Create character animation in real time during game play

New Ikinema Run-Time Indie works inside Unreal Engine 4

Ikinema, is now shipping a small studio version of its full-body IK (Inverse Kinematics) RunTime middleware. The new RunTime-Indie is targeted at small, independent studios.

**Run-Time Indie from Ikinema offers small studios and independents an affordable way to create full-body inverse kinematics in real time from within the Unreal Engine 4 environment. (Source: Ikinema)**

Ikinema says RunTime-Indie is technically identical to RunTime, the full-body solver used by Microsoft, Square Enix and other top publishers to create convincing and realistic motion for characters during game play. Integrated with Unreal Engine 4, RunTime enables characters to react naturally to ever-changing terrain and environments, and scale obstacles with ease, all in real-time.

“IKinema RunTime-Indie taps into the same advanced full-body IK solution used in larger-scale productions,” says Kim Libreri, CTO of Epic Games, “and enables small teams to procedurally modify animations at a high level of quality within the UE4 pipeline.”

IKinema has also announced the addition of a full rig editor to both RunTime and RunTime-Indie, enabling developers from studios of all sizes to rig characters—whether human or fantasy—without the use of third party tools. Instead, they can rig directly within the engine, modifying assets and unlocking game play, from locomotion, climbing and foot placement, to pointing props and weapons, reach and look-at.

IKinema CEO Alexandre Pechev said: “The ability to go from rig creation to game usage within Unreal Editor is an advantage in itself but there are other benefits too; simplified workflow and decreased production time, as well as more accurate and realistic animation.”

RunTime-Indie is available for download on IKinema’s website.