< A href="http://www.alias.com">Alias and its newly acquired 3D developer Kaydara announced MotionBuilder 6 at SIGGRAPH on Tuesday. MotionBuilder is a 3D character animation solution that the company pitches for "game development, feature film pre-visualization and layout, and television series." The new version includes new features and new interface enhancements. From Alias:
With unique features such as "smart" character technology (HumanIK), 3D story-timeline tool and real-time photorealistic rendering, MOTIONBUILDER 6 allows 3D artists to easily create high-quality, visually compelling animated content using a true WYSIWYG environment and without having to master difficult tasks such as building custom rigs and complex character setups.
Exciting new features in MOTIONBUILDER 6 include:
- Simplified User Interface includes a totally new customizable picking mode and toolbar, giving animators increased manipulation and workflow control, and a new screen layout that maximizes the size of the 3D viewer.
- Enhanced Keyframe Animation Capabilities including improved IK/FK sync, autokey, animation path and trajectories, and MotionInspector: a revolutionary new way of managing motion curve dynamics.
- Character Animation functionality includes multi-referential animation for characters and props; user defined character setups with built-in support for props; constraints and custom properties; and improved animation controls with degrees of freedom, pivots support and referenced properties.
- Improved Story-Timeline includes increased flexibility and workflow, allowing users to easily edit 3D animation tracks in combination with audio, video and constraints. Independent camera track allows producers, special effects directors and 3D artists to work out camera shots and timing independently of the animation timeline for maximum flexibility.
MOTIONBUILDER 6 natively supports Kaydara FBX, an award-winning, platform-independent 3D authoring and interchange format that allows MOTIONBUILDER users to quickly and easily acquire and exchange 3D assets and media from a wide variety of sources. Kaydara FBX is widely supported by the industryis leading software and hardware manufacturers, as well as film and game studios, including 2D3, 3Dwings, A&G Soluzioni Digitali, Alias, Apple, Ascension Technology, Autodesk, Darwin, Di-O-Matic, Discreet, Luxology, Maxon, Motek, Natural Motion, Newtek, NXN, Okino, Softimage, Strata, TurboSquid, Vicon and Virsys.
MotionBuilder 6 will ship in September for both Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.3. The product is priced at US$995, and the Pro version is priced at US$4195, which includes 12 months of support and upgrades. You can find more information on MotionBuilder at the Kaydara Web site.