Animation
Timothy Albee Animation and Mac Reiter Creations have introduced facial animation software. For professional and novice animators seeking feature film-quality results, Timothy Albee’s Facial Animation was developed during the production of Kaze, Ghost Warrior. The solution encompasses UV texturing, surface coloring, diffuse, specularity, and transparency tools, as well as eight customizable lights. The user interface offers drag-and-drop functionality, multiple levels of undo and redo, and instant playback. Time-saving features include Morph Palette, Intelligent Parser, and Morph Remapper utilities; the ability to cut, copy, paste, and slide keyframes; and integration with Softimage XSI, Alias’s Maya, Autodesk Media and Entertainment’s 3ds Max, and 3D applications that accept .MDD animation files. Facial Animation is priced at $495
Timothy Albee Animation;
www.ta-animation.com
Motion capture
Digimation has introduced MoCap 400, a collection of 416 motion-capture files in the BioVision (.bvh) format, which works with most popular 3D applications. The files are divided into six categories, including Walking, Sports, and Jog & Run. The Dancing section provides ballroom, disco, hip-hop, rumba, and ballet dancing motions, whereas Fighting sports kicks, punches, and grabs. A Miscellaneous section incorporates 137 files with drinking, cheering, sitting, working, and driving actions. Offered on CD-ROM or as a download, MoCap 400 carries an introductory price of $995.
Digimation;
www.digimation.com