Antics 3D

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Antics

Screen shot of Antics V3.1
Developed by Antics Technologies
Latest release V3.1 / April 2008
OS Windows, Apple Boot Camp on an Intel Mac
Genre 3d Animation
License Proprietary
Website http://www.antics3d.com

Antics is a real-time 3d animation software program used by amateur and professional filmmakers for previsualization, storyboard, and machinima creation. The program is based on a video game technology[1] and allows users to create animated virtual movie sets, import props and characters, and use virtual cameras to record 3d scenes which can then be edited on a timeline and exported to media formats such as AVI and MOV. Antics is developed and supported by Antics Technologies of Cambridge, England.


Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early Years

Antics Technologies was co-founded in 2000 by Philip Swinstead as Kelseus Ltd., a privately-owned company focused on interactive, simulation, and VR software for the professional game and movie industries[2]. Kelseus Ltd. changed their company name to Antics Technologies in 2004. Their corporate headquarters is in Cambridge, England, with additional offices in London, England and Los Angeles, California.

[edit] Antics Pre-Viz (V1)

After showing a beta version of Antics at SIGGRAPH in 2004[3], Kelseus officially launched Antics Pre-Viz in April, 2005 at NAB[4] (National Association of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The initial version of the program was aimed at non-specialist users such as art-directors and editors who wished to create pre-visualizations or storyboards of scenes in a screenplay[5]. When the company changed their name to Antics Technologies later that year, they also changed the program's name to just "Antics", dropping the "Pre-Viz" at the end.

[edit] Antics V2

At SIGGRAPH 2005, Antics Technologies launched an upgrade, Antics V2, which introduced a fully-integrated timeline and improved animation workflow and the user interface. At this time the BBC began using Antics V2 as part of their training program in film production[6].

[edit] Antics V3

In December 2007, Antics first released a free version of its software. Antics V3 had a free BasePack version and a paid ProPack version. This change in marketing was an effort to expand the user base of the program to include machinima, crime scene re-creation, marketing and the amateur animation filmmaker[7]. Among the improvements in V3 were the ability to scale content up or down in size, a new content viewer, improved camera controls and import capability of BVH animations and FBX and 3DS models.

[edit] Antics V3.1

V3.1 was released in April of 2008. It expanded import capability to include SKP models from Google SketchUp and a built-in browser to import content from the Google 3D Warehouse.

[edit] BasePack vs. ProPack

With the release of V3 in December, 2007, Antics Technologies began to distribute two different versions of it's program: the free BasePack and the paid ProPack versions.

The free version of Antics is known as the BasePack. It includes basic core content for scene creation along with the ability to download additional free content from the Antics Content Warehouse online. Premium content packs, released in bi-monthly intervals, are also available for purchase by BasePack users. Assets include 3D characters, buildings, props, sets, terrains, audio files, animations and character poses.

The ProPack is the paid version of Antics, currently priced at $595. In addition to all features of the BasePack, ProPack users also receive full customer support and a license to activate Antics V3.1 on up to two computers. Paid ProPack users have free-of-charge access to all content add-ons, including premium content packs until Dec 3, 2008[8]. The ProPack also comes with a 3ds Max Exporter Plugin which allows the user to export into Antics: geometry, textures, skinned/rigged characters, kinematic or vertex animations, morph targets and their animations, object hierarchies, keyframes as poses and geometry as bounded floors.

[edit] Feature Set

Other than the 3ds Max export capability of the ProPack, the BasePack and ProPack versions of Antics software contain an identical feature set which includes the following elements:

Real-Time Environment
Set design, character direction, and camera movement all take place in a real-time rendered 3d environment.
Virtual Set Construction
Sets are designed on a variable grid by point and click creation of walls and floors, and drag and drop of props, characters, and other content. Most elements of the set are scalable as well as configurable using the built-in OpenGL Shader editor. The set environment supports fog, sky domes, and real-time lighting.
Virtual Camera
Multiple cameras can be choreographed via keyframe animation or via procedural framing and targeting controls. Many movements of real movie cameras can be emulated, including truck, pan, tilt, dolly and zoom. Each camera has adjustable field of view, lens, and aspect ratio, and can toggle between perspective and orthographic viewing modes. User-defined memories can be saved for custom camera views.
Character Direction
The virtual actors in an Antics animation are controlled by a combination of point and click direction, command-based animations, and procedural routines. The poseable characters can be made to lipsync audio dialog, grasp and manipulate objects, operate vehicles, follow editable paths, and other functions. Animations can be layered upon one another for a variety of combinations.
Action Timeline
All character and movable prop activity is presented on a timeline which can be edited in real-time. Animations can be moved, copied and pasted, re-sequenced, and re-timed. Camera keyframing appears on the timeline as well, where it can be edited in the same manner. Timeline items can be made to conform to linear curves or adjustable Bézier curves.
Configurable User Interface
Antics has an adjustable icon-driven interface supporting resize, docking and floating elements. A script writer and command console are available for advanced users.

[edit] File Formats

Antics saves its project files with an extension of .kan, a format particular to Antics software. The program can export video as well as import assets from a variety of sources.

[edit] Input Formats List

  • 2D images and sequences for textures: JPEG, BMP, TGA, PNG
  • Audio: WAV
  • Motion Capture Data: BVH
  • 3D Models: 3DS, FBX
  • Google SketchUp Models: SKP (Antics V3.1 and above)

[edit] Output Options

Antics can export to AVI and Quicktime MOV formats at a variety of frame rates, resolutions, and aspect ratios. There are user-definable options for audio output, alpha channel output, and the ability to include letterboxing or pillarboxing with exported video.

[edit] System Requirements

  • Microsoft® Windows® 2000 (Service Pack 4), XP (Service Pack 2), Vista
  • Apple® Boot Camp & Microsoft® Windows® XP (Service Pack 2) if running on an Intel Mac
  • 1.5 GHz processor. Recommended 3 GHz
  • 1.5 GB Hard Disk space on C: drive. Recommended 3 GB
  • 512MB RAM Minimum. Recommended 1 GB RAM (2GB RAM for Vista)
  • 128MB video card with support for OpenGL 1.4 or later
  • 3-button wheel mouse
  • Optional sound card and speakers for sound support
  • Internet connection for activation

[edit] Reviews

1. StudioDaily.com (Film and Video Magazine), February, 2005, pp. 14-22. Reviews Antics-PreViz [9]
2. Digit Magazine, November, 2006, Page 71. Reviews Antics V2 [10]
3. Digital Producer Magazine Online, April, 2007. Reviews Antics V2.5 [11]
4. DV Magazine (online), December, 2007. Reviews Antics V3.0 [12]
5. Renderosity.com, March, 2008. Reviews Antics V3.0 [13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Navuluri, Bhavana. "Antics Releases New 3D Animation Software", Computer Business Review, March 5, 2008. [1]
  2. ^ ACM SIGGRAPH Directory, 2001. [2]
  3. ^ Baisley, Sarah (Editor). "Kelseus Launch Antics Pre-Viz", Animation Flash: SIGGRAPH 2004 Special Edition, August 30, 2004. [3]
  4. ^ D.W. Leitner, et. al., "NAB 2005", digitalcontentproducer.com, June 1, 2005. [4]
  5. ^ Daley, Dan. "New Tools: Pre-vis for Non-Animators", Studiodaily.com, October 1, 2004. [5]
  6. ^ Desowitz, Bill. "SIGGRAPH 2005 Overview", Animation World Magazine, August 12, 2005. [6]
  7. ^ Grove, Ricky. "Antics 3.0: Pre-Viz to Machinima Tool" (Audio interview with Brad Kolacinksi, Marketing Director, Antics Technologies), Renderosity.com, March 3, 2008. [7]
  8. ^ Antics Product Packages, Antics3d.com. [8]

[edit] External Links

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