caution Before Integration

As always, we recommend testing all new features before integrating them into production pipelines. Some, like the fur strand visualisation, are marked as beta—and even stable features may behave differently under production stress.

The post Marvelous 2025: Now with Extra Fur, Fewer Triangles first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

>> Check out the iClone 8.52 new features video

AccuPOSE: Revolutionizing Natural 3D Posing

AccuPOSE, an AI-powered innovation utilizing deep learning models trained on ActorCore’s extensive motion database. AccuPOSE understands human movement across countless scenarios, enabling users to create highly natural poses with minimal effort. Beyond hand-key animation, this technology plays a vital role in connecting motion clips, refining motion layers, and dramatically simplifying mocap data cleanup.

• Control Full Body Movement: Achieve full-body transformations merely from minimal inputs. AccuPOSE’s real-time body pose estimation guarantees natural postures during editing. 
• Pose-Driven Gestures: Arm adjustments naturally drive wrist movements and hand gestures, generating authentic human behaviors with minimal effort.

>> Check out the demo on the product page

Fully Controllable AI Guidance

To work in harmony with AI technology, controllability is a huge factor. The real brilliance of AccuPose lies in its unmatched flexibility and precision. You have the power to decide which parts of the body the AI adjusts and which parts remain untouched. This allows you to fine-tune every movement to your exact needs.

• Precision & Freedom: By applying Transformation and Rotation constraints to selected joints, designers can control AI pose suggestions with precision and flexibility.
• Constraints & Lock: Utilize T/R Constraints to maintain manual control flexibility. Use the Lock feature to securely fix the end effectors in place.
• AI Suggestion: You can specify which part of the body the AI should provide suggestions for, while preserving the desired sections by using locks and move/rotate constraints.
• Mirror: The Mirror feature ensures that AI-generated poses for hands or legs maintain symmetry with mirrored postures during any adjustments

>> Check out the demo on the product page

Seamless Integration with Existing Works

Getting started with AccuPose is straightforward. Simply open the tool, select an AI behavior model, and transform any pose effortlessly with the guidance of natural posing techniques.

• Works with Normal Poses: Transform existing poses into AccuPoses with selected behaviors, and experience the precision of natural posing with customizable IK constraints.
• Clip Layer Editing: By incorporating AI-assisted layer keys, users can effectively enhance motion velocity in selected motion clips.
• Keyframing from Library: Easily add dynamic poses from the AccuPOSE to arrange keyframes on the timeline, optionally filling in custom in-betweens and curves for smooth transitions. 

>> Check out the demo on the product page

Accelerates All Key Animation Workflow

Curious about how AI-assisted posing can enhance your workflow? It’s incredibly adaptable and can be applied wherever setting keyframes is needed, making it a valuable tool across various creative tasks.

• Handkey Animation: Driven by deep-learned human motions, the posing suggestion enhances the efficiency of quality keyframe posing and supports the creation of compelling animation styles.
• Connecting Clips: The intelligent posing feature simplifies the process of filling in missing poses between motion clips, creating more natural transitions.
• Mocap Correction: The natural AI posing capability can effectively solve the mocap challenges such as shoulder stiffness, motion distortion, and even enhances animations with realistic hand gestures.
• Curve & Trajectory: iClone’s motion curve and motion trail functions empower animators to refine keyframe timing and spatial trajectories, ensuring high-quality animation outcomes.

>> Check out the demo on the product page

Download AccuPOSE CORE Free and Subscribe INFINITY for All 

3D Posing with the assistance of AI might sound exciting itself, but AccuPOSE is way more than that. It comes with a big library of AI-training models that answer your diverse scenario demands. 

The same control applied to a selected joint can yield entirely different results depending on the chosen AccuPOSE model, giving users absolute control over the character’s AI reactions.

AccuPOSE is a free plugin for iClone 8.52, all users will have access to the CORE Library, it supports fundamental human body movements like stand, sit, walk, kneel, lie, prone, etc.  For those seeking advanced features, the INFINITY expansion offers an extensive library of over 1,000 AI-trained poses across 41 genres, along with continuous updates. 

>> Download & Subscribe

Elevates Motion Editing to Pro Level

The iClone 8.52 release brings four highly acclaimed professional animation features, voted by animators as essential to their workflows. These tools are meticulously crafted to serve as the foundation of daily productivity.

Motion Trail

The motion trail feature enables professional animators to visualize trajectories for selected joints. It supports real-time editing of keyframes directly on the trail or within the curve editor, providing an efficient approach to managing motion paths and animation timing. Additionally, users can adjust the path range and customize the trail’s color to improve control and visualization.

Non-Destructive Editing

Users can now break motion clips without worrying about losing data, as cut-out portions remain recoverable. Additionally, for clips edited with motion layer keys, our non-destructive approach retains all layer data for further editing. 

Curve Filters 

Several new filter options are added. These include tools that remove jitters while preserving motion details, fix peak noise, reduce keys for bezier spline editing, and smooth selected tracks seamlessly.

Curve Performance Enhancement

Motion Curve performance has been significantly enhanced for intensive editing across multiple tracks. Users can now enjoy near-instant responsiveness when selecting, moving, copying, pasting, or deleting keys in extended curve sequences.

Related Sources

iClone 8.52 full announcement

AccuPOSE Tutorials

Check out iClone 8.52 new features

iClone 8.52 release note

Learn more about iClone 8

Online manual

FAQ

The post iClone 8.52: A Major Leap for Animation Editing first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Advertorial.