Reallusion Streamlines Social Media App.Creation with WidgetCast™

Reallusion Streamlines Social Media App.Creation with WidgetCastTM 

Flash® Web Developers, Interactive Ad Creators Now Have a Micro-App. Tool That Brings the Engagement of Rich-Media to the Browser and the Desktop in Just a Few Clicks 

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) August 17, 2009 -- On the heels of a successful SIGGRAPH 2009 preview, Reallusion, Inc., an award-winning developer of video creation software for real-time 3D animation, today launched WidgetCast, a new micro-application tool that makes it easier than ever before for web developers and interactive ad creators to bring the excitement and consumer-engagement of 3D animation to their social media campaigns and branded desktop environments. 

"WidgetCast is an extremely practical addition to any Web 2.0 developer's toolbox," said John Martin II, VP, Marketing, Reallusion. "The micro-application development trend is evolving at such a rapid pace that developers 

need to build smart rich-media objects on the fly." 

Adding to the useful suite of Reallusion's creative media tools, WidgetCast is compatible with the output of iClone and CrazyTalk avatars and assets, while constructing royalty-free interactive agents for websites and desktop campaigns. 

 Key Features: 

 •    Full-featured Flash media authoring 

 •    Hovering web or desktop ad creation 

 •    Support for chroma key to popVideo conversion 

 •    Support for jpg, swf, mp3, flv 

 •    Twitter feed builder 

 •    PowerPoint conversion into Flash 

 •    YouTube video gallery creator 

 •    Picasa & Flickr photo gallery creator 

 •    Yahoo! Interactive Maps 

 •    RSS Feed creator 

 •    Unlimited feature extension with Flash component 

 Need to transform a YouTube video with a client's brand icon into a web-based ad and the tech's gone home for the day? Or how about creating a quick mashup or reusing assets from the latest sales presentation in a mock campaign? No problem. Whatever the challenge, WidgetCast can help get the job done.  

 What DreamWeaver did for building websites back in the day, WidgetCast does for the Twitter-ized, hyper-connected Web 2.0 world. With WidgetCast, busy web developers or interactive ad creators can quickly build an interactive object, then post it to the web or export it to the desktop as an Adobe AIR-powered floating avatar. 

 "Between tighter budgets, staff reduction and the never-ending challenge to deliver compelling rich-media, expectations are higher than ever," added Reallusion's Martin. "WidgetCast gives you that edge that makes the difference between getting that client, hitting that deadline, or not. It's that simple." 

PRICING and AVAILABILITY 

Download versions of WidgetCast are available from the Reallusion Online Store at www.reallusion.com/widgetcast, with the SRP as follows: 

 •    WidgetCast PRO: USD199.95 

 •    WidgetCast Standard: USD69.95 

 •    popVideo: USD99.95

Photos from Siggraph 2009

Siggraph was full of fun and innovation.  We tried to have as much of each as possible.  The following photo gallery was created with our new WidgetCast (http://www.reallusion.com/widgetcast).  You can mouseover and set the slideshow settings.  Having a background in Flash design, I really love this tool.

Read Ricky Grove's SIGGRAPH 09 wrap-up on Renderosity.  He really covers the show comprehensively.  I have witnessed the phenomena of the Ricky Grove roving-motion-blur while traversing the show floor and talking to everyone that's really on the frontier. 

http://renderosity.com/news.php?viewStory=14689

iClone 4 Revealed PT. 3 - 3D Face Puppeteering

Recorded live during Siggraph 2009 at the Reallusion iClone 4 demo day with partners, press & power users.

iClone 4 revealed PT. 2 - Video Textures & Visual FX

iClone4 Revealed: Drag & Drop Editing

Reallusion reveals the full features of iClone 4 at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans.  A series of videos covering iClone 4 were recorded during the demo give you a front-row seat to the action.

Siggraph gathers the CG community from all over the world each year to discuss, showcase and dream.  This year we were honored to host power users and friends that gathered from across the US and Canada.  Special thanks to Bill, James, Wolf, Lizard, Ducli, Rainman, GToon, Biggstrek and the folks from Renderosity & Digmeco for an awesome time in New Orleans. 

We recorded everything from the full day of events which included a comprehensive demo and unveiling of iClone 4 followed by an afternoon of discussion live on iClone Radio with Wolf and Dulci.  Checkout their podcast from AUG 5th for their reaction to iClone 4.

http://wolfanddulcihour.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-where-iclone-4-preview-knocks-our.html

"For the love of Sprog!" an iClone animation

For the love of Sprog! from The Martin Brothers on Vimeo.

This animation idea came about while testing the dynamic springs inside iClone 3. I started by constructing the Sprog character and attaching and linking various spring props. The result gave a very liquid motion effect and the story of our two underwater lovers evolved from there. After developing the idea with characters and scenery, I decided that I wanted to try and do a single project with multiple cameras and film the animation in real-time. What I mean is that this movie is one project from beginning to end that you could watch it inside iClone, in real-time 3D. So, the project in iClone is the same as the rendered movie. All editing was done inside iClone so the cuts are camera cuts. No video editing was done except for the final text credits and the shimmer effect on the logo. I found that springs can be very effective as accents for characters or even as total characters. You can find most of the props I used to make the Sprogs inside your iClone 3.2 props folder. Music and sound are always needed and for this project I needed above and below water ambient sound and a slue of water sounds. I relied completely on the royalty-free resources: Freesound.org for all sound FX and http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/ for the Tango music. Each audio library has a wide range of sound fx and music. One tip, on Freesound.org, you can actually search for the sound you want, like 'Whoosh, Splash, Yahoo, etc..." You'll likely find what you need.

CrazyTalk 6.0 - Higher realism for facial animation

CrazyTalk 6 is here and the most user-requested feature has arrived: Multiple talking characters for virtual conversations and a stage to direct it all in real-time. Many more great features detailed below and on the Reallusion website.

CrazyTalk 6.0 What's New: http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk/default.asp

Dynamic Dialogue with Multi-character Editing Tracks * Multi-head setup is easy with fitting tools to identify up to 4 heads in any image. * Individual editing tracks for each character. * Transform and key-frame position. * Enhanced camera system with zooming in/out enables you to flexibly arrange the scene.

Enhanced Facial Mesh * The larger, full-hair mesh provides accurate fitting to make animation natural and realistic. * 3D Face Orientation setting enables precise fitting for slight head turns. * Auto Face Fitting adds another level of accuracy to the auto-fit engine.

Advanced Eye Settings * Match your design style with VividEye Templates – anime, animal, cartoon, comic, human. * 4 layers of VividEye Settings greatly increase the virtual eye realism – Eyeball, Optics, Eye Lashes, Eye Shadow. * EyeMagic adds cosmetic effects with various adjustable colors and lash sizes, style controls.

Performance & Output * Open GL hardware acceleration. * Direct output to YouTube. * Export for web use (Interactive Flash Avatar/Widget). Web Avatar - the interactive web host CrazyTalk6 PRO enhances actor creation, actor performance, and editing controls to deliver an elite set of facial animation tools to develop, direct and render videos for production or sharing online.

iClone eye-candy from Barca Lunar

O CHAMAMENTO PANFFARRÓNICO - The Panffarrounic call 3D
Barca Lunar's, "O Chamamento," has a message for you. Forget what you think you know about iClone 3. That's not meant to be taken as a jab, but an awakening. The visuals brought to life inside this movie are fantastic in every sense. The creatures are unlike anything I've seen yet in iClone and their presence, movement, vivid color and behavior will captivate you just as much as it has us. A truly stunning work. If this is a preview of what Barca Lunar is going to bring us from the world of iClone, then all I can say is, "Where's the popcorn?"

Berlin Wall Graffiti with CrazyTalk 6

Berlin Wall Graffiti Animation We are releasing CrazyTalk 6 in June and this is a movie I put together with the new multi-actor animation and pan and zoom camera features. The images are from photos I took when I visited the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall, known for it's graffiti.

Graffiti of the East Side Gallery brought to life with a poem by Alan Cook and animation with CrazyTalk 6. These are photos with some comic effect added and then imported into CrazyTalk where spoken word becomes animation. http://www.reallusion.com/crazytalk

The Expedition, an iClone mystery movie from Anima Technica

The Expedition from Anima Technica on Vimeo.

Anima Technica is back again with another outstanding iClone movie, The Expedition. The character design, custom costumes, and big voice cast are among some of the notable accomplishments of, The Expedition. Gabe brings a great story to life inside iClone. From the creator: Father Corrigan disappeared in the jungles of Burma while researching ancient sanskrit texts. The renowned explorer James Cooper and a hero of the Zulu Wars, Captain Powell, embarked on a journey to find Father Corrigan. The expedition takes them from London to the dust and grime of Kolkata and the impenetrable jungles of Burma.