3D Movie Maker

3D Movie Maker
Developer(s) Microsoft Kids
Big Blue Dot (Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker)
Development status Discontinued
Operating system Windows
Available in English, Japanese
Type 3D computer graphics software
License Proprietary
Website 3D Movie Maker demo
Nickelodeon demo

3D Movie Maker (often abbreviated as 3DMM) is a program created by Microsoft's "Microsoft Kids" subsidiary in 1995. Using this program, users are able to place 3D characters into pre-made environments, add actions, sound effects, music, text, speech, and special effects then show these movies off to friends, family, and the world. These are saved in the 3D Movie formats: ".3mm" and ".vmm".

The program features two helper characters to guide users through the various features of the program. The character McZee (Voiced by Michael Shapiro) provides help throughout the studio while his assistant Melanie provides various tutorials. In Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker, the user is guided by Stick Stickly.

3D Movie Maker is built on the BRender, a 3D graphics engine created by Argonaut Software. The models and prerendered backgrounds were created by Illumin8 Digital Pictures, a now defunct graphics studio, using Softimage modeling software. The cinematic introduction and help sequences were created by Productions Jarnigoine, a now inactive production company directed by Jean-Jacques Tremblay.

Variants

Actors

The default actors included in the game are:

System requirements

The official system requirements for 3D Movie Maker are:

For the Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker demo, only 5.32 MB of hard disk space is used.

Making movies

Creating animation in 3D Movie Maker is a straightforward process, allowing younger users to create movies with ease. By default, 40 actors/actresses are available, each with 4 different costumes and a number of actions, as well as 20 different props. Twelve different scenes are available to the user, each containing several different camera angles. Many sample voice and MIDI music clips are included, but extra voices can be recorded using a microphone, and external wav and MIDI files can be imported.

The way movies are made in 3D Movie Maker is not like that of, for example, a video camera. A video camera works by recording images (frames) in quick succession. 3D Movie Maker stores the positions of the characters and objects for each frame. It moves at about 6 to 8 frames per second, which makes the movies choppier than expected.

The finished movie, however, can only be viewed inside 3D Movie Maker using the virtual auditorium or the studio, unless converted to a video file format with a third-party utility.

Movies are recorded at the 544 x 306 pixels resolution, in the 16:9 image aspect ratio.

Theatre building

The theatre building in 3D Movie Maker consists of several rooms:

In Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker, only the theatre, "splot machine" and toolbox are available. They are called the "Big chair", "Choos-O-meter", and "Movie-making-machine", respectively, and are all located inside a loft.

Expansions and utilities

3D Movie Maker has been discontinued for ten years. Regardless, several user-made expansions and animation tools exist.

Critical reception

Alamo PC Organization said " This is not a program one masters in a few days, or even weeks. It is a wonderful demonstration of technological advancement for Windows 95 graphical programming possibilities. This program in the hands of casual, perhaps even dedicated home users, is not a threat to any commercial animation firm. "[2] Aaron Matterson of Joystick Division said "It looked impossibly goofy even by 1995 standards, but god damn it did I love it, and it taught me many things about my own creativity, the art of storytelling, and a strange, terrible humanoid creature named McZee".[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.3dmmstudio.co.uk/utilities.php
  2. ↑ http://alamopc.org/pcalamode/reviews/archive1/rev133.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.joystickdivision.com/2012/04/five_things_we_learned_from_3d.php

External links