Nekki has launched the new version of its animation tool Cascadeur, introducing major updates and improvements. In addition, the company revamped the software’s pricing policy.
Key new features in Cascadeur 2024.1
- One of the main features of Cascadeur 2024.1 is Animation Unbaking, which allows to transform baked animations into editable keyframes and interpolations. This should make the editing and modification process easier, especially when working with motion capture.
- Nekki added a new set of AutoPosing controllers that now support weapons and other props, which are taken into account for various poses.
- It also enhanced its AutoPhysics tool, which makes animations more realistic and improves environment interaction (e.g. when a character model walks the ladder, jumps off the wall, etc.).
- With the new Animation Retargeting feature, developers will be able to transfer animation between characters with different skeletons and body structures.
- Other improvements in Cascadeur 2024.1 include upgrades to the rigging tool, a reworked user interface in Node Editor, and the ability to create separate Viewport windows.
- More details and updates can be found in the full 2024.1 release note.
Cascadeur’s new pricing model
Nekki introduced a new licensing structure for Cascadeur, offering four subscription tiers:
- Cascadeur Free — includes many of the new features, but it is intended for non-commercial use and only allows to save animations in the proprietary .CASC format;
- Cascadeur Indie — $99/year (for developers with annual revenue of less than $100k)
- Cascadeur Pro — $399/year (includes advanced features like Animation Retargeting and Environmental Interaction and is intended for professionals animators and small studios);
- Cascadeur Teams — $1,596/year (includes all the features of the Pro plan, as well as a dedicated chat in Discord and enhanced onboarding).
It is worth noting that users who registered before March 1, 2024 will be able to get a free upgrade to the Cascadeur Indie license for two years.