iCars is a new add-on for vehicle animation and simulation within Blender, designed for fast, realistic, and cinematic results. The add-on was created by the developers behind iCity, the procedural city generator released last year by Hothifa Smair. Together, these add-ons form a complete solution for creating realistic cities and surrounding traffic.
iCars comes with 16 vehicles in both high and low-poly versions, as well as four animation systems that make it easy to create different types of motion:
- Curve Control: Enables users to simply draw a path, snap the vehicle to it, and animate speed and turns easily.
- Ghosts Control: Allows previewing future frames of motion, with adjustable spacing and frame count for precise timing.
- Auto Drift: Generates natural drifts along corners with minimal setup.
- Free Drive: Enables real-time driving with the keyboard, which can be great for layout and previews.
The add-on also offers a full traffic system featuring live sync with iCity for instant, believable traffic. This system supports traffic lights and roundabouts, and works for highways and streets, with options to tune lanes, spacing, and flow for large-scale scenes.
Although iCars has not been designed for real-time use in games, the authors have stated that they are already working on gameplay-oriented features aimed at game developers. For now, users can bake and export animations for use in cinematics, trailers, or other in-game sequences, and they can also use their own vehicle models.
iCars is available for purchase in multiple versions (called packs) that vary in the included systems and vehicle assets. A free pack is also available, which comes with 2 cars and the Curve Control system, giving users a chance to explore the add-on's workflow and even create complete animations with the option to upgrade for additional vehicles and features.
For more information, be sure to visit the product page on Gumroad.
