Cascadeur 2026.1 Arrives with Rendering Engine Overhaul

Also, new LiveLink integration with Unreal Engine and various improvements.

Cascadeur 2026.1 is out, bringing exciting changes to Nekki's AI-assisted keyframe animation software.

The most prominent one is the overhaul of the rendering engine: now, Cascadeur uses the real-time, physically-based Filament, early support of which was introduced in Cascadeur 2025.3.This brings "a massive leap in visual fidelity, offering high-quality materials and realistic lighting."

Nekki

Another big change is a new LiveLink integration with Unreal Engine for seamless real-time animation streaming, developed with the support of an Epic MegaGrant.

Moreover, you can now teach Cascadeur a particular style using specific animations as a reference with the AI-powered Root Motion tool, which uses a diffusion model to define and transfer motion "signatures."

Nekki

The Collision Penetration Cleaning modification tool automatically resolves body part intersections and floor penetrations with high precision, while Enhanced Quadruped AutoPosing provides more natural and intuitive posing for four-legged creatures.

Finally, point constraints are now fully integrated into Nekki's physics engine. "Objects like weapons or tools now stay perfectly locked in a character's hand during AutoPhysics and Ragdoll simulations."

Nekki

Other improvements include:

Ability to add lights
Inbetweening correctly takes into account surrounding animation
Fixed AutoPosing points pulling other rigs in multi-character scenes
Added Quadruped Spine Forward/Backward Switching Angles in Settings
AutoPosing direction vectors now scale based on additional point vector length
Added image import option
Scenes with constraints now import correctly into each other
Updated enum data descriptions: Switched from name-based to ID-based functions for reliability
Added special Spline IK for necks
Added self-joint checks when creating twists or untwists in rigs
Removed input-to-output connection check in Node Editor
Added input connection validation for static data nodes
Improved poor hinge warning messages
Added meshy.ai and Auto Rig Pro QRT templates
Added rig toggle option to take into account constraints in relaxation
Moved some timeline items from Edit menu to Timeline menu
Removed texture size limitations
Added new setting functions: InIntervalInclusive, FindFirstInt, FindFirstBool, At
Switching to Filament fixed quad-mesh display issues on macOS
Added tooltips to Scene Settings
Fixed issues copying in Interval Edit mode with moving pivot
Selector.ordered_ids now updates properly after object deletion
Changed "use namespace" to true in default joint parts file
Ctrl+F now keys all tracks at once (not just expanded ones)
Removed extra scrollbar in Home window
Fixed option button bug on macOS

Nekki

Try the new Cascadeur now and don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter and join our 80 Level Talent platform, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Are you a fan of what we do here at 80 Level? Then make sure to set us as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our content in your feed.