animation/.claude/skills/iclone-video-mocap/references/iclone8-core-animation.md

iClone 8 Core Animation System — Technical Reference

Compiled 2026-07-15 from manual.reallusion.com (iClone 8 Online Manual, sections 8.0–8.5), Reallusion KB, and Reallusion forums. Excludes the Video Mocap plugin (see video-mocap-plugin.md). [UNVERIFIED] marks low-confidence items.

1. Character Animation Architecture

1.1 Core model: Motion Clips + Layer Keys

• "A Motion or Animation is the combination of the Motion Clip and the Layer Keys." Since iClone 1.x-era redesign, layer keys are encased inside motion/animation clips: dragging a clip drags its layer keys; a clip's layer key cannot be moved outside the range of the clip.
• Motion track has sub-tracks: Motion Layer keys (per body part: e.g. R Arm, LFingers, RFingers) and gesture layer clips for both hands (LHand/RHand). Gesture data can be Sampled (extracted into LFingers/RFingers Motion Layer tracks) or Flattened (merged back into the motion clip).
• Relative Motion Layer Keys blend an offset into the underlying motion. Old "absolute" motion layer keys were removed — the equivalent is removing the motion and posing via Edit Motion Layer.
• A motion layer key's effect persists to end of clip until another key is set; transitions between consecutive layer keys are auto-generated.

1.2 Edit Motion Layer panel (Modify > Animation tab > Edit Motion Layer; menu Animation > Edit Motion Layer; hotkey N)

Engine is HumanIK ("automatic floor contact while the intuitive real-time IK motion control keeps the body balanced"). Panel sections:

1. Set as Default / Reset to Default (base pose retrieval; Default button adds a layer key standing the character straight in default pose).
2. Mode tabs: IK / Mask / Detail.
3. Body pictogram with effector-point states: Selected / Free / Move-locked / Rotate-locked / fully Locked / blend-weight-activated joints; quick lock toggle.
4. Pin presets: lock joint translation, joint rotation, Both Feet, Both Hands, Hands+Feet, Both Toes, Unlock All.
5. Mirror controls: edit bilateral bones simultaneously, copy bone status to opposite side, mirror entire pose.
6. Selection modes: Full Body (torso may drag along when an effector moves; Ctrl+Click multi-select; keys inserted on ALL Motion Layer sub-tracks except fingers) vs Body Part (limbs/head only; key lands only in the relevant sub-track, e.g. R Arm).
7. Set Key and Reset Pose buttons.
8. Viewport Controller (colored on-screen bone pickers), Bone Display Mode (bones/bounding boxes), Bone Settings (Size, Affect all Bones, Color, Opacity).
9. Palm pictogram for hand gestures.
10. Effector Blend Weight activate/deactivate.
11. Three Mirror Pose buttons (incl. Pose Mirror Right to Left, Full Body Pose Mirror).
12. Vertical Pose Alignment toggle — includes Z-axis values (normally only X and Y are aligned → confirms Z = vertical axis in iClone).
13. Properties dropdown for numeric translate/rotate entry.
14. Copy Pose / Paste Pose.

• IK posing: pick an effector (e.g. hand), use Move tool (W) and drag in viewport — 2D mouse motion drives the limb; manual says "make sure your target body parts face the camera" for precise 2D→3D control. Rotate tool (E) = FK-style joint angle edits. Foot Contact / Hand Contact checkboxes prevent ground penetration. Recommended: deactivate sub-joint blend weights and pin (lock) bones you don't want dragged before editing.
• Pose Mixer / Mask Mode (inside Edit Motion Layer): pick body parts on pictogram (Select All / Select None / Invert Selection), then apply *.rlPose files from Content Manager — only masked parts take the pose; repeat with other pose files to compose partial poses; masked mirroring via Pose Mirror buttons. Custom poses saved via Add/save to library (.rlPose; iClone 8.4 added save-custom-poses page).
• Edit Pose vs motion layer keys: "Edit Pose" panel is the Character Creator 4 equivalent (CC manual: "Using the Edit Pose Panel", same Body Key Editor); inside iClone all posing goes through Edit Motion Layer and always lands as Motion Layer keys relative to the current clip (or on an empty motion as pose-to-pose keyframing).
• Layering workflow onto existing motion: apply clip → Edit Motion Layer → go to frame → adjust effectors → key auto-added to Motion Layer track and blended into the Motion-track pose.

1.3 Animation Layer panel (F11; iClone 8.x, distinct from the single Motion Layer track)

• Stores pose keys in stackable named layers to "set their weight together". Toolbar: Add New Layer, Duplicate Layer, Delete Layer, Rename Layer, Merge (merge as optimized keys or sampled key per frame), reorder up/down, Lock, layer Color, activation toggle (mute), Weight slider with weight keyframing over time. Supports per-body-part layering (manual: "Animation Layers for Body Parts").

1.4 Reach Target (Modify > Animation tab > Reach Target; menu Animation > Reach Target)

Panel: (1) Bone Edit Mode checkbox (show bones); (2) Bone Settings (Bone Size / Affect to all bones / Color / Opacity); (3) Pictogram effector states: Selected / Free / Reaching (contacts target) / Motion-compelling (keeps original motion); (4) Reach Target section incl. Select Target and Keep Current Pose button (reach-key effect without snapping to the target); (5) Reach Mode — Position checkbox (hand snaps/aligns to target pivot) and Rotation checkbox (also follows target orientation); (6) Reach Offset (position and angle offsets from the target); (7) Lock to Origin (pin effector to original position); (8) Release (sets a release key on the timeline).

• Lock to Original workflow (protecting existing pose while one part reaches): lock affected effectors one at a time (multi-selection not allowed for locking); secondary drift may require additional locks; verify by playback.
• Reach keys/constraints are not exported directly to FBX — use Menu > Animation > Flatten All Motion with Constraint to bake Link / Look At / Attach / Path / Reach keys into motion clips first.
• Effector dummy props can be used as reach targets to fix motions ("Fixing Motions with Effector" page); Look At / Reach / Path control also via dummy props (Set > Prop > Using Dummy Props).

Sources: manual pages 50-Animation/Motion-Layer/Introducing_the_Edit_Motion_Layer_Panel.htm, Using_Body_Key_Editor.htm, How_to_Use_IK.htm, Layering_Motion_Layer_Keys_to_Exising_Motions.htm, Using-Mask-Mode.htm, 50-Animation/Animation-Layer/Introducing-the-Animation-Layer-Panel.htm, 50-Animation/Reach_Target/*.htm, 51-Animation-Timeline-Editing/Clips_and_Keys.htm.

2. Timeline (F3; Shift+F3 focuses it)

2.1 Tracks

Per-object track stack includes: Transform, Motion (with Motion Layer + gesture sub-tracks), Facial layer tracks, Viseme (expand triangle → Voice and Lips sub-tracks), Expression tracks (see §5), Visible, Effect/HDR/IBL property tracks, Audio/Sound + Lips sync tracks, Part tracks (bone-skinned objects) and Bone tracks (individual bones + IK effectors), Collect Clip track, and the Project track (flags/markers). Track show/hide hotkeys: O, Q, T, M, R, Z, E, L, V, S, D, I.

2.2 Clip operations (toolbar / right-click / hotkeys)

• Add Key A; Break Ctrl+B (non-destructive split, hidden data preserved); Break Flatten (destructive split, discards data beyond boundaries); Auto Extend (expands clip when keys fall outside; also Menu > Animation > Clip Auto Extend); Loop 1 (drag right clip edge); Speed 2 (drag edge; shown as % on clip title bar); Resize Clip 3; Motion Direction Control 4; Motion Modifier 5; Cut/Copy/Paste Ctrl+X/C/V; duplicate = Ctrl+LMB drag; Delete key. Prev/Next key: Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right (toolbar also lists Tab/Shift+Tab). Playback range on/off: ' / ;. Zoom +/-, Fit Ctrl+*, Actual Size Ctrl+/ (1 cell = 1 frame at 60fps). Insert/Delete frames for project or single object; Mark In/Out; flags on Project track.
• Reversing Clips: right-click clip > Reverse (page Reversing_Clips.htm).
• Time Warp (right-click motion clip > Time Warp): default = Linear; presets Ease In / Ease In & Out / Ease Out / Ease Out & In; Custom panel = curve-type dropdown + variation slider (left ≈ linear, right = more dramatic). Changes speed within the clip.
• Transitions between clips: transition range sits ahead of the latter clip; each clip has 4 draggable triangles: Fade In Start (weight 0) / Fade In End (100) / Fade Out Start (100) / Fade Out End (0); blend progression between lower triangles is always linear. Weights do nothing if only one clip is on the track.
• Transition Curves between two keys (Transform and other key tracks): set 2 keys, right-click the later key > Transition Curve > pick from 16 curves + Default (Ease In, Ease Out, Ease In & Out, Pause and Move, Gain momentum before Move, Damping, Gain momentum and Damp, Stutter Start, End in a Bounce, Stuttering Start and End, Elastic Start and Sudden End, Sudden Start with Elastic end, Elastic Start and End, Step, Linear, Default). 4 basic presets have a Strength slider; Default curve comes from Preference panel > Default Key Tangent. Live viewport preview when hovering choices.
• Hollow vs solid keys: hollow = partially keyed frame (not all axes keyed — common after Sampling due to optimization); solid = all axes keyed. Editing hollow keys in detail requires the Curve Editor.

2.3 Sampling & Flattening (right-click on motion/animation clip)

• Sample Motion Clip to New Layer >> Sample All Parts - Optimized | Sample All Parts - Per Frame | Sample Selected Parts — exposes clip contents as Layer Keys (standard CC characters). Props/accessories: Sample Animation Clip.
• Flatten Motion Clip >> Flatten All Layers | Flatten And Keep All Keys — merges Layer Keys into the clip. For clips with Speed/Time Warp applied, keys are recalculated and optimized rather than merged, and cells re-match timeline units (standard characters only). Menu names differ for standard vs non-standard characters vs props.
• Menu > Animation > Flatten All Motion with Constraint bakes constraint keys (Link, Look At, Attach, Path, Reach) — required before FBX export of constrained animation.

2.4 Collect Clip track

• Open Collect Clip track → click-drag a range covering the desired clips/keys → right-click: Add Motion to Library (actors; merges/compacts Transform + Motion + Hands + Motion Layer tracks into one motion, save to Custom library), Add Gesture to Library (hand motions), Add to Perform List (iProps: Transform + Animation tracks), Add to Perform (props: Transform track). Re-import via right-click Motion track > Import, or the Perform menu. This is the standard way to consolidate a mocap-plus-layer-edit result into a reusable .iMotion/MotionPlus asset.

2.5 Motion Direction Control (hotkey 4)

Fixes the "transform keys fight motion clips" problem: select clip > Motion Direction Control button → leading line(s) show clip travel direction; Rotate fields (exact degrees), Translate fields (initialize clip start position), or use Object Rotate tool visually. With multiple clips, adjust the second clip while keeping adjacent motions aligned/connected. Related: Menu > Animation > Auto Motion Alignment >> No Alignment / Align Position Only / Align Position and Direction.

Sources: 51-Animation-Timeline-Editing/Timeline-Operation-Basic.htm, Clips_and_Keys.htm, Sampling_and_Flattening.htm, Transition_Methods_in_Tracks.htm, Creating-Transition-between-Clips.htm, Time_Warp_for_Motion_Clips.htm, Collect_Clip_Track.htm, Using-Motion-Direction-Control.htm, 90_Keyboard_Shortcuts/Timeline_Shortcuts.htm, 02-Main-Menu/Menu_Animation.htm.

3. Curve Editor (built-in plugin; F12, Shift+F12 focuses; separate manual section 58-Curve-Editor)

• Purpose: classic-animation curve control over iClone keys ("time and space adjustment", ease in/out, arcs, smooth/linear camera moves). Select motion keys in Timeline, edit their curves.
• UI: Menu bar (Key, Tangent, Navigation, Zoom, Optimize/Filter, Curve menus); Toolbar areas: Outliner Display Options, Tangent Tools, Handle Tools, Key Editing Tools, Navigation Tools; Search bar; Outliner (structure nodes + curve nodes of selected object); Edit mode dropdown: Layer Keys | Transformation; Time mode: Project Time | Clip Time; Current Frame field; Graph view; FK Mode button (launches motion-layer editing for bone selection); Status bar with Frame/Value numeric fields.
• Key Editing Tools: Move Key (Shift+Drag = single-axis constraint), Offset Key (shifts entire sequence before/after to preserve surrounding animation), Add Keyframe (directly on curve; toggle "Add Keyframes for All Curves"), Remove Keys, Scale Keys (bounding-box: horizontal = speed, vertical = magnitude).
• Filter menu: Optimize (Threshold 0–1 curve-fitting; higher = smoother/fewer keys; options: Optimize Selected Keys only / Selected Curves only / Selected Keys on Selected Curves; Preview shows before/after key counts — for densely keyed mocap curves), Smooth (Smooth Factor strength, Falloff to avoid cliffs at range edges, Keep Custom Tangent, Preview), Butterworth smoothing (Cut-off (Hz), Sample Rate (fps), Falloff, Align to frames = float keys → integer frames, Preview). These are the primary mocap jitter cleanup tools — sample the imported mocap clip to layer keys first, then filter.
• Tangent menu/tools include standard tangent types (Auto/Linear/Step/Ease etc.) [UNVERIFIED — exact list not confirmed]. Dedicated Curve Editor keyboard shortcut page exists (58-Curve-Editor/Keyboard_Shortcuts.htm).
• Gotcha: to curve-edit inside a motion clip you must expose keys (Sample) — clip contents themselves aren't directly curve-editable; hollow keys are adjusted here.

Sources: 58-Curve-Editor/Welcome_to_Curve_Editor.htm, UI_Intro_for_Curve_Editor.htm, UI_Intro_for_Curve_Editor_Key_Editing_Tools.htm, UI_Intro_for_Curve_Editor_Menu_Optimize.htm.

4. Motion Correction / Cleanup Tools

4.1 Motion Correction (foot/hand sliding fix)

• Right-click motion clip > Motion Correction. Derived from Reach: calculates ground-contact times, auto-creates hand/foot prints, sets Reach keys to feet/hands so they stick to prints.
• Panel: Presets (pre-optimized body part sets), Body Parts (manual per-part activation), Parts Settings: Threshold (higher = severe sliding, lower = minor sliding — the main dial), Transition (frames for Reach/Release key transition), Reach Offset / Release Offset (shift Reach/Release keys left/right), Reach Mode checkboxes (touch prints / align to print directions), Sync Threshold with all Parts checkbox. Click Correct.
• Iteration gotcha: after each Correct, run Flatten Motion Clip > Flatten All Layers, deactivate the already-fixed parts, then correct remaining parts; repeat.
• This is the primary post-import cleanup pass for external/video mocap clips.

4.2 Motion Modifier (Timeline button, hotkey 5)

• Slider-based whole-clip body-part adjustment ("fix posture issues or alter overall look"). Base Pose options: Default Pose (motions that don't change much), Auto Generate (averages pose for highly varying clips), Load (use first pose of a loaded iMotion). Part Modify section with Stand Mode / Move Mode. Converts entire clip into an altered one. Not recommended for dramatic motions (big turns/heavy transforms).

4.3 Motion Director (iClone 8 flagship; replaces MixMoves conceptually)

• Behavior files (iMD) drive characters: each character can have multiple Behaviors; each behavior has Modes (currently Casual and Athletic); modes contain speeds ('Stroll', 'Walk', 'Jog'); each speed has perform-motions and Mix-motions ('Main Mixer' + sub-mixers).
• Control: keyboard/gamepad (WASD-style; Ctrl+R start/stop playback-record; Shift = accelerate a level, Ctrl = decelerate; customizable via Hotkey Manager, Edit > Hotkey Manager, Ctrl+`); waypoints via Alt+left-click (queue) and Alt+right-click (absolute, cancels others). Cameras: MD Camera (system), Free Camera, Follow Camera (8 presets + 5 customizable) on MD Triggers panel. Snap to Surface for terrain-following characters (8.1). Menu > Animation > Create iMD Cache pre-retargets actors for MD performance. MD Props with Reach Effect settings exist (8.5).
• Recording writes normal motion clips to the timeline, editable with everything in §1–§3.

4.4 MixMoves — REMOVED in iClone 8

• The iClone 7 MixMoves system (automatic motion-graph transitions) is not in iClone 8; legacy MixMoves animations still usable as regular motions (Reallusion forum confirmation). Motion Director is the successor.

4.5 Motion Puppet / Direct Puppet / Prop Puppet / Morph Animation (Menu > Animation)

• Motion Puppet: record motions from puppet templates onto the selected character (mask body parts, mouse-driven). Direct Puppet: simultaneously move+record body to generate motions. Prop Puppet: puppet-record prop animation. Morph Animation: Morph Animator panel — keyed morphing sliders (also how morph-based prop/character shape animation is keyed). Edit Animation Layer: layer keys on existing prop animations.

4.6 Smoothing

• Body: Curve Editor Smooth / Butterworth filters (§3), Optimize for key reduction.
• HumanIK foot floor contact: automatic in Edit Motion Layer (Foot/Hand Contact checkboxes). Character-level contact geometry comes from CC's Floor Contact Planes (soles/palms; toes/fingers bend to avoid penetration) — set in Character Creator, honored by iClone terrain snapping.

Sources: 51-Animation-Timeline-Editing/Motion-Correction-for-Sliding-Issues.htm, Modifying_and_Fixing_Motions.htm, 50-Animation/Motion-Director/Basic-Concepts.htm, Setting-Hotkeys-with-Hotkey-Manager.htm, Snap-to-Surface.htm (8.1), 02-Main-Menu/Menu_Animation.htm, forum.reallusion.com/519260 (MixMoves), CC manual 06_Body/Setting_the_Floor_Contact_Planes.htm.

5. Face Animation

5.1 Track structure

• Viseme track → sub-tracks Voice (audio clip) and Lips (auto-generated viseme keys). Expression timeline = 4 tracks: Muscle (morph data), Eye Blink, Eyeball, Head (orient/tilt). Facial Layer tracks hold Face Key output. Face clips support Auto-Extend, Loop, Speed; layer keys copy/paste only within their originating clip. Sample/Flatten available to convert expression clips ↔ three-track layer keys. Menu > Animation > Expression Clip Auto Crop trims overlapping expression clips.

5.2 AccuLips

• Open: Modify > Animation tab > Motion section > Facial group > Create Script, or Menu > Animation > Create Script > AccuLips (other Create Script options: Record Voice, Text-To-Speech, Wave File).
• Works only for CC G1–G3+ Standard and CC Gamebase characters. Audio: wav, mp3, m4a, aac, wma.
• Workflow: Open Audio File / Record Voice → Generate Text (speech-to-text; fix red-highlighted words) → Align (word-by-word sync; or Update Selected for a range) → adjust word durations → Apply → visemes generated on Lips track. Optional: load a TXT/SRT script with identical filename to skip transcription; custom viseme-word pairs saveable to dictionary. TTS input auto-aligns. Old iTalk scripts convertible.

5.3 Viseme editing & strength (3 levels)

1. Project/character level: Modify > Animation tab > Facial Animation Settings > Viseme Strength slider. 2. Clip level: right-click voice clip on Viseme track > Talking Style Editor (hotkey 6) — per-clip viseme strength sliders. 3. Individual key: double-click viseme key (or empty cell to add) → Lips Editor (hotkey 7) — phoneme choice (e.g. "Phoneme: Oh") + Expressiveness slider (result visible after slider release).

• Smoothing mouth: right-click Lips/Lip Options track range > Lip Sync Options → radio Full Mouth (+Smooth checkbox + smooth value) or Parts (independent lips / tongue / jaw sliders).

5.4 Face Key panel (Menu > Animation > Face Key, or Modify > Animation tab)

• Tabs: Expression (preset expression style sets via dropdown), Modify (detail morph sliders grouped: Brow, Eye, Nose, Cheek, Mouth, Custom), Morph (Expressiveness slider + Revert). Muscle editing: click highlighted face regions and drag in viewport to sculpt an expression; Muscle Symmetrical Selection for mirrored edits; Reset to Zero button. Keys land on Facial Layer tracks; blend sequential keys by placing the playhead between them. Muscle vs Detail distinction: Muscle = region-drag posing, Detail = per-morph sliders.

5.5 Face Puppet (Menu > Animation > Face Puppet)

• Real-time mouse-driven expression recording. Profiles: Male, Female, Stylized ("00_"-prefixed enhanced versions), Universal (mouth shut + six mouth expressions). Facial Profile Strength slider exaggerates/smooths. Solo Feature Profile states: None / Active / Selected. During Preview/Record: left-click = blink, hotkeys Q W E R T Y trigger Full Face Control Profile commands. Profile Details (Edit Property) table: 60 standard + 24 custom morphs. Preference > Control > "Confine Face Puppet area to 3D view-port". Attribute tab Auto-Blink toggle (disable during puppeteering).

Sources: 50-Animation/Facial-Animation/Creating-Voice-Script-with-Accurate-Lipsync.htm, Three-Levels-of-Setting-Strength-for-Visemes.htm, 50-Animation/Pro_Facial_Animation/Face_Puppet.htm, Face_Key_Editing.htm, Facial_Timeline.htm, 51-Animation-Timeline-Editing/Adding_or_Modifying_Lip_Synching_Keys.htm, Smoothing_Mouth_Movements.htm.

6. Characters & Characterization

• CC4 Standard characters (CC3+/CC Gamebase etc.): full feature support — Edit Motion Layer/HumanIK, facial system (AccuLips requires CC G1–G3+ Standard/Gamebase), Motion Director, sampling with "All Parts - Optimized". Created/edited in Character Creator 4; CC4's Characterization panel data (bone-mapping, bone-rotation, floor contact, HIK property data) is what iClone uses for retargeting.
• ActorCore characters/motions: Reallusion's store rigs (AccuRig-rigged); load directly in iClone and accept iClone/ActorCore motions; AccuRig converts arbitrary humanoid meshes → compatible rigs.
• Non-standard/Humanoid characters: custom FBX rigs are converted via CC4's Convert to Non-Standard / Humanoid (Characterization mode: map custom bones to standard iClone bones, adjust to T-pose — all .iMotion are T-pose-based; skipping T-pose causes body-part offsets when motions apply). 3DXchange's old conversion role now lives in CC4/AccuRig. Feature availability in iClone differs (e.g. sampling menu items differ for non-standard characters; AccuLips unsupported).
• Imported mocap interaction (core side): File > Import > Import External Motion (iClone 8.4+) accepts FBX or BVH motion for standard/humanoid characters. Options: Motion Profile (from CC Characterization data), optional T-pose file from the same source, Sample Per Second (higher = more detail), Root Bone dropdown (choose source root node), Auto-generate to Perform List; Convert All → clips stored under custom Motion > External Motion library. Once converted, mocap clips are ordinary motion clips: trim/loop/speed/time-warp, Motion Correction, sample-to-layer + Curve Editor filtering, Edit Motion Layer layering, Reach Target locking.
• Props/Accessories: animate via Transform track keys, Prop Puppet, Edit Animation Layer, Morph Animator; clip form = Animation clips ("Sample/Flatten Animation Clip"); collect via Collect Clip > Add to Perform (List). Constraint animation via Link/Attach/Path/Look At dummy workflows, flattened before export.

Sources: 8.4/50-Animation/Import-External-Motions/Import-External-Motions.htm, CC4 manual 09-Import-Humanoid/*, 3DXchange 6 legacy Converting_Models_to_Non_Standard_Characters.htm, actorcore.reallusion.com learn-and-support.

7. Import / Export

• Menu paths: File > Export > Export FBX... | Export Alembic... | USD (Omniverse). File > Import > Import External Motion (mocap in). 3DXchange is discontinued; all conversion/export features merged into iClone 8 / CC4 (kb.reallusion.com/Product/53036) — iClone 8 ships pipeline-capable (FBX/OBJ export built in, no separate Pipeline SKU).
• Export FBX dialog (verbatim, from manual screenshots): Target Tool Preset: Maya, 3ds Max, Unity 3D, Unreal (UE4 Skeleton), Unreal (UE5 Skeleton), Motion Builder, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya (Motion Pipeline), Motion Builder (Motion Pipeline), Marmoset Toolbag. Preset changes downstream settings incl. axis conversion (no manual Y-up/Z-up radio in iClone 8; legacy 3DXchange had explicit Y-Up/Z-Up choice). FPS dropdown (default Project(60)). Export Range: T-Pose (no animation, avatar moved to origin (0,0,0)) / Current Frame / All / Range (From/To). Checkboxes: Embed Textures, Embed Timeline Timecode, Max Texture Size (default on, 2048), Convert Image Format to (default Bmp shown; JPG if unset), Delete Hidden Face, Use Smooth Mesh, Convert Skinned Expressions to Morphs, Merge Face Hair to One Object, Delete Unused Morphs, Tear Ducts UV Adjustment (character can't round-trip to CC if on).
• Export FBX Advanced Settings (gear icon): Merge Opacity to Diffuse Texture, Preserve Bone Names (CC Base) (default on), Mouth Open as Morph, Epic Skeleton (UE4 Skeleton / UE5 Skeleton radio), Epic Skeleton Hand and Foot IK, Reset Motion Root, Export Weight-map to Vertex Color (default on), Use T-Pose As Bind Pose, Reset Bone Scale (default on), Add Reference Pose (default on) with radio: T-Pose for Unity / A-Pose for UE4 Skeleton / A-Pose for UE5 Skeleton / A-Pose for UEFN. Also Export JSON for Auto Material Setup (default on, for Auto Setup plugins) [per Auto Setup manual].
• Root motion: Reset Motion Root — since 7.6, for Unity/Unreal game-engine presets the root node follows the hip instead of staying at origin; needed for root-motion scripting/blending in engines. Constraint animation must be flattened first (Animation > Flatten All Motion with Constraint). Motion-only export: use the (Motion Pipeline) presets.
• Batch export: select multiple objects; with Target Tool Preset = Unreal or Unity 3D each object exports to a separate FBX named after the iClone object; any non-game-engine preset merges all picked objects into one FBX.
• Non-exportable types: iLight, iEffect, iParticle, iTree, iGrass, iTerrain, iWater, iSky, aml, iTalk, iPath.
• USD: via free Omniverse connector plugin — Menu > Plugin > Omniverse > Export USD, File > Export, or toolbar. Options: Export All/Selected; Material Render Mode (RTX Real-Time = OV PBR shader; RTX Interactive Path Tracing = SSS MDL for digital humans); Export Range > Motion FPS: 60/30/24; Send to Server (Nucleus). Outputs main USD + light/material/motion dependency folders.
• BVH: import supported (Import External Motion); BVH export is NOT available from iClone 8 — legacy BVH export was 3DXchange Pipeline; CC4 4.4+ has BVH export (see export-pipeline-to-blender-godot.md §3).
• Blender/Godot: Blender via Target Tool Preset "Blender" + free CC/iC Blender Tools (soupday) importer; Godot has no preset — use Unity 3D or Blender preset FBX, or round-trip through Blender→glTF [workflow inference, not Reallusion-documented].
• Licensing: Reallusion content items require an Export License to leave the Reallusion ecosystem in FBX/OBJ/USD ("You must first purchase the content licenses in order to export FBX and USD files" error otherwise); iClone-only content (legacy "maroon" items) is blocked without it. Your own imported/created assets are unrestricted. FBX-key/.fbxkey applies to CC character mesh round-trips. Export License purchase deducts already-owned iContent cost.
• Alembic export exists for vertex-cache workflows (Export Alembic...).

Sources: 83-FBX/FBX_UI_Intro.htm (+ dialog screenshots), Exporting_FBX_from_iClone.htm, Batch_Exporting_FBX_Files.htm, Resetting_Motion_Root.htm, kb.reallusion.com/Product/53036, reallusion.com/ContentStore/Export_License.pdf, Omniverse plugin manual (iC-8.3), forum.reallusion.com/556427.

8. System Fundamentals

• Frame rate: Project Settings > Time Unit section — FPS dropdown per project; default project length 1800 frames, maximum 54000; timeline "Actual Size" = 1 cell : 1 frame at 60fps (iClone's native/internal sampling is 60fps; FBX FPS default Project(60); render/export offers 12/24/25/30/60). Time Mode: Realtime vs By Frame (physics). Time Unit display: time-based or frame-based.
• Units: 1 iClone unit = 1 cm; default grid 100×100 units = 1×1 m. CC characters ≈175 units tall. Matches Unreal cm scale directly.
• Axes: iClone is Z-up (Reallusion: "iClone and 3DXchange are Z-Up based 3D tools"); corroborated by Edit Motion Layer "Vertical Pose Alignment includes Z-axis values". FBX export axis conversion is handled by the Target Tool Preset (Y-up conversion for Maya/Unity etc.). Character bones do not share a common up-vector (spine Z-up, legs point down, feet back) — a known pain point when retargeting exported skeletons. A literal Z_UpAxis node/track name: not found in iClone 8 docs [UNVERIFIED — likely a 3DXchange-era conversion dummy].
• Key global shortcuts: Space play/pause; ,/. start/end frame; ←/→ frame step; F3 Timeline, F11 Animation Layer panel, F12 Curve Editor (Shift+ variants focus); N = Edit Motion Layer; Q/W/E/R = Select/Move/Rotate/Scale; Ctrl+Z/Ctrl+Y undo/redo; X/Z/C/V camera Pan/Zoom/Orbit/Roll; Home = 45° perspective; F = front view of selection. Timeline-specific keys in §2.2. All remappable: Edit > Hotkey Manager (Ctrl+`) — Device: Keyboard, expand item, press new key.
• Rotation order: editable per object via Menu > Animation > Rotation Order (Euler order — matters for curve editing and export). Remove Object Animation / Remove Scene Animation clear animation (scene removal offers frame-position options).

Sources: 03-Introducing-the-User-Interface/Project_Settings_Time_Unit.htm, 90_Keyboard_Shortcuts/Global_Shortcuts.htm, Timeline_Shortcuts.htm, Hotkey-Manager.htm, 3DXchange5 Y_Up_or_Z_Up.htm, forum.reallusion.com/109018 & /326528 (cm units), forum.reallusion.com/525257 (bone axes).

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Key gotchas worth surfacing: layer keys can't leave their clip; flatten-between-iterations for Motion Correction; Flatten All Motion with Constraint before FBX export; MixMoves removed in iC8; AccuLips is CC-Standard-only; game-engine presets (Unreal/Unity) are the only batch/per-file + Reset-Motion-Root paths; 60fps internal / cm / Z-up when planning Godot import.