iClone 8.52 delivers a highly anticipated update for professional animation editing, packed with groundbreaking features driven by user feedback. Despite its numerical step from 8.51, this release introduces transformative tools to elevate animation workflows. Check out the iClone 8.52 features video for more!Overview of iClone 8.52 new featuresAccuPOSE: Revolutionizing Natural 3D PosingAccuPOSE, an AI-powered innovation utilizing deep learning models trained on ActorCores extensive motion database. AccuPOSE understands human movement across countless scenarios, enabling users to create highly natural poses with minimal effort. Beyond hand-key animation, this technology plays a vital role in connecting motion clips, refining motion layers, and dramatically simplifying mocap data cleanup.Control Full Body Movement: Achieve full-body transformations merely from minimal inputs. AccuPOSEs real-time body pose estimation guarantees natural postures during editing.Pose-Driven Gestures: Arm adjustments naturally drive wrist movements and hand gestures, generating authentic human behaviors with minimal effort.>> Check out the demo on the product pageFully Controllable AI GuidanceTo work in harmony with AI technology, controllability is a huge factor. The real brilliance of AccuPose lies in its unmatched flexibility and precision. You have the power to decide which parts of the body the AI adjusts and which parts remain untouched. This allows you to fine-tune every movement to your exact needs.Precision & Freedom: By applying Transformation and Rotation constraints to selected joints, designers can control AI pose suggestions with precision and flexibility.Constraints & Lock: Utilize T/R Constraints to maintain manual control flexibility. Use the Lock feature to securely fix the end effectors in place.AI Suggestion: You can specify which part of the body the AI should provide suggestions for, while preserving the desired sections by using locks and move/rotate constraints.Mirror: The Mirror feature ensures that AI-generated poses for hands or legs maintain symmetry with mirrored postures during any adjustments>> Check out the demo on the product pageSeamless Integration with Existing WorksGetting started with AccuPose is straightforward. Simply open the tool, select an AI behavior model, and transform any pose effortlessly with the guidance of natural posing techniques.Works with Normal Poses: Transform existing poses into AccuPoses with selected behaviors, and experience the precision of natural posing with customizable IK constraints.Clip Layer Editing: By incorporating AI-assisted layer keys, users can effectively enhance motion velocity in selected motion clips.Keyframing from Library: Easily add dynamic poses from the AccuPOSE to arrange keyframes on the timeline, optionally filling in custom in-betweens and curves for smooth transitions.>> Check out the demo on the product pageAccelerates All Key Animation WorkflowCurious about how AI-assisted posing can enhance your workflow? Its incredibly adaptable and can be applied wherever setting keyframes is needed, making it a valuable tool across various creative tasks.Handkey Animation: Driven by deep-learned human motions, the posing suggestion enhances the efficiency of quality keyframe posing and supports the creation of compelling animation styles.Connecting Clips: The intelligent posing feature simplifies the process of filling in missing poses between motion clips, creating more natural transitions.Mocap Correction: The natural AI posing capability can effectively solve the mocap challenges such as shoulder stiffness, motion distortion, and even enhances animations with realistic hand gestures.Curve & Trajectory: iClones motion curve and motion trail functions empower animators to refine keyframe timing and spatial trajectories, ensuring high-quality animation outcomes.>> Check out the demo on the product pageDownload AccuPOSE CORE Free and Subscribe INFINITY for All3D Posing with the assistance of AI might sound exciting itself, but AccuPOSE is way more than that. It comes with a big library of AI-training models that answer your diverse scenario demands.The same control applied to a selected joint can yield entirely different results depending on the chosen AccuPOSE model, giving users absolute control over the characters AI reactions.AccuPOSE is a free plugin for iClone 8.52, all users will have access to the CORE Library, it supports fundamental human body movements like stand, sit, walk, kneel, lie, prone, etc.For those seeking advanced features, the INFINITY expansion offers an extensive library of over 1,000 AI-trained poses across 41 genres, along with continuous updates.Download & subscribeElevates Motion Editing to Pro LevelThe iClone 8.52 release brings four highly acclaimed professional animation features, voted by animators as essential to their workflows. These tools are meticulously crafted to serve as the foundation of daily productivity.Motion TrailThe motion trail feature enables professional animators to visualize trajectories for selected joints. It supports real-time editing of keyframes directly on the trail or within the curve editor, providing an efficient approach to managing motion paths and animation timing. Additionally, users can adjust the path range and customize the trails color to improve control and visualization.>> Check out the demo on the product pageNon-Destructive EditingUsers can now break motion clips without worrying about losing data, as cut-out portions remain recoverable. Additionally, for clips edited with motion layer keys, our non-destructive approach retains all layer data for further editing.>> Check out the demo on the product pageCurve FiltersSeveral new filter options are added. These include tools that remove jitters while preserving motion details, fix peak noise, reduce keys for bezier spline editing, and smooth selected tracks seamlessly.>> Check out the demo on the product pageCurve Performance EnhancementMotion Curve performance has been significantly enhanced for intensive editing across multiple tracks. Users can now enjoy near-instant responsiveness when selecting, moving, copying, pasting, or deleting keys in extended curve sequences.>> Check out the demo on the product pageRelated SourcesiClone 8.52 full announcementAccuPOSE TutorialsCheck out iClone 8.52 new featuresiClone 8.52 release noteLearn more about iClone 8Online manualFAQBrought to you by Reallusion:This article is part of the befores & afters VFX Insight series. If youd like to promote your VFX/animation/CG tech or service, you can find out more about the VFX Insight series here.The post A Major Leap for Professional Animation Editing appeared first on befores & afters.

Outgoing United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy just released his Parting Prescription for America, a set of reflections on his personal and professional experiences after spending six of the last ten years as our nations top doctor.Unlike his predecessors who focused on physical illnesses, during his service in the Biden administration, Murthy focused on the countrys mental health crisis and our current epidemic of loneliness and isolation, especially in the workplace, for parents, and among young people. His goal was to understand the root causes of the pain and unhappiness Americans are feeling across our country.Murthy said that after traveling across America for two terms and speaking with thousands of Americans, he discovered something deeply disturbing: The one thing ailing all Americans was the erosion of a sense of community.In dispirited and disheartened tones, people have confided, I dont have anyone to count on,' Murthy writes. They tell me that they feel they carry lifes burdens aloneand its exhausting. In different ways, people tell me they feel something is missing in their lives.Murthys last prescriptionIn his parting prescription, Murthy lays out how Americans can cultivate health, happiness, and fulfillment by rebuilding community centered on relationships, service, and purpose.Murthy argues that these three thingsrelationships, service, and purposeare essential for a happy, connected, and fulfilling life. They are the time-tested triad of fulfillment that stands in contrast to our current definition of successwealth, fame, and powerwhich focuses on the individual, unlike fulfillment that connects us with something bigger than the individual and thereby gives us both meaning and a sense of belonging.Here are Murthys thoughts on each element and how it impacts our health, as detailed in his parting prescription.RelationshipsRelationshipsare the connections we build with friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and others we encounter. Healthy relationships in which we can be ourselves and be seen can be a powerful source of joy and support, and can be buffers to stress.When we lack meaningful relationships, we can experience loneliness. Currently, a third of adults and around half of young people experience loneliness. Being socially disconnected increases our risk of heart disease, dementia, depression, anxiety, and premature death.ServiceServicecomprises the actions we take that benefit others. Even though service is defined as benefiting others, filling ones life with service can have profound benefits to the person rendering the service.Studies show that sustained service efforts can reduce the risk of hypertension, stroke, early death, depression, and cognitive decline, and can make us feel more connected to others.PurposePurposeis the feeling of having an overarching life aim that guides and prioritizes our decisions and actions. Its not what we do, its why we do it.Purpose can be good for our physical and mental health. A high sense of individual purpose may reduce the risk of early death as well as stroke, lung disease, and dementia for some. Research also shows that people with a strong sense of purpose may experience lower levels of depression and anxiety and greater resilience in the face of stress.

Meta has appointed three new members to its board of directors, including Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and afamiliar figurein the orbit of incoming President Donald Trump.The social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is also adding auto tycoon John Elkann and tech investor Charlie Songhurst, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in aFacebook postlate Monday.Tapping White to join the board could be seen as Zuckerbergs latest maneuver to improve ties with Trump, who wasonce banned from Facebook. After Trump won re-election in November,Zuckerberg dinedat the president-elects Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and Meta donated $1 million to Trumpsinauguration fund. Other Big Tech companies such as Amazon have donated similar amounts.Trump is a longtime UFC fan and frequent attendee of major fights.His ties with White date back to 2001, when White hosted a UFC at the Republicans former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Trump Taj Mahal. Trump has also appeared with White at UFC matches over the years, especially in his 2024 campaign as part of efforts to appeal to younger male voters.White, in turn, has had speaking roles at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Republican conventions and appeared on stage at Trumps election victory party in November, even speaking briefly to the crowd.The pairattendeda UFC pay-per-view card after the election at Madison Square Garden, where fans applauded as organizers showed video highlights of Trumps road to reclaiming the White House.White has built UFC into one of the most valuable, fastest growing, and most popular sports enterprises in the world, Zuckerberg said. Ive admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand.Zuckerberg is alsoactive in mixed martial arts. Zuckerberg and fellow billionaire Elon Musk seeminglyagreed to fight in a cage matchin 2023, but it never happened.Elkann, another person joining Metas board, is the CEO of Exor, a Netherlands-based investment company, and chairman of its two auto companies, Stellantis and Ferrari.Zuckerberg said Elkann has deep experience running large global businesses and he brings an international perspective to our board.Songhurst previously worked at Microsoft and joined began advising Meta last year on artificial intelligence.Kelvin Chan, AP business writer

You might not need to be a supertaster to recognize that Chick-fil-As popular Waffle Potato Fries taste different, according to customers who have been posting about it across social media.About two months ago, one Reddit user wrote, I noticed that the fries are now crispier but like not in a good way? It seems like theyre almost like battered fries now and just dont have the same taste . . . Needless to say Im not a huge fan. Since then, 132 people have commented on the same thread that the fries taste a little stale and are rubbery, old, and dry.Over on Instagram, Atlanta-based influencer Daryl-Ann Denneralso noticed the difference, noting that the fries no longer get soggy when they are in a hot bag but are grainier than usual. In her post, she pleaded: They dont taste good, please change them back!So, whats behind the new taste? Last year, we made a slight adjustment to our Waffle Potato Fries recipe, which offers the same great taste while also making our Waffle Potato Fries stay crispier, longer, Chick-fil-A told Fast Company in a statement. According to a Chick-fil-A spokesperson, the crispier fries have been tested in markets for more than a year now, and the change took place months ago.The fast-food chains website also notes that while the new recipe doesnt contain any of the nine major allergens . . . [the fry] coating does contain pea starch. (For those concerned about allergies, Chick-fil-A has a comprehensive list of all the allergens in its menu items here.)The popular fast-food chain, known for its chicken sandwiches, is no stranger to criticism over recipe changes. Just last year, the company backpedaled on a pledge to exclusively serve100% antibiotic-free chicken in order to maintain a supply of high-quality chicken due to post-pandemic chicken shortages, a decision that received widespread criticism from customers.

A circular healthcare facility designed by American architect Bertrand Goldberg is at risk of demolition in Illinois after being closed for more than 20 years, but is "worth preserving" according to Goldberg's son. In late 2024, the Chicago Sun Times reported that the cylindrical Elgin Mental Health Center Medical and Surgical designed by well-known architect Bertrand Goldberg building was listed for demolition by the Illinois Department of Human Services due to structural hazards and asbestos, years after its closure in 2002.A circular healthcare facility by architect Bertrand Goldberg is at risk of demolitionCompleted in 1967 by Goldberg, best known for his design of the Marina City skyscrapers in Chicago, the building consists of a four-storey circular tower resting upon a square base. Archways surround the building at ground level, while the body of the building is clad in glass and external louvres."It's very unusual in several ways," architect Geoffrey Goldberg, son of Bertrand, told Dezeen. "Overall, it's well worth preserving for the legacy. Whether that convinces anyone from a preservation or utility viewpoint is another matter."The medical building is part of a wider mental health facility outside of Chicago. The photo is by Bill Briska.The Medical and Surgical building is part of the wider Elgin Mental Health Center, a 100-acre campus outside of Chicago that opened in the late 1870s, serving a variety of functions such as a mental health facility, operating as a farm and veterans facility throughout its history.Inside, the building reflects its circular exterior and features a radial floor plan.Read: Chris Pratt's destruction of Ellwood house in LA symptom of "systemic problems"A snaking breezeway connects the building to a nearby brick laundry building, also designed and completed by Goldberg in the 1960s. Like the neighbouring Medical and Surgical building, it is also in disuse.At its largest, the Elgin Mental Health Center covered 1,139 acres (461 hectres) after World War II and served a maximum of 7,700 patients in the 1950s. A portion of the Center still operates today, but much of the original campus was demolished between the 1990s and early 2000s as the buildings fell into disrepair.The building contains a radial floor plan and is clad in louvresAs of late 2024, there is no set timeline for the demolition of the Surgical and Medical building.Born in Chicago in 1913, architect Bertrand Goldberg studied at the Bauhaus and worked for Ludwig Mies van der Rohe before returning to the US. The fluted, concrete Marina City towers in downtown Chicago are one of the city's most recognizable works.Other news in Chicago includes the commencing of construction on the SOM skyscrapers on a Chicago site that has faced numerous setbacks and delays. Meanwhile, aFrank Lloyd Wright tower in Oklahoma has been embroiled in a legal battle over the preservation of its original furniture.The photography is by Geoffrey Goldberg unless otherwise stated.The post Cylindrical Bertrand Goldberg building at risk of demolition in Illinois appeared first on Dezeen.

Forget going to the doctor's office; these companies are putting the power of tracking every aspect of your health into our own hands. But do you really want to know?

Metas chief executive has stepped away from his mea culpa approach to issues on his platforms and has told people that he wants to return to his original thinking on free speech.

Those participating in Apple's 2025 Swift Student Challenge can start submitting their app playground project on February 3, where 350 winners will be chosen 50 of whom get to visit Apple Park.Apple's Swift Student Challenge emblemApple started the Swift Student Challenge in 2020 as a way to encourage up-and-coming developers to learn and get involved in the development community. Eligible challengers submit an interactive scene in an app playground and are judged based on demonstrations of excellence, innovation, creativity, social impact, or inclusivity.The 2025 Swift Student Challenge submission window was previously revealed to open in February, but now an official start date of February 3 has been shared. Challengers have three weeks to submit their project, and winners are announced sometime before WWDC, usually in May. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

One of the things that Im interested in is this idea of architecture as being a living thing, that it is constantly changing and shifting and that it needs to adapt and its not fixed, she said. Thats a condition for every aspect of life: Nothing is permanent.The Met's new Tang Wingfor Modern and Contemporary Art expansion architect details the idea of setting up an office inside the museum, which she said allowed her to gain perspective on the enormous undertaking she was about to embark on just a few months after being named David Chipperfields replacement in March of 2022.She likewise mentions the noted Bauhaus textilist Anni Albers as one of the many influences on her new, "canvas"-like blend of design inspirations, stating: "I'm interested in the idea of materiality and how it can reflect specific shifts or geological strata, or how it can absorb time and get the patina of time. Materials that age well or that express subtle changes."Construction on the $500million+ projectis set to begin in 2026.

Ancient Romans Breathed in Enough Lead to Lower Their IQs, Study Finds. Did That Toxin Contribute to the Empires Fall?Using Arctic ice core samples, researchers estimate silver mining and smelting released enough lead during the Pax Romana to cause a 2.5- to 3-point drop in IQ At the same time as the Romans were building the Colosseum, they were also breathing in high amounts of toxic lead from silver mining and smelting operations. Hussain Didi via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0Did lead poisoning contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire? Its a question historians have long debated, since the Romans sweetened their wine with lead acetate and sipped tap water that flowed through lead pipes.Now, new research suggests the Romans were also breathing in large amounts of lead from silver mining and smelting operations.The toxic metal polluting the air likely got into childrens blood, leading to widespread cognitive decline, researchers write in a new paper published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Lead in the air might have caused an estimated 2.5- to 3-point drop in IQs throughout the Roman Empire, per the research.The new paper doesnt solve the mystery of whether lead poisoning played a role in Romes downfall. But it does add new evidence to the debate.Im quite convinced lead was one of the factors that contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire, but it was only one factor, says Bruce Lanphear, a health scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who was not involved with the study, to NBC News Evan Bush. Its never just one thing.Researchers say their findings also represent the first documented example of human-caused industrial pollution in history.To estimate lead pollution levels in ancient Rome, researchers turned to ice core samples taken from Greenland and Russia. For decades, scientists have been using large drills to penetrate Arctic ice sheets and extract columns of ice up to 11,000 feet long.These columns function like frigid time machines: As snowflakes fall, they capture chemicals and particles from the air. When the snow touches down in the Arctic, it compresses and solidifies into thin layers of icewith those chemicals and particles still trapped inside. By studying these layers, scientists can effectively peer back in time.You built up this layer cake year after year of environmental history, study co-author Joe McConnell, a climate and environmental scientist at the nonprofit Desert Research Institute in Nevada, tells NBC News.The team looked at layers of Arctic ice that corresponded to the period between 500 B.C.E and 600 C.E. They saw an increase in lead pollution around the year 15 B.C.E., which lines up with the early years of the Roman Empire. Lead levels remained high until 180 C.E., which marks the end of a period of relative peace known as the Pax Romana.During the roughly 200-year stretch of the Pax Romana, the Romans were extracting and smelting a lot of silver to make coins. These processes are known to emit large amounts of lead into the atmosphere.If you produce an ounce of silver, youd have produced something like 10,000 ounces of lead, McConnell tells the New York Times Katherine Kornei.Using the lead levels they found in the ice samples, the researchers were able to work backward and estimate how much lead the Romans must have been spewing into the air. Atmospheric modeling suggests between 3,300 and 4,600 tons of lead were released each year during the Pax Romana, per the New York Times.The scientists estimate that lead pollution was the worst in areas next to mining and smelting operations, reaching concentrations of at least 150 nanograms per cubic meter of air. The toxins would have also spread across Europethey estimate average concentrations of lead air pollution were greater than 1 nanogram per cubic meter over the continent.Next, they used modern data to estimate how much lead would have built up in the blood of ancient Roman children. They were then able to extrapolate how these accumulations might have affected their IQ.The researchers focused on children in particular, because kids are especially vulnerable to the health consequences of lead exposure. Today, global health experts agree that no amount of lead is safe for kids. The heavy metal can build up in the body and cause health problems. In addition to lowering IQ, lead accumulation in children can lead to slowed growth, anemia, hearing problems, hyperactivity and behavior and learning problems.We have actual data on IQ scores in kids with different blood-lead concentrations, Deborah Cory-Slechta, a neurotoxicologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who was not involved with the paper, tells the New York Times.Roman children likely had an extra 2.4 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood from the empires air pollution. That correlates to a drop in IQ of between 2.5 and 3 points.Factoring in background lead exposure, their blood levels of lead may have been as high as 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, the researchers estimate. And that doesnt take into account other sources of lead exposure, so the teams findings are probably an underestimate, reports NBC News.For reference, American children had around 15 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood during the 1970s, before lead paint and leaded gasoline were banned. Those levels likely resulted in a 9-point drop in IQ, per the New York Times.A 2.5- to 3-point reduction in IQ may not sound like much but it was across the entire population and would have persisted for the nearly 180 years of the Pax Romana, McConnell tells the Guardians Ian Sample. I leave it to epidemiologists, ancient historians and archaeologists to determine if the levels of background atmospheric lead pollution and health impacts we have identified were sufficient to change history.But even factoring in these new findings, some experts remain skeptical that lead poisoning caused the Roman civilization to collapse around 476 C.E.While the magnitude of exposure and the correlated blood lead levels were enough to negatively affect the cognitive function of that population, this is still a far cry from causing the downfall of the Roman Empire, says Amy L. Pyle-Eilola, a pathologist at the Ohio State University who was not involved with the research, to New Scientists Christa Lest-Lasserre.Caleb Finch, a neurobiologist at the University of Southern California who was not involved with the research, remains similarly unconvinced.The conclusion of widespread cognitive decline from an estimated three-IQ point decrease does not match the huge productivity of the Roman Empire, when lead production was maximal, he tells Sciences Taylor Mitchell Brown.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Ancient Rome, Brain, European History, Health, History, Medicine, Neuroscience, New Research, Pollution, Roman Empire