Reallusion releases BuildingGen for iClone
Reallusion has released BuildingGen, a new procedural building-generation plugin for iClone, its real-time character animation software.
The add-on, which is aimed at “architects, professional designers and hobbyists alike”, lets users generate and customize 3D buildings based on a kit of modular parts, directly inside iClone.
Generate 3D buildings inside iClone using a simple blueprint-based workflow
Building generation is, on the face of it, an unexpected toolset to add to a character animation app, although recent iClone updates have included features that can be used for architectural as well as entertainment work, such as the crowd animation toolset added in iClone 8.4.
Reallusion’s pitch for creating 3D buildings inside iClone, rather than doing so in an external DCC application, is primarily ease of use.
According to the website, “unlike traditional modular building generators that require extensive node-graph editing, BuildingGen [creates] 3D buildings using customizable Blueprints.”
To generate a building, users simply specify its overall size and shape – primarily the number of storeys, and number of windows per storey – and the plugin does the rest.
There are 10 readymade building types, each with four variant looks and ‘day and night modes’, which determines whether windows appear to be lit from the inside.
Each base building generated can be further customized by adding features like balconies or cloisters, swapping window styles, or editing the base materials.
Optimized for real-time use, and exportable to other DCC applications
BuildingGen also comes with options for optimizing the buildings it generates for real-time performance, consolidating repeated models and textures.
Once optimized, buildings can be exported to other DCC applications in any 3D file format that iClone supports, including OBJ and FBX.
Comes with a kit of modular parts from which new building styles can be created
The plugin comes with 210 component assets that can be recombined to create new custom building styles, and users can supplement them by importing their own base assets – the website shows a modular asset kit from the Unreal Engine marketplace.
Reallusion has also released its own French Style asset pack, which provides 10 more building styles and over 600 components.
Price and system requirements
BuildingGen is compatible with iClone 8.0+. Perpetual licenses hava a MSRP of $199. The French Style Pack costs an additional $149.
iClone itself is available for Windows 7+. Perpetual licenses cost $599.
Read more about BuildingGen on Reallusion’s website
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