For those who don’t know the tool: Reallusion’s iClone and Character Creator sit at the intersection of real-time animation and 3D character production, integrating with pipelines in Maya, Blender, Unreal, Unity, and others via standard formats and plugins.

Reallusion adds subscription licences alongside perpetual ownership

Starting in early January 2026, Reallusion introduced new subscription licensing options for several of its flagship tools, including iClone, Character Creator, and Cartoon Animator. These subscriptions are offered alongside the existing perpetual licences, giving creators more choice in how they pay for production software.

Official documentation confirms that subscriptions provide the same rights and privileges as perpetual licences under the Reallusion EULA. Subscription plans are available with monthly or annual billing, allowing short-term access for smaller projects or budget-conscious creators, while perpetual licences remain an option for long-term production stability and a solid place in a studio toolbox.

Annual subscription pricing examples published by Reallusion include low entry tiers, such as Character Creator at around $8.30 per month and iClone at around $16.90 per month on the entry plans, with higher tiers rolling up into more complete bundles. Reallusion emphasises its continued support for perpetual licences for studios and teams that require fixed version control and long-term licence stability.

AccuPOSE INFINITY repositions as one time purchase

Alongside the broader licensing shift, AccuPOSE INFINITY, a pose library and motion editing add-on closely tied to iClone workflows, has moved from a subscription model to a permanent purchase.

The official community announcement states that more than 1,400 AI-trained poses are now available under a one-time licensing fee of 149 USD, effective on and after 6 January 2026. All previous subscribers, active or expired, receive the full perpetual licence automatically.

The AccuPOSE update also includes a new Cartoon category targeting expressive and stylised animation, alongside other pose themes such as Free Fight and Aerial Fighter. Updates beyond the current library will continue, but they will not follow a fixed schedule, according to Reallusion.

What this means for production pipelines

This licensing expansion signals a more flexible budgetary model for Reallusion tools within production pipelines. Subscription licences reduce upfront cost barriers and may suit short-term or freelance work, while perpetual licences still serve studios with long-term version-control needs. Shifting AccuPOSE INFINITY to a one-time purchase eliminates recurring costs for pose libraries, simplifying integration into stable character animation workflows.

As always, new licensing models and pricing should be evaluated against your project schedules, team size and version control requirements before committing to any purchase.

The post Reallusion expands licences for iClone and Character Creator first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Canva announced that Affinity, the formerly separate applications Designer, Photo and Publisher, have been relaunched as a unified suite under Canva’s banner. The new version is positioned for professional design workflows while complementing Canva’s existing platform.

The updated Affinity is described as “free forever”, with no base subscription required. It launches for Windows and macOS, with an iPad version planned. It introduces a universal file type across design, photo and layout workflows, as well as built-in export and integration with Canva’s broader ecosystem. For production artists, this means one tool potentially covering illustration, retouching and layout tasks rather than maintaining three independent programs.

Pricing and licence model

Affinity’s previous one-time-purchase model has been replaced with a free-tier structure. The base app is free to download and use indefinitely, but certain advanced tools, primarily those involving AI, such as image generation, cleanup and smart-fill, require a Canva Premium subscription. The “free forever” offer therefore coexists with a paid layer, effectively turning Affinity into a freemium product.

Existing perpetual licences remain functional “for now”, but Canva has not published long-term support or compatibility timelines for those legacy versions. Older V2 editions have been withdrawn from sale.

Strategic rationale

Canva acquired Serif and the Affinity suite in early 2024, bringing roughly three million professional users into its ecosystem. The move gave Canva an entry point into the professional creative software market, where subscription-based incumbents like Adobe dominate.

With this relaunch, Canva appears to be positioning Affinity as both a professional-grade offering and a bridge between traditional desktop software and Canva’s web-based design platform. The strategy signals an attempt to make professional workflows part of Canva’s larger “creative operating system,” unifying its consumer and professional user bases.

Considerations for production use

While the “free forever” headline is attractive, Canva’s AI features remain deeply embedded in the new workflow. Many of these tools, including automatic cleanup, are gated behind Canva Premium accounts. This will require hands-on testing over time to determine whether they justify the eventual cost of subscription access.

The real test will be how easily Affinity can be configured for use inside pipelines. Questions remain about how long it will take to adapt the new unified app to established workflows, whether automation and scripting capabilities have changed, and how stable the new file system proves when used in multi-artist setups. Pipelines that rely on established asset management and render paths may require reconfiguration to integrate the new Affinity properly. The effort might be worthwhile if Canva maintains long-term product continuity, but that remains to be seen.

Integration with Canva’s cloud storage is another factor. The degree of flexibility when connecting to existing storage solutions, such as NAS or enterprise cloud systems (Dropbox, Google Drive, or on-prem servers), has not been fully detailed. Production teams will need to verify whether the new cloud hooks can coexist with external asset storage or whether data remains locked inside Canva’s ecosystem.

Despite these uncertainties, the relaunch is broadly good news for artists and small studios. A unified toolset with no upfront cost lowers the barrier to entry and provides an accessible alternative to subscription-only competitors. The performance and stability of the new app will ultimately determine whether it can find a lasting place in production environments.

Bottom line

The most striking structural change is that Affinity’s three separate apps for vector graphics, raster work and layout (Designer, Photo and Publisher)have been collapsed into a single executable. For artists used to bouncing between Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign (or, in our case at Digital Production, between Photoshop and InDesign several times per day and it feels like a thousand times a day), the prospect of handling illustration, image correction and page layout within one coherent workspace is admittedly tempting. If the combined app maintains the responsiveness that made the original Affinity trio popular, this could simplify day-to-day asset handling considerably.

Studios should test the software thoroughly before deployment, evaluate integration with their existing storage and pipeline systems, and monitor how Canva handles support for legacy perpetual versions. The promise of a free, professional toolset is welcome, provided it stays usable, open and supported long enough to justify the switch.

The post Affinity: free all-in-one design suite first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Topaz Labs confirmed that from 3 October 2025, its software will no longer be sold under perpetual licences. Current perpetual customers keep their licences, but no new perpetual purchases will be possible after this date. Products affected are Topaz Gigapixel, Topaz Photo, and Topaz Video (formerly Gigapixel AI, Photo AI, and Video AI). Until the October deadline, perpetual licences remain available at $99, $199, and $299 respectively.

Subscriptions only

After the deadline, the only way to access future versions is via subscription. Topaz calls out “founding customers” with active upgrade plans. They will receive discounts on Studio subscriptions and additional access privileges. The company has not specified the size of the discounts.
Pricing announced:

• Topaz Gigapixel: $29/month or $149/year, Pro plan $499/year
• Topaz Photo: $39/month or $199/year, Pro plan $599/year
• Topaz Video: $59/month or $299/year, Pro plan $699/year

The shift mirrors the launch of Topaz Studio, a subscription-only bundle that combines all three applications.

What Studio brings

According to the official Topaz Labs forum statement, Studio includes seven products and access to over 100 AI models. Local and cloud-based image processing is bundled without extra cost. New AI models debuting inside Studio include Wonder, Standard MAX, Starlight Sharp, and Nyx XL. Models in development include Face Realism, Subject Preservation, and Mosaic.

What this means in production

For postproduction artists, the switch means one-off investments are replaced by recurring costs. Existing perpetual licences continue to function, but users will need a subscription for updates and new features.

The post Topaz drops perpetual licences, bets on subscriptions with Studio launch first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.