CloakWorks releases Shroud for Unity plugin
CloakWorks has released a Unity plugin for its Shroud real-time cloth simulation system, in use at AAA game developers including IO Interactive and Trion Worlds.
Shroud provides high-quality soft-body solves by requiring artists to structure their simulation data in particular ways that minimise the calculations necessary.
The Shroud for Unity plugin enables artists to add a Shroud Instance component to an object within Unity and tell it which cloth rig to use, and which sub-meshes those cloth rigs will be replacing.
As with the existing runtime versions for Windows, OS X and iOS, you’ll still need the parent tool, Shroud Studio, to create the actual content. The plugin and runtime editions cost $399.99; Shroud Studio costs $599.999.
PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
CloakWorks™ announced today that it has launched a version of its advanced cloth simulation technology, known as Shroud™, that plugs into the Unity game engine. The easy-to-use plugin, which is available for purchase on the Unity Asset Store, offers users a range of powerful features for simplifying the creation of high-performance, highly realistic cloth in Unity-powered games. A free trial of Shroud for Unity is available on the CloakWorks store.
Used in such high-profile titles as Hitman: Absolution™ and RIFT™, Shroud is a complete solution for adding dynamic interactive cloth, clothing, and other soft-body physics effects to games and real-time applications. It consists of a runtime module that can be added to any game engine for desktops, consoles or mobile devices, and a set of tools specifically designed to make creating cloth content quick and easy.
Shroud for Unity brings all of that power, flexibility and ease of use to independent developers using the Unity game engine. Unity artists can now quickly add a Shroud Instance component to their character object within the Unity development environment, and tell it which cloth rig to use and which sub-meshes those cloth rigs will be replacing.
“Though Shroud has been used in some really high-profile titles, our goal is to make the creation of realistic cloth achievable and practical for every developer,” said Joe van den Heuvel, CEO of CloakWorks. “That is why we launched this new plugin for Unity – it will open high-performance cloth creation to a brand new audience and let them experience just how easy it can be to create highly realistic capes, cloaks, hair, ropes and so much more for their Unity-powered games.“
Shroud for Unity features:
- High performance across platforms
- Instancing: Shroud shares static data between multiple instances of the same cloth rig, drastically reducing memory usage
- Modular architecture lets you mix and match constraints and effects
- Advanced continuous collision detection prevents missed collisions with fast-moving objects
- Custom controls keep physics-based clothing moving smoothly even when the characters wearing them are not
- Level of Detail: Artists can blend between physics and skinning on the fly, and automatically turn off the simulation when it is far from the camera.
Priced at $400, Shroud for Unity is available for Windows PC, Mac OS X and iOS on the Unity Asset Store and requires Shroud Studio to create content for use with the plugin.