Monday 06 Jun 2005 - 12:21
Massive Software has released version 2.0 of its eponymous crowd animation software. Massive uses artificial intelligence to automatically create and animate crowd scenes with animators having to manipulate individual characters, and was originally developed for the huge battle scenes within the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It uses a compositing suite-style node-based interface that's designed so that animators can avoid programming.
Massive 2.0 gains facial blend shape animation tools, so that more realistic characters from within the Massive engine can be placed nearer to the camera - rather than manually adding higher-resolution characters to the scene later. Blend shape animation can also be imported.
Agents, as Massive calls its characters, have been given a memory - so that they can base their actions on previous events they've taken part in or seen. They can paint as they move and act, allowing footprints, ant trails, ship wakes and the suchlike to be drawn. Users can also hear sounds that they make in the new release.
Smart Stunts allow the engine to create dynamic digital stunts based on motion capture data. Full-scene anti-aliasing gives users a better idea of how final renders will look in real-time.
According to Massive Software, the update also makes rendering faster.
Massive 2.0 costs $18,000 (around £9,900), plus $4,000 (£2,200) per year for updates and support. Additional licences cost $2,000 (£1,100) per licence per month.
Digit Staff
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