Phoenix Software unveils Reallusion iClone 3.0, 3D movie machine, in SA

Phoenix Software is pleased to announce the local availability of iClone 3.0, from Reallusion, Inc, a pioneer in advancing 3D animation and imaging technology.

iClone 3.0 is an innovative yet easy-to-use software application that makes it simple to add animation to video projects, whether you are an aspiring filmmaker or just someone who would like to add talking 3D actors and, SIMS-like content to your latest YouTube offering, podcast, blog, corporate presentation, or school project.

The enhancements in iClone 3.0 begin with the most elemental of all filmmaking tools, the camera. iClone's camera system is revised to allow you to add as many cameras to a scene as you require and actively switch the live camera view throughout your animation, enabling you to record an animated scene much like real-world filmmaking.

The camera system also has capabilities to support first-person recording with FlyCam and WalkCam cameras that follow terrain or soar through the sky with adjustable speeds.

Cameras can be directed to follow or look at any object in the scene and track the movement of actors and props. Cameras can also display depth of field and vertigo lens effects for producing dramatic in real-time without post-production processing shots in real-time without post-production processing.

iClone 3.0 simplifies the animation process to two production modes: Editor Mode and Director Mode. Editor Mode allows you to create and refine your scene and actors, and Director Mode to command how your actors behave with the ease of moving around in your favourite videogame.

When you start iClone 3.0, you'll see our brand new user interface (UI) with new style, colour and functionality. Designed to make iClone 3.0 more accessible and customisable to the way you work, the new interface guides you through every step of the moviemaking process at your own pace, fast or slow, difficult or easy, thanks to collapsible menus and full-screen for maximising the production space of your desktop movie studio.

The top menu is updated with a movie studio-centric workflow: Project, Stage, Set, Actor, Head, Animation, and Export. The operation of the UI now allows for full-object editing inside the 3D preview window so you can click any object or actor to move, rotate and scale. All items in your scenes now have a powerful right-click menu to access the most used actions and command actors or props to interact with DramaScript, a feature that allows users to define custom interactivity by associating certain hot-keys with certain actions.

Also, users who want to go beyond the characters, scenes and other content that comes pre-loaded with iClone 3.0, there's the iClone Content Store (www.reallusion.com/contentstore) where you can select from thousands of props, scenes, historical and fictional themes.

With output options ranging from HD-sized video to YouTube-sized video and the new Flash video option with a variety of quality settings, iClone users can share their productions in the full-screen, DV video format for DVD projects and as streaming videos for Web sites. Videos can also be produced for mobile handsets and e-mails.

* iClone 3.0 Standard is your tool for creating simple, fun and entertaining 3D animations, complete with such features as multi-actor editing which allows you to drag and drop your actor right into a scene, simplified sequence editing, enhanced motion editing, 3D object manipulation, multi-camera manipulation, enhanced lighting, multiple production modes, and more, all complete with HD-sized video and Flash video output to multiple platforms.

Pricing and availability: iClone 3.0 is available from leading retailers at a RRP of R1 099.