When I got sent a copy of iClone 2 Studio to review I have to admit I wasn’t the most excited I’ve ever been about a piece of software.

This was because iClone 2 Studio is a 3D animation studio piece of software.

Now don’t get me wrong it’s got nothing to do with the animation part, that I found very exciting.

It was the software part.

Now over my many years of using the computer I have tried to use a lot of these 3d animation pieces of software and the same thing has always happened.

I give up after half an hour because I just can’t work out how to make them do anything (and that’s even with reading the manual).

So as you can imagine I wasn’t really expecting much from this piece of software either but guess what - within 45 minutes I had actually produced an animation sequence, saved it and got it to play.

Now that left me seriously impressed.

So what was it like to use?

Well it was a complete and utter pleasure to use. This software allows you to create characters from a selection of body types, create an environment, light it, add effects, movements and even position the camera that films it all.

I tested this with my other half and we had a lot of fun testing out all the different animations we could apply to the models and were really impressed by the realism concerning the movements in the animation,
*although it can’t be denied it does have a cartoony element to it). The Clonecloth feature which allows a normal of clothing options was also another feature that impressed us.

Now I won’t lie and say that this is going to suit advanced animators because it won’t. The features they will want will be more advanced and they would want to be able to manipulate a lot more in terms of the models and the environment. This, though, isn’t something you should expect for a piece of software that costs just under £100.

I, personally, was impressed that this software had all the features it did for the price tag and wouldn’t have thought it expensive for what it does if it was double the price. If it was that price though I think iClone 2 Studio would not be as accessible in monetary terms as it is in ease of use and this has been recognised by Reallusion who created an amazing piece of software that allows everyone to enter the world of 3D animation and start their climb up the ladder to 3D animation stardom.

If it sounds like the kind of software you’re looking for you can pick up a copy for £99.98 at Amazon.

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