announced Massive 3.5, a new upgrade to Massive, the artificial
intelligence (AI) driven animation system. Massive 3.5 follows up on
Massive 3.0 with new features, including Agent Fields and improved
integration and hair and fur dynamics.
birds, animals, cars and more to deliver realistic and emotive virtual
performances. Massive “agents” are 3D characters that use sight, sound and
touch to interpret and react autonomously to the world around them.
Massive incorporates procedural animation and AI, and is used by
professionals in animation, visual effects and design visualization.
“The release of Massive 3.5 improves on many of the most-requested features
from Massive users, including extended support for FBX files and Python
scripts,” commented Massive Founder and Product Manager Stephen Regelous.
“And with Agent Fields, Massive users can easily and efficiently handle
local interactions between large numbers of agents. Agent Fields can be
applied with the simplicity of particle based simulators, without losing
the flexibility extensibility of Massive.”
New Massive 3.5 Features
– Agent Fields – Handle local interactions between large numbers of agents
for such things as collision avoidance, pedestrian visualization and
flocking. Users can define an area, or field, around an agent in which
another agent’s proximity, orientation, velocity, direction and color can
be assessed. A new Viewport option allows for visualization of Agent Fields
in 3D from within the Agent Fields editor.
– Extended FBX Support – Massive 3.0 provided the facility to import
skeletons and motion from a wide range of animation applications via the
industry standard FBX file format. In 3.5 this support has been extended to
cameras, lights, geometry and skeleton and motion export, providing
comprehensive facilities for integration with other applications such as
SoftImage XSI, Autodesk 3ds Max, Cinema4D and MotionBuilder.
– Extended Python Support – As it becomes increasingly common for studios
to implement integration of 3D applications using Python scripts, Massive
3.5 includes increased support for Python to make it easier to integrate
Massive into custom studio production pipelines. Python scripting allows
for action management and adds more functions for automating importing of
motion.
– Maya Particle File Support – Improved integration with better support for
Maya particle files. Using Maya particle files, a Massive simulation can be
imported into a Maya scene as simple particles for scene integration,
lighting reference and real time playback.
– Improved Dynamic Hair and Fur Support – Improved dynamics and increased
control of hair with a guide hair shape constraint that can be used to get
hair to keep to a user-defined shape or hairstyle. Mental Ray hair shader
allows users to get high-quality hair and fur renderings without writing
custom shaders.
For more comprehensive Massive 3.5 features and product information, please
visit
New Ready To Run Car Agent
The latest addition to the growing library of off-the-shelf Ready To Run
agents is the Car Agent. Ready to be placed into cityscapes, architectural
visualizations, and anywhere there’s a need for realistic traffic
animation. The car agent utilizes the Lanes feature, first released in
Massive 3.0. The Ready To Run agents all come complete with animation,
brain, geometry, textures and shaders, and include enough variation to
populate large scenes.
Pricing and Availability
Massive 3.5 is now available for Windows and Linux. Massive Jet 3.5,
delivering out-of-the-box functionality, is available for $5,999 USD per
license. For ultimate customization, flexibility and the ability to create
and edit agents, Massive 3.5 is priced at $17,999 USD per license.
Did you enjoy this article? Sign up to receive the StudioDaily Fix eletter containing the latest stories, including news, videos, interviews, reviews and more.
