Hi RL,

in the pinned thread about next iClone versions I added several suggestions, popped out during the various project developments.
Well.... I thought: why "limiting" these suggestion to future iClone versions only, when we still have one major update (6.3) in the picture and maybe other ones ? 

So, hereafter are 25 suggestions from my side.

Feel free to implement even all of them for next iClone 6 update...  

1. within each category (avatars, props, etc. etc.) the Scene manager window, I would like to be able to re-organize the assets of a project, that is, to be able to move the elements up (swapped with the element above) & down (swapped with the element below).

Use case: just be able to make some order when many assets are used. It can make the editing easier

2. it would be useful to be able to create some "virtual" sub-folder within the Scene Window, so that we can have a better and more organized list of the various assets.

Use case: just improve the editing process. I find it would be convenient to be able to organize the props in a better way, according to their function, position, relevance within the project

3. extend the maximum size of the Mini Vieport. 

Use case: when 3 monitors are used... one for the main window, one for the controls, one for the mini-viewport

4. (that's a big modification...) the possibility to have another virtual space (similar to "layers" of Blender), where we can place assets, work on them, define/adjust what we need, and once ready, move them into the main project

The additional viewport should be nothing but an additional empty project, acting as a secondary space to work out different things

Use case: tailor some movement offline to correct the character rotation, position, root node etc. collect the movement and then apply to the main project. Or just try some movement on a sample character, in order to see if the movement is ok. Or do any kind of other test out of the main project. Point 7 is also another use case.

5. report somewhere the name of the asset being selected. 

Use case: when many trees are placed, it can be difficult to select a specific one, so by understanding what asset is effectively selected can help to mask out anything that can prevent to select the desired target

6. make available the LUA API

Use case: be able to create automatic scripts for specific repetitive actions/editing (e.g. add/remove the same feature for many props, like adjusting a color or similar)

7. to be able to select the maximum frame range when a motion is applied

Use case: rebuild some part of an animation between two parts that are ok. The idea here is that I want to fill a motion track "hole" with some animation without overwriting the next animation. Today, if a motion is applied and it is too long, it overwrites the next animations... (this case can be also "solved" if point 4 above is enabled, because I could tailor the motion in a different viewport and then apply it to the main project)

8. Add a Keyboard shortcut for the Camera view from the Bottom (I might be wrong but it seems that the letter "B" is not used yet...)

Use case: several editing is convenient when done from the bottom and a shortcut makes the camera selection faster

9. display the Gizmo even when the camera has a close-up on an asset and the pivot is outside of the camera viewport

Use case: to be able to do editing even with a close-up view, without the need to zoom back and forth N times

10. to have a way to assign the Preview camera to the viewport currently in use by another camera.

Use case: while reviewing the final scene, it might be necessary to do some further editing without changing the movement assigned to the camera used for the final rendering. It is still possible to add anew camera (which starts from the current viewport) and then delete it, but it would be way easier and faster to have a command/shortcut that make it possible to redirect the Preview camera to the current viewport scene

11. to be able to select an avatar and a set of keyframe and apply a fixed position shift, so that the avatar has exactly the same movements but shifted in position

Use case: re-positioning of a character AFTER a complex animation is done, with multiple keyframes

12. to be able to handle video height maps (i.e. when a video is applied as a height map, IC should be able to re-calculate the height according to the current frame of the video)

Use case: to give a sense of deepness to real footages embedded in the scene.. but I guess this would open up a huge door for new special effects

13. having a color to identify one specific side of a bone in the Motion Editor

Use case: if a body part is rotated by mistake, it is sometime hard to understand what was the original and correct orientation. With a color on one side of the bone would be easier to bring the right orientation back in place

14. To have a pop-up window where all the timeline mark flags are listed, can be selected, and redirect the timeline at the mark points to.

Use case: improved usability when moving along a project timeline

15. Punch-in/Punch-out motion recording: the possibility to set the start and end frame where a motion is recorded (for example with the Motion Puppet tool) without the need to press the spacebar.

Use case: precise refinement of a motion, so that it is pre-determined the range where the modification will be applied. This feature also avoids the risk to overwrite leading & trailing part of the whole motion.

16. the possibility to place an asset at a certain point without the need to link/unlink.

Use case: if an asset shall be placed near another one, today we need to link it, select the Position option, unlink. This create an unnecessary constraint keyframe. It would be much better to have a similar option to just move the asset in the right place (like a "link by position") creating only a keyframe in the Transform track

17. a way to visualize (on request or somewhere in the GUI) the type of Avatar, in terms of:

a) Type (Human, Non-Standard Human, etc.)

b) Generation

Use case: when animation or exchange body parts are applied, it is useful to know in advance the character characteristics, in order to avoid a try & repeat process (e.g. when different body parts can't be exchanged between different generations)

18. to add a "search" function in those windows showing the bone structures (e.g. Non-Standard character motion edit, or Link to, Attach to)

Use case: when the bone structure is complex, it is tedious to look up a certain bone. If the bone name is known, it is easier to use a search function

19. to be able to select whether a camera movement shall create a keyframe or not

Use case: giving the option, it is possible to create multiple cameras behaving like the Preview Camera. This is quite useful during complex scene editing because it is easy to check the adjustments from different angles

20. to have an option, similar to Reverse a clip animation, to Mirror a clip animation (i.e. exchange left with right)

Use case: sometimes it is useful to have a mirrored version of an edited animation and rebuilding it is long and tedious. A "mirror animation" feature would come really into handy

21. to have the "Reset Motion Root" and "Align Actor Motion" options working also when a copy-paste of a clip is done

Use case: if we need to extend some animation with a copy-paste of existing clips, the above mentioned options seem to not working. It is still possible to align the clips after the copy-paste operation is done, but it would also be faster to have it done automatically

22. to have a way to display the name of the file used for an animation clip

Use case: sometimes it is useful to apply the same animation type/style and if the editing is done in different times, it is difficult to remember what were the file used for an animation of a certain character

23. to be able to bake the avatar orientation (Actor Root, i.e. Bone Root) within a Collect Clip operation

Use case: to generate a 100% replica of the animation, including also the Bone Root orientation. This is useful when an animation is fixed to re-align the Bone Root to the proper orientation, and then we want to generate a "clean" animation, including those fixes

24. to add a Bump Map channel to the Image Layer

Use case: it will give more realism to the image layered picture

25. to be able to adjust the parallax effect for camera movements based on the asset distance from the camera

Use case: imagine a scene with some props emulating distant objects, e.g. a mountain, a sky with star dome, etc.

If the camera moves, those far-away objects should not move or change their size.

Today this can be accomplished only by applying a counter-movement/resize editing to those objects.

It would be handy to have some kind of setting for the objects so that is possible to decide the percentage (0 to 100%, with 100% being what iClone 6 does today) of movement upon a camera displacement

NEW IDEAS:

26. to have a keyboard shortcut to toggle on/off the display of the selected item
Use case: sometimes it is useful to quickly switch the display of a path on/off.
One example is a camera linked to a path: while the path is being editing, it shall be displayed (on), but when we want to check the camera viewport, it should be off, otherwise the camera "sees" the path control points.

27. to be able to split a video embedded in iClone
Use case: when a video clip is embedded in iClone and multiple projects are built around it, where each project is a different scene, the rendered range of each project will start at increasing frame number, whereas it would be better to be able to split the embedded video and work only on a portion of it,so that the project frame number and size will be reduced

28. Additional shortcuts for Direct Puppet tool and Motion Puppet tool
Use case: during the animation editing is is often necessary to jump from one tool to another. Shortcuts are the way to speed up this process