A New Versatile Animation Software Designed for Artists; Significant Step Towards High-end Animation for the Masses
Kaydara Inc. today announced that MOTIONBUILDER 5, the latest version of the company's powerful real-time 3D character animation software, is now shipping to customers world-wide. MOTIONBUILDER 5's new innovative story timeline is a groundbreaking technology asset, which allows animation to be created almost instantaneously. The story timeline combined with MOTIONBUILDER 5's built-in clipart library, unrivalled file format support via Kaydara FBX and a simple 'drag and drop' approach, represents a significant step toward high-end animation for the masses.
MOTIONBUILDER 5's innovative story timeline combines an independent shot, standard animation, character, camera, digital video, digital audio, constraint and command tracks with a powerful suite of editing controls and unmatched real-time performance. The independent shot track provides enhanced flexibility, such as discontinuities and repeats, and absolute ease-of-use.
"With MOTIONBUILDER 5's breakthrough story timeline, unique real-time photorealistic rendering engine and Kaydara's "smart" character technology (HumanIK), character animations can be created in minutes instead of the days and weeks required by other systems," said Michel Besner, president of Kaydara. "The new features in MOTIONBUILDER 5 make it an ideal animation and storytelling tool for a broad range of artists."
MOTIONBUILDER 5's advanced technology makes sophisticated, highly realistic animation attainable for a wide array of projects ranging from desktop videos and television commercials to games and high-end feature films, regardless of budget or facility size. Examples of different applications for varying markets are as follows: Game Development - MOTIONBUILDER 5 is the ultimate character animation solution; it allows game developers to easily do motion editing and blending as well as create amazing game cinematics.
Feature Film - MOTIONBUILDER 5 is an invaluable tool for pre-visualization; it allows filmmakers to preview camera shots in 3D, significantly reducing the production time involved with producing complex and expensive special effects shots and sequences.
Television/Broadcast Series - Creating layouts and blocking camera shots are complex aspects in most production pipelines. MOTIONBUILDER's story timeline tool is an easy and innovative new way to use storyboarding for animated television series production.
Ad agencies and Production Companies - MOTIONBUILDER 5's storyboarding tool is a completely new way for artists to conceptualize when producing content for commercials, Web/multimedia or desktop video productions.
"MOTIONBUILDER's new story tool and control rig enhancements are truly awesome," said Brad Clark, artist for Acclaim Studios, Austin. "I recently finished the first full edit for a cinematic sequence using MOTIONBUILDER 5, and these features provided an unprecedented level of control and ease when dealing with complex animations and moves required for the Next Generation Games we are currently working on here at Acclaim Austin. I wish I could have used MOTIONBUILDER 5 on the latest feature film I worked on - it would have saved me three to five hours of work each day."
MOTIONBUILDER 5 is a complete 3D animation solution that includes many of the same high-end character animation tools designed for larger professional production houses but with competitive pricing and a customized toolset for the unique needs of smaller studios. New features in MOTIONBUILDER 5 include:
* The New Story-Timeline allows users to easily edit 3D animation tracks in combination with audio, video and constraints. A new 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. * Enhanced Character Animation functionality includes added support for quadruped characters, hand floor constraints, finger and toe controls, squash and stretch and additional neck bone controls. * Photorealistic Real-Time Rendering built upon Kaydara's industry-leading real-time architecture for instant, accurate real-time feedback as well as fast final renders. MOTIONBUILDER's rendering engine takes full advantage of hardware capabilities available through OpenGL and nVidia technologies. * Natural Usability and Workflow improvements include enhanced F-curve and property editors, comprehensive undo and customisable shortcuts. * Built-In Clipart Library makes getting started simple with sophisticated characters, environments, textures, motions and more. * Unmatched File Format Support makes moving 3D assets in and out of MOTIONBUILDER painless. New support in version 5 includes OBJ, DXF, 3DS, mp3, AAC file format as well as new FBX partners including Wings3D and RealViz.
MOTIONBUILDER 5 natively supports Kaydara's FBX file interchange format, a powerful format for 3D data that allows MOTIONBUILDER users to quickly and easily acquire and exchange 3D assets and media from a wide variety of sources. FBX is widely supported by 3D content and streaming media vendors such as 2D3, Alias|Wavefront, Autodesk/Discreet, Softimage, NewTek, DI-O-Matic, Digimask, ElectricImage, InSpeck, Maxon, Motek, QEDsoft, Virtools, Midway, NaturalMotion, Noitanimation, noDNA, e-frontier, Reflex3D, Turbosquid, Vicon, Wings3D and Zygote.
Kaydara also provides a Professional Edition of MOTIONBUILDER 5, which will include support for advanced motion capture editing tools, a software development kit (SDK), integration with asset management systems, and personalized customer support and product development.
Pricing and Availability Kaydara MOTIONBUILDER 5 is currently shipping to customers on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Mac OS X 10.2 and higher. MOTIONBUILDER 5 is priced at $995 USD and MOTIONBUILDER 5 Professional is priced at $4,195 USD (including 12 months of support). Prices outside of North America may vary. For more information on MOTIONBUILDER, visit Kaydara's Web site at http://www.kaydara.com/products/motionbuilder/index.php.
About Kaydara Inc. Over the course of the past decade, Kaydara has become a leader in the development of real-time 3D animation software solutions for the entertainment industry. Kaydara's product portfolio serves a vast and varied range of clients in the TV, film, game development, and Web content industries, including Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Midway Games, Acclaim, Mainframe Entertainment, Capcom, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Kaydara is headquartered in Montréal, Canada, and has an international presence with sales offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information about Kaydara or its products, visit www.kaydara.com |
