Animation Tools
3D programs can usually be divided into four areas – modelling, texturing, animation and rendering –
and each program will tackle these sections differently. For example, all the applications on test here
offer some kind of polygon modelling, although some also provide mathematical representations of 3D
geometry, or NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines), and/or Bézier patches. Likewise, each app
provides keyframe animation, although the related tools and interfaces vary considerably. Specifications
matter in any kind of product, but they should not be the determining factor. Far more important is how
well the application integrates various features and, how well it works. There’s not much point having
the latest buzzword feature if it’s painfully slow or difficult to use.
Contents
1)
Maya ......................................................................................................................................................3
2)
3DS Max ................................................................................................................................................5
3)
Softimage XSI .......................................................................................................................................6
4)
Cinema 4D R9 .......................................................................................................................................7
5)
Lightwave 3D ........................................................................................................................................8
6)
Blender ...................................................................................................................................................9
7)
Anime Studio Pro 8 .............................................................................................................................13
8)
Anim8or ...............................................................................................................................................14
9)
Poser ....................................................................................................................................................14
10)
File Format - Collada ........................................................................................................................15
3D modeling, rendering and animation packages:
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Maya: Used extensively to create both movies and games, Maya is especially good at modelling and
animating organic-based objects, or Alias (also by Autodesk), personal learning edition (although
really more a CAD design tool). As far as I can see Maya is very expensive (£3,500!).
3ds max: Perhaps the most-popular modelling, rendering, and animation package for games (also by
Autodesk), 3ds max includes a host of features for animating characters.
SoftImage XSI: Includes an amazing collection of additional tools in its base package (also by
Autodesk), seems to be mainly aimed at taking existing models, or creating extremely high quality
characters and facial expressions (photorealistic film scenes).
Lightwave: Used in many television series, Lightwave consists of two separate interfaces for
modelling and animating.
Cinema 4D: Also a top end modeller and animator to equal Maya, but expensive: £629 for basic set.
Lightwave 10: Again, top end product, but very expensive ($785).
Anima8or: More beginner animation freeware, although can get some nice cartoony effects, not in
same league as the professional tools.
Blender: Thought to be the best freeware modeller and animator available, as far as I can tell not up
in the Maya/SoftImage level, but can get excellent results. (can export .obj files for opengl, but .obj
files only support models, not animation). A good forum for tutorials is blenderartists.org.
Anime Studio Pro 6: Seems quite good, sits between Anim8or and the top end products..
Poser 8: Dress Poser's virtual stage with gigabytes of included content: ready-to-pose figures,
textures, props and 3D scene elements. Produce new characters with faces from your photographs.
Add hair and clothing. Animate and render your scene into photorealistic images and video for web,
print and film projects. Export 3D characters to other 3D applications. Get creative with Poser 8!
Ikinema: Advanced motion capture and animation tools (based University of Surrey)
Review conclusion:
Cinema 4D R9 wins this Group Test because it has the most to offer for the widest range of 3D work. It’s
as capable an architectural visualiser (offering some useful camera perspective tools) as a character
animation tool, and the interface is easy on the eye, fast and eminently customisable. The default
layouts are excellent, too.
Modelling and its associated workflow is particularly well configured. In addition to an excellent polygon
modelling toolset, Cinema 4D also offers spline drawing tools, from which you can derive surfaces in the
usual fashion (extrude, lathe, etc). These polygonal surfaces are generated “live”, affording a much
greater degree of modelling history. With the Object Manager, you can also group so-called generators
that produce geometry with deformers, such as Bend, FFD or Bones.
While not offering as deep a history scheme as Maya or Softimage XSI, the tight integration of all
features means that you rarely run into conflicts when animating such hierarchical set-ups. In fact just
about all parameters can be keyed, including those used to generate geometry in the first place. This
offers a great deal of consistency throughout the program, regardless of the task you’re performing,
providing a level playing field for newbies learning the app and pros finding a solution to a production
problem.
With Cinema 4D R9, you can have multiple scenes open at once – a feature currently unavailable in any
of the other apps on test. It’s a simple feature, but one that gives you lots of extra virtual working
space. You can Cut and Paste between open files to modify an object in an empty scene file instead of in
its main scene, which is extremely helpful if you’re working on complex jobs.
Overall, Cinema 4D R9 combines ease of use with powerful features and an elegant interface
1) Maya
Overview
Maya is an application used to generate 3D assets for use in film, television, game development and
architecture. The software was initially released for the IRIX operating system. However, this support
was discontinued in August 2006 after the release of version 6.5. Maya was available in both "Complete"
and "Unlimited" editions until August 2008, when it was turned into a single suite.[13]
Users define a virtual workspace (scene) to implement and edit media of a particular project. Scenes can
be saved in a variety of formats, the default being .mb (Maya Binary). Maya exposes a node graph
architecture. Scene elements are node-based, each node having its own attributes and customization. As a
result, the visual representation of a scene is based entirely on a network of interconnecting nodes,
depending on each others information. For the convenience of viewing these networks, there is a
dependency and a directed acyclic graph.
Components
Since its consolidation from two distinct packages, Maya and later contain all the features of the now
defunct Unlimited suites.
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Fluid Effects: A realistic fluid simulator (effective for smoke, fire, clouds and explosions, added in
Maya 4.5)
Classic Cloth: Cloth simulation to automatically simulate clothing and fabrics moving realistically
over an animated character. The Maya Cloth toolset has been upgraded in every version of Maya
released after Spider-Man 2. Alias worked with Sony Pictures Imageworks to get Maya Cloth up to
scratch for that production, and all those changes have been implemented, although the big studios
opted to use third party plugins such as Syflex instead of the (relatively) cumbersome Maya Cloth.
Fur: Animal fur simulation similar to Maya Hair. It can be used to simulate other fur-like objects,
such as grass.
Hair: A simulator for realistic-looking human hair implemented using curves and Paint Effects.
These are also known as dynamic curves.
Maya Live: A set of motion tracking tools for CG matching to clean plate footage.
nCloth: Added in version 8.5, nCloth is the first implementation of Maya Nucleus, Autodesk's
simulation framework. nCloth gives the artist further control of cloth and material simulations.
nParticle: Added in version 2009, nParticle is addendum to Maya Nucleus toolset. nParticle is for
simulating a wide range of complex 3D effects, including liquids, clouds, smoke, spray, and dust.
MatchMover: Added to Maya 2010, this enables compositing of CGI elements with motion data
from video and film sequences.
Composite: Added to Maya 2010, this was earlier sold as Autodesk Toxik.
Camera Sequencer: Added after Maya unlimited 2009, Camera Sequencer is used to layout multiple
camera shots and manage them in one animation sequence.
Review
No 3D Group Test would be complete without Maya. It’s become the standard package in the high-end
visual effects and post-production markets and the yardstick by which to compare other 3D apps. So
you might wonder why this mighty program hasn‘t taken the top slot in our Group Test? Well, while it’s
pretty much top dog for effects and character animation work, it has some mighty flaws.
Modelling, however, is very good, with both NURBS and polygon modelling well catered for. You’ll also
find hierarchical Subdivision Surfaces and the more regular kind, labelled by Alias as the Polygon proxy
mode. Animation is excellent, too. There’s a very good keyframing, f-curve and set-driven key interface,
which – coupled with deeper tools such as Expressions and MEL (Maya Embedded Language) scripting –
offer a solution to just about every animation problem. Other versatile technologies include Trax
(nonlinear animation), IPR, Paint FX and Dynamics systems.
Helpfully, rendering has integrated support for the excellent Mental Ray 3.3 renderer, plus Maya’s own
software and hardware rendering, as well as a RavX Flash output tool for web-based 3D work. The
material/shader system is less satisfactory, though, and could benefit from a simpler and more userfriendly interface.
But there’s one main problem. Maya requires a huge amount of dedication, and despite attempts by
Alias to make it more accessible to new users, the program is much less artist-centric than the other 3D
apps on test here. To get the most out of it, you’ll need to make your way into the guts of the program,
whether you want to or not.
If you’re looking for a more casual 3D system, you may find Maya just a little too uncompromising.
VERDICT: 4/5 - A great 3D app for the die-hard character animator or effects artist, but a lack of
flexibility lets the software down. Maya features some phenomenal technology, but is less inviting for
digital content creation and general-purpose 3D work.
2) 3DS Max
3ds max is the one package featured here that hasn’t yet succumbed to a drastic price-cut. At £2,695,
it’s an expensive package and, unlike the modular Cinema 4D, must be swallowed in a single chunk. But
despite the high price, it remains one of the most popular choices for 3D artists.
The toolset is broad and diverse enough to cater for almost all 3D situations, including character
animation, an area in which 3ds max has become much more suited thanks to a Character Studio plugin. The biggest bonus? 3ds max 7 now includes Character Studio 4.0 at no extra cost. This is a wise
move by Discreet, because max has been losing mind-share to Maya and XSI in this area for a while
now.
One great feature – particularly for game designers – is Normal Mapping. This enables you to “imprint”
the normals of a high resolution model onto a low-res model in a similar way to bump-mapping (except
that the details are referenced from actual geometry). Another is Skin Morph, similar to Maya’s Wrap
Deformer, which enables you to deform a high-res mesh using a much simpler proxy that’s also easier
to rig and weight.
3ds max is a good all-round system, despite its bias towards games development, but there are
drawbacks. The core of the program is dated compared to Maya and XSI, which both offer deeper access
to features and better integration with different aspects of the 3D pipeline (such as modelling and
animation).
Rendering is supplied by a Mental Ray plug-in, but it’s not quite up to Softimage XSI standard. The
material system is fairly good, but it can be difficult to keep track of complex set-ups because of the
weak interface. 3ds max is a good program in terms of features, but the core is already showing signs of
age.
VERDICT: 4/5 - A feature-rich system that’s been built on a less-than-ideal foundation and workflow,
but it’s capable of good results nonetheless. Unlike competitors such as XSI and Maya, 3ds max 7 is
expensive, but still remains a popular choice
Discreet's 3Ds Max has always been a popular choice. Its design is not as modern as Maya or
Softimage but it holds its own, especially in the games production market, and comes with Mental
Ray rendering as standard
3) Softimage XSI
Home page: www.softimage.com
Of the high-end 3D programs on test here, XSI 4.5 is arguably the most balanced, offering a rich, evenhanded toolset for modelling, animation and rendering. Rendering is a strong point, mainly because XSI
was designed to work seamlessly with Mental Ray from the outset.
Interactive preview rendering can be accomplished in any viewport at any time, although it’s not quite
the same as true interactive systems that only update parts of the image that change, as in Maya’s IPR
(Interactive Photorealistic Rendering). Nevertheless, the graphical shader-building system is well
designed and relatively easy to use, and automatic insertion of data conversion nodes makes connecting
shaders with disparate data types much easier for newbies.
NURBS are catered for, but the system isn’t as complete as Maya’s. However, XSI makes up for this
shortfall with an excellent polygon modelling toolset that is a joy to use. Subdivision smoothing is
available as property of all polygonal objects and makes flipping between low and high-res modes really
easy.
Animation is also excellent, with features comparable to Maya combined with a smooth workflow.
However the organization of animatable parameters can be confusing, which leads to a more
complicated selection and general set-up process than we think is necessary. That said, XSI has fine
tools for managing high-level animation, and does a great job of applying existing animation data to
different character rigs.
XSI Essentials costs $1,995 (approx. £1,082) and includes cloth, soft body dynamics, particles, a sixnode rendering licence and some superb general-purpose tools. It’s a great system, and boasts one of
the best implementations of modelling history we’ve seen.
VERDICT: 4.5/5 - A great all-round system, with superb rendering and a solid character toolset. Not as easy
to use as some other apps – and only available for the PC – but workflow is consistent. Advanced scripting is
also available.
4) Cinema 4D R9
Cinema 4D R9 is unique in that it enables you to custom-build its feature-set with the help of modules.
Unlike plug-ins, these programs give access to totally integrated feature sets in areas such as character
animation, 3D painting and UV editing, rendering and dynamics.
The core application, Cinema 4D R9, costs a modest £499 and includes a full set of modelling and
keyframing tools, as well as good basic rendering. The Studio Bundle on test here features all eight extra
modules (Advanced Render R2, MOCCA R2, Thinking Particles, NET Render, Dynamics, BodyPaint 3D R2,
PyroCluster R2, Sketch and Toon). The best thing about this modular system is that you can expand the
program as and when budget allows, which is much more cost-effective.
In use, Cinema 4D feels halfway between a full-on, uncompromising 3D app such as Maya, and a more
user-friendly low-end package. But this isn’t a criticism; it has the added benefit of combining a
comfort zone for new users with the depth or access required by pros, without compromising either.
There are weaknesses, though, such as rendering, which we think lacks a certain something, as well as
the flexibility of advanced raytracers such as Mental Ray. However, the default 16x geometry antialiasing delivers perfect edge results every time. There’s a lack of refinement and access to advanced
rendering features, but the program has a very good multi-pass rendering solution that outputs layered
Photoshop files, a highly straightforward rendering option.
The MOCCA character module broadens Cinema 4D’s scope. You could argue that Maya and XSI are
better in absolute terms, but Cinema 4D does a better job of simplifying the process. Indeed, the usual
horrors associated with bones and IK have largely been eradicated.
R9 introduces a new cloth engine, ClothHilde, which makes this task relatively easy and solves most
problems, including collision and penetration. Results look good, too.
The built-in Xpresso system combines the power of expressions with the ease of use of a GUI, which
gives access to this most useful of 3D tools to even the most non-program-savvy artist. It’s this feature
that keeps Cinema 4D 9 one step ahead of the game.
Maxon has spent a lot of time making advanced 3D tools easy to use, and creating a consistent userinterface and workflow for both casual and advanced 3D artists. Features are one thing, but
implementation is everything, and, as such, Cinema 4D R9 is the most accessible and usable of all the
3D packages on test here.
VERDICT: 4.5/5 - An excellent all-purpose 3D system that can tackle most 3D scenarios without
making you jump through hoops. The program is well designed, stable and has growing support from
third-party developers. Consistently strong across the board, too.
The full suite of plug-ins for Cinema 4D takes it into the high end. With advanced radiosity
rendering, sophisticated character tools, and a GUI based expression system, it's also one of the
easiest high-end 3D apps to get to grips with. Key Management Software is often used alongside 3D
animation software when designing key profiles.
5) Lightwave 3D
Newtek's Lightwave 3D is a dual application featuring separate modeler/texturing and
animation/lighting/rendering apps. Its quirky interface is deceptively powerful, and it offers one of
the best quality renderers out there
Softimage XSI combines sublime modeling with non-linear animation, scripting, and phenomenal
rendering through tight integration with Mental Images' Mental Ray rendering software. It also
features an integrated 2D/3D compositor
Alias's Maya 3D is extremely powerful. Its node-based architecture enables complex animation and
rendering linkages to be created and it offers a nonlinear modeling history, plus Mental Ray
rendering
Review
In essence , LightWave 3D hasn’t changed that much since it was launched way back in 1995. Yet it’s
managed to keep up with its peers and even maintain a lead in some key areas. It’s a system that breaks
with 3D convention, yet remains simple enough to beguile even the most techno-illiterate of artists.
LightWave doesn’t offer the complexities of true NURBS surfaces, for instance, but it was one of the first
to integrate subdivision surface modelling (then called MetaNURBS, now dubbed Subpatch modelling)
and developed a strong toolset around the concept. It’s a strong polygon modeller, too, but could
benefit from some form of modelling history.
Unlike the other programs featured here, LightWave is also a dual app, with separate programs for
modelling/surfacing and animation/ rendering. This approach actually works well in production, and
makes it easy to refine a model even if it’s already been rigged and animated.
Rendering is one of LightWave’s strong points, with the best native rendering of any of the apps on test.
The program offers all the usual niceties, such as Radiosity, Caustics and HDRI support, plus VIPER
interactive rendering and soft shadow caching (new in 8.0). In this latest iteration, NewTek has also tried
to address one of LightWave’s weakest features: character animation. The app is fine for occasional
work, but we wouldn’t recommend it for dedicated animation, since Maya, XSI, and Cinema 4D, have
more fluid and refined workflows in this area.
There’s also a good particle system, soft and rigid body dynamics and even basic hair and fur. Standout
features include morph maps, which store multiple morph targets in a single object file, and decent
unlimited rendering as standard.
VERDICT: 4/5 - LightWave 8.0 is a great all-rounder with a relatively easy learning curve and excellent
rendering quality. But a lack of modelling history can be a pain and the character tools are still a little
weak.
6) Blender
Interface
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Non-overlapping and non-blocking UI delivers unsurpassed workflow
Flexible and fully configurable window layout with as many screen setups as you prefer
Undo support on all levels
Anti-aliased fonts with international translation support
Any window space can be easily switched to any window type (curve editor, NLA, 3D view etc)
Built-in text editor for annotations and editing Python scripts
Graphical user interface for Python scripts
Fully scriptable UI with custom themes
Consistent interface across all platforms
Rigging
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Fast skeleton creation mode
Interactive 3D paint for vertex weighting
Fast envelope based skinning
Automatic Skinning that really works (heat equilibrium based)
Mirror editing (bone creation and weight painting)
Double Quaternion deformation reduces shrinking and other bone deformation errors
Volume deformer uses a mesh cage to deform complex meshes with great results
Bone layers and colored groups for better rig organization
B-spline interpolated bones; forget about elbow twists
Constraint stack for IK solver setup and other constraints
PyConstraints; if you need something not yet implemented code it in python with real time feed back, no
compiling needed
Animation
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Armature (skeleton) deformation with forward/inverse kinematics with pole target support
Auto IK allows posing FK chains easily
Non-linear animation editor for mixing individual actions created in Action editor
Automated walk cycles along paths
Animated constraint system
Vertex key framing for morphing, with controlling sliders
Edit and create new blendshapes from existing targets
Character animation pose editor
'Ipo' system integrates both motion curve and traditional key-frame editing
Audio playback, mixing and editing support for sound synchronisation
Timeline offers fast access to many playback functions, autokey, help markers
Python scripting access for custom and procedural animation effects
UV Unwrapping
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Conformal and Angle Based unwrapping methods
Interactive transform of UV maps by vertex pinning
Proportional falloff editing of UV maps for smooth transformations
Seam based unwrapping
Cube, Cylinder, Sphere, View projections
Catmull-Clark subdivition of UVs for less distortion
Minimize stretch tool allows to reduce area distortion
Multiple UV layers
Demo Movie
Physics and Particles
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Particle system can be attached to any mesh object. Control methods include weight painting, textures,
curve guides, wind and vortex effects. Particles can be deflected by moving geometry
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Hair strands can be created by a static particle system, supporting all particle control methods
Fluid simulator with fully animated inflow, outflow, obstacle and fluid objects. Gravity and viscosity settings
can also be animated. Supports vector blur and is integrated with the particle system
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Realtime soft body solver integrated in mesh, lattice, curve and text objects. Supports collision detection
and particle field effects like Wind or Vortex, soft bodys can also be baked for faster playback/rendering
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Game engine rigid body physics can be easily baked into animation curves
Real-Time 3D/Game Creation
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Graphical logic editor for defining interactive behavior without programming
Collision detection and dynamics simulation now support Bullet Physics Library. Bullet is an open source
collision detection and rigid body dynamics library developed for Play Station 3
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Shape types: Convex polyhedron, box, sphere, cone, cylinder, capsule, compound, and static triangle mesh
with auto deactivation mode
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Discrete collision detection for Rigid Body simulation
Support for in-game activation of dynamic constraints
Full support for vehicle dynamics, including spring reactions, stiffness, damping, tyre friction etc
Python scripting API for sophisticated control and AI, fully defined advanced game logic
Support all OpenGLTM lighting modes, including transparencies, Animated and reflection-mapped textures
Support for multi-materials, multi-texture and texture blending modes, per-pixel lighting, dynamic
lighting, mapping modes, GLSL vertex Paint texture blending, toon shading, animated materials, support for
Normal Mapping and Parallax Mapping
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Playback of games and interactive 3D content without compiling or preprocessing, Audio, with SDL toolkit
Multi-layering of Scenes for overlay interfaces
Modeling
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A range of 3D object types including polygon meshes, NURBS surfaces, bezier and B-spline curves,
metaballs, vector fonts (TrueType, PostScript, OpenType)
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Very fast Catmull-Clark subdivision surfaces with optimal iso-lines display and sharpness editing
Full multiresolution sculpting capabilities with 2D bitmap/3D procedural brushes (Paint, Smooth, Pinch,
Inflate, Grab) supporting symmetry
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Modifier stack deformers such as Lattice, Curve, Armature or Displace
Mirror modifier with middle vertices clipping and automatic deletion of inner faces
Non destructive real time Boolean and Array modifiers
Mesh modeling based on vertex, edge and/or face selection
Smooth soft selection editing tools for organic modeling
Python scripting access for custom tools
Rendering
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Fast inbuilt ray tracer, oversampling, motion blur, post-production effects, fields, non-square pixels
Tile-based and fully threaded
Render layers and passes, Render baking to UV maps and object to object baking (full render,
ambient occlusion, normals, textures), Render engine tightly integrated with the node compositor
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Halo, lens flares and fog effects
Vector motion-blur post-process effect (using node compositor)
Realistic defocus (DOF) post-process effect (using node compositor)
Edge rendering for toon shading
Interactive preview rendering panel in any 3d view
Ambient Occlusion, Approximate Global Illumunination
Export scripts available for external renderers such as Renderman, Povray, Virtualight, Lux, Indigo
and V-Ray - See Resources for a full list.
Shading
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Diffuse shaders such as Lambert, Minnaert, Toon, Oren-Nayar, Lambert
Specular shaders such as WardIso, Toon, Blinn, Phong, CookTorr
Node editor for creating and mixing complex materials
PyNodes: write your own Python shaders with realtime feedback, no need to compile
Material previews rendered by main render engine
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Fast, realistic subsurface scattering
Blurry reflections and refractions
Tangent shading to give any shader an anisotropic effect
Versatile procedural textures system
Reflection maps
Normal, displacement and bump maps
Imaging and Compositing
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Compositor tightly integrated and aligned with the rendering pipeline
MultiLayer OpenEXR files allow to store and reuse raw renderlayer and passes data
Complete list of composite node filters, convertors, color and vector operators and mixers including
Chroma Key, Blur, RGB Curves, Z Combine, Color Ramp, Gamma Correct
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Preview panel to define the portion of interest. A composite then only happens on this part
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Save all scene data in a single .blend file, even images, sounds or fonts can be packed for easy
Threaded and memory efficient (up to 8 processors), Near realtime sequencer can edit hours of video
Waveform and U/V scatter plots
Open and write many audio & video file formats using ffmpeg
Can render using frameserver-support directly into foreign applications
Supports float images as well as regular 8 bits images
Curves tool allows mapping from the float range to a displayable result (for HDR images)
Files
transportation
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Powerful built-in database system allowing instances, scene management, and dynamic linking
multiple project files
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.blend format supports compression, digital signatures, encryption, forwards/backwards
compatibility and can be used as a library to link to from other .blend files
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Read and write support for many other 2D and 3D formats
2D: TGA, JPG, PNG, OpenEXR, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and Quicktime GIF,
TIFF, PSD, MOV (Windows and Mac OS X)
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3D: 3D Studio, AC3D, COLLADA, FBX Export, DXF, Wavefront OBJ, DEC Object File Format, DirectX,
Lightwave, MD2, Motion Capture, Nendo, OpenFlight, PLY, Pro Engineer, Radiosity, Raw Triangle,
Softimage, STL, TrueSpace, VideoScape, VRML, VRML97, X3D Extensible 3D, xfig export
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COLLADA 1.4 (with Physics) import / export. All main 3D modelling programs read and write this
open format and more and more applications are getting support for it, too, so it's becoming the
much needed de-facto standard. Notice: the COLLADA scripts require a full Python installation, the
modules that come with Blender are not enough.
Supported Platforms
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Windows XP, Vista, 7
Mac OS X (PPC and Intel)
Linux , FreeBSD
Blender works on 32 and 64 bit systems
7) Anime Studio Pro 8
Cost: $199
Overview
Anime Studio Pro is perfect for professionals looking for a more efficient alternative to tedious frame-byframe animation. With an intuitive interface, a visual content library and powerful features such as a bone
rigging system, automatic image tracing, integrated lip-synching, 3D shape design, physics, motion
tracking, a character wizard and more, Anime Studio Pro delivers advanced animation tools to speed up
your workflow.
 Automatic Image Tracing in Anime Studio Pro 8 speeds up production by automatically
converting existing artwork and sketches to fully editable vector drawings.
 With powerful, vector-based drawing tools and the ability to import scanned drawings and
images, you can quickly create your own characters and objects in Anime Studio Pro 8.
 The revolutionary bone-rigging system provides a fast and efficient alternative to tedious
frame-by-frame animation. Add a skeleton to any image by pointing and clicking—then bring it
to life while keeping your project organized with the sequencer and timeline.
 The built-in Character Wizard is the ideal tool for anyone working on concepts or looking for a
fast alternative to drawing and rigging each character from scratch.
 Global Rendering Styles in Anime Studio Pro 8 let you change the overall design of your
animation by simply adjusting a couple of settings.
 The Photoshop document import with support for layers speeds up your workflow
 Real Time Media Connection automatically updates image, movie and audio files in your
imported Anime Studio files when edited in an external program, allowing you to make the
necessary changes on the fly.
 Anime Studio Pro 8 enables you to create your own 3D objects by converting your 2D vector
layers into 3D Objects, and simulated physics allows you to automate parts of your
animations. Import your Poser scenes and combine 2D and 3D animation.
 Record your own sound clips right within Anime Studio and sync them to your animated
characters using the built-in lip synching functionality.
 Choose from a library of ready-to-use characters, props, scenes, stock audio and video clips,
scatter brushes and more to get you animating quickly in Anime Studio.
 Output video and animation of unlimited length to formats including NTSC/PAL D1/DV
Standard and Widescreen; iPhone, iPad and Droid; HDV and HDTV 780p and 1080p; AVI,
MOV, Flash and more
 Anime Studio Pro 8 provides a powerful and productive animation environment that minimizes
production time and increases your productivity.
 Compatible with Mac and Windows.
8) Anim8or
Welcome to the home page of Anim8or. Anim8or is a 3D modeling and character animation program that I have
written over the past couple of years, not as a commercial endeavor, but because I love 3D graphics, animation,
and programming. While it is far from a complete professional level application like 3DStudio MAX or Lightwave, I
believe that it has enough capability to be of use to others.
Version v0.95 is now available. Anim8or has come a long way since the first release called v0.1. There are still
may areas that need improvement, primarily the renderer, but it's getting close to what I had originally imagined as
the magic v1.0. I don't plan on stopping there, but it'll be a nice milestone long the way.
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3D Modeler - Create and modify 3D models. Built-in primitives such as spheres, cylinders, platonic solids, etc.;
mesh-edit and subdivision; splines, extrusion, lathing, modifiers, bevel and warps,
TrueType font support - 2D and 3D extruded text for any TrueType font.
OpenGL based real time operation,
Import and modify .3DS (3D Studio), .LWO (Lightwave), and .OBJ (Wavefront) object files,
Export .3DS files,
Built in 3D Object browser, Jointed character editor, Morph targets,
Anti-aliased software renderer for high quality, production quality images,
Create 3D scenes and animations and output .AVI movie files, .JPG and .BMP images,
Supports textures, bump maps, soft shadows, spotlights, fog, and much more,
Texture support for .BMP, .GIF, and .JPG format files,
Print images of scenes and models.
OpenGL shaders for realistic previews.
Scripting language.
Plig-ins for parameteric shape and object export.
9) Poser
Poser is included here because it is so easy to use, but in fact it's usefulness extends right up to the
pro level. It's a 3D character renderer and animator that lets you pose and animate ready-made,
high quality 3D figures. It's very powerful, but it's not an all rounder- it does one thing only-but
does it very well.
Corel's Bryce 3D is an interesting 3D program. It's primarily a landscape rendering application,
designed to produce skies, seas, and terrains in a very efficient way. It can be pressed into service
as a more general purpose 3D tool, but lacks any serious modeling tools. www.corel.com
One of the best free 3D applications available is Blender. This program is a full featured 3D
production package featuring the kinds of tools you'd expect to see in a mid to high end application
10) File Format - Collada
Collada Features
COLLADA enables content creation pipelines. COLLADA supports all the features that modern 3D
interactive authoring applications and DCC (digital content creation) tools need to exchange and fully
preserve asset data and meta data. its The COLLADA feature set is expanding to incorporate technologies
such as packaging programmable shader effects and controlling real-time physics engines. COLLADA
enables powerful content creation pipelines that can automatically condition and scale 3D geometry and
texture assets for real-time playback on a wide diversity of platforms.
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COLLADA transports 3D assets between applications
Enables binding of diverse DCC and 3D processing tools into a production pipeline
COLLADA is a XML database schema for 3D assets
COLLADA is an intermediate language - not a delivery format and not a scene graph
COLLADA can be lossless
Retains all information - even multiple versions of the same asset
COLLADA has comprehensive encoding of visual scenes
Including geometry, animation, shaders and physics
COLLADA is an open, archive-grade format that retains meta information
When your DC tool upgrades, you keep your assets
What's New in COLLADA 1.5?
Core Feature Enhancements
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B-rep geometry
Kinematics
Asset Geolocation
Compressed Archives (.ZAE Zipped Exchange Archive format)
Node proxies (Level of Detail and Streaming)
Improved XML Schema data typing and validation
COLLADA FX
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OpenGL ES 2.0 Profile
Bridge Profile to external systems: DirectX FX and CgFX
Improved texture binding and full screen effects
COLLADA 1.4 Features
Core Feature Enhancements
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Mesh geometry
Skinning
Morphing
Animation
Assets
Data validation
COLLADA FX
COLLADA FX is the first cross-platform standard shader and effects definition written in XML. It targets
high-end systems running OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) and Cg (HLSL coming), as well as
resource-constrained systems (OpenGL ES 1.x profile). It provides:
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Next generation lighting, shading and texturing
High level effects and shaders
Support for all shader models (1.x, 2.0, 3.0) under CG and GLSL profiles.
COLLADA Physics
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Rigid Body Dynamics
Rag Dolls
Contraints
Collision Volumes
Enables data interchange between Ageia (PhysX), Havok, Bullet, ODE and other game physics
middleware