Dr. Michael Girard, developer of Biped and Populate, has posted a video showing some crowd tests created with the new version of Populate. Watch it on Vimeo.
Populate v2 video
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It’s beyond my logic why on earth they would waste energy into getting this system to support running people, and NOT have people walk up stairs still… this plugin is close to totally useless as a solution because of this, compared to Anima which is the only real option unless you want to go all hardcore crowd sim on the issue. Sadly I wish I could use populate instead, but until AD gets their [edited] together it seems not….
looks great for architectural videos, and distants shoots.
But for vfx, these days, it seems that we needs angry crowd, zombie crowd, running-terrified-by-a gigantic monster-or-aliens-crowd. 🙂
(And we also needs to populate the streets with cars, trucs, etc…)
I emailed the Anima guys and it sounds like v2 might fill in the VFX gaps.
Considering how long populate has been in development, it’s very limited.
Maybe the new team might push it further, we’ll see.
v2 of what? Anima?
Anima is the best quick and dirty solution for arch viz for sure, yet the lack of actual control is still a problem, specially when their model library is so limited (even with their new 50 dudes). Has there been any info on what Anima 2.0 would be? seeing that 1.6 was just released this sounds a little odd to me.
Yep, v2 – Next autumn (not sure if that means Autumn next year, or the next autumn this year)
Not sure if I should post the details as it was in an e-mail, but maybe worth contacting them if you want further info.
Interesting… Yeah will def send them an email. Anything major you can spoil? like we talking massive new features? like using your own models for instance? or is it more about channels and outputting to suit the VFX industry?
Hi everyone,
This is Diego Gadler, AXYZ design CEO and main developer of Anima. Thanks all for the interest on our software.
Just a couple updates:
Anima 1 was released on 2011, aiming the archviz market. Obviously this has its limitations when seen from the VFX point of view, but the fact is that till to day, we are the only company producing a software able to go up and down stairs, take escalators and moving walkways. Again, with limitations. We know that, but we are a small company and our developing resources are small.
We have been working in the new version of Anima for the last two years. Anima 2, to be released after summer 2014, is 100% new, from core, locomotion system to Crowd Sim and UI.
Anima 2 moves “One Step Ahead” and improves the current technology. We have developed the first LOCOMOTION engine that is able to drive characters to any direction using 1 unique motion clip. The system creates parametric data in order to reproduce realistic motions of people going up/down stairs, walkways, ramps, escalators, etc and the BEST thing is users will be able to use their own motions and characters! Furthermore, the new CROWD simulation engine really solves collisions between characters and objects.
I can only ask you to be patience and stay tuned to our web and social media channels for any updates. We are working hard to offer you the best character animation tool ever, to simplify and make your workflow more efficient.
Best Regards,
Diego Gadler – CEO
AXYZ design
Great, thanks Diego!
Thanks Diego!
Awesome to hear! Will certainly be looking forward to this!
Thanks Diego good news!
What I would like to see:
– Direct manipulation on viewport (Im not a big fan of new windows/UIs inside 3dsmax).
-Flexibility: What you says sounds really great, will be cool if we can change on motion to another based on distance to a null object for example, or density of people, or proximity to other agents. This will open the door to use your product not only to archviz but for vfx (big market only for you is waiting).
-Connection with Massfx/thinking particles to create drag&roll characters based on a condition.
-…..
Thank you for the feedback!
You guys and your petitions are the ones that will build tomorrow´s software. I want to invite you to our new forum section, and drop your comments there, so we can start a debate on what users want Anima to be.
http://forum.axyz-design.com/
Regards,
Diego Gadler – CEO
AXYZ design