Imbalanced! : Ragdoll for Blender 1.0 Arrives

Imbalance has released Ragdoll for Blender 1.0, bringing its acclaimed Ragdoll Dynamics real-time physics solver to the Blender community. This release opens up opportunities for Blender artists to leverage the advanced physics technology previously exclusive to Maya, empowering them to enhance their character animation workflow with realistic physics simulations.

Originally introduced in 2021 for Maya, Ragdoll Dynamics has garnered praise for its ability to revolutionize character animation by seamlessly integrating real-time physics simulations into the creative process. Trusted by leading visual effects and game studios such as DNEG, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Kojima Productions, and CD Projekt Red, Ragdoll Dynamics has become a staple tool in the industry for achieving lifelike character motion.

So, what sets Ragdoll Dynamics apart? At its core, Ragdoll Dynamics simplifies the task of incorporating realistic physics into character animation. By providing artists with intuitive controls to define shot timing and basic keyframes, Ragdoll automates the generation of secondary motion, including hair, clothing, and muscle dynamics. Its lightweight architecture enables real-time interaction, ensuring a seamless creative experience, while deterministic output guarantees consistency across multiple playthroughs.

Key features of Ragdoll for Blender include the innovative Live Mode, enabling animators to manipulate geometry directly in the viewport for faster character posing. While retaining most features from the Maya edition, such as Live Mode, the Blender integration also introduces enhancements tailored to the Blender environment.

Notably, Ragdoll for Blender represents an impressive shift for Imbalance, evolving from a Maya plugin to a standalone application with cross-platform compatibility. Although the Blender plugin is open-source, access to the full suite of features requires the commercial Ragdoll Core application.

In terms of performance, Ragdoll for Blender boasts approximately 60% of the speed of its Maya counterpart, leveraging Python for much of its functionality. This performance, combined with an intuitive user interface, is showcased in a demonstration video below.

Pricing for Ragdoll for Blender 1.0 caters to individual artists and studios alike, with perpetual Freelancer licenses priced at $199 and Complete licenses available for $799 or $79/month (node-locked) and $999 or $119/month (floating). For advanced users seeking unlimited access and additional features like a Python API and physics export, Unlimited licenses are available for $1,999 or $199/month (node-locked) and $2,999 or $299/month (floating).

Ragdoll for Blender 1.0 is compatible with Blender 3.4 and above, supporting Windows and Linux operating systems. Also Imbalance is actively working on adding support for macOS through Apple's Metal API, aligning with Blender's evolving rendering capabilities.

With Ragdoll for Blender, Imbalance reaffirms its dedication to innovation, empowering artists to unleash their full potential and push the boundaries of what's possible in digital content creation.