Instead of requiring a huge library of different avatars, iClone 3 includes a neat 'morphing' tool which lets you sculpt a variety of actors from a single puppet. If this sounds a bit too basic for you, don’t fret: an array of advanced motion tools are also on offer, allowing you to make your animations as pixel-perfect as you like. This is achieved by selecting a persona (which dictates the style of animation) and using the keyboard to enter different commands - just like you would in a computer game. This is essentially a player-controlled CGI environment that lets you 'puppeteer’ your avatars in real time. iClone 3 Pro helps to remove some of the complexity via its novice-friendly Director Mode. While previous iterations of iClone helped to simplify 3-D animation, the process remained quite time-consuming and daunting. No longer tethered to the limitations of a computer game, it allows you to tell practically any tale your brain can come up with. Since its initial release in 2005, the self-described ‘movie machine’ has broadened the scope of what a machinimist can achieve.
IClone 3 Pro is a computer-generated moviemaking suite that encompasses everything from character creation to camera editing. But what happens when you decide it’s time to step outside of the programmer’s imagination? What if you’d prefer to craft your own virtual sets and actors, instead of using those supplied in a game? This is where Reallusion’s iClone 3 comes in. The emergence of sophisticated game engines has provided storytellers with a wide variety of canvases on which to stage their movies from the realistic architecture of Second Life to the otherworldly vistas of Halo. Unlike traditional animation, you aren’t hamstrung by your own artistic abilities, and the benefits over live-action film-making are obvious (you can get by without a budget, props or actors for a start). When you think about it, it’s not surprising that machinima holds so much appeal for amateur film-makers. An amalgamation of the words ‘machine’ and ‘cinema’, machinima refers to the use of pre-built 3-D worlds to produce animated movies - and it’s beginning to creep into the mainstream.
This is in large part thanks to the prolific output of the machinima gaming community. While still something of a niche interest, 3-D filmmaking has enjoyed a surge of popularity in recent years.