To Rampa:

They have quite a few already but It is not yet finalized as to how many there will be in the Final release. For sure, you can apply a Motion Puppet Clip ot a character and then fine tune it to your liking and save the Clip as a new instance for later use. Also, I assume that if you Collect the recorded motion segment from the timeline, you will be able to save the end result as a new "baked" motion segment.  

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MOTION LAYERS:

This is a completely new feature added to the timeline editor. Key frames for RFingers, LFingers, ARMS, Torso, Legs, and Head are save ON A DIFFERENT timeline layer so you can refine them and do some fine tuning on them without affecting the keyframes of other body parts. !!!

This is a very big PLUS for refining motions!

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PICTURE ON PICTURE:

You can now have a separate camera in the Viewport, i.e. Picture-on-Picture feature.

For instance, you can have a 1/4 size view of camera01 active in a corner of your Viewport while you position your assets with the Preview camera active for the remaining of the Viewport. This second viewpoint does not get rendered in your final output.  

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Oh, I like that--- I have messed up so many animations by going back in for just one more tweak. This will save me some heartache!


Hoping to get you & Gabe on the Wolf & Dulci podcast SOON to discuss your Siggraph experiences!

MORE ON DIRECT PUPPET FEATURE:

If you remember, the direct Puppet Feature is to the Body what the Facial Animation Puppetry is to the face.

This Feature is part of the Edit Motion Layer panel. It has a Pose and a Reach Target TAB and each tab has some interesting checkboxes and radio buttons you can activate or select.

Among other things,

1) There is a Mirror Check Box (self explanatory)

2) There are Single & Screen Mode radio buttons ( I am not sure but I assume that in single mode, all is hidden in the viewport except the Character you apply puppetry on).

3) There are 2 Keying Mode checkboxes: "Body Parts" and "Full Body" . For instance, if you are in full body mode and you pull the hands of the puppet toward the floor, the legs will bend. If you are in Body Parts Only mode, then the legs wont bend.

4) You can also enable/disable whether transformation and/or rotations are keyed by activating the Move or Rotate checkboxes.

  

   

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HAND & FOOT CONTACT CHECKBOXES FOR AVATARS

There are 2 new Hand & Foot Contact checkboxes that you can activate for Avatars. The status of these will impact how the IK works when animating the avatar.

e.g. If the hand contact is set and you are moving a character that has both hands on a table prop, the IK model will try to keep both hands in contact with the table at all times. 

The IK model  also take into account the Toes section of the skeleton, so if you are in the edit motion layer editor and try to pull the leg down towards the ground, if the Toe section is the first body part to hit the ground, it will bend to some extent until the entire foot is actually completely rested on the floor. 

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That's about it for now. All I can say from what we have seen so far is that iClone 5 is a MAJOR RELEASE with lots of goodies well worth the upgrade

Cheers@!

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A couple more pictures for you

Here's the Kinect calibration scene - basically you would assume the position in front of the camera and in about 30 seconds or less it calibrates the rigging



here's the new camera gizmo - it comes with guides so you can more accurately position the convergence point (for 3D), know where the clipping planes are

here's picture in picture - essentially another viewport so you can see your stage from a different camera angle



so you know about the motion puppet, and now there is also a prop puppet

here's a shot of the Edit Motion Layer timeline showing the various body parts you can keyframe




and finally how about a mirror object