FREE iClone Cutie 4U: "JADE"

I've written about the importance of hi-res images when creating your iClone characters. This is needed for the ENTIRE character (meaning for clothes AND face). Sure, you can get away with using low-res images (Lord knows I've done it MANY times). But they are not really ideal if you plan on having the character appear in extreme close-ups in either your still or moving shots. So choose a nice high resolution image to get the best results. I really liked the high resolution texture for the face of this unique character here. I call her , "Jade". She's another iClone cutie for your collection. She can be a rocker, a vampire, a Goth chick, .... a sexy mime (can mime's be sexy? Well, I guess French mime's can.). Her cut off shirt top is made by non other than "Skulty", an amazing iClone artist and all around good guy.

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ....... Pauly

DOWNLOAD "JADE" HERE

(Once in a while, my free file service acts weird. So if you ever have problems with the download of ANY files here, please Email Me, and I'll be happy to send them to you.)

FREE Character 4U: "MUHAMMAD ALI"

My daughter recently had to do a book report for Black History Month. She had to choose a famous black American and find a book to read about the individual she chose. She picked out a book called "Sports Heroes and Legends: Muhammad Ali" by Carrie Golus. When I read her finished report, I was truly amazed by the life this man has led. I was so inspired by his will to keep fighting, not just in the ring, but also for what he believed in. Now I'm no "rah-rah" patriotic kind of dude by any means. But learning about this amazing American really made me think about what is truly important to me, and what I would do to keep it. For me, it's family and quality of life. When I was a teenager, I worked as an usher at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. I remember one day a large group of people walking in the theater, as they huddled around a tall figure in the center of the crowd. It was Ali. And I also remember how everyone referred to him as "the Champ", even though Tyson was holding the title at the time. Makes you realize, you're always known as being a winner, when you have fought all your life for what is truly valuable to you.

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ........ Pauly

DOWNLOAD "MUHAMMAD ALI" PROJECT HERE

(And for more iClone famous Americans, check out my

AMERICAN HISTORY VOLUME at Reallusion, Inc.)

FREE iClone Motions 4U

Have any of you ever experimented with the motion editor in iClone? It's really amazing. If you're pretty new to iClone, you know that iClone already comes with some fantastic motions for your characters. But surprisingly, many older users still don't realize that they can actually create their own customized motions with the motion editor. Now, I have said time and again, that I'm no genius at 3d animation. I'm just a schmuck from Queens, NY. But this motion editor feature was so easy to use, it made me feel like I had been a pro for years. The process of creating my customized motion was pretty fun. My wife got a kick out of watching me do it too. Let me explain. I videotaped myself with a locked down full body shot, where I faced camera and flexed my muscles. Grant it, I have no freakin' muscles, but I did the moves anyway. I was then able to load the video into my iClone motion editor, overlay the iClone "skeleton" or "mannequin" figure to my own image, and move the limbs of the figure to match my movements on the video. You don't have to do it frame by frame. You can skip many frames and continue matching it up. iClone will create a motion path for you automatically. When you're done, export it as an iClone motion, and use it for your characters whenever you want. It takes a little time, but it's a fascinating process to learn. And the results can be really cool, seperating your motions from others out there. So try it and see what you come up with. In the meantime, Andrew from Machin-X: Machinima & Digital Puppetry Blogspot (a very cool site, by the way), was kind enough to share an excellent link with me from www.truebones.com . The link is a FREE download of about eight .bvh motions which you can convert for use in iClone. Big thanks, Andrew! Click here and download the motions. Ok, ... gotta get to the gym now and build up those wimpy ass muscles.

Till Next Time, ........ "Keep Cloning" ......... Pauly

PS: Check out the Muscle Flex Motion Test below

Old Clones to New....Meet "DARKONIA"

A while back, I created an iClone version of Princess Selenia (from the movie "Arthur and the Invisibles"), and shared it here. If you never got her, just click the link above to download her. But judging by the amount of record breaking downloads for this character, I've decided to create an original evil counterpart for Princess Selenia, just to show you how easy it is to re-texture an existing character and make a new and original one. I used the old "Selenia" character as my template. So here she is. Presenting, ..."Darkonia" (she's in the picture above). She's a cunning little pixie-like vixen, who is always up to no good. iClone is perfect for creating original characters based on actual films and stories.

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" .......... Pauly

Endless Anime Creations & FREE Character 4U

I've said this before, .... I've always loved Anime. It appealed to me since I was a kid, when I first watched "Speed Racer". And even though there were only Anime animal characters in the series, I also loved, "Kimba the White Lion" (Showing my age now, eh?). But I've made quite a few Anime characters in iClone, and I wanted to give you the actual template I use to make them all. Here is "Anime Man". With this one character, you have all you need to create endless variations of iClone Anime characters. Place him in your custom character folder, but be sure to click ADD, when in FACE mode, and keep it in your face library. I use this same Anime style face over and over again, to create new Anime characters. It's all in the way you texture, folks. I shared this character at the forum a while back. But for those of you who never got it, feel free to

DOWNLOAD "ANIME MAN" HERE.

(NOTE: File Host is weird sometimes. If you have a problem downloading, try back. If it persists, Email me, and I'll send you the file.)

And if you want a great female counterpart for him, please go to Reallusion and check out my "Anime Girl". Enjoy!

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" ..... Pauly

How To Create Facial Hair & FREE "Gnome" Character 4 U

iClone doesn't have any facial hair which can be added to it's characters. Sure, you can texture mustaches or stubble onto a character. And you can even create the illusion of a beard, by adding appropriate beard texture, and then playing with the sliders for the chin while in FACE, MODIFY (kind of like the way I did with my Santa character). But wouldn't it be great to make characters with outrageous facial hair? You know, really long beards and such? I'm sure Reallusion will provide this at some point. A minor thing to work on with all of iClone's amazing and ever evolving features. Well, in the meantime, here's a very simple little trick, ...... take one of the hairstyles, and flip it over or around. A no brainer, eh? Play with the scaling, and positioning, and you'll soon have an iClone character with some very cool new facial hair (see Gnome photo). Give it a whirl, and go nuts with it.

DOWNLOAD "GNOME" CHARACTER HERE

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ....... Pauly

Another FREE iClone Babe 4 U: "Tanya"

Here's another iClone beauty. I call her "Tanya". She's totally hot (she's not real, Pauly, get a grip, man!). Wish I could have attracted babes like this in High School. I was such a shy geek. In my school, chicks like this always went for the a#$holes. It was always us nice guys who knew how to treat girls, that never had dates. The good news is that Karma is good, and now most of these same old High School jerks are unemployed toothless losers with beer bellies, who frequently end up on the Jerry Springer Show. So I guess it pays to be a geek, after all (I now have a totally hot wife). Anyway, "Tanya's" tube top and mini skirt were made by Skulty, a very talented iClone artist. You can find more of Skulty's work over at the CoolClones Forum, in the Freebies section. Big thanks to him for allowing me to add his work to my character, and share it with all of you here. Ok, gotta run now. Jerry Springer is on.
Enjoy!

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ....... Pauly
DOWNLOAD "TANYA" HERE
(Note: Necklace in photo not included)

FREE Character 4 U: "ANIME GOTH GIRL"

I've always loved the style of Anime. And I equally love the Gothic style. It's strangely beautiful, and quite appealing to me. I have a feeling that I'll be surrounded by the Gothic culture very soon. My eleven year old aspiring filmmaker daughter, has informed me that she's going to be a "Goth Chick" when she gets older. Most dads would freak at such news. But I think it's pretty damn cool (as long as there are no blood rituals involved). I mean really, ... what else could a kid who loves 3d animation, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Goosebumps books, Lord of the Rings, and the Living Dead Dolls, possibly grow up and be? So here's an iClone character combination of Anime and Goth. Meet "Anime Goth Girl". She's a lovely female for your next Anime epic. Enjoy, ... and please come back daily for more iClone tips, techniques, news, links, and FREE iClone stuff.

Till Next Time, ..... "Keep Cloning" ........ Pauly

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD "ANIME GOTH GIRL"

MACHINIMA 101: More iClone Possibilities

This is extremely cool..... Reallusion has posted an amazing video showing all the fantastic filmmaking possibilities with iClone. I watched this 12 minute video all the way through, and was truly blown away by it. It's got some very informative film making ideas, and their proper terminology. All you Machinima filmmakers out there, ...with iClone, your day has finally arrived. Now you can own your own films! Big thumbs up to James Martin & the other members of Reallusion, who put this together. Outstanding, guys!

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ...... Pauly

CLICK PLAYER BELOW TO WATCH "Machinima 101"

CLONING A CORPSE

Last year, I was working in Los Angeles on a children's TV puppet show. It was a nice wholesome show, teaching little kids all the do's and don'ts, ABC's, 1-2-3's, be my friend, yadda-yadda-yadda and all that purple dinosaur crap. After doing a show like this, it's hard to imagine kids as anything other than sweet and harmless little cherubs. Well, that concept was shot to Hell, when I stepped into one of the coolest L.A. toy stores in the world. This one in particular carried the most amazing toys I'd ever seen. They were not toys for kids, and no they were not adult "sex" toys either. They were toys of terror! And very, very cool, I might add. The Living Dead Dolls, are a line of Dolls for those with a more Gothic and terrifying taste. They're kind of like a bunch of corroded Cabbage Patch Dolls. Each of them has a name and a story and/or poem about their untimely demise. I thought I'd have a go at making some iClone versions of these "cool corpses". So here is my tribute to The Living Dead Dolls, and it's a pretty good example of more of the limitless possibilities with iClone which I've spoken about before. Many right wing heads have turned and freaked out, at the site of these little nasty buggers. But I'm sure the creators of The Living Dead Dolls are laughing all the way to the "blood" bank. Good for them!

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ......... Pauly

FREE Character 4U: "LADY FROM INDIA"

I found this iClone character in my old library of characters. I started to crank out countless characters when I first bought iClone. I went "Clone Crazy" for a good week. ...Drove my wife nuts . I never shared her until now (this character, not my wife!).
So here's a premiere freebie for you. I call her "Lady from India". She's pretty realistic looking. Not a bad creation for a beginner (that's exactly what I was when I created her) .... if i do say so myself.

Enjoy!

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ........ Pauly

DOWNLOAD "LADY FROM INDIA" CHARACTER HERE

HOW TO MAKE $$$ WITH iCLONE

Steve Draun, a very talented Magician (and now iClone Artist) once posted something about how you could make money with iClone, ... a kind of "Cash Cloning", so to speak. Needless to say, everyone flocked to read it. However, it was a play on words. The posting did in fact show how to make money. But it was how to create coin props (BTW, I wanted to link his tutorial here, but could not seem to find it in the archives of the forum). Excellent tutorial, and funny approach to getting every one's attention. But I've been thinking for a while now, on different ways to actually make an income with iClone, and I wanted to share some ideas with you here. The new licensing agreement from Reallusion, will certainly help with some ideas as well. A few of them, I have actually done, and have made some bucks. If one is not as ADHD as me, and has the ability to FULLY focus on just one of the listed ideas below, it could lead to a very lucrative career. So here goes,.......

1) Be a Story Board Artist

2) Teach iClone to Kids & Teens

3) Create Personalized E-Cards

4) Create Characters for Video Games

5) Create Virtual Hosts for Websites

6) Sell Textures

7) Sell Voice Files

8) Create Episodic Series' for Pod casts

9) Produce Commercials

10) Sell Still Art Work

11) T-Shirts iClone Creation Images

12) Join Reallusion's Affiliate Program

13) Join Reallusion's CCD Program

14) Sell Allowable Content at Renderosity

I'm sure there are many more that you can think of. But most of these came off the top of my head. And again, some of them I've actually done. So pick a few and go for it. Who knows? You might "Clone some Cash", ..... literally.

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" ........ Pauly

iClone 2.0 Character Test

The other day. I posted an article about the upcoming iClone 2.0. I mentioned that I could not get my BETA version up and running. But success! I managed to get it working just fine. I have to say that I LOVE THIS NEW VERSION!!! It will open brand new doors, not only for iClone character creation, but for clothes, effects (the particle FX are awesome!) and MORE! I played with the new G2 (Generation 2) body types, and made two very different characters, which you can see above (by the way, the G2 characters come with a bunch of very cool new hairstyles). I call the characters above, "Herb from the Burbs, & the Slacker". They were each made from using the same clothing upper and lowers. There is a "Perfect Man" body type, which when changed to the "plump" body size, becomes pretty fat. I never liked the way the old plump body size, never really looked truly plump. This particular new body type has changed that. You can equally make a character pretty thin as well. And Reallusion has also created a teen girl character, which solves the problem of making iClone children properly, ... in other words, no more upper with that of a female adult. Now iClone kids can, actually look like kids! I have some other comments, but I won't speak about them now, as this is only a BETA version I've played with. And I'm sure things will change and/or be added with the real version. But nice work, Reallusion! Look for iClone 2.0 coming in March.

Till Next Time, ..... "Keep Cloning!" ...... Pauly

FREE Charcter 4 U: "OGDOR, The Rebel Monk"

Here's another FREE iClone character for you. Meet "Ogdor". He's a 7 foot tall former Monk with an attitude. He was asked to leave the Monestery for "anger management" issues. He walks softly but carries a big axe, showing no mercy to those who sin against humanity. He and his axe accessory come complete in an iClone Project File.

You may DOWNLOAD THE "OGDOR" PROJECT FILE HERE.

Enjoy!

Till Next Time, ...... "Keep Cloning" ........ Pauly

CLONING & CASH? iClone 2.0 Preview

Not too long ago, I posted an article here about the use of 3dsMax for iClone. It was my personal conclusion that 3dsMax really wasn't needed in order to get amazing results out of iClone. Now let me stress, I'm not speaking for Reallusion here. But it appears that they might also now realize that 3dsMax might be slowing down some of the iClone content which many amazing artists are trying to work on. If only there were a way for you to create iClone clothes, and have different body shapes and sizes. And then be able to sell these new clothing creations for these new body types. Ah,.... to dream. BAM!!!!! I've awoken, and guess what? iClone 2.0, coming out in March, will allow you to do all that and MORE! I can't wait. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas. I had a chance to get a BETA version, but I kept having some computer bugs preventing me from working with it. So I'll have to wait like all of you. But in the meantime, check out the photo preview above. The new version of iClone will have tons of different body sizes, and something called "iClone Cloth", which you can fully change and re-shape to make 100% new style clothing. And you can then sell the new clothing to be used for any of the included new body shapes. I have a feeling iClone stores will be popping up everywhere on the net. And I hear that Renderosity will be opening up an iClone merchant section as well. I was the first person to attempt to sell iClone content at Renderosity. But after a bit of contoversy about the selling of iClone content outside of Reallusion, the merchant section was taken down. I'm so glad Reallusion finally sorted this issue out, allowing us iClone lovers to sell our work. So once again I say, a HUGE thank you to the brilliant folks at Reallusion, for continuing to allow our creative juices, ... to get even, ........juicier.

Till Next Time, .... "Keep Cloning" ........ Pauly