The folks at Reallusion in Silicon Valley have really done it - they have created a 3-d animated filmmaking environment known as iClone that lets real people create storyboarded animated films with pro quality!
Release 1.5 has just been announced which includes:
- A pixel shader which enhances 3-D effects in real time. A partial list of new effects includes:
- bump map
- normal map
- reflection (environmental map)
- alpha channel (opacity map)
- self-cast shadow (nVidia only)
- vertex color
- UV texture animation
- particle effects2. New content that includes new textures, a 3d blocks and architectural system for building sets, and a 3d billboard
3. A new motion editor that allows your characters to exhibit realistic joint movement, etc.
Now, YOU can make your own movie or animated series and post it to YouTube and see what happens. Hollywood - Smollywood - who needs to wait for you!
Here is an example of a small film created in iClone that has been nominated for several awards:


