I tried to collect the information about Reallusion 3D software, especially relevant to game developers. It was confusing, as many people noticed (that's why so many questions in the forums about Standard vs Pro vs Pipeline editions and for cases when you need 3dxchange to do some specific task).
So, to put all the bits and pieces together, I needed the following information:
(scroll down to the Package and Pricing table)
scroll down loooong way to the 3DXchange 7 vs. Previous Editions table and don't forget to expand all sections. Important thing here is to keep in mind that the features described in this table mean that these functions are not fully available (or not available at all) in iClone or CC3 Pipeline alone and you need 3DXchange!
But still even these tables are not enough to find out one important unintuitive fact: you can import DAZ and Poser characters into CC3 but you cannot import iClone characters into CC3! (Correct me if I'm wrong). I really hope this will change some day.
I would fancy the following:
- have only one core 3D product and that is iClone. Leave it as basic as it is with no import / export. Integrate basic Character Creator functionality as a free addon (ideally - inside iClone itself to avoid jumping back and forth).
- get rid of cc formats and their separate marketplace section. Extend iAvatar and other iItems to support all the functionality of currecnt ccItems. Thus no need to maintain two separate (and currently not 100% compatible) content ecosystems.
- split 3dxchange into two iClone addons - import and export. Importer will take all the importing capabilites (DAZ, Poser, obj, Transformer, whatnot). Exporter will integrate the Character Creator Pipeline with its abilities to export game-engine optimized models with the optimized character base, LODs and whatnot. It would also be great to have slightly improved rendering preview for export so I could better evaluate how my character will look like inside a game engine (subsurface scattering is a must). Maybe a limited and locked Iray version would do with fixed settings to match Unreal / Unity / CryEngine rendering as much as possible without buying full Iray plugin.
With this ecosystem it all would become much simpler for the target audiences and, most probably, for Reallusion themselves:
- if you are an animator and movie creator, you can start with the basic iClone (+ Iray plugin, most probably)
- if you are a game content creator, you need the basic iClone + exporter. You can get along just fine without Importer as long as it is possible to export downloaded iClone marketplace content (with Export license, of course) to your game engine. And also Iray could be skipped if the exporter offers a preview that is tuned to be close to the target engine.
- importer would be required only for custom content creators and those game content creators who want to apply fully custom items to iClone characters and then export them.
Simple. No more questions "which version and plugins do I need" and "why I cannot edit iAvatar in CC and export to a game engine" etc. etc.
That's just my two cents. Maybe this wouldn't work well with all target audiences but it would fit the main ones much better, IMHO.
Anyway, I'm just fantasizing here. Thanks to Reallusion that we have such awesome products at all.
Edited
5 Years Ago by
midix