One topic for the longest time that we've talked about is how iClone's native rendering engine could be improved.

Some broad thoughts are:
-adding lightmapping/baking (like UE4, Unity)
-adding more realtime visual tools to emulate the visual effects of raytracing (like Eevee)

And, now with Iray, you have a clearer choice of picking between investing time into raytracing for increased visual quality, or rendering realtime with a resulting lower visual power. 

But just when you thought it was time decide on either settling in on a Camp-A or a Camp-B, UE4 comes along and blends them together with its early preview of RTX raytracing functionality.

Is this maybe the direction iClone could go, some kind of hybrid solution...?  
Maybe, right?  

I'm going in the logic way.  1-The billionaire Epic Game invests in the Realtime raytrace (RTX)  2- Iclone invests in a bridge from Iclone to the Epic editor for animation and character creation
3- The Iclone 2019 roadmap indicates no render  development .
My conclusion : no new Iclone render for very long time 

Consider that ALL the big boys - Maya, 3DS Max, Houdini etc long ago gave up on their 'native' renderers since Renderman, VRay and others were providing better 3rd party options... it makes no financial sense to keep developing your own native renderer if nobody is actually using it.  iClone is a different beast as it's "selling point" is real time... so, the focus has to be on keeping the internal renderer "real time" - otherwise what's the point?  At the very least, I would hope RL would catch up to Toolbag since they're both based on the same render engine - afaik!

RAG DOLL COLLISION ANIMATIONS FOR ICLONE 8 & 7
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Ghost Origins

My latest Feature length film created with Iclone.

My Sci- Fi Graphic Novel on Amazon: https://a.co/d/9k3cwoY

My IMDB listing
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The comments seem to be speaking of short term future, I am envisioning perhaps a little later...
Because, I don't think it makes financial sense to just create a doorway to another venue (ie to UE4), unless there is a reverse doorway that leads $ from that venue back to you.  So in other words, you expand on your product's offerings not merely to pay homage and boost UE4's universe of sales, but to hopefully in return attract a customer base from UE4's universe that boosts your own sales.
  
iClone's 2019 priority list, I believe, is the last stretch of iC7, thus to me explaining no pending realtime enhancement. 

And then I imagine iC8, because RL stands to make a whole new sale-profit by enhancing the realtime render for iC8 as part of the marketing campaign for iC8.

Like, if you would upgrade the engine, would you, as a business:
(a) upgrade it for free as part of iC7 in 2019
(b) upgrade it for $ as part of the paid update to iC8 in 2020

I would think B, not A, which is why I am not thinking of this topic pertaining so much to iC7's 2019, but rather in the next iteration (iC8) 

Wondering if it will be merely a better realtime PBR, or a hybrid of raytrace and realtime.

Reallusion already has a working live link to Unreal in testingaccording to TonyRL

Wow! Where did you saw that ?

Because, I don't think it makes financial sense to just create a doorway to another venue (ie to UE4), unless there is a reverse doorway that leads $ from that venue back to you

Can you imagine the number of people  , in the Indie field, who want to create game versus movie creator ??  The access for ready game character creation and animation (body/face) with the
most easier/cheapest/fastest way requiered Iclone/live motion/live face . Bundle cost 700$ and all is readyand developed. Imagine 10 000 new customer around the world = 7 millions,,,,

The futur of render will depend of the futur of video card so who can make prediction ?

I can imagine that there will be those making games who would like to enrich their cinematic scenes, and instead of paying some animator to do it for them, they may look and find RL as a place with a tool set that may in fact provide a fiscally realistic set of solutions.

I agree about the cards too, which is what makes the RTX thing with UE4 so interesting. 
Will they do an 'RTX-hybrid' of raytrace + realtime, or just realtime?  There are plenty of us already in the iClone world that will buy iC8!

It is in the 2019 Roadmap that you referenced!

https://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost403268.aspx

It is in the 2019 Roadmap that you referenced!

Oh! I read it but I think Autodidact spoke about a release date... 2019 is far from over  and it doesn't apear in the schedule board.

I have no choice to follow  RL  with UDK but I hate udk , unity , blender, etc.... I want to stay in Iclone because I love its render look.
My main problem is that Popcornfx editor is too hard for me . I bought all the popcornfx package particles that Reallusion sell . But 
some generique features are missing : non linear velocity , inherit velocity , point gravity attractor , 64 sprite Atlas instead of 32 ,  etc....

Realistic render is not what I want. I just saw Alita Battle Angel and seroiusly wanting to match that kind of rendering with one or 2 PC is like wanting to do nascar with a micra mitsubihi ...