I've briefly browsed through some Forum threads to read on some licensing questions and I saw what you mean. I have commented on some to hopefully try and clarify stuff. Thanks for the heads up! :)

Yes, that's a good point.
However, there is another point to consider.
After I wrote these recommendations to you, I realized that there is something about the license that bothers me.
I don't think most people are even aware of a weird restriction in the license as it's written as a footnote.
Therefore, it may be useful to have a look at the following topic.
I asked a few questions that I haven't received answers to yet, and I realized that we may have to outsource the content depending on the situation.

https://forum.reallusion.com/526096/New-Content-Licenses-Explained-Standard-Extended-Enterprise

I always recommend RL programs to people.
A very successful team has developed and continues to develop these great programs.
However, I do not want anyone to suffer financial loss because of my advice. Maybe it would make more sense not to give advice to anyone until the licensing issues are clear.
That's why I had to write this information to you.


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Ah yes. I just tried playing around with the Cart more and adding each item separately (Character Creator 4; iClone 8) and taking note of the discount. I used the 10% off Trial and 40% off birthday discount coupons. Then making another Cart test by adding the related Power Bundle item for comparison. The 50% Off LP column is just my assumption on a possible 2021 similar Black Friday promo. The "I wish" column is what mostly every "loyal" customer is wishing for. :laugh: There seems to be no advantage buying the Power Bundle over just separately purchasing each software in it when considering coupon discounts. I think there should be as the buyer should still be encouraged to buy both software at the same time and at all times. hmm...

Here's what I got:

Exactly the same thing I mean.
Buy 2 items and get 50% off.
In fact, because you pay full price for one product, you get the other product for free.
However, if you add the CC4 and iC8 packages to the cart separately, these will be 2 products.
But the bundle is a single product.
I don't know exactly how software purchase discounts work, as I benefit from the campaign by purchasing content.

I understand now.
When you add the $600 and $10 product to the cart, you think that it will be enough to pay 305 dollars.
I don't remember exactly since it's been 1 year but I think I tried it :)
RL adjusts the products you can choose and their prices in such a way that I don't think you will have a chance to buy discounted products with such a big difference :D

But it's worth waiting.
It's been 1 year and I don't remember the product prices at all.
Maybe what you said is true.

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Ok, so it's the higher price that gets the discount. That means no significant reward for upgrading when buying at these promotional events as you realize the discount amount is much lower actually. :(


I understand, to acquire the highest discount offer, one must exceed US$600 spending per year. That's more than a price of a medium-specced laptop. I see this type of membership offer is ideal for business entities and successful freelancers with more money to burn. :laugh: I bet extra budget will still be needed for other external software to add to the pipeline like if planning on customizing clothes and hair to make them look more unique. If a business is already earning enough, I can see this membership is viable. But for those just starting out, not so much.


That is strange. When I read the Black Friday 2021 promo, I understand it as sort of a buy-1-take-1 promo (but for equally dividing total amount) as there is the word "or" which means it's optional. The customer has the choice to either get 2 software or 2 black friday-marked content to get 50% on the total List Price. He/she may also buy more of course and still get 50% off as long as 2 items from the Software Store or Content Store were bought. hmm... :ermm:

No, based on my purchases so far, I can say that the promotions are applied at the discounted list price.
You can even use coupons if you have the right to use extra coupons.
I recommend getting the $99 premium coupon for that.
You can use this coupon unlimitedly for 1 year.
Most likely, you will get back the amount you spent on the coupon with the discount amounts that the coupon will provide. You will have the advantage of having a premium coupon for 1 year from Extra.
Since your shopping will exceed 600 dollars, you can have a 40% elite coupon valid for 1 year, and by combining these coupons the next year, you can buy the product you want with more than 50% discount.

If the programs are $599, you can purchase content for an extra $599.

However, you'll have to spend $599 anyway.
Your advantage is that you can get a lot of content for free, such as the hair pack, etc.

I'm not sure if they will be included in this campaign as these programs are new, but I think they will most likely be included in the campaign.

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I am referring to the Black Friday Sale last 2021 (see image below). I'm not sure if I understand the promo mechanics correctly. It says if someone purchases 2 or more products in the Software Store -or- 2 items w/ "Black Friday" label in the Content Store, he/she will get 50% Off on the List Price of his/her entire order. So does this mean the discount is applied not on the Upgrade Price of those who already own the old version, but on the higher non-discounted List Price amount?

For example, for the Character Creator 4 and iClone 8 software bundle, the non-discounted price is US$898 and it's upgrade price for me is US$599. If I buy this with 50% Off due to this past promo, I will need to pay US$449 or US$299.50?

I also noticed, when trying to buy this combo bundle, the discounted amount is just the same as when buying CC4 & iClone 8 separately but having discount coupons applied. I thought the discount is bigger due to the combo bundle offer.




Yes, the 10% Off Trial Discount of either from CC4 or iClone 8 still exist. But you can't use both discount codes at the same time and the final discounted amount is still significantly lower than getting a 50% off. Paying US$99 just to have a 15% off coupon, for me, is not useful as it just counters the discount I will get. :pinch: The Premium membership I think targets those customers with a much higher budget and can actually afford to buy more. I agree, we can only know the details for sure when the actual promo event happens.

The upgrade fee of the CTA5 is not much. Therefore, you can upgrade it at any time.

But I'm not sure if there will be good discounts as other programs are still new.
Even if the 50% discount campaign is valid for these programs, you may need to purchase other products for the same amount.
So if you buy programs for $600, you may need to purchase the same amount of free content.
Of course, 50% discount campaign and if these programs are included in this campaign, it can be very advantageous.

If I have to give advice, I read that you are given a 10% discount coupon when you install the trial version. (If still valid)
You can check this.
Or you can get a 15% premium coupon valid for 1 year for 99 dollars, which can provide you with extra earnings.

More precisely, it is necessary to wait for these campaigns to start in order to see what will happen.

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You said it right! :laugh:


I'm planning to stick with 3D for now as I haven't really used my CTA 4 that much in the past. However, the new feature of CTA 5 of being able to directly use vector art is enticing. But I will not be tempted! :D


For now, I still don't use Daz because of their suspicious installer and uninstaller. :ermm: If I can only use animations from the RL store, it will be very limiting, for both the motions library and the cost. I would like to try out more options and also be able to use my existing MOCAP library from other sources. If I can't do that, I might just as well leave iClone 7 and switch to Blender or UE5 for animation. :P


The Hair & Beard Combo pack, I think are a time saver so they're good to have. But for me, I agree, I can get them at a much later time. I've been watching all those Youtube videos about CC4 + iClone 8 and it looks like there are really some big improvements. Having no 3DXchange Pipeline, I think adds more reason for me to just upgrade. Here's hoping there will actually be a really nice Black Friday Sale and a superb Year End sale this 2022! :D

When you need more than one product and you have to choose between them, it is really frustrating and this happens to me quite often. :D

Yes if you buy the hair pack now you will qualify for free CTA5. So, which program does your workflow mainly involve using?

Your first alternative;
You can already use existing programs with Unreal Engine.
Since you have CC3 pipeline, you can import Hair and clothes from DAZ store.
You may have serious problems with animations. For this, you only have to make do with the animations you will get from the RL stores.

Your second alternative;
Switching to CC4 and iC8 and postponing other necessary content like hair packs for a few months.
It would not be wrong to say that there are huge differences between iC8 and iC7 in terms of convenience. Preparing an animation saves you 70-80% of your time.
You can also animate even if you import a stone to CC4.

Indeed, there is a huge difference between these programs.
I don't want to mislead.
It totally depends on your needs.
But if I were you, I would prefer to upgrade programs for now instead of purchasing content.

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